Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
First flight of Boeing's X-32B short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) concept demonstrator has been delayed by "technical challenges" in the integration of the propulsion system with the flight-control software.
The first flight, due in the third quarter, has slipped to later in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter, says Boeing. The conventional take-off and landing X-32A is planned to fly in the second quarter, but could be affected by the Boeing engineers' strike.
Boeing acknowledged a six-week slip in the X-32B's first flight because of "software and hardware development issues" with the direct-lift STOVL propulsion system (Flight International, 1-7 December, 1999). Now, the company says, integration of the propulsion and flight-control systems "is taking longer than expected". The impact of the strike on the first flights of both X-32s has yet to be determined.
Lockheed Martin, meanwhile, faces a likely delay in the first flight of its X-35 STOVL Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator following a bearing failure in the shaft-driven lift fan during propulsion system testing at Pratt & Whitney (Flight International, 29 February-6 March).
Source: Flight International
