U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told military fliers on Thursday the stealthy F-35 attack plane has "issues" but is still "the future for our fighter aircraft" despite a fire that grounded the fleet and jeopardized its international debut in Britain.
In a visit to the Florida base where the blaze occurred in late June, Hagel spoke with F-35 pilots and maintenance workers about the Lockheed Martin aircraft but was not able to say whether the planes will be cleared to resume flights in time to participate in air shows in Britain.
Key F-35 contractors are Lockheed Martin Corp. Northrop Grumman Corp. and BAE Systems Plc.