The F-35 Is About To Get Cheaper. Now Here's the Bad News.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a19757413/f-35-production-price-drop/

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s price is set to fall considerably once the jet goes into full production—so says the military head of the F-35 program. Meanwhile, however, the Pentagon has stopped accepting new jets over a disagreement about who pays for costly repairs to fix problems that went undetected during the manufacturing process.

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Speaking of serious problems that rear their ugly heads, let’s talk about the bad news. The Pentagon and two unnamed countries have stopped accepting F-35s in an argument about whether buyers or Lockheed Martin will pay for a costly fix to the jet.

The problem: During maintenance at Hill Air Force Base, maintainers discovered an unacceptable amount of corrosion where an exterior carbon fiber panel fastened to the F-35 airframe. Lockheed Martin workers had failed to apply an anti-corrosion primer to aluminum fasteners to prevent corrosion. According to Reuters, LockMart had failed to apply the primer to parts in more than 200 jets.

That sounds like a pretty open and shut case of contractor liability, but government inspectors were supposed to catch the problem, complicating things. Although fix was devised it is expensive and involves fixing F-35s now located around the world. The F-35 program and Lockheed Martin are now arguing over who will pay for it.

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