Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)

https://www.defensenews.com/global/...ks-46-billion-contract-for-f-35-fighter-jets/
https://twitter.com/x/status/1223265335698239494

With the delivery of the aircraft, which is scheduled to begin in 2024, Poland is to become the first user of the F-35s in the region, adding the aircraft to its fleet of 48 F-16 C/D Block 52+ fighters. Warsaw plans to replace the Air Force’s outdated Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-22 and Mikoyan MiG-29 jets with its new fifth-generation jets.
Click to expand...

the Polish aircraft will be equipped with electronic warfare equipment, plus a braking parachute, to increase landing safety in poor weather conditions. Deliveries are scheduled for the 2024-2030 period, at an annual rate of between four and six examples.
Click to expand...
*

From Su-22 to F-35 what a giant leap!

*From FlightGlobal:
https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/poland-signs-f-35-contract-worth-46bn/136476.article
 
Last edited:
Huh, initally I though that deliveries are to be comitted from 24 to 26, but whole 6 years for only 32 airframes?..
 
I remember there were reports about excessive corrosion some months (years?) ago. Linked with this possibly?
 
That was a separate issue where in 2017 primer hadn't been applied to some of the holes for fasteners; fortunately the corrosion risk wasn't urgent, so it was just going to be addressed when the jets next went in for depot maintenance or upgrades. It's not a good look to have repeated quality control failures like this, but fortunately they should theoretically get reduced as the ramp-up of production flattens out again - I've heard stories about how Lockheed's rapid hiring of something like 500 new personnel at Fort Worth resulted in some people... not very experienced with sensitivities relating to aviation, being hired and causing minor mishaps on the plant floor (eg: cracking a composite flaperon by trying to move it via pulling hard on its trailing edge). As time goes on, the average experience of people on the floor should increase again.
 
Norway deploy's F-35s to Iceland for the NATO policing mission. It's the first time I've seen mentioned how the F-35 requires quite a lot more of resources to be deployed when compared to the F-16. Also, at the end of the video you get a good look at the drogue parachute system. I had thought it just tilted, but now I can see the entire fairing pops up.
 
sublight is back said:
Grey Havoc said:
https://www.defensenews.com/opinion...er-pilots-will-fly-and-fight-for-a-long-time/
Click to expand...

What an idiotic way to take a comment and run with it. I believe he specifically expanded on the comment that humans should pilot the drone from his/her desk and the drone is doing the navigating, avoiding defenses, hairy multi G manuevers, sensing, and firing, which makes a lot of sense. He is no way advocating total human out of the loop.
Click to expand...

He opened with "local autonomous" which pretty clearly excludes man-in-the-loop piloting. He said he would want to keep MitL weapon release authority for killing any target that is itself not an autonomous drone. But I question if that is feasible in air combat, where engagement windows may be fleeting.
 
Last edited:
TomS said:
He opened with "local autonomous" which pretty clearly excludes man-in-the-loop piloting. He said he would want to keep MitL weapon release authority for killing any target that is itself not an autonomous drone. But I question if that is feasible in air combat, where engagement windows may be fleeting.
Click to expand...
The problem with that route, particularly if it's in the context of replacing all or most manned combat aircraft with RPAs (with regards to the "era of the fighter jet" being over) is that you then run into the issue of having to figure out a solution to the denial of communications. In some situations, today's available levels of autonomy could be sufficient, but for others (eg: the circumstances that led to the 2017 Syrian Su-22 shootdown by a Super Hornet) I think we're a decade away at minimum.
 
0
 
wow 500 delivered. thats pretty good.
I am estimating that is almost double of Rafale deliveries
and perhaps this year it will surpass total Eurofighter deliveries?
 
From the link above:

The actual cost of an F-35A in fiscal year (FY) 2021 is $79.2 million, and the cost will fall to $77.9 million in 2022 or $9.2 million cheaper than the government’s best estimate using current-year dollars. That’s the price of a new F/A-18 E/F, $9.8 million below the $87.7 million base price of an F-15EX, and $40 million less than the $118 million Eurofighter—jets that require additional equipment like multimillion-dollar targeting pods before they can employ in medium-threat combat environments. The F-15EX self-protection system is estimated to cost $7.5 million and the Sniper Targeting pod costs more than $1.7 million per jet, making the total cost for a combat-configured F-15EX $96.9 million—$19 million more than a combat-configured F-35A. And neither the FA-18E/F, the F-15E(X), nor the Eurofighter would survive in a modern high-threat environment.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Grey Havoc said:
https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/af-to-hasc-space-war-doctrine-near-spacecom-hq-pick-delayed/
Click to expand...
Even more so than their Senate counterparts yesterday, HASC members cracked the whip on the need to bring down maintenance costs of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

While not the only lawmaker to do so, Rep. John Garamendi was the most forceful on the issue — pointedly saying that the Air Force cannot solve the problem by giving the long-troubled Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) system a new name, referring to Lockheed Martin’s decision in January to reinvent its approach under an effort called Operational Data Integrated Network (ODIN).

“Heads up, we’re not going to back off on this,” he warned. “The spurs are on and we’re gonna ride this hard until it’s resolved.”

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein assured him that “ALIS to ODIN is not just a name change,” adding that he has seen “more movement on the program over the last six months than in the last two years.”

Garamendi quipped back: “Well, I think Lockheed Martin is in the audience and they know they are in deep trouble, and so do you.” Hello, Fort Worth and Orlando!
Click to expand...
 
The F-35 final assembly and checkout plant in Cameri, Italy, will reopen Wednesday after a two-day temporary shutdown meant to help prevent the further spread of the new coronavirus.
[...]
The other international final assembly and checkout plant, run by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and based in Nagoya, Japan, is also back to a normal work schedule after a temporary pause from March 9-13, the source said. Meanwhile, F-35 production at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas-based plant continues without interruption.
Click to expand...

https://www.defensenews.com/coronav...reopen-tomorrow-after-precautionary-cleaning/
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom