The bolded part got my attention. It would appear that the F-35 is much hungrier in terms of electrical power than initially anticipated, which may be further impetus for adopting an adaptive engine.

It would be interesting to see how much power is being drawn from the IPP and the engine.
Maybe Rolls-Royce and Pratt&Whittney need to dust off the F120 and complete what little development was left to do before flightworthy engines were tested.
 
Maybe Rolls-Royce and Pratt&Whittney need to dust off the F120 and complete what little development was left to do before flightworthy engines were tested.
Why bother with that when the much more advanced XA100 and XA101 will be available around the end of the decade? The 3-stream adaptive cycle architecture of these engines has superseded the VABI architecture of the F120.

By the way, the F120 was developed by GE, not P&W and had no RR involvement as far as I know. The F136 that was offered as an alternate engine to the F135 was developed jointly by GE and RR, and had a higher mass flow rate to take full advantage of the F-35 inlet, but it was cut for budgetary reasons.
 
By the way, the F120 was developed by GE, not P&W and had no RR involvement as far as I know

Oops! For some reason I got GE and Pratt mixed up.

The F136 that was offered as an alternate engine to the F135 was developed jointly by GE and RR, and had a higher mass flow rate to take full advantage of the F-35 inlet, but it was cut for budgetary reasons
I don't know why I was thinking of the F120 but I meant the F136 and its development could easily be finished off as it was almost ready for testing of flightworthy engines.
 
hzfCNWosWNxQCEH-800x450-noPad.jpg
 
Years ago I bought this coffee mug off the LMS dealer, it's got the same photo on it. I've used it everyday in the hope numpty (our PM) got off his high horse and agreed to purchase the aircraft.
 

Attachments

  • CF-35 Mug (1).JPG
    CF-35 Mug (1).JPG
    118.1 KB · Views: 18
  • CF-35 Mug (2).JPG
    CF-35 Mug (2).JPG
    115.9 KB · Views: 20
  • CF-35 Mug (3).JPG
    CF-35 Mug (3).JPG
    116.1 KB · Views: 22
ok would this be more accurate?

F-35-RCAF-special.jpg
Still meh because the aspect and taper ratio of the vertical tails and rudders indicate that this is based on the pre-SWAT design like the AA-1 prototype rather than the current F-35A configuration like on AF-1.

Yes, I’m a picky motherfucker.
 
Last edited:
I have heard some speculation that this is a budget tactic. Basically the services know that congress will put the F-35s back in the budget so they are trying to also get some other platforms/acquisitions on the table knowing they are covered with the F-35. Kind of a 'have your cake and eat it too' strategy.
It's a pretty standard move these days if you know a program has strong enough support.
 
Keeping all F-35 flying with the expected availability rate has been a challenge for the Air Force given part availability and challenges in the program.

Pausing (or at least slowing down) the massive acquisition process for one year to keep-up with the inherent challenges, consolidate a stock of parts and let the latest version be finalized could be seen as an appropriate move for them. Given that other countries or services are not planning similar moves would tell us that this is Air Force related (and not a Lockheed thing) and should not affect the program given the massive orders from foreign partners.

I wonder if we have experienced a similar move during the Phantom or F-16 years.
 
“The U.S. F-35As, the four that we have right now, are in use, and they’ve been very effective doing some elegant ISR activities. And it just reveals to us how much greater capability we’re going to have once we get our full fleet on board,” [Air Force Gen. Tod D.] Woltersolters said.

https://www.airforcemag.com/nato-commander-increases-prediction-to-550-f-35s-in-europe-by-2030/
35 years after the sinister Iron wall fall, a place where democracy would continue blooming shielded behind pces of CFRP and aluminum: The Lightning Wall!
 
Last edited:
Swiss chief army vision on the F-35:

Pour une défense adéquate, quatre avions de combat devraient constamment être simultanément en vol, a expliqué Thomas Süssli dans une interview publiée samedi dans la "Schweiz am Wochenende". Avec ses 36 jets F-35, les capacités excéderaient ainsi pas plus d'un mois (Nldr. pour l'instant, la Suisse ne dispose pas encore des avions F-35) En 2003, la capacité de défense de l'armée a été revue, dans une optique de qualité au lieu de quantité, a-t-il rappelé.
[...]
Thomas Süssli s'est aussi exprimé sur le fait d'adhérer à l'OTAN. Un tel scénario n'est pas à l'ordre du jour, même si la situation est tendue, selon lui.

"Cependant, si la Suisse se retrouve entraînée dans une guerre, ses obligations liées au droit de la neutralité tombent, et elle pourrait par exemple collaborer avec ses pays voisins." C'est pourquoi il est important que les systèmes militaires helvétiques soient compatibles avec ceux de ces pays et qu'il y ait des exercices communs.
------------------//--/----------------------

For an adequate defense [of our airspace], four combat aircraft should constantly be in the air simultaneously, explained Thomas Süssli in an interview published on Saturday in the "Schweiz am Wochenende". With its 36 F-35 jets, the capacities would thus exceed no more than a month (Nldr. for the moment, Switzerland does not yet have F-35 planes) In 2003, the defense capacity of the army has been reviewed, with a view to quality instead of quantity, he recalled.
[...]
Thomas Süssli also spoke about joining NATO. Such a scenario is not on the agenda, even if the situation is tense, according to him.

“However, if Switzerland finds itself drawn into a war, its obligations linked to the law of neutrality fall away, and it could, for example, collaborate with its neighboring countries.” This is why it is important that Swiss military systems are compatible with those of these countries and that there are joint exercises.
https://amp.rts.ch/info/suisse/1298...lespace-aerien-serait-defendable-un-mois.html
 
Swiss chief army vision on the F-35:

Pour une défense adéquate, quatre avions de combat devraient constamment être simultanément en vol, a expliqué Thomas Süssli dans une interview publiée samedi dans la "Schweiz am Wochenende". Avec ses 36 jets F-35, les capacités excéderaient ainsi pas plus d'un mois (Nldr. pour l'instant, la Suisse ne dispose pas encore des avions F-35) En 2003, la capacité de défense de l'armée a été revue, dans une optique de qualité au lieu de quantité, a-t-il rappelé.
[...]
Thomas Süssli s'est aussi exprimé sur le fait d'adhérer à l'OTAN. Un tel scénario n'est pas à l'ordre du jour, même si la situation est tendue, selon lui.

"Cependant, si la Suisse se retrouve entraînée dans une guerre, ses obligations liées au droit de la neutralité tombent, et elle pourrait par exemple collaborer avec ses pays voisins." C'est pourquoi il est important que les systèmes militaires helvétiques soient compatibles avec ceux de ces pays et qu'il y ait des exercices communs.
------------------//--/----------------------

For an adequate defense [of our airspace], four combat aircraft should constantly be in the air simultaneously, explained Thomas Süssli in an interview published on Saturday in the "Schweiz am Wochenende". With its 36 F-35 jets, the capacities would thus exceed no more than a month (Nldr. for the moment, Switzerland does not yet have F-35 planes) In 2003, the defense capacity of the army has been reviewed, with a view to quality instead of quantity, he recalled.
[...]
Thomas Süssli also spoke about joining NATO. Such a scenario is not on the agenda, even if the situation is tense, according to him.

“However, if Switzerland finds itself drawn into a war, its obligations linked to the law of neutrality fall away, and it could, for example, collaborate with its neighboring countries.” This is why it is important that Swiss military systems are compatible with those of these countries and that there are joint exercises.
https://amp.rts.ch/info/suisse/1298...lespace-aerien-serait-defendable-un-mois.html
Wow…he pretty much came right out and said “we might need to network with NATO”.
 
Wow…he pretty much came right out and said “we might need to network with NATO”.
Given Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine I won't be surprised if Switzerland decides to join NATO.
I would be, though it appears they are keeping corporation or joint operations open as an option.
 
Starlink’s tests with the US Air Force seem to be successful. The Air Force noted that the 388th Fighter Wing saw connection speeds that were about 30 times faster than current milsat systems during its weeklong tests. The compact nature of the satellite solution was also highlighted, with the US Air Force noting that a Starlink dish was linked to a gateway router that can be fitted into the F-35A’s travel pod.


Its stellar performance aside, the US Air Force noted that what really made Starlink stand out was the fact that the system is simple and easy to set up — so much so that virtually any Airman can be trained to set up the entire satellite solution in less than ten minutes. This was something that was highlighted by 1st Lt. Corbin Meredith of the 388th Operations Support Squadron.

“Really, what we want to have is options for communications. We don’t have the infrastructure in every possible location, but with this, we could go to SATCOM or cellular LTE and then go to offline capabilities as a last resort. The fact that anyone can be trained to set it up gives us more manpower options and brings another element to creating Multi-Capable Airman,” Meredith noted.

View: https://twitter.com/TylerG1998/status/1511156917644713984?s=20&t=1dzKb4OgCQ7Nggcv2w4Gkw



https://www.teslarati.com/elon-musk-starlink-us-air-force-tests/
 
Interesting...for whatever reason the US hasn't based any 5th gen aircraft near the Russian border. In fact I think only a handful of F-22s were sent to Spain. Perhaps it was seen as escalatory to do so.
 
Interesting...for whatever reason the US hasn't based any 5th gen aircraft near the Russian border. In fact I think only a handful of F-22s were sent to Spain. Perhaps it was seen as escalatory to do so.
There are US F-35s over there.
 
4 USAF F-35 regularly fly from NATO countries that share borders with Ukr

See above post 3243 & 3112

Six U.S. F-35A Lightning II fighter jets deployed from Germany to multiple countries on NATO’s eastern flank on Thursday for air policing flights in solidarity with the transatlantic alliance.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom