The Lightening II is a lightening magnet

One example of bitter irony is the admission that the F-35 Lightning attracts lightning strikes at an unacceptably high rate. Current Pentagon requirements insist that planes be anti-lightning equipped for at least 12 continuous hours. But with the F-35, if the plane flies twice in 12 hours, it is susceptible to lightning strikes.

Does anything on the F-35 work?

The same Business Insider report quoted the Pentagon’s audit in which it describes all the other parts of the F-35 Lightning that do not work, or do not work on an acceptable level. The results revealed that all versions of the F-35, ‘Have reliability issues with their avionics processors, landing gear tires, thermal management systems, ejection seat assemblies, cockpit display electronics unit, helmet display units, seat survival kits, igniter-spark in the turbine engines, and on-board oxygen generating systems.’

“Can’t turn. Can’t climb. Can’t run.”

Possibly the most shocking revelation for the American people regarding the F-35 Lightning II fighter is that it can’t dogfight. After numerous failed exercises in which the F-35 was repeatedly defeated by last-generation fighters from the US, Russia and China, the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin have made the dubious claim that the Lightning was never meant to be a fighter that dog fights with other fighters. Instead, it’s a short-range aerial missile platform. A report from Reuters one year ago this month proclaimed the F-35, “Can’t turn. Can’t climb. Can’t run.”

Engine flame-outs

The reason the F-35 can’t turn, climb or run is that the plane was designed with only one engine instead of two like all of its foreign counterparts. And that one engine had such design flaws that engine fires required the manufacturer – Pratt & Whitney – to completely redesign the F-35’s engine. When the entire F-35 fleet was grounded two years ago after another engine fire, Rear Admiral John Kirby announced, “Additional inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered…Return to flight will be determined based on inspection results and analysis of engineering data.”

Can’t fly in the Middle East, or near the equator

Possibly the most astonishing revelation regarding the F-35 Lightning was exposed when the Pentagon admitted the plane’s engine overheats when flown in hot climates, like the Middle East. The fighter was designed without a typical cooling system, instead opting for outside air to blow through the plane, cooling it down in the process. The fighter also requires low-temperature jet fuel to avoid engine overheating. Fuel tankers baking in Middle East heat rise to too high a temperature level. The Pentagon even ordered all fuel tankers painted white in an attempt to keep them cool.

F-35 pilot condemns the plane

Probably the most embarrassing episode from the F-35 scandal occurred earlier this month when an F-35 test pilot report about the plane was leaked to the public via the site War Is Boring. “The F-35 was at a distinct energy disadvantage,” the unnamed test pilot said of the F-35 after mock battles with an F-16. That was the result even though the F-35 had all external bombs and fuel tanks removed for the test and the F-16 was loaded with all the external materials it could hold.

“Even with the limited F-16 target configuration, the F-35A remained at a distinct energy disadvantage for every engagement,” the pilot wrote. The flier even revealed that as the battle went on, the F-35’s performance deteriorated, “Energy deficit to the bandit would increase over time.” Other fatal flaws the F-35 test pilot revealed were that the Lightning is too slow to dog fight and each time he tried, the F-16 won the contest. The pilot also said he was blind to his rear because his helmet was too big for the small cockpit and wouldn’t allow him to even turn his head. When compared to the 1980’s-era F-16, the F-35 pilot reported that his Lightning II was, “substantially inferior.”

Within hours of the leaked report, the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin both responded publicly. They each explained that the mock battle with the F-16 was a dog fight scenario that would never happen in real battle. Instead, the F-35’s stealth capability and short-range missile systems will shoot down any enemy planes long before they reach dog fighting range. And that’s all the plane was designed to do. In other words, the F-35 is an aerial missile platform, not a fighter plane.