http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/f-35-grounding-latest-setback-for-troubled-program-87953_Page2.html
Defense officials have grounded Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II over an engine problem, POLITICO learned Friday, in the latest setback for the world’s most expensive weapons program one week before automatic, across-the-board budget restrictions are set to take their bite.
The Defense Department has suspended flight operations for all three variants of the F-35 as a “precautionary measure,” officials said. The suspension comes after engineers discovered a crack in an F-35 engine blade in California, according to Kyra Hawn, a spokeswoman for the F-35 Joint Program Office.Inspectors found a crack in a low-pressure turbine blade aboard an Air Force-model F-35A on Tuesday, Hawn said in a statement, and engineers are sending it back to manufacturer Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut for “thorough evaluation and root cause analysis.”“Lockheed Martin is fully engaged and working closely with the JPO and Pratt & Whitney to determine the root cause of the blade crack found during a routine inspection of an F135 engine on an F-35A at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.,” the company said in a statement. “Safety is always our first consideration.”
oh yeah then why are you trying to fix that safety first thing that is unsafe, are they really using this to shut down in lieu of the sequestration going into affect and shutting down their cash flow?
Pratt & Whitney said that until it completes its investigation of the cracked turbine blade, “it is too soon to tell if there is a fleet wide safety concern” but the grounding makes sense just in case.
The jets have suffered from several problems over the past decade, most recently last month, when an issue was discovered aboard an F-35B, the Marine Corps variant, prior to takeoff. The incident led to the grounding of all 25 F-35Bs for several weeks as government and industry engineers investigated the problem, later attributed to the fueldraulic hose being “improperly crimped,” said Joe DellaVedova, another spokesman for the F-35 office. The B-model later returned to flight.
F-35s have been grounded before over electrical system problems.
400 billion for 3 jets we don't need or education, food, jobs incidently those jobs that would be loss are the people who made the faulty jets employees this day and time computer diagnostics, simulations, how do you spend 400 billion on a multi faulty jet, that means the bill goes up each time they need to redo and who is pushing this right wing bribee's all in the scare tactic of we need to be safer, Obama is weakening the military. that blame is misplaced look to the right, pun intended.
i would think we only need to fear God at this point they say we are the richest yet people starve and lose their homes they say we have the most powerful military in the world, "BUT" we need more, they have to feed the MIC it's where the money is. if this sequester goes off be assured republicans will lect to restore Pentagon first.
