What is a category 1 deficiency?
According to the definition set by the F-35 program, spelled out in documents exclusively obtained by Defense News, a category 1 deficiency is a shortfall that:
- could cause death, severe injury or illness.
- could cause loss or damage to the aircraft or its equipment.
- critically restricts the operator’s ability to be ready for combat.
- prevents the jet from performing well enough to accomplish its primary or secondary missions.
- results in a work stoppage at the production line.
- blocks mission-critical test points.
After Defense News began asking the F-35 Joint Program Office about its category 1 deficiencies, it decided to group them into
CAT 1-As, which are problems like “loss of life, potential loss of life, [or] loss of material aircraft” that “have to be corrected within hours [or] days," according to Vice Adm. Mat Winter, the F-35′s program executive.
All of the F-35′s current deficiencies are
CAT 1-Bs, which “have a mission impact with a current workaround that’s acceptable to the war fighter."