The Defense Department has restricted pilots weighing less than 136 pounds from flying the F-35 because of an issue with the ejection seat, the F-35 program office told Air Force Magazine. Lighter pilots are at greater risk of injury if they have to eject at low speed, so the services, which restricted such pilots from operating the plane beginning Aug. 27. At least one pilot is affected. All variants of the F-35 use the same Martin Baker US16E ejection seat system, said Joe DellaVedova, a spokesman for the F-35 program office. He noted the aircraft is still in the developmental phase, “where discoveries are expected to happen. That’s why we test: to make things better for the warfighter.” Still, he stressed, safety is critical. “The F-35 Joint Program Office, Lockheed Martin, and Martin Baker continue to work this issue with the US services and international partners to reach a solution as quickly as possible,” he said.
The U.S., South Korea, and Japan flew an unusual trilateral flight with two U.S. B-52H Stratofortress bombers escorted by two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2s, and two ROK Air Force KF-16 fighters—both countries’ respective variants of the F-16—July 11. That same weekend, the top military officers of the three nations…