And what makes the crisis more serious is that the deficiencies that impact Australia are duplicated in the US, plus with European and other allies.
Thanks to Australia’s premier defence research organisation Air Power Australia and US reports over many years, I have been highlighting to my readers the deep technical problems confronting Australia’s $20bn, plus investment in the Joint Strike Fighter F-35.
Air Power predicted these problems would arise because the planes developer Lockheed Martin supplied planes to Australia and other US allies before the serious shortcomings had been overcome.
Rather than believe the experts, the various Australian parliamentary defence committees believed Australia’s defence officials who were concealing the shortcomings (last year those and other past defence officials were discredited by Defence Minister Richard Marles).
Australia’s current defence officials must be staggered at the mess that is unfolding in the US as gradually the truth comes out.
Accordingly, “cap in hand”, defence officials will need to confess to Treasurer Jim Chalmers that he needs to allow for huge outlays to rectify the serious technical problems in the aircraft that have been supplied to Australia by the US.
The official cost of our JSF-F35 aircraft is about $19bn (the real cost is around $27bn) and it may now need to be doubled. But even if and when that cash is sent to the US, in any conflict situation the plane will still be no match for Chinese aircraft, so represents a serious risk to crew and ships that require protection.
A new book “Trillion Dollar Trainwreck” has been published which details the incredible mismanagement by US and world defence officials plus the high marketing pressure applied by the plane’s developer, Lockheed Martin. Despite the past warnings, last month’s revelations take the crisis to a new level.
The shortcomings of the JSF -F35 can be broadly classified into two areas.
The first is the software that controls the intricate operation of the aircraft. These base problems have existed for many years and, as I understand it, they started as base computer hardware deficiencies.
Instead of being rectified at the source which would have required admitting a huge error, Lockheed and its contractors tried to rectify the deficiencies with different software, which is always a hazardous path.
Not surprisingly, the so-called “Tech Refresh 3” software changes are constantly being delayed.
Lockheed wants another year or so, but given the inaccuracy of previous estimates and the complexity of the task it represents a guess.
But then comes the fundamental deficiencies in the plane itself. This rectification program is called “F35 block 4 upgrade” and covers 80 “improvements”.
This is not an easy process because, according to Airpower Australia, the JSF -F35 does not have an ideal shape for the tasks that were required of it in the original planning.
US defence officials admit that this correction program will take until the 2030s to be to completed, but it can’t start properly until “Tech Refresh 3” is completed, whenever that might be
In the “F-35 block 4 upgrade” more than 80 improvements will require test and evaluation, not including power and thermal testing of the JSF F-135 engine.
Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt told the US Congress in budget testimony that “Block 4” is being reimagined and some elements of it planned to be fielded this decade will be will slip into the 2030s.
Six aircraft have been set aside to be devoted to the testing, but Lockheed and its contactors have been allocated another nine aircraft to try and speed up the process, particularly as the original six are ageing because of the delays.
The view of Lockheed Martin has been that the problems could be overcome, and so over the last ten years the aircraft and its problems have been sold around the world.
But the delays in fixing the problems are causing buyer resistance, particularly from the US itself.
Official reports reveal that at least 70 aircraft (about the size of Australia’s fleet) have been built but remain on the tarmac and not delivered. The actual number maybe around 100.
The multi-billion dollar outlays in these stocked aircraft is going to strain the Lockheed balance sheet, so a bizarre plan is being devised so that the JSF-F35 community will pay money for these deficient aircraft which will be called “combat training capable”.
The overall problem is so serious, but many in the JSF-F35 Community will take these aircraft, which delays admitting error and takes the burden off the Lockheed Martin balance sheet.
But it is only papers over the problem and the truth must come out.
Thankfully, Australia has stopped buying the aircraft, so we will not have to send cash to the US for so-called “combat training capable” aircraft.
But we have 72 aircraft that require both the “Tech Refresh 3” and the “Block 4” upgrade. Because Lockheed Martin will take well into the next decade to complete these programs (if the task can be done) no one knows what that it will cost, but it is not unreasonable to expect that our official outlay of $19bn will double And it could be a lot more. We should never have accepted the aircraft until the deficiencies were overcome.
To the great credit of Israel, they would not take the JSF F-35 aircraft unless their technology experts could revamp the whole aircraft.
I would ask readers to forgive me for making fun of a serious subject, but perhaps the US needs to send a note to the Chinese asking them not invade Taiwan until Lockheed fixes JSF-F35 deficiencies. In our comedy exchange, the Chinese might reply that delaying doesn’t help because even when all the deficiencies are fixed, the plane is no match for the top Chinese aircraft.
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