F-35 PEO: “any foreign partner pooling out will have an effect on the others, a ‘death spiral’”

The F-35 development program continues to execute to the baseline approved at the March 2012 Milestone B recertification Defense Acquisition Board. In addition to software challenges, the three F-35 variants are encountering the types of development problems typically experienced on advanced state-of-the-art, high performance aircraft development programs at this stage of maturity. While we still have technical risks on the program. “I have confidence that the known technical issues we have will be solved and properly integrated into the F-35.” Bogdan stated.

One of the main obstacles is a state of the art Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS) developed specifically for F-35 by VSI Inc., a joint venture of Rockwell Collins and Elbit Systems of America; This helmet is providing the main flight display for the pilot, hence, its critical role in the safety and operational performance of the aircraft. The system faced several issues over the past year, including ‘green glow’ resulting from insufficient helmet display contrast, and latency of the displayed information, causing ‘jitter’ (lack of stability of the displayed symbology). Another issue was the night vision acuity and alignment, limiting night flying capability.

“We executed a short flight test program from November 2012 to March 2013 dedicated solely to exploring and understanding the helmet problems using developmental and operational test pilots flying a number of operationally representative missions.”

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