F-35B gets Laser Shock Treatment for Enhanced Endurance

[rangerrebew]

F-35B gets Laser Shock Treatment for Enhanced Endurance
Hanan Zaffar January 9, 2022
 

An F-35B Lightning II of the US Marines Corps has become the service’s first fighter jet to undergo a laser treatment that strengthens the plane without adding any additional metal and thus weight. This would otherwise affect the jet’s performance by limiting its fuel or payload capacity.

 “The laser shock peening modification is essential to extending the life of the F-35B STOVL [short take-off and vertical landing]  variant, and the ability to complete this procedure successfully allows FRC East [Readiness Center East] to support this critical workload,” Commanding Officer Col. Thomas A Atkinson said in a government statement.

The procedure was conducted by the US Navy’s aviation repair and maintenance facility Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) which inducted the first F-35 in June 2020.

The fighter aircraft has been returned to the fleet after the verification, where it is ready for service. 

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/01/09/f-35b-laser-shock-treatment-endurance/

[rangerrebew]

Years and years ago, the Detroit Lions signed an Olympic sprinter as a wide receiver.  No one in the National Felons League could match  him.  The discovery was soon made he was the world's fastest stone hands - he couldn't catch COVID.  I've got that same feeling about the F-35, that's its got all the potential in the world that the military will manage to not make use of or destroy.