According to an unidentified Air Force official, the software for the F-35’s primary gun, a 25-mm rapid-fire cannon, won’t be ready to install until at least 2019 despite the fact that the jet is expected to be on the front line sometime within months.
“There is no software to support it now or for the next four-ish years,” said one Air Force official affiliated with the F-35 program told the Daily Beast. It “is slated for release in 2019, but who knows how much that will slip?”
— Danno (@___Danno) January 1, 2015
The F-35 will have other arms including a two long-range air-to-air missiles and two bombs but the rotating cannon is essential for one of the fighter’s primary purposes: providing cover fire for troops on the ground.
The Air Force official also noted that the F-35 will also only be carrying 180 to 220 rounds of ammunition for the cannon despite being able to shoot 3,300 rounds per minute. As such, when pilots are able to use the guns, they won’t actually be able to shoot very much beyond one or two bursts.
— Code One (@codeonemagazine) December 24, 2014
The F-35 has been plagued with issues that have already delayed its release and run the programs budget up billions of dollars. At $400 billion to develop, it is already easily the most expensive plane in military history.
The Pentagon has had to ground F-35s more than a dozen times due to problems with the plane’s Pratt & Whitney-made engine. Another issue is that the stealth jet is actually easy to detect. Most damning, an independent review by the RAND Corporation found that the plane “can’t turn, can’t climb, can’t run.”
Recently, the plane was found to shut down after sitting in the sun for a few hours as a result of the fuel getting to warm. (The military’s solution was to build parking shades.)
Analysts have said that the program was weighted down (quite literally) by the fact that it is intended to be used by three branches of the military — the Air Force, Marines and Navy — who all had their own requests for features. As a result, the plane had been intended to serve as a bomber, fighter, and infantry support plane.
Given that it will only be able to carry two bombs, the bombing aspect is limited. Additionally, the single-engine jet is so heavy — 35 tons when fully fueled — its use as a fighter is also limited.
Now, given that it won’t even have an operating gun, the F-35 will not be able to support ground infantry very well, either.
