AW&ST: .......As the Boeing 787 fleet remains grounded due to safety issues with it's lithium-ion batteries, the Joint Strike Fighter program office is not saying whether the issue will prompt any review of the F-35's electrical system, which incorporates lithium-ion battery that is larger and higher-voltage than the 787's and has a once-per-sortie charge/discharge cycle. Made by a U.S. subsidiary of France's Saft, the JSF battery is the only onboard means of starting the fighter's integrated power pack, which starts the engine. It is also the second backup source of electrical power to flight controls and avionics, in the event that the engine-mounted starter-generator and the power pack both fail......
Lockheed Martin spokesman Mike Rein says that the F-35's battery "has undergone extensive destructive testing...... The F-35's batteries are not provided by Yuasa, therefore we expect no impact to the program."
Yuasa manufactures the 787 battery, but
the investigation of the 787 issue has not yet concluded that the battery design or manufacturing issues are to blame.