It became known that the engine of another American F-35 aircraft failed several years before the fighter crash in Texas
As it became known to the American edition of Defense News, back in March 2020, that is, three years before stories with the failure of the engine of the F-35 fighter aircraft in the state of Texas, the engine of this type of aircraft failed before pre-sale tests.
The next day, experts from Pratt & Whitney, the US manufacturer of these types of engines, and the military began a full engineering survey of the aircraft to find the root cause of the engine problem. The investigation into all the circumstances of the incident took four months.
After that, the experts decided that the engines of the aircraft needed additional acceptance procedures, since each engine must be carefully checked. As it turned out, the engine had vibration problems, which forced experts to pay attention to the technical condition of the new aircraft.
However, on December 15, 2022, that is, almost three years after the story of the identification of an engine problem, an F-35B aircraft crashed. After it, the Pentagon was forced to stop deliveries of new F-35 engines and temporarily suspend production of new aircraft.
Pratt & Whitney said the plane's engines had passed the necessary testing, verification and mitigation procedures since the December crash. However, various accidents with aircraft continued, which did not prevent the resumption of aircraft deliveries on March 14. At the same time, Pratt & Whitney does not comment to the American press on possible financial liability in connection with problems with aircraft engine vibration.
The position of the US Department of Defense, in turn, is to upgrade aircraft engines for more power and more cooling. The War Department considered a General Electric Aviation engine, but rejected it as too expensive compared to a Pratt & Whitney engine.
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