Cybersecurity
Tardy F-35 Jet Hits New Snag Over Tests to Show It Can Beat Foes
- Key milestone decision put off to allow simulation testing
- Pentagon’s weapons buyer had scheduled decision for December
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The Pentagon is delaying a decision to put Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 into full production by as long as 13 more months because of a tardy start to simulation testing against the most advanced air defense threats posed by Russia and China, according to the military’s chief weapons buyer.
A full-rate production decision was scheduled for December, but the F-35 program office decided this week with the concurrence of Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, that more time was needed to initiate the intensive simulator testing that has yet to begin.