The US military on Saturday temporarily grounded its entire fleet of F-35 fighter jets as a precautionary measure after a routine inspection detected a crack on an engine blade.
According to a statement from Pentagon, all F-35 flight operations had been suspended until the investigation was complete.
“It is too early to know the fleet-wide impact of the recent finding,” it said, adding that the F-35 Joint Program Office was working closely with Pratt and Whitney and Lockheed Martin at all F-35 locations to ensure the integrity of the engine and to return the fleet safely to flight as soon as possible.
The Pentagon said a routine engine inspection revealed a crack on an engine blade of the F-35 engine installed in F-35A aircraft AF-2 operating at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
Engineering teams would be shipping the engine’s turbine module and its associated hardware to Pratt and Whitney’s Engine Facility in Middletown, Connecticut, to conduct more thorough evaluation and root cause analysis.
The New York Times said the suspension of flights came at an awkward time for the military, which was facing automatic budget cuts that could slow its purchases of the planes.
The F-35 II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multi-role fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance and air defense missions with stealth capability.