In yet another blow for the F-35 program, the plane's highly advanced onboard sensors are having problems, Breaking Defense reports.
The sensors are responsible for tracking and sorting through external threats facing the plane, such as an enemy missile launch. However, the plane's sensors are not able to effectively integrate the incoming threat data with the plane's onboard software. This leads to an increase in false alarms.
Dr. J. Michael Gilmore, the director of Operational Test and Evaluation for the Department of Defense's weapons systems, wrote in his 2014 annual report that the “fusion of information from own-ship sensors, as well as fusion of information from off-board sensors is still deficient."
"The Distributed Aperture System continues to exhibit high false-alarm rates and false target tracks, and poor stability performance, even in later versions of software," he wrote.
Still, Gilmore noted, the onboard software did continue to make gains and is steadily improving the reliability of the sensors.
Thomas Lawhead, an Air Force civilian involved in the F-35A program, echoed this view. Lawhead told Breaking Defense that the missile warnings for the F-35 were "still a little too sensitive." In his view, the threat-tracking software will not be ready until close to the F-35's operational debut in 2015.
According to Lockheed Martin, the F-35 uses a set of integrated sensors that provide multiple levels of redundancy. In the case that a sensor becomes damaged, the comprehensive nature of the sensors allow the F-35 to continue to operate fully. This type of system is already in place in the F-22, but it was anticipated the F-35 would represent a significant upgrade.
Ideally, groups of F-35s should also be able to share their sensor information with each other in order to give aircraft a more complete view of the battlefield.
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