{"id":18060,"date":"2018-10-11T17:24:05","date_gmt":"2018-10-11T17:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=18060"},"modified":"2018-10-11T17:24:05","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T17:24:05","slug":"pentagon-grounds-global-fleet-of-f-35s-after-fighter-jet-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=18060","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon grounds global fleet of F-35s after fighter jet crash"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The United States defence department grounded the global fleet of F-35 stealth fighters on Thursday, as a result of the first ever crash of the costliest plane in history.<\/p>\n

A Marine Corps F-35B was completely destroyed in a crash during training in South Carolina on September 28. The pilot safely ejected.<\/p>\n

According to Joe DellaVedova, a spokesperson for the F-35 programme, the US and its international partners – including the UK and Israel – have temporarily suspended F-35 flight operations for a fleet-wide inspection of a fuel tube within the aircraft engine.<\/p>\n

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US grounds F-35 fighter fleet<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

“The action to perform the inspection is driven from initial data from the ongoing investigation of the F-35B that crashed in the vicinity of Beaufort, South Carolina,” DellaVedova said in a statement.<\/p>\n

He added that suspect fuel tubes would be removed and replaced.<\/p>\n

If good tubes are already installed, then those planes would be returned to operational status.<\/p>\n

Inspections were expected to be completed within the next 24 to 48 hours.<\/p>\n

Britain, however, said the measure did not affect all of its F-35s, and that some flying missions had been “paused,” not grounded.<\/p>\n

“Safety is our paramount concern, therefore the UK has decided to pause some F-35 flying as a precautionary measure while we consider the findings of an ongoing enquiry,” a British Defense Ministry spokesman said.<\/p>\n

“F-35 flight trials from the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth are continuing and the program remains on schedule to provide our armed forces with a game-changing capability.”<\/p>\n

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A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany [Axel Schmidt\/Reuters]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Most expensive weapons system<\/h2>\n

The South Carolina crash came only one day after the US military first used the F-35 in combat, when Marine Corps fighters hit Taliban targets in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

“The primary goal following any mishap is the prevention of future incidents,” DellaVedova said.<\/p>\n

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New US fighter jet exceeds budget by billions<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

“We will take every measure to ensure safe operations while we deliver, sustain and modernize the F-35.”<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Defense News reported that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had ordered the Air Force and Navy to make 80 percent of the fleet of key fighters, including the F-35, mission capable within a year.<\/p>\n

The order sent ripples through the halls of the Pentagon, where officials have long bemoaned a general lack of readiness for key equipment.<\/p>\n

Launched in the early 1990s, the F-35 programme is considered the most expensive weapons system in US history, with an estimated cost of some $400bn and a goal to produce 2,500 aircraft in the coming years.<\/p>\n

Once servicing and maintenance costs for the F-35 are factored in over the aircraft’s lifespan through 2070, overall program costs are expected to rise to $1.5tr.<\/p>\n

Proponents tout the F-35’s radar-dodging stealth technology, supersonic speeds, close air support capabilities, airborne agility and a massive array of sensors giving pilots unparalleled access to information.<\/p>\n

But the programme has faced numerous delays, cost overruns and setbacks, including a mysterious engine fire in 2014 that led commanders to temporarily ground the planes.<\/p>\n

So far, the US military has taken delivery of 245 F-35s, most of them to the Air Force.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United States defence department grounded the global fleet of F-35 stealth fighters on Thursday, as a result of the first ever crash of the costliest plane in history. A Marine Corps F-35B was completely destroyed in a crash during training in South Carolina on September 28. The pilot safely ejected. According to Joe DellaVedova,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":18061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}