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Pentagon Says Lockheed F-35 Flights Can Resume After Engine Trouble

Michael Kelley   

Pentagon Says Lockheed F-35 Flights Can Resume After Engine Trouble
Defense1 min read

The Pentagon has approved flights of Lockheed Martin's F-35 after the fleet was grounded with engine trouble, Tony Capaccio of Bloomberg reports.

On February 22 F-35 flights were suspended following the discovery of a crack in a turbine blade on one of the 51 fighter jets.

The engine affected had been subjected to “prolonged exposure to high levels of heat and other operational stresses” in testing, according to an e-mailed statement from the Pentagon’s F-35 office.

The maker of the engine, United Technologies Corp. (UTX)’s Pratt & Whitney unit, stated that inspectors didn’t find any other “cracks or signs of similar engine stress,” and no redesign will be required.

On February 27 U.S. Lieutenant-General Christopher Bogdan, the Pentagon program chief for the F-35, accused Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney of trying to "squeeze every nickel" out of the U.S. government while building what is the most expensive combat aircraft in history.

"What I see Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney doing today is behaving as if they are getting ready to sell me the very last F-35 and the very last engine and are trying to squeeze every nickel out of that last F-35 and that last engine," Bogdan told reporters at the Australian International Airshow.

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