The United States may need an additional $38 billion to overhaul the engines of Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jets, if it wants to meet its radar cooling needs, a government audit source said. and other divisions, Bloomberg reported.
Specifically, in its annual report published on May 30.5, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that the F-35 fighter jet - the world's most expensive weapons system, is having problems with the cooling system. .
US Air Force F-35 Lightning II fighter
According to the report, an overload of the cooling system forced the engines to operate beyond their design parameters. "Additional heat is increasing wear, reducing engine life and adding $38 billion in maintenance costs," the report said.
The more air pressure is transmitted, the hotter the F-35's engine gets. The electrical system, which relies on specifications designed years ago, cannot keep up with the cooling needs of the jet's increasingly complex avionics, according to the GAO.
When asked about the cooling problem prior to the release of the GAO report, a Lockheed representative said "capabilities continue to be refined based on customer needs" and that the company "is working hard." efforts to address and support these requests”.
Earlier, the Department of Defense's F-35 program agency estimated that the life of these fighter jet components could be reduced by up to 20% if engine overheating is not corrected. According to the agency, the engine of the F-35A model that the US Air Force is operating is expected to need to be overhauled every 1.600 flight hours instead of 2.000 flight hours as previously prescribed.
Demand for US-made F-35s is increasing in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and escalating US-China tensions. The F-35 is the most expensive weapon in US military history and variants of this fighter are being used by the US air force, navy and marines, according to the newspaper. Stars and Stripes.
