US military officials have approved limited flights for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jets, improving the chances of the newest US combat jet making its international debut before potential buyers this week.
The F-35, the world’s most expensive weapons project with a price tag of about $400 billion, has been grounded since the massive failure of the Pratt & Whitney engine on a US Air Force F-35 plane at a Florida air base on June 23.
Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said on Tuesday US Air Force and Navy officials had granted the radar-evading jet a limited flight clearance that required engine inspections and carried restrictions on its flights. No details about the restrictions were immediately available.
Kirby said the lifting of a fleetwide grounding order was encouraging, and US officials remained hopeful that the F-35 could make its international debut at this week’s Farnborough air show, but no decision had been made.
The jet’s failure to appear at a big military air show in Britain last week and its absence from the first days of the Farnborough event in southern England have been a blow for US officials and their international partners, who were hoping to showcase the capabilities of the new multi-role fighter.
Global orders for the F-35 are expected to exceed 3,000, with Italy, Turkey, Canada and Australia among the US allies planning to purchase the plane.
Matthew Bates, spokesman for Pratt & Whitney, said the company had great confidence in the F135 engine it builds for the new fighter jet and had worked closely with the military to return the jet to flying status.
“It would be great for the jets to come to the Farnborough Air Show so the audience here can see the capabilities the F-35 brings to the US and our partners,” Bates said.
