The administration of the F-35 stealth aircraft program has approved the Pratt & Whitney engine manufacturing company to continue supplying engines to the fighter jets, after a solution was found to a fault that halted production and delivery of aircraft.
Defense News reports that the engineers found a solution to dampen a rare phenomenon of creating “harmonic resonance” that caused vibrations in the engine. The possibility that such a phenomenon also happened to other fighter planes is being investigated.
There is still no approval to deliver the newest and last produced F-35s to customers. The administration announced that the US government is now preparing an instruction document for F-35 operators and the manufacturer Lockheed Martin to enable a safe resumption of flights in about a week.
Most F-35s are manufactured at Lockheed Martin’s facilities in Fort Worth, Texas. Before delivery of an aircraft, strict test flights are carried out. On December 15, during such a test flight, the vibration phenomenon occurred in the engine, forcing an Air Force test pilot to abandon his plane.
At first they suspected a malfunction in a high-pressure fuel pipe, but in further tests the “harmonic resonance” phenomenon was detected, which caused vibrations in the engine. The problem has been fixed, and delivery of the stealth planes will soon resume.