Lockheed’s F-35 has fewer unfixed defects

Bloomberg

The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin Corp. have reduced laundry list of deficiencies on the contractor’s F-35 with fighter jet, the world’s costliest weapons program, due for a key combat simulation by mid-year.
The number of “open deficiency reports” now stands at 831, the Defense Department’s F-35 program office said, down from 845 in September 2021. Earlier last year the total stood at 864, including eight “Category 1” defects deemed the most serious to pilot safety, flight operations or both.
Five “Category 1” defects remain, but none of them are in the group described as
potentially jeopardising the “safety, security or another critical requirement,” according to Russell Goemaere, a spokesman for the F-35 office.
Lockheed spokesperson Laura Siebert said in a statement that “we continue to work” with the Pentagon “to address open items, with approximately 80% categorised as low priority” or “in resolution.”
In August, the F-35 program will attempt to complete a simulation of combat against the most advanced threats posed by Chinese and Russian aircraft and air defenses. The simulation has been delayed by years.