A new report by US congressional auditors warns that the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter faces up to three years of delays and $7.4 billion in cost overruns.
In the Government Accountability Office's latest annual update on the $300 billion programme, the agency continues to criticise the programme's plans and resources for development and production as inadequate and highly risky.
While the F-35 Joint Programme Office (JPO) reported a new $2.4 billion overrun to the GAO, a "joint estimating team" puts the number at $7.4 billion.
The two estimates are split on several points. For example, the JPO estimate does not include $1.4 billion to develop an alternate engine. The joint team also predicts the JSF will require about 2,700h of flight testing for missions systems, while the JPO estimates only 1,700h.
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The JPO responds that software development for the F-35 is 18 months ahead of the US Air Force's Lockheed F-22 programme at a similar stage of development. The prime contractor is also using a network of advanced laboratories to reduce flight tests through simulation, although the GAO report notes that those models have not been accredited.
The GAO also raises new details about manufacturing glitches during the development phase. Total projected labour hours to manufacture the final 11 flight-test aircraft have jumped by 40% since 2007, according to a GAO analysis of Department of Defense data.
One specific problem is an overlap in the schedule for manufacturing and mating the aircraft's wing. Lockheed had planned to resolve the problem, but new data shows it will persist through 2009, the GAO reports. It also cites the example of a "major team-mate supplier responsible for fuselage and tail assembly" that has faced delays caused by a lack of machining capacity. BAE Systems is responsible for assembling the F-35's tail section.
Source: Flight International
