And in this I call massive bull****. This is a fundamental area of data integration in many layers of sensor integration; it's incredibly complex in even ground based supercomputer based systems. The fact they've called in outside experts, outside the base software team, shows they're panicking....
F-35 Software Challenge Won't Delay IOC
WASHINGTON — The F-35B joint strike fighter remains on track to go operational for the Marine Corps this year, despite a recently discovered software fusion problem that manifests itself when multiple F-35 sensor suites attempt to communicate.
Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, the head of the F-35 Joint Program Office, said the problem with the targeting software is being worked by a team of experts from inside and outside the Pentagon, and expressed confidence the issue would be solved relatively shortly. He also notedthe Marines are aware of the issue and have decided it is not anything that should prevent them from reaching initial operating capability (IOC) with the 2B software package.
The software issue highlighted by Bogdan involves the sensor fusion that occurs between F-35 jets. The fighter is designed to gather information through its sensor suites and share it with other F-35s in the area, with up to four jets gathering situational awareness data and creating a joint operational picture for the pilots.
In most cases, Bogdan told reporters Tuesday, the software fusion worked well. But in the most extreme cases, with multiple air and ground threats affecting a set of four F-35s, "we found out that the fusion model sometimes, not all the time, sometimes creates an inaccurate picture for the pilot," he said. "If there is a single ground threat, a surface-to-air missile [battery] on the range, and I have four F-35s all with their sensors on and operating flying into that airspace to see that one threat, what we want to have happen is we want, no matter which airplane is picking up the threat, from whatever angles and sensors, to correctly identify that single threat and then pass that information [to] all four airplanes, so all four pilots are looking at the same threat in the same place at the same time," Bogdan explained.
But during testing, operators found the F-35 system had trouble identifying if the target was one target or multiple, something Bogdan said was a result of each plane looking at the target from a slightly different angle or using different sensors. In response, Bogdan's team has began work to fix the issue, including bringing in outside software fusion experts and having them consult with Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor on the F-35.
In the meantime, the Marines are able to operate the jet by changes in the concept of operations used in flights. Although Bogdan was unwilling to go into operational details, he noted one potential workaround could involve breaking up the four-ship F-35s in favor of two two-ship pairings.......