Lockheed Martin reveals F-35 maintenance picture

Figures from Lockheed Martin have revealed all three variants of the F-35 stealth fighter – from the conventional A-variant, short take-off/vertical landing (STOVL) B design, and aircraft carrier-specific C version – are ahead of the required mean time between system failure and maintenance hour per flight hour. Breaking down the engineering requirement for the three F-35 variants across the programme, the projected mean flight hour between failure was 10 hours for the conventional F-35A (from a requirement of six hours),