The US Air Force (USAF) has confirmed its entire fleet of F-35A stealth fighter jets are back in the air, and there are no more problems with ejection seats. Previously, the USAF temporarily suspended all F-35A operations for inspections due to malfunctioning cartridge actuated devices (CAD) which put the pilot’s life in an emergency. The USAF inspected a total of 706 cartridges out of 349 F-35As. The USAF had tested 2,700 F-35 ejection seat cartridges and discovered three failures.
The USAF has set a 90-day deadline for reviews of all cartridges used on their F-35A. The CAD problems with F-35s were discovered after the Air Force conducted a “Time Compliance Technical Directive” on July 19.
Previously, the manufacturer of the Mk16 ejection seat used in the F-35, UK’s Martin-Baker, discovered two defective cartridges in their inventory in April. From there, the company urges users of the F-35A to conduct inspections on components containing explosives.
