Lockheed Martin resumes flights of F-35 Lighting II fighters - first plane flies out of Fort Worth

US company Lockheed Martin has finally resumed the inspection and acceptance flights of its fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter jets. The planes have been in the hangar for almost three months.

Here's What We Know

Deliveries were halted in December 2022 due to the F-35B crashing onto the runway during landing and the pilot ejecting. The cause was vibration of the propulsion system. Pratt & Whitney therefore suspended deliveries of F135 engines.

After Pratt & Whitney found a way to rectify the fault, the test flights resumed. On 6 March, the first fighter flew from Fort Worth, Texas, where Lockheed Martin produces almost all of the F-35 Lightning II.

The US Department of Defence is now Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney will upgrade more than 900 F-35 fighters worldwide within 90 days, although most of the aircraft are not defective. This is due to the Pentagon's desire to have a single Lightning II configuration worldwide.

The acceptance flights will set the stage for the resumption of the posts, but Lockheed Martin has not yet given a timeline. As of mid-February 2023, the company had about two dozen fighters ready for acceptance flights.

Source: Defense News