‘It has to work’: Inside the military’s race to solve an ejection seat safety conundrum

‘It has to work’: Inside the military’s race to solve an ejection seat safety conundrum
‘It has to work’: Inside the military’s race to solve an ejection seat safety conundrum

Fear over a defective part led to grounding and inspection of hundreds of planes. After all that, only four problems were actually discovered. Was shutting down flight operations worth it?

US Air Force F-35s return to service after ejection seat inspections

US Air Force F-35s return to service after ejection seat inspections
US Air Force F-35s return to service after ejection seat inspections

The F-35 fleet was stood down on July 29th due to concerns related to the ejection seat propulsion system.

Navy has completed F-35 ejection seat inspections; Marines at 90 percent

Navy has completed F-35 ejection seat inspections; Marines at 90 percent
Navy has completed F-35 ejection seat inspections; Marines at 90 percent

Earlier on Friday the Air Force announced that the majority of its F-35A jets were grounded to check on the ejection seat issue.

EXCLUSIVE: Air Force grounding F-35s over ejection seat concerns

EXCLUSIVE: Air Force grounding F-35s over ejection seat concerns
EXCLUSIVE: Air Force grounding F-35s over ejection seat concerns

The stand-down follows the Navy grounding an undisclosed number of jets due to concerns with ejection seat safety.

F-35 Threat Library Still Way Too Slow; Light Pilots Cleared to Fly

F-35 Threat Library Still Way Too Slow; Light Pilots Cleared to Fly
F-35 Threat Library Still Way Too Slow; Light Pilots Cleared to Fly

PENTAGON: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter possesses a remarkable array of sensors and processors to let it find the enemy and help the pilot kill or evade him. But the crucial threat library — known as Mission Data Files — just isn’t being developed and updated quickly enough, Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, head of the F-35…