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

Now they did not just take a Sawzall to the fins ...
just "The long-range weapon will require adaptation for carriage within the F-35B's internal weapons bays." inside
Meteor integration gets boost for UK F-35s
26 April, 2017
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MBDA has been awarded a £41 million ($52.6 million) contract to begin preparing its Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile for integration with Lockheed Martin's F-35B for the UK.

The European company – which will perform the activity at its Stevenage facility in Hertfordshire, England – says its funding allocation includes "test assets, productionisation and engineering work needed to support Meteor's compatibility and use from F-35".

Under the terms of its risk-reduction contract, MBDA says it will also begin developing "role change kits for the UK's common Meteor stockpile for both the [Eurofighter] Typhoon and Lightning II". The long-range weapon will require adaptation for carriage within the F-35B's internal weapons bays.

Already carried by some of the Swedish air force's Saab Gripens and also being integrated with the Dassault Rafale, Meteor will enter UK service with the Royal Air Force's Typhoons in 2018, and aboard its short take-off and vertical landing F-35Bs from 2024, the Ministry of Defence says.

The missile's full integration with the F-35B will occur during the jet's Block 4 software update, with MBDA also to promote the ramjet-powered weapon for operators of the conventional take-off and landing F-35A.

MBDA is already adding its short-range ASRAAM for the UK's aircraft during the Joint Strike Fighter programme's Block 3 software standard, with initial test firings of the missile conducted in the USA earlier this year.
 
Jan 12, 2017
... (the first page of
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):

"... Continued shortfalls and delays with the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) and late delivery of ALIS version 3.0, the final planned version for SDD, at risk of slipping from early CY18 into mid-CY18
...
related:
F-35 logistics system all set for US Air Force and Navy, not yet for Marines
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After months of delays, the newest iteration of the F-35’s logistics system is finally ready to be installed on the aircraft, manufacturer Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday.

So far, the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy have approved the most recent version of the Autonomic Logistics Information System, or ALIS, a core piece of F-35 infrastructure that enables mission planning, gives step-by-step maintenance instructions and allows personnel to order spare parts, among other functions.

The U.S. Marine Corps, however, is about six weeks away from being able to approve the new ALIS on its short takeoff and landing F-35 variant, the company said.

The biggest change between ALIS 2.0.2 and earlier versions is the integration of the F135 engine made by Pratt & Whitney. This allows maintainers to use ALIS as the sole maintenance system needed to monitor the health of the propulsion system, run diagnostics or conduct repairs.

All versions of the joint strike fighter use the same logistics architecture, but the Marine Corps’ F-35B needed a particular update to the engine’s computing system for ALIS 2.0.2, said Mike Beard, who works F-35 logistics strategy and customer engagement for Lockheed. Pratt & Whitney didn’t have that update done in time for testing at Nellis and Edwards Air Force bases, but have since completed it.

“Now that we have that, we’ll be integrating it [with ALIS], and we’ll be able to roll it out to the Marine sites,” he said.

Aside from the engine integration, ALIS 2.0.2 also includes software improvements that will allow for a better connection between deployed ALIS systems and the ones located at home bases, according to Lockheed.

ALIS 2.0.2 has been supporting planes at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, since March, and it will gradually be rolled out to operational sites by the end of the year, the company said. The logistics system is already in use at more than 20 locations.

“This upgrade will allow deploying units to predict ‘what if’ scenarios inside ALIS, removing most of the manual planning that is done today,” Reeves Valentine, the company’s vice president of F-35 logistics, said in a statement. “ALIS 2.0.2 will allow users to forecast and make those decisions. Picking the best jets, support equipment, spare parts and personnel for the deployment and managing resources throughout their lifecycle — that type of data should ultimately translate to better aircraft availability.”

ALIS 2.0.2 was supposed to be complete in time for initial operating capability of the Air Force’s F-35A last August, but integrating the F-35’s engine with the logistics system proved to be more difficult than expected.

As the summer of 2016 began, Lockheed predicted it would take until at least October or November to field the capability. The general in charge of making the initial operating capability declaration — Gen. Herbert Carlisle, then-head of Air Combat Command, who is now retired — ultimately opted to move forward with the milestone without ALIS 2.0.2 on board, stating that F-35 squadrons had proven they could deploy without the capability.

Because of the delays to ALIS 2.0.2, some of the capability for the next version of the system, ALIS 3.0, has been offloaded to the later version, called ALIS 4.0.

ALIS 3.0 is still planned to be fielded in early 2018 in time to close out the program’s system development and demonstration phase. Valentine said the focus of ALIS 3.0 was including key user enhancements seen as critical for wrapping up the system development and demonstration phase — including improved data transfer software that reduces the time it takes to load large files and tools that filter out redundant information — as well as security updates.

The new ALIS 4.0 version will be completed a year later for an early 2019 fielding, he said. Besides further usability enhancements, it will incorporate new capabilities that address, for example, diminishing material supplies.
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
What are the yellow crops in the fields, Sunflowers? you can see them through the clouds, we do raise a few sunflower plots over here, but mostly to improve dove hunting?? LOL
Also ?
Not sure in Estonia can be in Danmark for refueling to mid-range i don' t remenber KC-135 on Baltic States air bases when F-22 also going in these countries, for me they go up to about Danmark and return to Mildenhall base of 100th ARW use 15 KC-135R and where are a Detcht ot the 55th Wing ( home Offut ) with RC-135 many variants...

1800 km UK - Estonia x 2 : 3600 km F-35A surely don' t have these ferry range with 4 FTs possible.

True porcepine these RC-135 :)
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Also ?
Not sure in Estonia can be in Danmark for refueling to mid-range i don' t remenber KC-135 on Baltic States air bases when F-22 also going in these countries, for me they go up to about Danmark and return to Mildenhall base of 100th ARW use 15 KC-135R and where are a Detcht ot the 55th Wing ( home Offut ) with RC-135 many variants...

1800 km UK - Estonia x 2 : 3600 km F-35A surely don' t have these ferry range with 4 FTs possible.

True porcepine these RC-135 :)
For me ferry range max 3000 km internal fuel ofc with i guesstimate in average for all fighters about + 25 % with FTs much more fuel but mass, drag etc... reduce advantage.
3000 for A, C a little superior - 25 % for B

"All that suggests F-35A has potential ferry range of some 1600 nm, possibly even 1700nm"
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Last edited:
Today at 5:54 AM
Jan 12, 2017

related:
F-35 logistics system all set for US Air Force and Navy, not yet for Marines
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yes, also related:
ALIS 2.02 Ready to Go
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Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday that the newest version of its Autonomic Logistics Information System, or ALIS, which the company calls “the IT backbone of the F-35,” has been approved for installation on Air Force and Navy F-35s. Another version of ALIS, to be fielded by early 2018, will be coming before the F-35 can close out the system design and development phase, according to Lockheed.

The completion of version 2.02 means that “for the first time, the entire F-35 from tip to tail, including the propulsion system, is integrated within ALIS,” vice president of F-35 logistics Reeves Valentine told reporters on a conference call.

Previously, F135 engine makers Pratt & Whitney “had a native tool where they managed the engine configuration and usage” separately from the ALIS system, demanding a more lengthy process and involving “their own field service reps.” Lockheed expects the full integration of 2.02 will “reduce cost and increase aircraft availability” by shaving decision time for maintenance requirements and reducing the number of personnel needed.

The new system also automates the tracking of parts among variants of the F-35, provides “enhanced networking,” and streamlines “the resource management for deployed operations,” said Valentine. He called ALIS 2.02 “one of the largest incremental steps of development” so far in the F-35 program because it provides “a single system where all of this data is captured and collected,” giving operators “the tools and the data they need in order to economize across the entire fleet.”

Valentine said Lockheed is in conversation with the Air Force about future “adaptations or modifications” of ALIS that would allow the system to be deployed “across other platforms.” While those conversations are still in the early stages, he said, “there are certainly going to be adjacent opportunities and follow-on discussions.”

But 2.02 is not the final version before the F-35 can enter initial operational test and evaluation, a transition that has been
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. For IOT&E, a 3.0 version will be required. “Fielding will start very early in 2018,” Valentine said. Among other features, ALIS 3.0 will have better security, faster data transfer for large files, and lightning protection.

A follow-on 4.0 version is expected in early 2019.
 

lucretius

Junior Member
Registered Member
What are the yellow crops in the fields, Sunflowers? you can see them through the clouds, we do raise a few sunflower plots over here, but mostly to improve dove hunting?? LOL

Oilseed Rape.

Commonly grown in the UK

article-2151404-1359606A000005DC-716_964x628.jpg


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Rapeseed oil has historically fulfilled a useful role as a "break crop" in farm rotation - to suppress weeds and improve soil quality - for cereal crops such as wheat and barley.
 
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