These vibrations, reported for the first time on Jan. 4 by Business Insider, were detailed in a US Navy report with data dating back to 2014, but were not made public before. The vibrations create rough takeoffs that hurt and disorient pilots at the critical moment when they're taking off from a carrier.
The Pentagon has formed a Red Team to fix the problem, which found the problem was due to several factors central to the plane's design, and recommended several fixes that will take several months to several years to fully fix, Business Insider said. The report states that long term actions to address the problem will not take place until 2019, at which point they'll take 12-36 months to implement. Redesigns to the plane, as well as to carriers, may be necessary to fully address the problem.
The problems were extensively described by the Pentagon Director of Operational Test& Evaluation, J. Michael Gilmore, in his final annual report, released on January 10.
“Due to the stiffness of the landing gear struts, particularly the nose gear, taxiing in the F-35C results in excessive jarring of the aircraft and often requires pilots to stop taxiing if they need to make changes using the touchscreens on the cockpit displays or to write information on their kneeboard,” Gilmore wrote.
This video shows several carrier launches of the F-35C, the first of which shows the pilot subjected to vertical jarring so severe the helmet visor snaps open. Another show the pilot’s head hitting the canopy. (US Navy video)
The report continued by noting that “Currently, the program has no plans to correct the deficiency of excessive jarring during F-35C taxi operations.”
Business Insider reported that a Pentagon deficiency report in 2015 stated that extreme movements in the cockpit during launch risked pilot health.
One hundred and five pilots completing catapult launches rated their level of pain or discomfort on a scale of one to five. Of the 105, 74 pilots reported "moderate" pain or a 3, 18 pilots reported "severe" pain or a 4, and one pilot reported "severe pain that persists" after launching from an aircraft carrier.
The “excessive vertical oscillations during catapult launches make the F-35C operationally unsuitable for carrier operations, according to fleet pilots who conducted training onboard USS George Washington during the latest set of ship trials,” Gilmore continued.
He further added that, “Although numerous deficiencies have been written against the F-35C catapult launch – starting with the initial set of F-35C ship trials (DT‑I) in November 2014 – the deficiencies were considered acceptable for continuing developmental testing.”
AC/DC in an Angus Young style, or F-35C's 'delay gear'? Notice $400k helmet jumping out. @alexjlockie to @BI_Defense https://t.co/d7lFM0I6As http://pic.twitter.com/0xlUnkEWHp
— JR Vianney (@jrvianney) January 27, 2017
“Fleet pilots reported that the oscillations were so severe that they could not read flight critical data, an unacceptable and unsafe situation during a critical phase of flight. Most of the pilots locked their harness during the catapult shot which made emergency switches hard to reach, again creating, in their opinion, an unacceptable and unsafe situation.
“The U.S. Navy has informed the Program Office that it considers this deficiency to be a “must fix” deficiency. The program should address the deficiency of excessive vertical oscillations during catapult launches within SDD to ensure catapult operations can be conducted safely during IOT&E and during operational carrier deployments.
This footage of #F35C bumpy launch shows why this fix is going to be complex and time-consuming https://t.co/CP06yvvIRx
— Giovanni de Briganti (@JoedeBrig) January 27, 2017
The Joint Program Office has not responded specifically to this latest problem discovered on the F-35 program, but Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, the F-35 Program Executive Officer, responded to Gilmore’s 68-page report with his stock response:
“The latest DOT&E report contained no surprises; all of the issues are well-known to the JPO, the U.S. services, our international partners, and our industry team.”
However, the US Navy plans to declare Initial Operational Capability of the F-35C variant in 2019, and clearly will not be able to unless this problem is fixed.
-ends-
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