F-35 fighter jet plagued by poor visibility, Pentagon report warns

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/03/06/f35_fighter_jet_plagued_by_poor_visibility_pentagon_report_warns.html



A new U.S. Defence Department report warns of “deficiencies” with the F-35's futuristic design. Pictured here, one of the jets is assembled at the Lockheed Martin factory in Texas.

F-35 fighter jet plagued by poor visibility, Pentagon report warns
By: Bruce Campion-Smith Parliament Hill, Published on Wed Mar 06 2013

OTTAWA—The F-35 jet, eyed as Canada’s fighter of the future, may have a fatal flaw — a blind spot that prevents pilots from “checking their six” or easily watching for an enemy behind them, a new report says.

Experienced fighter pilots who have flown the high-tech aircraft say the design shortfall could cost future F-35 pilots their lives.

“Aft visibility will get the pilot gunned every time,” wrote one American pilot, who flew the fighter last fall at Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base.

~snip~

The Feb. 15, 2013 report, prepared by Michael Gilmore, director of operational test and evaluation, paints a sobering picture of an aircraft that remains far from being combat ready. Pilots who flew the aircraft last fall faced a litany of “significant” restrictions that barred them from flying at night, in bad weather, in formation with other aircraft, doing aerobatics or testing the jet’s combat capabilities.