The Lockheed Martin F-35 was famously given the name "Lightning II" to honor the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter that saw service during the Second World War. However, despite officially being an "all-weather" fighter, there are now very serious concerns that the F-35 aircraft sitting out in the open in Texas at the aerospace giant's facility outside of Fort Worth could be susceptible to weather damage.
If that wasn't enough of a concern, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that U.S. taxpayers might be forced to pick up the bill for any repairs that are required as the result of the Lightning IIs being stored on the tarmac. The aircraft are now waiting for the long overdue Technology Refresh-3 (TR-3) hardware and software upgrade, which had originally been slated to be completed in July 2023.
As the Pentagon has refused to accept the jets until the TR-3 update is finalized, the jets are piling up – and more than 100 could now be literally exposed to the elements, and potential weather risks. Though Fort Worth is far enough inland that there aren't concerns of a hurricane hitting the facility, Texas summer storms can still be intense with upwards of 60 mph winds at times, while the heat could hit triple digits for days on end.
According to the Bloomberg report, the defense contractor has a liability cap of just $100,000 per jet – despite the fact that each F-35 has a price tag ranging from $82.5 to $109 million.
Should weather-related damage to the fifth-generation stealth aircraft be greater than the cap, it would fall to the Department of Defense (DoD) to cover it. In other words, it is the American taxpayer who will be on the hook should there be any catastrophic weather incidents around Fort Worth.
"This insurance works very similar to commercial auto and aircraft insurance," the contract management agency explained in the disclosure for the F-35. "Provided the contractor meets the underwriting terms and conditions, then the US will cover the costs over and above the deductible, with a few exceptions."
Even worse is that should any damage to an aircraft result in "a complete loss," then the Pentagon would be forced to either pay for its replacement "or determine not to replace the lost aircraft."
Per the terms of the contract with Lockheed Martin, "Damage caused by tornado, hail and windstorm are covered; however, damage caused by a mechanic is determined on a case-by-case basis depending on the task being performed."
It was only weeks ago that the aerospace firm warned it was running out of space for the aircraft that were piling up while it was struggling to complete the TR-3. In addition, that upgrade is also expected to cost more than double the original $718 million that it was reported to cost when it was first initiated.
The upgrade has been plagued by numerous problems and it could be months before all the bugs are worked out. In the meantime, an undisclosed number of U.S. military's highly expensive fifth-generation fighter aircraft are sitting in the sun and heat, just waiting for the wrath of Mother Nature.
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.
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