US Air Force builds $80M F-35A for just $6M by merging parts from two crashed jets
This marks the first instance of maintainers creating an airworthy F-35A by combining components from separate aircraft.
The restoration project stemmed from the need to salvage an aircraft damaged in a nose gear collapse in 2020 at Hill Air Force Base, while the other had suffered an engine fire at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida in 2014.
The endeavor has been locally dubbed the 'Franken-bird' due to its unique origins.
This interagency initiative involved collaboration among key entities, including the F-35 Joint Program Office, the Ogden Air Logistics Complex, the 388th Fighter Wing, and Lockheed Martin.
Throughout the restoration process, teams at Hill developed specialized tools, stands, and equipment to aid in merging various aircraft sections, with much of the initial work accomplished at the Ogden Air Logistics Complex.
The aircraft was returned to the 388th Fighter Wing in November 2023.
Scott Taylor, Lockheed Martin's lead mechanical engineer for the project, noted that the methods and resources implemented during this phase could be valuable for aircraft repairs in combat settings.
For the past year, the restored aircraft has been housed within the 4th Fighter Generation Squadron, where maintainers have been focused on completing its restoration.
Senior Airman Jaguar Arnold, serving as the crew chief for the aircraft, acknowledged the extensive challenges faced during the rebuilding process.
'When we received the aircraft, it was essentially just a shell,' Arnold stated, highlighting the wide range of tasks they were required to tackle, many of which were new to their unit.
The restoration involved critical tasks such as re-installing landing gear with attention to the aircraft's center of gravity and procuring and implementing various components, including 'belly bands' and flight controls.
The Airmen collaborated closely with engineers and technicians from Lockheed Martin to rewire the systems, rebuild the cockpit, overhaul avionics, and install components typically uncommon in routine maintenance environments.
Additionally, the team was responsible for fabricating and applying coatings to restore the aircraft's low-observable features.
1st Lt. Ryan Bare, Sortie Generation Flight commander for the 4th FGS, noted the team's dedication. "We put in long hours, often working nights and weekends," Bare remarked.
Balancing the demands of this ambitious restoration with the regular maintenance needs of an active fighter squadron posed logistical challenges for squadron leadership.
However, the team successfully navigated these obstacles, reaping rewards from the experience gained.
Bare added, 'Taking on this project at the field level was unprecedented and came with its difficulties, but it also made for an invaluable opportunity for our maintainers to enhance their skills.'
The lessons learned from this unique project are expected to influence updates to the Joint Technical Data used by F-35 maintainers, promising improved safety for aircraft, maintainers, and pilots.
Financially, the Air Force stands to benefit significantly from this endeavor.
The project's estimated cost was nearly $6 million, starkly contrasting to the expense of a new F-35A, which exceeds $80 million.
Upon successful functional check flight, the aircraft will undergo final certification at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth, Texas.
Afterward, it is set to return to Hill Air Force Base, where it will rejoin the 4th Fighter Squadron fleet.
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Related: As colleges lose enrollment, some turn to one market that's growing: Hispanic students Now some institutions, states, systems and independent companies are standardizing this work or using artificial intelligence to do it. The growth of certifications from professional organizations such as Amazon Web Services and the Computing Technology Industry Association, or CompTIA, has helped, too. "You literally punch [an industry certification] into our database and it tells you what credit you can get," said Philip Giarraffa, executive director of articulation and academic pathways at Miami Dade College. "When I started here, that could take anywhere from two weeks to three months." Data provided by Miami Dade shows it has septupled the number of credits for prior learning awarded since 2020, from 1,197 then to 7,805 last year. "These are students that most likely would have looked elsewhere, whether to the [online] University of Phoenix or University of Maryland Global [Campus]" or other big competitors, Giarraffa said. Fifteen percent of undergraduates enrolled in higher education full time and 40 percent enrolled part time are 25 or older, federal data show - including people who delayed college to serve in the military, volunteer or do other work that could translate into academic credit. "Nobody wants to sit in a class where they already have all this knowledge," Giarraffa said. At Thomas Edison, police academy graduates qualify for up to 30 credits toward associate degrees. Carpenters who have completed apprenticeships can get as many as 74 credits in subjects including math, management and safety training. Bachelor's degrees are often a prerequisite for promotion for people in professions such as these, or who hope to start their own companies. Related:To fill 'education deserts,' more states want community colleges to offer bachelor's degrees The University of Memphis works with FedEx, headquartered nearby, to give employees with supervisory training academic credit they can use toward a degree in organizational leadership, helping them move up in the company. The University of North Carolina System last year launched its Military Equivalency System, which lets active-duty and former military service members find out almost instantly, before applying for admission, if their training could be used for academic credit. That had previously required contacting admissions offices, registrars or department chairs. Among the reasons for this reform was that so many of these prospective students - and the federal education benefits they get - were ending up at out-of-state universities, the UNC System's strategic plan notes. "We're trying to change that," said Kathie Sidner, the system's director of workforce and partnerships. It's not only for the sake of enrollment and revenue, Sidner said. "From a workforce standpoint, these individuals have tremendous skill sets and we want to retain them as opposed to them moving somewhere else." Related: A new way to help some college students: Zero percent, no-fee loans California's community colleges are also expanding their credit for prior learning programs as part of a plan to increase the proportion of the population with educations beyond high school. "How many people do you know who say, 'College isn't for me?' " asked Sam Lee, senior advisor to the system's chancellor for credit for prior learning. "It makes a huge difference when you say to them that what they've been doing is equivalent to college coursework already." In Pittsburgh, the Regional Upskilling Alliance - of which CCAC is a part - is connecting job centers, community groups, businesses and educational institutions to create comprehensive education and employment records so more workers can get credit for skills they already have. That can provide a big push, "especially if you're talking about parents who think, 'I'll never be able to go to school,' " said Sabrina Saunders Mosby, president and CEO of the nonprofit Vibrant Pittsburgh, a coalition of business and civic leaders involved in the effort. Pennsylvania is facing among the nation's most severe declines in the number of 18-year-old high school graduates. "Our members are companies that need talent," Mosby said. There's one group that has historically pushed back against awarding credit for prior learning: university and college faculty concerned it might affect enrollment in their courses or unconvinced that training provided elsewhere is of comparable quality. Institutions have worried about the loss of revenue from awarding credits for which students would otherwise have had to pay. That also appears to be changing, as universities leverage credit for prior learning to recruit more students and keep them enrolled for longer, resulting in more revenue - not less. "That monetary factor was something of a myth," said Beth Doyle, chief of strategy at CAEL. Faculty have increasingly come around, too. That's sometimes because they like having experienced students in their classrooms, Florida Gulf Coast's Vanselow said. Related: States want adults to return to college. Many roadblocks stand in the way Still, while many recognize it as a recruiting incentive, most public universities and colleges have had to be ordered to confer more credits for prior learning by legislatures or governing boards. Private, nonprofit colleges remain stubbornly less likely to give it. More than two-thirds charge a fee for evaluating whether other kinds of learning can be transformed into academic credit, an expense that isn't covered by financial aid. Roughly one in 12 charge the same as it would cost to take the course for which the credits are awarded. Seventy percent of institutions require that students apply for admission and be accepted before learning whether credits for prior learning will be awarded. Eighty-five percent limit how many credits for prior learning a student can receive. There are other confounding roadblocks and seemingly self-defeating policies. CCAC runs a noncredit program to train paramedics, for example, but won't give people who complete it credits toward its for-credit nursing degree. Many leave and go across town to a private university that will. The college is working on fixing this, said Debra Roach, its vice president of workforce development. It's important to see this from the students' point of view, said Tracy Robinson, executive director of the University of Memphis Center for Regional Economic Enrichment. "Credit for prior learning is a way for us to say, 'We want you back. We value what you've been doing since you've been gone,' " Robinson said. "And that is a total game changer." Contact writer Jon Marcus at 212-678-7556, jmarcus@ on Signal. This story about credit for prior learning was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for our higher education newsletter. Listen to our higher education podcast. The post To fill seats, more colleges offer credit for life experience appeared first on The Hechinger Report.
