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F-35 Flies With 871 Flaws, Only Two Fewer Than Year Earlier

  • Number of software, hardware flaws little-changed: test office
  • Lockheed says none of deficiencies endanger flight safety
An F-35 exercise at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
An F-35 exercise at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.Photographer: Ronald Bradshaw/U.S. Air Force
Updated on

Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35, the fighter jet already being flown by the U.S. and eight allies, remains marred by 871 software and hardware deficiencies that could undercut readiness, missions or maintenance, according to the Pentagon’s testing office.

The Defense Department’s costliest weapons system “continues to carry a large number of deficiencies, many of which were identified prior to” the development and demonstration phase, which ended in April 2018 with 941 flaws, Robert Behler, the director of operational testing, said in a new assessment obtained by Bloomberg News in advance of its publication.