F-35 Jet’s Overworked Engines May Cost Pentagon $38 Billion in Upkeep
Story by Tony Capaccio • Yesterday 12:39 PM
(Bloomberg) -- Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 may need $38 billion in extra engine overhauls in coming decades to meet increasing demands to help cool radar and other components of the fighter jet, according to government auditors.
“The cooling system is over-tasked, requiring the engine to operate beyond its design parameters,” the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday in its annual report on the $412 billion acquisition program for the F-35, the world’s costliest weapons system. “The extra heat is increasing the wear on the engine, reducing its life and adding $38 billion in maintenance costs.”
Barring an effective fix, engine overhauls that may come sooner than expected and will add another to-do item to the Pentagon’s $1.3 trillion estimate to operate and maintain the fleet of F-35s over 77 years of operation.
The engine issue concerns the aircraft’s “power and thermal management system,” which transfers pressure from the fighter’s single engine, directing the flow to cool other components. The more air pressure transferred, the hotter the engine runs.
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