A design flaw has left a fighter jet that's part of the Pentagon's most expensive project ever incapable of carrying the military's most highly advanced bombs.
The F-35B's internal weapons bay is too small for a Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) load, according to an Inside Defense report.
Though it's mandated that an F-35B jet, designed by Lockheed Martin, hold eight SDB IIs in the bay, only four reportedly fit.
The F-35 program will reportedly cost a whopping $590 billion over the next decade.
The F-35B is one of three variants of the F-35 program - and it's proved the most expensive and most troublesome to get off the ground. The F-35B features a lift fan that will allow it to make short takeoffs and vertical landings - like a helicopter.
In the US, it will be used by the Marine Corps. However, the F-35B is the centerpiece of the British Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier-based fleet. The Ministry of Defense has ordered 48 of the aircraft and they are the only fighter jets set to launch off two planned British aircraft carriers - the HMS Queen Elizabeth and the HMS Prince of Wales.
The F-35 in general - and the F-35B in particular - has been plagued by massive cost overruns and delays.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-carry-highly-advanced-bombs-design-flaw.html
Unfrigginbelievable, how the hell can a design flaw be overlooked all this time? Tell me again how great our government is at watching taxpayer dollars?