DOD Suspends F-35, F135 Engine Deliveries Amid Investigation

The move comes in the wake of a hard landing accident at a Texas base last month.

Kimberly Johnson

Thursday, January 05, 2023 at 03:34 PM ET

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F-35 Lightning II [Credit: U.S. Air Force]

Key Takeaways:

The Pentagon has halted all deliveries of F-35 fighter jets and F135 engines following an F-35B hard landing accident at a Texas base last month.
The decision was made amid an ongoing investigation by Naval Air Systems Command into the December 15 incident, where a pilot ejected after the jet made a hard landing, bounced, and tipped over.
Flight operations restrictions have been imposed at F-35 production facilities, preventing necessary acceptance flight tests and causing Lockheed Martin to miss its annual F-35 delivery target.

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Pentagon officials have stopped all deliveries of F-35s, as well as deliveries of F135 engines for the fighters following a F-35B hard landing accident at a Texas base last month.

The decision comes amid a Naval Air Systems Command investigation into a December 15 incident where a F-35B pilot made an emergency ejection after the fighter jet made a hard landing at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas.