The engine supplier for Lockheed Martin’s highly-sought F-35 fighter jet has suspended deliveries while an investigation into a December accident proceeds, Defense News reported Wednesday, stalling hundreds of planned jet deliveries.
The Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO), the Defense Contract Management Agency and engine maker Pratt & Whitney came to a “mutual agreement” to block new engine deliveries on Dec. 27, the JPO told Defense News. The JPO grounded a small group of newer jets after an F-35B variety crashed on a Texas runway earlier that month and is conducting an investigation into the cause of the accident.