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Thursday, June 15th, 2017

F-35 Stealth Jets Are Choking Their Pilots

Author:     DAVID AXE
Source:     Daily Beast
Publication Date:     06.13.17 7:02 AM ET
 Link: F-35 Stealth Jets Are Choking Their Pilots
Stephan:   We spend more on our military than the next seven nations combined. That kind of spending inevitably leads to corruption, poor planning, and poor decisions, the F-35 is a classic example as is the Zumwalt class destroyer's armament. Vastly expensive, poor performance, the sure hallmarks of a system run amok.  Here's the latest on the F-35. You can't make this stuff up.

F-35 fighter jet
Credit: Gary Cameron/Reuters

The U.S. Air Force has grounded a quarter of its new F-35 stealth fighters after five pilots reported symptoms consistent with oxygen-deprivation.

The flight restriction, which affects 55 of the roughly 200 F-35s in service, has alarmed experts. They worry that, as the Air Force buys more and more F-35s, future groundings could affect a wide swath of the military’s fighter fleet.

But the Air Force is trying to put on a brave face on the problem. Service officials insist the Air Force will always have other options if its F-35s become unflyable.

Above 10,000 feet or so, the air thins out. A pilot flying above that altitude must breathe oxygen through a mask—or risk hypoxia. But if the mask or its attached filter malfunctions, the flier can still suffer hypoxia-like symptoms. Dizziness. Confusion. Even blackouts.

In recent years the U.S. military has struggled with hypoxia problems on many of its aircraft, including F-22 stealth fighters, T-45 training jets, and F/A-18 naval fighters.

The five F-35 pilots, all […]

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