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

Manuducati said:
I can't see any scenario where France would buy the F-35.
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I second that opinion.
- The AdA (and the Aéronavale) are struggling to afford any reasonable number of Rafale (target 180 since 20 years, so far 100 including the Rafales dumped to foreign countries so 90-80 until replacements come)
- the two services have just standardized their fleets around Rafale; only survivor are Mirage 2000s near the end of their rope. No way they buy a completely alien system.

My bet is on Spain indeed: F-35B for Juan Carlos makes ton of sense. AV-8B Harriers won't last forever and Italy has shown the way.
 
Greece will buy F-35s only to piss the Turks, otherwise Rafales would be plenty enough to handle the Turkish air force present inventory.

Austria would be a real surprise. IF they were unable to handle a small number of Typhoons, no way they can manage F-35s.
My bet there would be on second-hand F-16s. Just like Portugal present combat jets: F-16s. Can't see these two small air forces getting into the F-35 now. Maybe in 50 years, second-hand airframes...
 
Barkan, who is in charge of building the future capabilities of the IAF, said that a special F-35 test aircraft has been used extensively to test more Israeli made systems on the stealth jet.

While he would not go into details about what Israeli-made technologies the IAF would want to add to the F-35, sources here say they include a new electronic warfare system, a new communication system that will allow a two-way flow of real time data, and the addition of highly-classified weapon systems to be loaded into the weapons bay when operating stealthily.
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breakingdefense.com

Israel Wants To Put New Equipment Inside The F-35: Exclusive Q&A With Top Officer - Breaking Defense

The goal, said Brig. Gen. Nir Barkan, Israeli Air Force Chief of the Air Staff and Vice Commander of the IAF, is to add Israeli-made gear inside the F-35.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
 
rooster said:
Whatever happened to the issue of the nose gear causing painful cat launches?
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They were able to fix it by modifying the hold-back bar's tension at release (the same fix was used back when the Super Hornet had a similar issue). For what it's worth too, EMALS should prevent this kind of issue from occurring on future aircraft by having a smoother and easier to modify acceleration.
 
kitnut617 said:
Fluff said:
kitnut617 said:
Fluff said:

How many aircraft is Canada looking for?
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About half of what the UK wants
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70 ish? Thats a bit small to split in two, with all the duplicated costs....
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Canada is already producing parts for the program, only a couple of months ago it was reported that the government handed over more millions to the development costs even though the government is sitting on the fence about buying them.

The present government seems to think that because the country is producing parts, that if they choose another aircraft, they will still be involved with producing parts for the F-35.

But lets wait and see what happens in just over a week from now ----
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Well, I don't think any decision on a Canadian F-35 will be made in the near future --- (another Liberal minority government was elected yesterday)
 
Not necessarily about the F-35, but still related to it:
ukdefencejournal.org.uk

A400M transport not certified to transport F-35 engines

The container designed to carry engines for F-35 jets, for example to replace an engine on a deployed F-35, is certified for carriage in the C-17 and C-130J but not the A400M.
ukdefencejournal.org.uk ukdefencejournal.org.uk
 
Grey Havoc said:
Killing off the F136 engine continues to haunt the F-35 program nearly a decade onwards.
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F136 might have been cancelled in its program avatar, but the components of the program were certainly allowed to take the long route through r&d pipeline which will culminate in XA100/101.
 
The United States is going to base F-35As at RAF Lakenheath, the first time that American F-35s will be based across the pond in Europe.
www.thedrive.com

The U.S. Air Force's First Europe-Based F-35A Squadron Has Been Activated

RAF Lakenheath in England is set to receive two USAF F-35A squadrons, with the first jets slated to begin arriving this winter.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com

This adds to the already growing list of bases from which NATO plans to operate the F-35:
  • United Kingdom (RAF Marham and RAF Lakenheath starting in 2021)
  • Netherlands (Volkel, in 2022 and Leeuwarden TBD)
  • Denmark (Skrydstrup, in 2023)
  • Italy (Amendola and Ghedi in 2022)
  • Norway (Ørland and Evenes in 2022)
  • Belgium (Florennes in 2025 and Kleine-Brogel in 2027)
  • Poland (Łask in 2026, Świdwin TBD)
(Sourced from the article above)
 
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Interesting statement.

It might be possible to use the AETP engine in the Navy’s F-35C carrier version, Bromberg said, if the arresting hook system could be moved to accommodate it. He said Pratt has had discussions with Lockheed Martin to that effect.

“We could modify it to fit around some of the unique elements of the adaptive engine, but that’s work to be done,” he said.
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It appears that the current F135-PW-100 doesn’t make use of all the available space in the CTOL variant.
 
It’s expected that aircraft from VMFA-121 will go aboard the Izumo next week, as the Marine Corps continue their close cooperation with allies that similarly operate, or are in the process of acquiring, short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B variants. In the past, the service has assisted in clearing the type to operate from the British Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and, more recently, the Italian Navy carrier Cavour.
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www.thedrive.com

Marine Corps F-35s Are About To Be The First Fighters To Fly From A Japanese Carrier Since WWII

Next week, F-35B stealth fighters are due to go aboard the newly modified Japanese carrier Izumo for the first time.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com
 
TomcatViP said:
It’s expected that aircraft from VMFA-121 will go aboard the Izumo next week, as the Marine Corps continue their close cooperation with allies that similarly operate, or are in the process of acquiring, short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B variants. In the past, the service has assisted in clearing the type to operate from the British Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and, more recently, the Italian Navy carrier Cavour.
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www.thedrive.com

Marine Corps F-35s Are About To Be The First Fighters To Fly From A Japanese Carrier Since WWII

Next week, F-35B stealth fighters are due to go aboard the newly modified Japanese carrier Izumo for the first time.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com
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Clearly the USMC is used here to pass a message to the Chinese and their nascent carrier force.
"F-35B can be the center of a naval fighter coalition, flying out of many of our allies large ships: Japan (check) Italy (check) Great Britain (check).
I wonder if they will try this on South Korea Dokdos - waiting for the CVX ?
 
www.airforcemag.com

F-35 Completes Final Test for Nuclear-Capable B61 Series Weapons | Air & Space Forces Magazine

The F-35A is the first fifth-generation fighter to near certification as a nuclear-capable platform after final flight tests at the Tonopah Test Range.
www.airforcemag.com www.airforcemag.com

maxresdefault-jpg.21288
 
bobbymike said:
www.airforcemag.com

F-35 Production Set at 156 Per Year Until Completion | Air & Space Forces Magazine

F-35 production will peak at 156 a year in 2023 and remain at that level "for the foreseeable future," Lockheed Martin said.
www.airforcemag.com www.airforcemag.com
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Should highlight that this marks the (kinda) Milestone C, meaning that JSF program's development of the IOC/FOC aircraft is finally (but yet again, kinda) completed, and is entering the de facto (still not declared for reasons but F-35 procurement you know) FRP that has been delayed for who-knows-how many times. The focus for now seems to be laying down a stable production and procurement policy for the F-35. (edited)

www.airforcemag.com

F-35 Full-Rate Still Months Away, But Won’t Signal Production Surge | Air & Space Forces Magazine

There won’t be a big jump in the number of F-35s coming off the production line, even once it reaches full-rate production, the program office reported.
www.airforcemag.com www.airforcemag.com

From the article of Air Force Magazine earlier this year they mentioned two things :

1. The long term plan is to have around 220 airframes delivered a year until all US demands are fulfilled.
2. TR3/Block 4 around the horizon planned for Lot 15/2023 (and probably a new powerplant further down the line), the higher ups are rather preferring to wait out for the Block 4 to arrive and get it delivered in higher numbers rather than procuring more Block 3F jets now.

Also the key takeaway for the reason it's only going to remain a "de facto" milestone C and "de facto" FRP is that they are still having problems with JSE due to high volatilities of F-35 aircraft availability and maintenance turn rates, although it should be noted they were and are on a downward trend.

So all in all, although the title says "[...] Until Completion", I'd say that this number would be kept only until mid 2020s (article explicitly mentions 2025 as the earliest date before production increase) when the Block 4 and new powerplant programs would shed more light to the outlook of the future of the program. After then it would be easier to decide on actually declaring Milestone C and ramping up the production to meet the 220 goal that could support the plan to deliver 110 aircrafts to the USAF every year.
 
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The RAF's F-35 fleet has reached 10,000 flying hours, a milestone for the F-35.
ukdefencejournal.org.uk

British F-35 fleet reaches 10,000 flight hours

Since the delivery of the first British F-35 in 2012, the British F-35 programme has expanded massively with the British fleet reaching 10,000 flight hours.
ukdefencejournal.org.uk ukdefencejournal.org.uk
 
breakingdefense.com

F-35 Engine Rivals Prepare For Another Clash - Breaking Defense

General Electric could find itself in a contest with incumbent Pratt & Whitney for a replacement for the F-35's engine.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com

General Electric Aviation is pitching its XA100 adaptive cycle engine, which the company is developing as part of the US Air Force’s Adaptive Engine Transition Program.

The XA100 is “drop in” compatible with the F-35A conventional variant used by the Air Force and most international customers, as well as the F-35C carrier variant, said David Tweedie, GE’s head of advanced combat engines. However, the XA100 would have to be majorly modified for use on the F-35B, which can vertically take off and land.
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GE’s statement that the XA100 is a drop-in fit for both the F-35A and C variants is an interesting contrast to P&W stating that the XA101 and the CV variant would have hardware interference with the arresting hook.
 
Whoa. Was on paralay as I was hankering for news on ruskies jets but I saw these. Did google translate and they seemed to imply this is a rear nozzle radar blocker?!? The engineering feat if so is one of the most mind blowing in recent memory. wouldn't this decrease thrust? It surely does look like a radar blocker, but I had no idea you could do this without severe penalties. BhKA7jj.jpg
 

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While Kelly admitted that the Air Force is chronically short of engines for the F-35 due to parts supply issues, he said great progress has been made in reducing the shortage from as many as 48 F-35s that were grounded “for power modules or some engine issues” to less than 40 aircraft. That is “not a trivial accomplishment,” Kelly said, “because every day, they’re introducing more jets to the system. So, it’s not a small improvement, it’s an exponential improvement, and I expect that trend to continue to zero.”

Getting there, however, required Kelly to “curtail some of our airshow schedule” to make sure “we don’t over-consume our engines for not a good return on our training investment.”

Kelly said he is satisfied with about 200 training hours for F-35 pilots per year, supplemented with simulators, and said that 65 percent aircraft availability is also acceptable, because it can be surged to over 70 percent. He said, the 65 percent figure is “a steady state line” for him.
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www.airforcemag.com

NGAD, New Weapons, E-3 Replacement Among Air Combat Command's Top Priorities, Kelly Says | Air & Space Forces Magazine

Gen. Mark D. Kelly outlined the top priorities for Air Combat Command, with the Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter topping the list.
www.airforcemag.com www.airforcemag.com
 
Grey Havoc said:
www.defensenews.com

Raytheon CEO: Air Force may not be able to afford new F-35 engine

The proposed adaptive engine for the F-35A is intended to deliver better fuel efficiency and thrust by using a third stream of air.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com
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While an argument can be made for affordability, I can’t help but feel that Raytheon as the current owner of Pratt & Whitney is making these statements with a vested interest in maintaining their incumbency. Can F135 upgrades really provide the necessary capabilities out to the middle of the century?
 
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icyplanetnhc (Steve) said:
While an argument can be made for affordability, I can’t help but feel that Raytheon as the current owner of Pratt & Whitney is making these statements with a vested interest in maintaining their incumbency. Can F135 upgrades really provide the necessary capabilities out to the middle of the century?
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GE is equally as little surprising when they offer the adaptive engine as a feasible and affordable option, as if there were no substantial extra costs and risks involved...

The question is, whether it makes sense to rush into that huge investment and take that unnecessary risk for the sake of giving the F-35 an edge it intrinsically lacks due to the airframe design. The obvious temptation for the MIC is, predictably, to throw more money at it and hope that the current US advantage in engine performance allows them to save face, but that would be only more of the usual denial that ends up creating an even bigger trouble for the US air power further down the road. Because it will make current readiness and operational cost problems much worse and because rivals are not so far from having analogous propulsive advances on more dynamically capable platforms that would allow them to practically match a re-engined F-35 even having a less performing engine themselves. US planers should not lose so much sleep over the performance of the F-35 and forget unrealistic global air dominance goals first and foremost, that being done the rest of pieces of the puzzle would fall in place by themselves
 

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