ORAC & CM,
Bogdan hedged his December bet:
Bogdan: F-35 Engine Fix May be Ready by Year’s End
You can dig the seal trench deeper and make it wider, but that isn't the root cause of the problem. IMHO, and I've said this before, the engine is flexing the fix becomes complicated to stop it from flexing. It gets into the basic structure of the engine, even the mounting system. For sure, the final solution will not be a lighter engine, but maybe one that can be run throughout the flight envelope without concern. But when? Big question. It takes time…