THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

But the necessary software to properly fly the F-35 is apparently being written by the writers of Duke Nukem. At this time the earliest expected date for 1.0 is mid 2015 for one version. The others have later dates.

“Persistent software problems” have slowed testing to demonstrate the aircraft’s combat, navigation, targeting and reconnaissance systems, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said.

The Marine Corps F-35 version, designed for short takeoffs and vertical landings, has a key milestone next year. While the Marines want the plane to be deemed ready for warfare in mid-2015, tests on some of its software might not be completed on time, and may be as much as 13 months late.

“Delays of this magnitude would mean that the Marine Corps will not likely have all of the capabilities it expects in July 2015,” according to a draft of a GAO report obtained by Bloomberg News. “The effects of these delays compound as they also put the timely delivery of Air Force and Navy initial operating capabilities at risk.”

The Air Force’s F-35 version is supposed to meet a similar deadline in 2016, and the Navy model in 2018...

“Software continues to remain our No. 1 technical risk on the program and we have instituted disciplined systems engineering processes to address the complexity of writing, testing and integrating software,” he said in an e-mail statement. “We are confident about delivering the F-35’s initial war-fighting capability to the U.S. Marine Corps in 2015.”

Since the program completed a major reorganization in March 2012, “acquisition cost and schedule estimates have remained relatively stable, and progress has been made in key areas,” the GAO said.

Lockheed Martin is improving its production processes and reduced problems with its pilot helmet, the Navy F-35’s tailhook, which enables the plane to land on aircraft carriers, and an automatic diagnostic system.

The company and the Pentagon program office also made progress in 2013 toward reducing the cost of the Navy and Air Force models, though not the Marine Corps version, the GAO said.

As of January, the military planned to have verified basic functions for 27 percent of the software intended to operate the Marine Corps version. Instead, it got to 13 percent, leaving a “significant amount of work to be done by October,” when testing was to be complete, the GAO said.

A more realistic expectation would be the rollout of a fully functioning example in time for the 100th Anniversary of the US Air Force.