F-35 Lightning II may explode from lightning
 

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020...ng-once-again/

Fuel system issue may cause F-35A's Lightning II's to explode if struck by lightning. :eek:

It has fuel tank inerting installed to prevent that, looks like the system might spring a leak. This is more along the lines of an AD than a catastrophic defect. It will have an operating limitation until fixed. If we get in a war in the meantime they'll waiver the operating limitation (DoD is flexible that way).

Airliners flew without fuel tank inerting for many decades, I can only recall one documented in-flight explosion.

;)........

This bird is a turd and is the result of what happens when Congress builds an airplane.

Talk to a few people who are flying it or have flown against it in training.

It has capabilities which do not exist in other platforms. It's a pretty hot commodity in maritime options.

But you're right about one thing, it didn't save any money trying to do one size fits all. Next time they won't.

Well, I appreciate the idealism. I doubt the government has learned its lesson. Think about what has happened in the past. Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it...especially when politics are involved.

DoD will push back hard. Next-gen fighters are already being planned.

USN/USMC will be about what you'd expect, 6th gen: better than the last one but still recognizable for what it is. The need to operate off ships imposes some specific limitations.

USAF has gone off the pavement, off the soft-shoulder, through the fence and appears to be off-roading. They're considering revolutionary new air-dominance concepts which may rely very heavily on things which are not traditional fighters. They're talking about a series of rapidly evolving aircraft types, kind of like the cold-war century-series. Rather than get locked into particular technology/platform for 30+ years, they intend to be able to rapidly develop and build entirely new models as technical advances and evolving requirements dictate. Going to be interesting.

Might I suggest that any airplane might explode if struck by lightning?

And there's that.