U.S. Recommends Slowing F-35 Production to Fix Design Flaws

F-35 F-Up of the Day: Safety concerns could delay delivery of jets even more.

Well, it looks like there's going to be another big delay in rolling out the F-35 tactical stealth fighter jet, as the U.S. military official in charge of the program recommended taking more time to work out some kinks in the fighter's design. Vice-Admiral David Zenlet said analysts have uncovered 12 "hotspots" in the plane that arose after "fatigue testing," a process used to determine how well the aircraft hold up after prolonged pressure. Zenlet said it might be wise to "temper production" of the F-35s so as to make sure there aren't any design problems once the jets are delivered to air forces around the world. Canada has signed up to buy 65 of the jets, at a cost ranging anywhere from $16 billion to more than $30 billion. The Canadian Forces are planning on having the first of the jets by 2016 and the entire fleet by 2023, although the CF-18s currently used by the air force are to be retired in 2020. Those dates could very well be pushed back by further delays along the production line.