Troubled Lockheed F-35 Risks More Groundings on Lack of Working Engines

tech.hindustantimes.com:

A shortage of spare engines may leave some Lockheed F-35 grounded because it's taking longer than planned to repair a key component for the US's costliest warplane, according to congressional auditors.

“Inadequate maintenance depot capacity leading to a shortage of operating” engines has “grounded F-35s more often and for longer time periods than expected,” the Government Accountability Office said in a new report Tuesday.

Much of the issue stems from the Pentagon's failure to develop an adequate strategy for sustaining the engine, including providing sufficient depot repair capability as production continues, the GAO said. Engines for the plane that's built by Lockheed Martin Corp. are provided by Raytheon Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney unit.

So far, 820 F-35s have been delivered worldwide out of a potential 3,000 for the US and partner nations. After years of talks, the Pentagon announced Monday evening that it reached preliminary agreement with Lockheed on the next three-year contract for 375 more of the advanced fighters.

Lockheed said Tuesday that it expects to reach a final agreement on the F-35 contract in the third quarter. The No. 1 US defense contractor cut its earnings forecast and trimmed its near-term F-35 plan, citing impacts from Covid-19 and other factors affecting the program.

Lockheed's shares fell as much as 3.5% early Tuesday before paring the decline amid broader market gains. The stock was down 1.5% at 12:05 p.m. in New York.

The GAO report expands on public testimony the agency gave to a House panel in April. Its warning of the need to stem a current, and possibly expanding, shortage of ready engines contrasts with positive publicity that the F-35 is receiving as it flies patrols over