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

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Forest Green said:
NMaude said:
I won't be surprised if Germany has decided to make a large F-35 order as the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused it to triple its defence budget.
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The next Finnish defence budget discussions are likely to be very interesting too.
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They take their defense seriously - their decisions and reasoning behind them will definitely be illuminating.
 
TomcatViP said:
https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...-35-fighter-jet-government-source-2022-03-14/
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Now very likely that further orders of Typhoon and, potentially, Typhoon ECR will follow as well...

The whole SuperHornet/Growler diversion was foolish in the extreme. I actually see this as beneficial to the FCAS programme, the additional Typhoon orders will keep production lines open and engineering skills intact, Typhoon ECR will help the German's develop top level EW tech for FCAS (although the German's apparently favour the UK's Radar 2 as part of the package). And an FCAS partner nation actually operating an LO platform for a number of years will help with the introduction of FCAS if and when it eventualy emerges...

Likely to be rather good for BAE as well...they get a big chunk of F-35 and Typhoon orders...
 
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Hi folks,
this future crest of the Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 33 (Tactical Air Force Wing 33, abbreviated as "TaktLwG 33"), inserted with a F-35 silhouette instead of a Tornado silhouette, is not official.
I just made it up with MS Paint.net during my lunch break.
 

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It is now official (congrats to Germans) :

"After looking thoroughly into all available options, I decided to initiate the purchase of F-35 aircraft as replacement for the Tornado in the role of nuclear sharing," Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said in a statement.
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“There can be only one answer to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's aggression,” said Gerhartz. “Unity in NATO and a credible deterrent. This in particular means there is no alternative but to choose the F-35.”
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Let's notice however that 35 is even a lower count than non( officially) nuclear capable/ non-NATO/ neutral Switzerland...
https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...-35-fighter-jet-government-source-2022-03-14/
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/germany-buy-us-made-35s-replace-ageing-bombers-83435402
 
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TomcatViP said:
It is now official (congrats to Germans) :

"After looking thoroughly into all available options, I decided to initiate the purchase of F-35 aircraft as replacement for the Tornado in the role of nuclear sharing," Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said in a statement.
Click to expand...

Let's notice however that 35 is even a lower count than non( officially) nuclear capable/ NON-NATO/ neutral Switzerland...
https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...-35-fighter-jet-government-source-2022-03-14/
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Switzerland is acquiring 36 F-35, so only one more. And those 36 aircraft will be the whole of Switzerland's fast jet force, replacing both the 26 soon-to-be retired F-5E and the 25 F/A-18C. Considering that Germany has >140 Typhoon as well, this seems like a really unfair comparison.

Now, I would not be surprised to see a second tranche of F-35 to replace the rest of the Tornado IDS, while Typhoon ECR replaces the Tornado ECR. That would leave FCAS to start replacing Typhoon first.
 
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I'm aware. Further conversation clearly not for this News Only thread.
 
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Even if it has Universal Armament Interface, etc it'd still need to undergo separation testing, so it'd still have to join the queue of other weapons planned for integration.
 
Dragon029 said:
Even if it has Universal Armament Interface, etc it'd still need to undergo separation testing, so it'd still have to join the queue of other weapons planned for integration.
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Meh it should be fairly minimal to integrate meteor and may already be done without being published. What the 35 needs is an internal 9x so it doesn't have to throw away stealth when it needs it. But it can never happen
 
rooster said:
Meh it should be fairly minimal to integrate meteor and may already be done without being published.
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Meteor has fins that are too large so MBDA have had to develop a variant of the missile with redesigned fins. Just a few weeks ago it was reported that Meteor integration slipped from 2026 to 2027.

helmutkohl said:
I assume ASRAAM has been certified to operate from the F-35?
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ASRAAM was cleared for external carriage (on the same outer pylons as AIM-9X) as part of Block 3F's fleet release back in 2018.
 
Dragon029 said:
rooster said:
Meh it should be fairly minimal to integrate meteor and may already be done without being published.
Click to expand...
Meteor has fins that are too large so MBDA have had to develop a variant of the missile with redesigned fins. Just a few weeks ago it was reported that Meteor integration slipped from 2026 to 2027.

helmutkohl said:
I assume ASRAAM has been certified to operate from the F-35?
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ASRAAM was cleared for external carriage (on the same outer pylons as AIM-9X) as part of Block 3F's fleet release back in 2018.
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no internal carriage yet?
it seems slim enough to fit inside the bays
 

‘Our F-35s had at least one close encounter with Chinese J-20 Mighty Dragon Stealth Jets,’ Pacific Air Forces Commander says​


By Dario Leone

Mar 16 2022

US Air Force (USAF) General Kenneth Wilsbach, Commander, Pacific Air Forces, said on Mar. 14, 2022 during a discussion posted on the YouTube channel of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies (see the video below) that US Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters have had at least one encounter with Chinese Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon stealth fighters, and that the Shaanxi KJ-500 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft has a key role in long-range air-to-air kill chains.


However, as first noted by Flight Global, Wilsbach did not specify when the F-35/J-20 encounter took place, or if there have been more than one[...]
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https://theaviationgeekclub.com/our...ealth-jets-pacific-air-forces-commander-says/
 
helmutkohl said:
no internal carriage yet?
it seems slim enough to fit inside the bays
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You could probably fit Meteor onto the heavy hardpoints of each weapon bay, but the issue comes from attaching it to the door hardpoints and with staggering / fitting two Meteors in each bay.

As for ASRAAM, it's definitely slim enough, as is AIM-9X, but like the Sidewinder it's a rail-launched weapon and so in order to launch it from an internal bay you need a specialised trapeze launcher that extends the missile out of the bay prior to motor ignition. Other weapons like AMRAAM and Meteor meanwhile are ejected and then have their motors ignite. On the F-22, Sidewinders have their own dedicated bays with specialised launchers for this reason as well.
 
There isn't much use of Meteor'S alleged longer range in a VLO airframe. Who's going to detect and get a solid lock for a missile launch on your F-35 at 100+km?! Let's be realistic, it's not gonna happen for another decade, at least.
Meteors can then be more economically integrated on external carriage fullfiling the Beast mode defensive needs and for missions where it is necessary the aircraft remains visible on radar by all parties (Syria).

Spare yourself the hassle.

My 2 cents
 
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Dragon029 said:
rooster said:
Meh it should be fairly minimal to integrate meteor and may already be done without being published.
Click to expand...
Meteor has fins that are too large so MBDA have had to develop a variant of the missile with redesigned fins. Just a few weeks ago it was reported that Meteor integration slipped from 2026 to 2027.

helmutkohl said:
I assume ASRAAM has been certified to operate from the F-35?
Click to expand...
ASRAAM was cleared for external carriage (on the same outer pylons as AIM-9X) as part of Block 3F's fleet release back in 2018.
Click to expand...
img_8-1_27.jpg
 
Switzerland F-35:

Cette coopération doit désormais "entrer dans une nouvelle ère" avec l'acquisition par la Suisse de 36 avions de combat F-35A, a renchéri Peter Merz alors que l'ombre de l'initiative lancée par une alliance de gauche plane sur l'achat du nouveau jet.

"Cela serait le pire des scénarios. Pas pour moi, mais pour l'ensemble de la Suisse, dont l'espace aérien ne serait plus protégé", a jugé le commandant des Forces aériennes suisses.
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This cooperation must now "enter a new era" with the acquisition by Switzerland of 36 F-35A fighter planes, added Peter Merz as the initiative launched by a left-wing alliance cast a shadow over the purchase of the new jet.

"It would be the worst scenario. Not for me, but for the whole of Switzerland, whose airspace would no longer be protected," said the commander of the Swiss Air Force.
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https://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/1294...ayerne-sur-fond-de-promotion-pour-le-f35.html
 
So then, it's not so Lockheed can supply Germany and other countries that have just come on board, I understand that the production rate is set to a specific amount ----
 
sferrin said:
Dragon029 said:
rooster said:
Meh it should be fairly minimal to integrate meteor and may already be done without being published.
Click to expand...
Meteor has fins that are too large so MBDA have had to develop a variant of the missile with redesigned fins. Just a few weeks ago it was reported that Meteor integration slipped from 2026 to 2027.

helmutkohl said:
I assume ASRAAM has been certified to operate from the F-35?
Click to expand...
ASRAAM was cleared for external carriage (on the same outer pylons as AIM-9X) as part of Block 3F's fleet release back in 2018.
Click to expand...
View attachment 675556
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Off topic: Are those 2000lb bombs under the wings?
 
Dragon029 said:
helmutkohl said:
no internal carriage yet?
it seems slim enough to fit inside the bays
Click to expand...
You could probably fit Meteor onto the heavy hardpoints of each weapon bay, but the issue comes from attaching it to the door hardpoints and with staggering / fitting two Meteors in each bay.

As for ASRAAM, it's definitely slim enough, as is AIM-9X, but like the Sidewinder it's a rail-launched weapon and so in order to launch it from an internal bay you need a specialised trapeze launcher that extends the missile out of the bay prior to motor ignition. Other weapons like AMRAAM and Meteor meanwhile are ejected and then have their motors ignite. On the F-22, Sidewinders have their own dedicated bays with specialised launchers for this reason as well.
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how about IRIS-T. is it rail launch only as well?
 
dan_inbox said:
TomcatViP said:
Please, remember that we have generally switched toward diode lights. Dedicated Spot lights are then not that as much a necessity as they were before. If it comes to providing light to an intercepted a/c (since most fighters have now much better low vis/night vision system), mostly it will be for general aviation incidents where most probably the landing gear could be lowered with to use of the landing lights.
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It is not so much a matter a night vision systems, it is a matter of policing rules for intercepting traffic in peacetime.

The "phare de police" on a Mirage 2000:
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I wasn't aware, thanks dan_inbox

Regards
Pioneer
 

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