London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

F-35 Sustains $2.5Mln Damage After Its Own Round Hits Hull During Training Flight

F-35 Sustains $2.5Mln Damage After Its Own Round Hits Hull During Training Flight

The fifth-generation stealth fighter has faced numerous obstacles on its way to being introduced to the US Air Force including repeatedly broken deadlines and numerous extensions to the multi-billion development budget. However, even after the end of the development, the jet boasts a plethora of bugs that emerge from time to time.

One of the US' F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighter jets, operated by the Marine Corps, has suffered damage to its hull caused by the jet's own 25mm projectile's explosion during a 12 March training flight at the Yuma Range Complex, Military.com news outlet reported citing Corps spokesman Andrew Wood.

The F-35B modification, which enables shorter take-offs and landings, managed to land safely with no one injured in the accident. However, the aircraft itself will have to undergo repairs which will cost around $2.5 million, the magazine added.

An F-35A releases ordnance during a dual capable aircraft (DCA) test flight in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 27, 2019.


The marines are still investigating the cause of the incident. So far, the only thing known is that a 25mm semi-armour piercing high explosive round fired from the F-35B's GAU-22 Gatling gun exploded shortly after leaving the weapon's barrel. It is unclear if the shot, embedded with tracer for training purposes, was fired deliberately.

All versions of the F-35 come equipped with GAU-22 guns. Although the basic F-35 variant has its hidden inside the fuselage, the F-35Bs carry it in the external pod. The investigation should determine whether the incident was a result of pilot error, or a malfunction of either a gun or the 25mm rounds. The latter are often used by the jets in aerial combat against enemy fighters, but can also be effective in destroying ground enemy forces and vehicles, including armoured ones.

High-Tech Jet Riddled With Issues


This is not the first time F-35 jets have faced problems, despite having been in development for several decades with the budget having been extended several times. Some of the bugs were deemed "critical" and prevented the jet from being employed by the US military for some time. The jet's creator, Lockheed Martin has been working on fixing those issues over the past few years, as well as on refining the costs of their maintenance.

The Pentagon was reportedly not satisfied with the defence company's work so far. According to Aviation Week & Space Technology, Acting Defence Secretary under President Trump, Christopher Miller called the F-35 programme a "piece of shit" and lambasted Lockheed Martin's lack of progress in reducing the sustainment costs for the fifth-generation jet down to a planned $25,000 per hour. Miller said that high maintenance costs might prevent the Pentagon from buying 48 to 60 jets a year as was originally planned.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×