F-35s grounded

[MiloMorai]

South Korea grounds F-35s after malfunction forces emergency landing (msn.com)

South Korea has grounded its entire fleet of advanced F-35 fighter jets, officials said Wednesday, pending a probe into a dramatic emergency landing.

After the landing gear on a South Korean F-35A stopped working during a major systems malfunction, the pilot chose not to eject and instead landed the jet on its belly -- walking away without any injuries.

The heart-stopping incident on Tuesday, at an air force base in the west of the country, has prompted a probe during which South Korean F-35s will be grounded.

"With the investigation under way, the entire (F-35) fleet is suspended from flying," a defence ministry official told AFP.

South Korea ordered 40 F-35A variants from its American maker Lockheed Martin in 2014, receiving the first batch five years later.

Republic of Korea Air Force vice chief of staff Shin Ok-chul shared the dramatic details at a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday.

The F-35A was flying at low altitude when the pilot heard bangs, prompting him to check aircraft systems, Shin told lawmakers.

[Stuart Galbraith]

10 minutes ago, MiloMorai said:

South Korea grounds F-35s after malfunction forces emergency landing (msn.com)

South Korea has grounded its entire fleet of advanced F-35 fighter jets, officials said Wednesday, pending a probe into a dramatic emergency landing.

After the landing gear on a South Korean F-35A stopped working during a major systems malfunction, the pilot chose not to eject and instead landed the jet on its belly -- walking away without any injuries.

The heart-stopping incident on Tuesday, at an air force base in the west of the country, has prompted a probe during which South Korean F-35s will be grounded.

"With the investigation under way, the entire (F-35) fleet is suspended from flying," a defence ministry official told AFP.

South Korea ordered 40 F-35A variants from its American maker Lockheed Martin in 2014, receiving the first batch five years later.

Republic of Korea Air Force vice chief of staff Shin Ok-chul shared the dramatic details at a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday.

The F-35A was flying at low altitude when the pilot heard bangs, prompting him to check aircraft systems, Shin told lawmakers.

Well there is your problem, it was probably shot at by a farmer with a 12 bore.

 

[Dawes]

I hope South Korea bought the extended warranty...

[Josh]

That'll buff right out...

[shep854]

7 hours ago, Josh said:

That'll buff right out...

Slap on some Stealth Bondo...

[rmgill]

Coke can and some pop rivets. 

[Mikel2]

On 1/6/2022 at 3:29 AM, Dawes said:

I hope South Korea bought the extended warranty...

They probably ignored all the phone calls.

[rmgill]

Ouch. 

[Colin]

pretty quick response by the fire team in that video

[shep854]

Looking at the down-deck camera, it's not surprising the LSO got excited.  They probably dove into the safety net.

[DKTanker]

 

[rmgill]

Blancolirio has an rundown. 

 

[JWB]

Bad Decisions Cripple F-35s

Early on the air force was urged to heed past experience and spend the extra money to have two engines available. The F135 engine is currently having problems with the turbine rotor blades wearing out faster than expected. Nearly seven percent of the 665 F-35s delivered as of mid-2021 were out of service because of an engine shortage caused by so many engines needing repairs. 

The air force made two other mistakes; introducing the new ALIS (Autonomic Logistics Information System), a spare parts management system that did not work as expected, and underestimating the difficulty of updating the complex F-35 software in a timely manner. These three bad decisions are now combining to keep F-35 readiness (mission capable) rates low while those for older aircraft, including the F-22 stealth fighter, increase.

Attrition: Bad Decisions Cripple F-35s (strategypage.com)

[DB]

7% unavailability due to the engines?

Some strange new definition of "crippled", then.