Pentagon report questions ‘unrealistic’ F-35 test schedule
01 February, 2016 James Drew Washington DC
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pentagon-report-questions-unrealistic-f-35-test-sc-421483/

The Pentagon’s chief weapons tester says an operational evaluation of the
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II could be delayed by up to one year because
of difficulties completing developmental testing by the due date of August
2017.

In his annual F-35 report, published 1 February, Michael Gilmore also
cautions against entering into a three-year “block buy” before completing
operational assessments, where full-rate production lots 12-14 would be
bundled together to generate production savings.

According to the report, completing developmental testing of the full-up
Block 3F weapon system in 2017 is “unrealistic” and the F-35 joint programme
office should “acknowledge the schedule pressures” and make the necessary
adjustments – something that it has worked to avoid since the 2012 programme
re-baselining.

“Full Block 3F mission systems development and testing cannot be completed
by May 2017 – the date reflected in the most recent program office schedule,
which is seven months later than the date planned after the 2012
restructure,” Gilmore writes. Instead, he reports that flight testing “will
likely not finish” prior to January 2018.

The report assumes the current rate of 6.8 flight tests per month and
completion of all 7,230 planned Block 3F test points, plus the unearthing of
new F-35 faults.

The Department of Defense’s F-35 joint programme office, however, says it
remains “on track for completion in the fourth quarter of 2017” with over
80% of developmental test points complete.

In what has become an annual difference of opinion, the F-35 office says
Gilmore’s report “doesn’t tell the full story” and overlooks efforts to
resolve known technical challenges and schedule risk.

“A few recent examples of issues that are resolved include the F-35C
tailhook, the F135 engine rub, and F-35B auxiliary air inlet door,” a
spokesman for the F-35 programme says. “The F-35C has now ‘caught the wire’
more than 200 times at sea, the engine rub fix is incorporated into the
production line and delivered engines are being retrofitted, and the F‑35B
has performed more than 1,000 vertical landings safely.”

The spokesman did not have an immediate response to the block buy issue but
explains that ongoing contract negotiations don’t fall within the purview of
the office of developmental test and evaluation. Also, a block-buy
incorporating lots 12-14 would represent orders for fiscal years 2018-2020,
by which time developmental testing will have wrapped up and aircraft coming
off the assembly line in Fort Worth, Texas likely won’t need any structural
corrections.

The report questions if it would be premature to lock-in as many as 270 US
government orders before completing IOT&E, particularly given problems
identified in the Blocks 3i and 3F configurations.

The report reflects positively on the “Gen-3” F-35 helmet introduced last
year by Rockwell Collins ESA Vision Systems. Prior iterations of the
helmet-mounted display system (HMDS) were plagued with bugs and glitches,
but many of those issues appear to be resolved in Gen-3.

“Developmental test pilots reported less jitter, proper alignment, improved
ability to set symbology intensity, less latency in imagery projections, and
improved performance of the night vision camera,” the report states.

More than 150 operational F-35s have been delivered to date, and each will
need extensive modification to the Block 3F standard once develop concludes.
To date, the flight test programme has completed 90 weapons separations
including the most recent Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder shot, plus 17 weapon
accuracy trials.