Software won't stop F-35

Lockheed Martin may need to update its F-35 software after issues arose during testing, but it should not delay Marines Corps plans to declare its variant ready for combat use in July. That's according to company executive Orlando Carvalho. The executive vice president of Lockheed-Aeronautics said there had been some issues that came up during radar tracking tests in the jet's mission systems software, but that they were manageable. He did not view the software challenge as a showstopper for the Marines. The F-35 has been dogged by software issues, but most of the problems have been worked out. (Source: Reuters 02/18/15) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center and the U.S. Reprogramming Laboratory.