DOD, Lockheed Martin Disagree On Responsibility For Correcting A Production Issue

The Department of Defense Joint Program Office has suspended accepting new F-35 airplanes until an agreement is reached on a "contractual issue", according to Lockheed Martin officials.

Defense News reports that the dispute arose last fall. Corrosion was discovered in fastener holes on F-35A airplanes being maintained at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Lockheed and the Joint Program Office determined a course of action for repairs, and deliveries continued through 2017.

But later, the two parties disagreed about which should pay for the repairs. At that time, DoD again paused deliveries, and is not commenting on how long that paus might last. “Per the direction of the program executive officer, F-35 deliveries have been temporarily paused while the government and Lockheed Martin reach an agreement on a contractual issue regarding repair work to remediate the known aircraft fastener hole primer quality escape,” said a statement from the F-35 joint program office.

“This is not a safety of flight issue but rather a contractual resourcing issue that needs to be resolved. The government has implemented this pause to ensure the warfighter receives a quality product from industry. We look forward to a swift resolution of this issue.”

Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told reporters at a recent event that "the issue itself is well on its way to being resolved.” But she said that from DOD's point of view, Lockheed had become lax in meeting specified manufacturing requirements, and that the Pentagon was also culpable for not enforcing those standards. “The department, in an effort to move forward with the program, has perhaps not been as thoughtful as we want to be from this point forward in terms of what we consider acceptable performance,” she said. “I think this corrosion issue is one example where we have expectations for workmanship, and at this point we’re not seeing those workmanship levels being achieved.”

Fourteen F-35s have been delivered since the "partial pause" was put in place, according to Defense News. Delivery of five airplanes ... three for the U.S. and one each for Norway and Australia ... have been deferred. Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, the Air Force’s top uniformed acquisition officer, said that the pause has been in place "for a few weeks" and that it will hopefully end "in a few more."

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report