The Marine Corps on Thursday grounded its F-35B Joint Strike Fighters in Arizona after discovering glitches in the jets’ computerized logistics system.

The decision to temporarily suspend operations of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 at the Corps’ air station in Yuma stemmed from problems with the Autonomic Logistics Information System, or ALIS, the technological backbone of the F-35B program.

ALIS transmits details about a jet’s mechanical condition to the ground-based computer system, automatically scheduling maintenance for the aircraft and contacting vendors worldwide to stock needed parts.

Maj. Gen. Mark Wise, commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing based at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, made the call to suspend flights for Squadron 211 due to “some anomalies” with the latest ALIS 2.0.2 software upgrade, according to a statement given to The San Diego Union-Tribune.


“There is nothing wrong with the performance or safety of the aircraft itself, but it is imperative that we ensure the ground-based ALIS system is working properly before operations continue,” the statement said.

Engineers from defense contractor Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office have been asked to fix ALIS. The computer bugs do not affect other F-35 units, according to the Corps.

The Marines’ call to ground the F-35B came a day after the Air Force cleared its version of the fighter to fly again.

Flights had been grounded at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona after pilots developed symptoms of hypoxia — acute oxygen deprivation.


In lifting the suspension, Air Force and F-35 Joint Program Office leaders mandated that pilots avoid the altitudes at which they suffered hypoxia. They also promised that “ground procedures will be modified to mitigate physiological risks to pilots,” but did not specify the changes.

In a separate statement, Sen. John McCain, the Republican from Arizona who serves as chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee, expressed concerns with the F-35B problems. He vowed to remain “in close communication with the Marine Corps and Joint Program Office as they work to identify the root cause of these issues and resolve them as quickly as possible.”

Plagued by cost overruns and mechanical snafus, the $379 billion F-35 project for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps infamously became known in the Pentagon as “acquisition malpractice.”

In the past year, however, top military officials have insisted that most of the problems bedeviling the program have been fixed and that the most advanced strike fighter on the planet will become a mainstay in America’s jet fleet for at least a generation.


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cprine@sduniontribune.com