Release of the Pentagon operational testing chief’s annual report has afforded critics of the tri-service F-35 fighter program a new opportunity to assail the program. They cite deficiencies described in the report’s F-35 chapter to argue the program is not delivering promised capabilities in a timely fashion. However, the issues raised in the report are not new. Most of them are well on their way to being corrected, and it isn’t clear some of the issues would impact aircraft performance in any event. Much of the public discussion following release of the report has exaggerated problems in the F-35 effort while understating successes, creating a distorted view of the program. I have written a commentary for Forbes about why the test report shouldn’t be taken all that seriously that can be read here.
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