Pentagon Says Lockheed F-35 Flights Can Resume After Engine Trouble

The engine affected had been subjected to “prolonged exposure to high levels of heat and other operational stresses” in testing, according to an e-mailed statement from the Pentagon’s F-35 office.

The maker of the engine, United Technologies Corp. (UTX)’s Pratt & Whitney unit, stated that inspectors didn’t find any other “cracks or signs of similar engine stress,” and no redesign will be required.

On February 27 U.S. Lieutenant-General Christopher Bogdan, the Pentagon program chief for the F-35, accused Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney of trying to "squeeze every nickel" out of the U.S. government while building what is the most expensive combat aircraft in history.

"What I see Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney doing today is behaving as if they are getting ready to sell me the very last F-35 and the very last engine and are trying to squeeze every nickel out of that last F-35 and that last engine," Bogdan told reporters at the Australian International Airshow.