EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon clears F-35 to fly in lightning after years-long hold
The approval ends an ironic episode for the fighter nicknamed the "Lightning II."
By VALERIE INSINNA and MICHAEL MARROW
on April 01, 2024 at 4:02 PM
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has lifted lightning restrictions for the most widely used version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, allowing the Lockheed Martin jet to fly in thunderstorms for the first time since 2020, Breaking Defense has learned.
The Defense Department formally lifted the restrictions on March 19 after devising a hardware and software fix for the lightning protection system used aboard the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant, JPO spokesman Russ Goemaere said in response to a press inquiry.
The F-35A had been prohibited from flying within 25 miles of lightning since June 2020, when damaged tubes were found installed on the On-Board Inert Gas Generation System (OBIGGS) in several planes.
The OBIGGS prevents a jet from exploding when being struck by lightning by pumping nitrogen-enriched air into the fuel tanks to make its contents inert, and damage to the tubes carrying the inert gas raised the specter that the system would not function properly in an emergency.
https://breakingdefense.com/2024/04/exclusive-pentagon-clears-f-35-to-fly-in-lightning-after-years-long-hold/
