Fifteen F-35As belonging to Norway and United States have been grounded due to “peeling and crumbling” insulation on cooling lines inside their fuel tanks.
By U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Timothy Boyer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The problem was first discovered on a F-35A that was undergoing maintenance work to upgrade it for initial operational capability.
Ten aircraft from Hill Air Force Base, two U.S. and two Norwegian F-35As at Luke plus one jet at Nellis are affected.
U.S. Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said “initial indications are that impacts are either minimal or can be mitigated.”
She added that it could take “days to weeks” to repair each jet after a fix has been identified.