You linked to this yourself.
David Axe, the guy you linked to, has a long history of misunderstanding the F-35, like also, this piece.
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/test-pilot-admits-the-f-35-...
You described that this was "covered up". You would have only gotten that idea if you read the piece I just linked to.
But no, I've never read that.