Laura Siebert News Today

Contractors Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney are now in an open squabble over what powers the F-35 going forward.

In a high-profile public spat with little precedence between the airframe and engine giants, Pratt & Whitney executives are formally accusing Lockheed Martin of prioritizing its own bottom line by seeking an adaptive engine solution for the Joint Strike Fighter.

 

DOD will seek a national security waiver for a prohibited material that has been used in production of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II following a safety and security probe, a program spokesperson confirmed Monday.

The US has suspended production and deliveries of F-35 Lightning II due to a faulty magnetic component, which is being dealt with.

Earlier this week, the Pentagon acknowledged that it had stopped accepting deliveries of the F-35 due to Chinese alloys used in magnets inside the F-35 turbomachine.

The Pentagon suspended all deliveries of the F-35 fighter jet after discovering that an engine component is made of alloys from China.

F-35 fighter jets already in service are not affected by the temporary pause.

The component, a magnet used in F-35 turbomachine pumps, “does not transmit information or harm the integrity of the aircraft and there are no performance, quality, safety, or security risks associated with this issue”

The Pentagon has confirmed that it will stop the deliveries of new F-35 fighter jets after Lockheed Martin found that a metal component used in the jets’ engines had come from China.