https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...rade-now-vital
F-35 Engine Running Too Hot Due To ‘Under-Speccing,’ Upgrade Now Vital
The F-35’s engine is having to work harder to cool and power the aircraft’s systems, leading to a logistical mess.
The U.S. military sees planned engine upgrades for all the variants of
the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as critical because
the Pratt & Whitney F135 engines that power all of the aircraft have been "under spec since the beginning," according to the top officer in charge of the program.
This means the engines have to routinely operate at higher-than-expected temperatures, which has led to costly increased maintenance and logistics requirements and hurt the F-35's
overall readiness rates.
Senior U.S. military officials stressed the F135 engine's limitations while defending a plan to pursue an Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) effort
before members of a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee yesterday….