Originally Posted by Courtney
Even LM's engineers cannot design into the airframe the fact that it won't be hit by anything.
They (LM and friends) surely seem to be betting on the idea that the F35 simply won't suffer from damage sustained during battle.
Not that the Pentagon is following the same logic;
Lockheed F-35 Should Get Safety Valve, Pentagon Official Says - Businessweek
The Pentagon’s top weapons buyer is backing calls to restore a valve on Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)’s F-35 jet that improves the fighter’s chances to survive a hit from a high-explosive round.
Which sounds more than logical knowing that besides the normal CAS missions which where mainly performed with the F16 and F18's, the F35 also has to take over some, if not almost all, of the A10 missions.
For a program so far down the road (10+ years now) , with so many pre production, development and LRIP examples flying it certainly seems to be having issues with many very basic items.