By: Anthony Capaccio for Bloomberg, May 11, 2019 The crash of a U.S. Marine Corps F-35 that temporarily grounded the entire fleet of next-generation jets in 2018 was caused by a manufacturing defect in a fuel tube made by a United Technologies subcontractor, according to congressional investigators. The defect “caused an engine fuel tube to rupture during […]
By: Aidan Quigley for VTDigger, Apr. 24, 2019 The first noise map for the Burlington International Airport that includes the F-35s coming this fall is “substantially complete” and won’t include any surprises, airport officials say. The map is consistent with findings in the Air Force’s Environmental Impact Statement and will be published May 28, according […]
By: Nick Visser for Huffpost, Mar. 21, 2019 Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is under investigation by the Pentagon’s inspector general over ties to his former employer, the aerospace juggernaut Boeing. The Defense Department said Wednesday it had opened an ethics investigation into complaints that allege Shanahan regularly touted Boeing over other defense contractors, including […]
By: “Task and Purpose” for The National Interest, Mar. 20, 2019 In February, the commander of the U.S. Naval Air Forces proclaimed that the Navy’s F-35C Joint Strike Fighter was “ready for operations, ready for combat and ready to win” — even though the Navy’s own testing data says otherwise. Testing data obtained by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) indicates that […]
By: Dave Majumdar for The National Interest, published Feb. 14, 2019 he F-35 is a case of massive over ambition to develop one base airframe that can be adapted to replace half-dozen specialized jets. The result is an expensive jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none. The United States has built many great fighters over the […]
Editor’s note: This commentary is by Richard Czaplinski on behalf of the members of the Will Miller Green Mountain Veterans For Peace, Chapter 57. Czaplinski, of Warren, is a U.S. Navy veteran and the president of the group. In all the controversy and discussion about the F-35s coming to Burlington (jobs, noise, dangers to surrounding […]
By Steve Dent for Endgadget.com, November 23, 2018 After years of cost overruns and criticism, the US military has started to deploy its stealth-enabled F-35 fighter jet. To communicate that message in no uncertain terms, the Air Force’s 388th and 419th Fighter Wings carried out combat exercises meant to test the capabilities of their F-35As. The drill […]
By: Jess Aloe for the Burlington Free Press, Oct. 29, 2018 The Vermont Air National Guard is still on track to begin receiving 20 F-35A jets next September, according to the 158th Fighter Wing’s commanding officer—even after the Pentagon grounded the entire F-35 fleet following a crash in South Carolina. Inspectors checked fuel tubes on […]
By: Gina Hawkins for Military.com, August 31, 2018 The Pentagon is downplaying major F-35 Joint Strike Fighter design flaws that could leave service members at risk in an effort to keep the long-scrutinized program on schedule, a watchdog group warned this week. A military review board met in June to look at some of the […]
By: Jasper Craven for VTDigger, Oct. 16, 2018 After the Pentagon grounded its entire fleet of F-35 fighter jets last week following the aircraft’s first crash, Vermont’s political leaders stressed the need to diagnose and remediate the issue that caused the accident, but offered no concerns over plans to make the state’s air national guard […]