According to The Drive on December 1st, major components from two F-35A fighter jets of the US Air Force, severely damaged in previous accidents, are being reassembled into a new one. The force hopes this reassembly process will demonstrate its ability to repair and reuse severely damaged F-35 aircraft in the future.
The F-35 Frankenbird is built from parts of two different aircraft.
Currently, the new F-35, nicknamed Franken-bird, is being assembled at the Ogden Air Force Logistics Complex at Hill Air Force Base (Utah). "This is the first in the F-35 program and it's a very exciting project," said Dan Santos, maintenance manager for the Joint F-35 Project Office, in a statement.
The new aircraft was built from parts of an F-35, production code AF-27, which suffered an engine fire at Eglin Air Force Base (Florida) in 2014, and an AF-211 that malfunctioned in June 2020 at Hill Air Force Base.
The AF-27 caught fire in 2014.
The fire damaged two-thirds of the AF-27's fuselage. The pilot escaped unharmed. The US Air Force later estimated the damage from the incident at over $50 million.
Meanwhile, the AF-211 lost its nose landing gear while landing at Hill Air Force Base after a training flight. An official report of the accident has not yet been released.
The damaged nose section of the AF-211
The Franken-bird was constructed from two-thirds of the rear fuselage of an AF-211 and the nose section of an AF-27. "All the components of the F-35 could theoretically be disassembled and reassembled, but this has never been done. This is the first F-35 Franken-bird," said Scott Taylor, chief mechanical engineer at Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer involved in the project.
The assembly of the new F-35 aircraft is being carried out using experience gained from repairing previously damaged F-22s, as well as experience in maintaining the F-35.
The new aircraft is not expected to be ready until after March 2025.
According to The Drive , repairing modern military aircraft is a complex process, especially for stealth designs like the F-35. Stealth aircraft are built and assembled with high precision. A single flaw in the fuselage can negatively impact stealth capabilities.
"This project not only helps bring a combat aircraft back into service, but also opens the door to repairing crashed aircraft in the future using the tools, equipment, techniques, and knowledge that have been developed," said Santos.
The US Air Force says the new aircraft are not expected to be operational before March 2025. The cost of manufacturing is currently unknown. The price to purchase a new F-35A is approximately $80 million.
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