Pentagon Chief Tester: F-35 Software Remains Seriously Flawed

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http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2014/01/pentagon-chief-tester-f-35-software-seriously-flawed/77849/?oref=ng-skybox



Pentagon Chief Tester: F-35 Software Remains Seriously Flawed

The $397 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program suffers from such severe software problems that aircraft could not conduct operational missions today, the Pentagon’s chief tester said in his annual report to Congress, which was released to the public yesterday.

Contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. develops the F-35 software in three blocks. The first is designed to support training, followed by a second block for initial combat operations. The final block for full combat operations is expected in 2019, 23 years after the Pentagon signed the contract to acquire just under 2,500 of the aircraft for all four services.

The report from J. Michael Gilmore, director of operational test and evaluation for Defense, said Lockheed Martin delivered an incremental version of the Block 2 F-35 software for installation on the Air Force F-35A variant and the Marine Corps F-35B vertical takeoff aircraft in early 2013, but that software was far from complete.

“The teams at both test centers ([Edwards Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Patuxent River) determined the initial version of 2AS3 to be deficient in providing the necessary capabilities for unmonitored flight operations under night and instrument meteorological conditions," Gilmore wrote, noting: "The test centers completed testing of Block 2AS3.1 in June; however, the certification to allow F-35A and F-35B production aircraft to fly at night or in [instrument meteorological conditions] had not been released as of the time of this report.”