Whilst the failure of the F35 to make it over the pond is sad, the worrying thing for many people I would have thought was the on the face of it admission by Pratt & Whitney that the Integrally Bladed Rotor needs to be redesigned.
Implicitly to me the fact that they are saying that it needs to be redesigned means to me that they know there is a problem there, as I think was recently demonstrated and has been backed up by the recent time restrictions on flights I think I noticed.
If the engine manufacturers know that there is a problem that has yet as it seems to be engineered out of the system, one could wonder how long it will be before newly engineered engines are being manufactured, go though ground testing and other necessary safety testing and certification.
Which brings one on to timing and money.
With due respect it would seem rather courageous to suggest that all the necessary work could be completed within a year, USMC IOC is meant to be July 2015. I cannot see the USMC declaring IOC on its first 10-16 aircraft squadron with the present engines, "No over water flying, no long flights, we need to swap out the engines some time soon". No doubt the software will need slight tweaks to take account of different engine charicteristics.
Then who is going to pay for the 100 or so engines needed to replace the ones presently in service, United Technologies? Lockheed Martin? Not to mention the necessary redesign work, new tooling and changes to the maintenance documentation and schedules.
This is to say nothing of what knock on effects this will have to the production of new planes at Fort Worth, or will they be manufactured with out the engines and stored till the manufacturing logistics catch up?
No doubt I have read this all wrong but it makes sense to me.
