As usual only a couple of good bits from the latest SAR - best to download and read it all for the good, the bad and the ugly....
Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) Dec 2013
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft (F-35) As of FY 2015 President's Budget
http://www.scribd.com/document_downl...?extension=pdf (0.7Mb)
Executive Summary...
"...The F-35 program continues to make slow but steady progress and is moving forward in a disciplined manner. There were many successes as well as challenges in 2013. Successes include: signing the restructured SDD contract modification; completing the Block 3 Critical Design Review; announcing the decision to terminate development of an alternate Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS); completing the 2nd F-35B Ship-Trial period (DT-II) operations on U.S. Ship WASP, accomplishing 95 Vertical Landings and 94 Short Takeoffs, with 19 night takeoffs; rolling-out the 100th aircraft from the production facility at Fort Worth, Texas; and resolving lingering technical design shortfalls to include the F-35C Arresting Hook, Lightning Protection and Fuel Dump...."
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“...One critical challenge the program made head way on in 2013 was the HMDS. For more than two years, the program worked with industry teammates to conduct dedicated flight tests and develop solutions to address the helmet's technical challenges. Those issues that hampered helmet function have been resolved, and the unit cost of the helmet system has decreased. As a result of testing and mitigation of the HMDS issues, the parallel development of an alternate helmet has been terminated. The current helmet has been deemed acceptable to support USMC IOC in 2015, and the Generation 3 helmet - to be introduced to the fleet in LRIP Lot 7 in 2016 - will meet program requirements to complete test and development in 2017. The Generation 3 helmet will include an improved night vision camera, new Liquid-Crystal Displays, automated alignment, and software improvements. The downselect to the current HMDS also resulted in a price guarantee that reduced the overall cost of the HMDS by 13 percent for the next five years...."