Defense Department Suspends F-35 Deliveries Over Disagreement With Lockheed Martin

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By US Air Force / Ministerie van Defensie (bron: Ministerie van Defensie.) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

As a result of a disagreement between the Defense Department and manufacturer Lockheed Martin over who should be the one to fix an F-35 production issue which occurred last year, the Pentagon has suspended acceptance of most F-35 deliveries.

“While all work in our factories remains active, the F-35 Joint Program Office has temporarily suspended accepting aircraft until we reach an agreement on a contractual issue and we expect this to be resolved soon,” a Lockheed spokeswoman confirmed in a statement.

The quality control issue responsible for the delay is corrosion that was found in fastener holes last year.

“Per the direction of the program executive officer, F-35 deliveries have been temporarily paused while the government and Lockheed Martin reach an agreement on a contractual issue regarding repair work to remediate the known aircraft fastener hole primer quality escape,” said a statement from the F-35 joint program office.

“This is not a safety of flight issue but rather a contractual resourcing issue that needs to be resolved. The government has implemented this pause to ensure the warfighter receives a quality product from industry. We look forward to a swift resolution of this issue.”

It is important to note that Lockheed Martin still expects to meet its delivery target of 91 aircraft for 2018.

Marshall Smith

Technology, engineering, and design enthusiast.