F-35 Joint Strike Fighter News, Videos and pics Thread

[Jura The idiot]

according to FlightGlobal Japan rolls out first F-35A

Lockheed Martin rolled out the first 42 F-35As ordered by the Japan Air Self Defence Forces to replace a nearly 80-strong fleet of McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantoms.

The stealthy fighter, featuring advanced radar, electronic warfare and an internal weapons bay, is expected to play a key role in Japan's elevated security posture. JASDF ordered the F-35 after the unveiling in China of the Chengdu J-20, a new fighter with a stealthy profile in development for the People's Liberation Army Air Force.

“As the security environment surrounding Japan has become increasingly severe, because of its excellence, it is very significant for the defense of Japan to commit to acquiring the F-35 year by year,” Kenji Wakamiya, Japan’s State Minister of Defence told an audience at Lockheed’s production facilities in Fort Worth.

Lockheed will build the first four Japanese jets in Fort Worth, AX-1 through AX-4, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) will produce the remaining 38 under license at its Nagoya facility.

MHI, which built Tokyo’s fleet of Boeing F-15Js under license, won the 2011 competition to build the F-35A.

In December, MHI began work on the first F-35A assembled in Japan, dubbed the AX-5. Work at the Nagoya facility involves the mating of the aircraft’s wings, fuselage and tail, replicating Lockheed's process in Fort Worth and Leonardo's final assembly and check out facility for the F-35 in Italy.

Maintenance training is already underway for the first Japanese Air Defense technicians at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and the first Japanese pilots will begin training at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, in November, Lockheed says in a news release.

Meanwhile, the US State Department approved a possible $1.9 billion foreign military sale to Japan for four Boeing KC-46A tankers, including a spare Pratt & Whitney PW4062 turbofan engine. The sale would also include Raytheon's ALR-69A radar warning receiver and Northrop Grumman's Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system, according to a release earlier this week from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

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(didn't know "JASDF ordered the F-35 after the unveiling in China of the Chengdu J-20 ...")

 

[Jura The idiot]

found

Published on Sep 24, 2016
Aviation ordnance crew members with Marine Aviation and Weapons Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1) conduct the first ever hot load on the F-35B at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, with inert Guided Bomb Units-12 and aerial laser-guided bombs.

 

[Jura The idiot]

I guess top two news from yesterday are

1. 
   (a picture related to what I already posted: https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/f-...os-and-pics-thread.t5796/page-387#post-416877), and
2. F-35A Catches Fire at Mountain Home Air Force Base
   

   An F-35A caught fire during an exercise at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, the Air Force confirmed to Defense News.
   
   The incident took place at around noon and involved an F-35A aircraft from the 61st Fighter Squadron located at Luke Air Force Base, the service said in a statement. No serious injuries seem to have been sustained by the pilot or nearby crew.
   
   "The pilot had to egress the aircraft during engine start due to a fire from the aft section of the aircraft," Air Force spokesman Capt. Mark Graff said in an email. "The fire was extinguished quickly. As a precautionary measure, four 61st Aircraft Maintenance Unit Airmen, three Airmen from the 366th Maintenance Group and the 61st Fighter Squadron pilot were transported to the base medical center for standard evaluation."
   
   Seven F-35As from Luke AFB, which is one of the bases responsible for joint strike fighter pilot instruction, had deployed to Mountain Home to conduct surface-to-air training from Sept. 10 to 24.
   
   The root cause of the event is under investigation, Graff stated.
   
   At the time of publication, it is still unknown whether the fire originated from the F-35's F135 engine, manufactured by Pratt & Whitney.
   
   "We are aware of an incident involving an F-35A jet from Luke Air Force Base operating at Mountain Home Air Force Base, but we do not have any further details at this time," said Pratt & Whitney spokesman Matthew Bates. "We are ready to assist the U.S. Air Force and the F-35 Joint Program Office in their investigation."
   
   It's also unknown if there is a connection to a recent problem with the F-35A's coolant line insulation that caused the flight operations of 15 joint strike fighters to be suspended. During depot maintenance it was discovered that the insulation around the coolant lines was breaking down inside the fuel tank— a situation the joint program office said was due to the supplier using the incorrect materials to manufacture the insulation.
   
   The insulation issue also impacts 42 F-35s on manufacturer Lockheed Martin's production line. When the problem was made public last Friday, JPO officials said they were certain no other planes had been affected. Earlier this week, F-35 Joint Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said Lockheed planned to test a potential fix next week, and if it works, company teams would roll out the following week to begin repairs.

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[FORBIN]

I guess top two news from yesterday are

1. (a picture related to what I already posted: https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/f-...os-and-pics-thread.t5796/page-387#post-416877), and
2. F-35A Catches Fire at Mountain Home Air Force Base
   
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1 Good
2 Less but nothing grave all aicrafts get it but for F-35 each time naysayers do big scandal fact is

 

[Air Force Brat]

I guess top two news from yesterday are

1. 
   (a picture related to what I already posted: https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/f-...os-and-pics-thread.t5796/page-387#post-416877), and
2. F-35A Catches Fire at Mountain Home Air Force Base
   
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Yep, this too is BAD SHuuugar!

 

[Jura The idiot]

Yep, this too is BAD SHuuugar!

'bad sugar' ... diabetes: the only connection my English makes (hope it's funny what I just said) ... FlightGlobal

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now: Fire damages F-35A during Mountain Home deployment

A fire erupted in the aft end of a Lockheed Martin F-35A during the engine start sequence on 23 September in Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, forcing the pilot to escape, the US Air Force says.

The fire was “extinguished quickly”, but the USAF has not described the extent of the damage. Four servicemen — the pilot and three maintainers — were treated at a hospital as a precaution and were released, the USAF says.

Fires have now damaged at least three production and test copies of the F-35A, including the AF-4 test aircraft in 2011 and the AF-27 production aircraft in 2014. AF-4 returned to flight after the fire caused by a failure of the Honeywell Integrated Power Package. AF-27 remains unflyable due to the 2014 engine fire, which was caused by the airfoils of an integrally bladed rotor rubbing against an abladable strip of material within the fan casing.

The cause of the F-35A fire at Mountain Home remains under investigation, the air force says.

The damaged aircraft was one of seven F-35As from the 61st Squadron at Luke AFB deployed to Mountain Home from 21-24 September. The purpose of the deployment was to train F-35A instructor pilots how to teach techniques for detecting and attacking surface-to-air missile launching systems. The remote Mountain Home base in Southwest Idaho operates a large training range with multiple types of SAM launchers.

In early August, the USAF declared the F-35A operationally capable to perform a limited set of missions. Full operational capability is scheduled to be achieved in about a year.

 

[Air Force Brat]

'bad sugar' ... diabetes: the only connection my English makes (hope it's funny what I just said) ... FlightGlobal

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now: Fire damages F-35A during Mountain Home deployment

Well Jura, I meant "Bad KRAP! I used to have a friend who would say "OH SUGAR"
instead of the "Word", so no diabetes is "BAD SUGAR", and yes I do know that personally, but I was wanting to use the little nasty word for KRAP!

Its not unheard of for engines to catch fire during the start sequence, in fact any turbine is monitored closely during each and every start for a hot start, if the "Turbine Inlet Temperature" reaches the limit, the fuel lever is pulled and the fire goes out and the heat goes away.

In fact I once extinguished a fire on an MU-2J that landed and left his thrust reversers engaged too long and the Port engine "flamed out" with a loud "POP". I told the kid on the uni-com to tell him he had an engine fire, and went outside to see what I could do to assist? the kid did NOT call the pilot, the aircraft continued to taxi to the ramp with hot fuel vapor smoke trailing behind him, and as soon as he braked to a stop those vapors ignited.

As the fire was near the only exit door on the Mitsubishi, I grabbed a fire extinguisher off the fence and began to blow the chemical laterally across the tail pipe extinguishing the blaze. When the pilot realized he had a fire, he shut off the fuel, which he had forgotten to do, and began to "spool" the engine back up. However the fire "re-ignited" before he began to spool it, and a friend who worked for the airport grabbed the fire extinguisher and began to spray the chemical up the exhaust pipe.

The embarrassed pilot should have shut off the fuel when he had the flame out, neglecting checklist items is not only dangerous, but expensive, his passenger was the "bosses son" who had an appointment at Capital/EMI records, the pilot told the Fire Crews who soon arrived that he was burning off residual fuel???? he spent the next several hours attempting to "hose out" the fire retardant, and later "test flew" the aircraft??? He was rather certain he would be "fired" upon returning to New York.

So he may have had a hot start that got away from him, may have had raw fuel ignite in the afterburner section, anyway it got out of hand, and if the aircraft does indeed have damage, we'll soon hear the details??? even the Russians had to tell the truth when O55 burnt, totaling the fuselage which then required them to "cannibalize 6-1" which was on the production floor.

 

[Jura The idiot]

Yep, this too is BAD SHuuugar!

could be, as 13 USAF F-35s Taken out of Service Could Return to Operations This Year

Thirteen F-35A Lightning II fighter jets taken out of service are beginning testing on solutions and could return to operations this year, Mark Johnson the spokesperson for

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, the prime contractor for the F-35, told Avionics Magazine. Peeling and crumbling insulation in avionics cooling lines moved the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to temporarily pull 13 F-35’s from flight operations on Sept. 16, although the issue spread to a total of 57 aircraft, 15 of which are currently fielded.

Maintainers doing depot modification work on an F-35A aircraft at Hill Air Force Base, discovered that insulation in cooling lines within three fuel tanks were peeling away and crumbling earlier this week.

“Subsequent tests conducted at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics indicated it was possible for this crumbling insulation to become lodged in the siphon lines connecting wing and fuselage fuel tanks. This could result in excessive negative pressures in the fuel tanks during flying operations or excessive positive pressures during air or ground refueling. In either case, the under- or over-pressure could cause structural damage to the fuel tanks,” USAF spokesperson Ann Stefanek told Avionics Magazine.

According to Stefanek, preliminary investigations suggest that an incorrect sealant was applied to the insulation. As a result, it gradually broke apart due to contact with fuel.

“Because of a misstep in process from the supplier this insulation has the potential to flake off. When that occurs inside the F-35A wing, which is a fuel tank, under extraordinary circumstances it might have the opportunity to get into the fuel and cause [Foreign Object Damage] FOD,” Johnson confirmed.

The issue raises questions about the viability of F-35s in the field, but Lockheed believes the problem is limited to a single batch of cooling lines in which non-conforming insulation was found on coolant tubing carrying Poly-Alpha-Olefin (PAO) throughout the jet’s wings.

“The issue is confined to one supplier source and one batch of parts,” Johnson said. “We know that only these aircraft have been impacted because it is a singular part identified through a part number. We know exactly which part and where it came from, so we were able to trace it to specific jets as opposed to it being a systematic problem.”

Johnson confirmed Lockheed Martin was working with the supplier to remedy the situation and would likely continue to work with them after the issue had been corrected.

Engineers at Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) are addressing the issue alongside Hill AFB Airmen, the team has currently conducted inspections of at least eight aircraft. Engineers are currently developing procedures that will allow them to resolve the issue without having to replace the maintenance lines. This will hopefully get the aircraft ready for flight prior to the release of affected production aircraft to the field, and return affected operational aircraft back to the field before the end of the year.

“We won’t need to replace the cooling lines; our engineers are working on a solution and they have it,” said Johnson. “They are starting on the first test article at Fort Worth early next week. When that test article is done to the specification of the U.S. Government, JPO, etc., then eight teams from Lockheed will go into the field to provide the necessary maintenance on the aircraft in the field.

The fielded aircraft include 10 at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, four at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona — of which two belong to a partner nation — and one at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. An additional 42 aircraft in production are also impacted, 28 of which belong to the U.S., and 14 foreign military sales aircraft.

While Johnson was unclear on exactly how engineers would address the issue, he noted that the aircraft would be suspended from flying for the next few months but were currently on track to return to service by the end of 2016. “Our target is to have all 15 jets in the field back up and flying by the end of the year.”

This is certainly not the first issue for the F-35, which was delayed in March an extra four months on top of its long and troubled history in light of software challenges.

“While nearing completion, the F-35 is still in development and challenges are to be expected,” said the USAF in a statement released on Sept. 16.

As of now, the USAF is working to mitigate the impact on F-35 operations, training and readiness, and programmed flight training and other impacts will depend on the number and timing of aircraft returned to service.

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[Air Force Brat]

could be, as 13 USAF F-35s Taken out of Service Could Return to Operations This Year

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Good news Jura, and as Jeff Head predicted Lock Mart is moving rapidly on a solution, and as I predicted, it is all out in the open and above board. The fire a week later is of course very disappointing, but as I have stated before, the F-135 is a "Hotted UP" version of the F-119, physically larger, and generating an Un-Godly amount of heat in order to up efficiency and power out-put.

That's why Western engines have a much greater specific power output than "communist block" engines, and while the Russians are having some success, the Chinese continue to struggle to get the WS-15 into serious test. That un-Godly heat is a virtual Hell for engine components, and significantly cuts down on parts life, and causes engines to be "at risk". Here we see that everybody who is "playing with fire", plays by the same rules, and things do go south.

We should have a preliminary report on the F-35 fire within a week or two??? and they will tell us if its serious, or just an errant perfect storm? perhaps some imperfection in the engine casing allowed flame to get somewhere it wasn't supposed to???

 

[Equation]

That's why Western engines have a much greater specific power output than "communist block" engines, and while the Russians are having some success, the Chinese continue to struggle to get the WS-15 into serious test. That un-Godly heat is a virtual Hell for engine components, and significantly cuts down on parts life, and causes engines to be "at risk". Here we see that everybody who is "playing with fire", plays by the same rules, and things do go south.

We should have a preliminary report on the F-35 fire within a week or two??? and they will tell us if its serious, or just an errant perfect storm? perhaps some imperfection in the engine casing allowed flame to get somewhere it wasn't supposed to???

Or perhaps the WS-15 engines are far more advance than the Russian or Western one that requires a lot more stringent development? After all Westerners don't like to see or hear that China is doing better than them?