The F-35 program does not plan to pursue an American source for explosive devices that power the aircraft's U.K.-designed ejection seat, despite mounting pressure from Commerce Department officials concerned about the U.S. industrial base, according to a program spokeswoman. The department's Bureau of Industry and Security, in a recent assessment of the cartridge-and-propellant-actuated-device (CAD/PAD) industry, urges defense officials to mandate second-sourcing of the explosive devices in the F-35's ejection seat made by U.K. contractor Martin-Baker Aircraft. The August report echoes...
