U.S. military grounds F-35 fighter jets
In this image released by the U.S. Navy, the Navy variant of the F-35 conducts a test flight on February 11, 2011.
February 22nd, 2013
03:04 PM ET

U.S. military grounds F-35 fighter jets

The Pentagon's most expensive weapons system is going to spend some time on the bench.

The U.S. military on Friday grounded the F-35 fighter jet due to a crack in an engine component that was discovered during a routine inspection in California. The fighter is currently being tested.

The Pentagon said in a statement that it was too early to assess the impact on the nearly $400 billion fleet of jets designed for use by the Navy, Air Force and Marines.

The program has been beset by cost overruns and various technical problems during development.

Currently, there are 51 planes in the F-35 fleet.

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Filed under: Military
soundoff (524 Responses)
  1. Peter Schnitzel

    The F-35 Scandal really BLOWS!! Give the money back to the people, where it belongs! It's time to start holding our Congressman accountable!!

    February 22, 2013 at 10:53 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Mick

    remember that dude from Norway or Sweden who shocked the Kremlin twenty some yrs ago when he landed his 150 mph "stealth piper class " in the middle of Red Square , undetected by Soviet radar , now theres the man Lockheed Martin should have hired to head up their engineering team

    February 22, 2013 at 10:55 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Whowouldathunkit

    lockheed martin criminals need to be locked-up behind bars. same goes for the congressmen that voted for it! They knew better. that's why congress has a 10% approval rating!

    February 22, 2013 at 11:00 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Pete/Ark

    Another weapons platform forced on the military by members of Congress padding local payrolls.

    February 22, 2013 at 11:01 pm | Report abuse |
  5. butterface

    i want all my money back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    February 22, 2013 at 11:01 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Roman Gladiator Leviathan

    YOUR Tax Dollars at Work. Paying off lockheed martin's children's education. THANKS Suckers!!!

    February 22, 2013 at 11:05 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Nickelback and Diamond

    Why all the other aircraft are better, but we're paying the higher Pricetag?

    February 22, 2013 at 11:06 pm | Report abuse |
  8. KEVIN21261

    Who needs fighter jets? We can zap anything we want with our military satillites. (we must have some agreement with Russia and China not to use them)

    February 22, 2013 at 11:07 pm | Report abuse |
  9. denalidaniel

    The Single Engine F-35 Lightning Fighter Plane Is No Longer Worth The Price and Cost Overruns. Lockheed Martin is in bed with Uncle Sam.

    February 22, 2013 at 11:09 pm | Report abuse |
  10. callmecrazy

    I'm all for advanced technology and everything, but for $400B deneros this this better come with warp speed Scottie.

    February 22, 2013 at 11:11 pm | Report abuse |
  11. Mr. Congressman

    Do not try and stop these wasteful projects. You people don't know what you're talking about. Don't try & tell me how I should spend your money. It doesn't work like that. You all do what you're told. Okay?!!?!!!!

    February 22, 2013 at 11:13 pm | Report abuse |
  12. more2bits

    51 planes for $400 billion? That's nearly $8 Billion per plane!!!! Ridiculous. Insane. Stupid. Cruel. Dumb. Moronic. For that kind of money we could have had a fleet of 50,000 cheaper planes and overwhelmed any opponent with overwhelming numbers.

    February 22, 2013 at 11:18 pm | Report abuse |
  13. Jimh77

    Talk about fraud, here is a perfect example of Congress = fraud.

    February 22, 2013 at 11:27 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Andalib

    and yesterday CNN was wondering why health care bills are killing us......

    February 22, 2013 at 11:27 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Gwats

    $400 Billion? That's about a third of the savings Congress is crying for!

    February 22, 2013 at 11:29 pm | Report abuse |
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