The F-35 Fighter Has a New Enemy: The Weather
Story by Peter Suciu • 11h
The Lockheed Martin F-35 was famously given the name "Lightning II" to honor the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter that saw service during the Second World War. However, despite officially being an "all-weather" fighter, there are now very serious concerns that the F-35 aircraft sitting out in the open in Texas at the aerospace giant's facility outside of Fort Worth could be susceptible to weather damage.
If that wasn't enough of a concern, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that U.S. taxpayers might be forced to pick up the bill for any repairs that are required as the result of the Lightning IIs being stored on the tarmac. The aircraft are now waiting for the long overdue Technology Refresh-3 (TR-3) hardware and software upgrade, which had originally been slated to be completed in July 2023.
As the Pentagon has refused to accept the jets until the TR-3 update is finalized, the jets are piling up – and more than 100 could now be literally exposed to the elements, and potential weather risks. Though Fort Worth is far enough inland that there aren't concerns of a hurricane hitting the facility, Texas summer storms can still be intense with upwards of 60 mph winds at times, while the heat could hit triple digits for days on end.
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