The US Air Force has decided to ground most of its fleet of fifth-generation F-35 multi-role stealth fighter aircraft.
Caused by a defect in a component inside his ejection seat, which could prevent the pilot from safely exiting the aircraft in the event of an emergency.
Specifically, a problem was identified in the explosive devices (CAD) that provide the required thrust to eject the seat in an emergency. According to the USAF, some batches of such systems were labeled by the Martin-Baker company, which manufactures the ejection seats, as “defective” and “in need of immediate replacement.”
In this context, an order was given for the temporary grounding of approximately 300 training aircraft and several USAF F-35s, as well as an unspecified number of F/A-18 and E/A-18G fighters of the US Navy.
However, this issue also created a problem in other countries such as Britain and Germany, with the British Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe respectively grounding a significant number of Eurofighter Typhoon type fighter aircraft, while the same fate also had HAWK type aircraft of the air group of RAF ‘Red Arrows’ displays.
