F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Prime Contractor: o ee
artin Aeronauti s an
ratt an
itney ilitary Engines Division
Executive Summary:
e F 35 is a t ree variant
amily o multi role ig ter air ra t
e F 35 is an
A A D program in t e System Development an
Demonstration SDD p ase it on urrent R
e
program a ieve
S re erti i ation in ar 2012
n 2014 DASD SE parti ipate in su system te ni al
revie s ris revie oar s an ro u tion Rea iness
Revie s RR assesse so t are evelopment an
reporte t e results to ongress an on u te an
assessment o manu a turing ris to in orm t e
ilestone De ision Aut ority regar ing rea iness or in rease pro u tion rates
e F 35 program
ontinues to ma e progress ut many allenges remain
Mission and System Description:
e F 35 program plans to evelop an iel an a or a le
ommon amily o ne t generation multi role stri e air ra t or t e S Air For e avy arine
orps an allies
e t ree variants are t e Air For e onventional a eo an an ing
t e avy arrier ariant
an t e arine orps S ort a eo an erti al an ing S
Systems Engineering Activities
Systems Engineering Plan (SEP) DASD SE approve t e SE in De em er 2009 An up ate
in ovem er 2010 in lu e improvements in ris management
e program is ul illing t e
o e tives o t e SE
it out aivers or eviations o ever t e SE la s a es ription o
urrent te ni al pro esses s e ule an organi ation SD A
e pe ts t e program to
su mit SE up ates to support Follo on Development an SDD S
Requirements
e R
approve t e S
perational Re uirements Do ument RD in
April 2000 an t e oint rogram
i e
in orporate t e re uirements in t e oint Stri e
Fig ter ontra t Spe i i ation
S During a 2013 revie t e program rea irme t e S
ontaine all RD re uirements rogram level re uirements are sta le
Life Cycle Management
e program as implemente multiple a or a ility initiatives
investing an a itional 160 million to omplete SDD n 2014 t e program entere into a ost
s aring agreement it in ustry to reemp asi e s are osts
e program esta lis e a ost ar
room in t e
to re u e perations an Support osts an to i enti y potential s oul ost
savings
Program Protection Plan (PPP)
SD A
approve t e
in De em er 2010
e
program is e e uting t e pro esses o umente in t e approve
e program is or ing to
a ress supply ain ris s an vulnera ilities or an up ate
e pe te in 1st uarter FY 2015
Assessments
DASD(SE) Assessments A SD A
ire te revie o t e program s manu a turing
progress reveale a epta le ris to allo an in rease ramp rate in FY 2015 DASD SE
parti ipate in su system te ni al revie s in lu ing several RRs DASD SE also le a
ongressionally ire te 6 mont eep ive into F 35 so t are evelopment
i
on irme
Data as of 4th quarter FY 2014.

DoD Systems Engineering FY 2014 Annual Report

135

D D F 35

so t are ontinues to present s e ule ris it estimates o 6 to 14 mont s o pressure to

so t are elivery milestones
Risk Assessment
e program is e e uting a ris management program as o umente in t e
Ris
anagement lan As a result o on urren y t e program is simultaneously or ing to
mitigate ris s in all p ases evelopment pro u tion an sustainment Ris mitigation plans are
in pla e
Performance
e program is on tra to meet 8 o t e 10
s liste in t e RD
e vali ity
o t e mo eling assumptions is ampering emonstration o t e sortie generation rate S R an
logisti ootprint
s
e program plans to reassess t e S R an logisti ootprint using
operationally realisti groun rules an urrent esign attri utes Alt oug on tra t e S
om at ra ius S
per orman e an
re overy
s ave limite margins
Schedule e program omplete an nterim rogram Revie DA in to er 2013
e
program is at ris or meeting some A t res ol s y up to 9 mont s ue to t e elays in
so t are evelopment mentione previously For e ample DASD SE estimates in i ate t e
lo 3F Fleet Release t res ol o Fe ruary 2018 may slip 9 mont s an t e S FR e ision
t res ol o
to er 2019 may slip 4 mont s
Reliability Relia ility per orman e to ate remains mi e a ross all variants it some metri s
on tra an ot ers elo plan verall t e program is ontinuing to or to meet ey relia ility
re uirements n 2014 t e program un e a relia ility improvement program it ontra t
in entives to improve relia ility
Software So t are evelopment ontinues as a primary s e ule ris ue largely to past
per orman e in lu ing ina e uate SE an integration pra ti es
e ongressionally ire te
so t are revie team on u te so t are parametri an s e ule analyses to assess program
progress
e team estimate so t are elays o up to 14 mont s an re ommen e management
improvements to re u e potential A impa ts o appro imately 9 mont s
e team i enti ie
ey so t are ris s in lu ing la o sustainment planning use o so t are metri s an e e t
resolution
e program as a opte t e re ommen ations an ontinues to improve so t are
evelopment pro esses Sin e t e assessment t e lo 2 so t are as ontinue in lig t test
it one or t o a itional lean up uil s still li ely lo 3i egan lig t tests in FY 2014 ut
is 3 to 5 mont s e in t e urrent s e ule
e program is or ing to a elerate lo 3F
evelopment y re u ing s e ule margins an implementing pro u tivity improvements
Manufacturing DASD SE on u te an in epen ent assessment o manu a turing ris s
asso iate it in rease pro u tion rates
e assessment in i ate year over year
improvement o ever mo erate ris remains ue to parts availa ility uality an ultimately
air ra t eliveries Sin e t e assessment t e program as improve uality optimi ation o
pro u tion se uen es a tory loor lo tooling inter angea ility repla ea ility an
engineering ange management
e program ontinues to e e ute ost re u tion initiatives
Integration nteropera ility an n ormation Assuran e A erti i ations an veri i ation an
la apa ities are at items A erti i ation is on t e riti al pat as t e program annot
omplete interopera ility erti i ations until lo 3F apa ility is t roug veri i ation verall
veri i ation an la apa ity are stret e to support on urrent lo a tivity
e program as
implemente la an es top tool upgra es an e pe ts more e i ient veri i ation ile
ontinuing to evaluate la apa ity options
e program as esta lis e memoran a o agreement
an nter a e ontrol or ing roups it eapon program o i es as o umente in t e SE

Conclusion:
e F 35 program is ma ing stea y progress ut many allenges remain So t are
evelopment ontinues to e a top allenge an is a ma or program o us area

Data as of 4th quarter FY 2014.

136

DoD Systems Engineering FY 2014 Annual Report