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

[Jura The idiot]

Dec 4, 2018

Thursday at 7:16 PM
while now
No ‘devastating impact’ to F-35 industrial base if Turkey removed from program, says US Air Force official

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um

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“We would see within 45 to 90 days an impact of the slowing down or stopping of those parts to the three production lines,” Vice Adm. Mat Winter told Congress.

If Turkey

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the F-35 program, it would deal an immediate blow to the production rate for new planes and place fresh stress on an already strained supply chain, the plane’s program manager said Thursday.

In the latest in the ongoing controversy over how the US and NATO might react if Turkey goes ahead with its planned purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system, F-35 program manager Vice Adm. Mathias Winter told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that “the evaluation of Turkey stopping would be between 50- and 75-airplane impact over a two-year period.”

That hit to production comes from the 6 percent to 7 percent of the aircraft’s parts that are made in Turkey, Winter said, and “we would see within 45 to 90 days an impact of the slowing down or stopping of those parts to the three production lines.”

The loss of those parts would be felt acutely as the approximately 3,000 suppliers working on the F-35 “are struggling with the demand signal on them,” Winter added, as more planes enter service and older ones are increasingly in need of repair.

The program office is looking to move parts production and repair to depots across the country so industry can focus on making new parts of jets on the assembly line, but with 395 F-35s in service globally, that has proven a challenge.

On Monday, the

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that it had stopped parts shipments to Turkey for the F-35 in retaliation for the impending purchase of the Russian S-400, which

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this week was unacceptable to the alliance. “Secondary sources of supply for Turkish-produced parts are now in development,” Acting Chief Pentagon Spokesman Charles Summers said in a statement.” Turkey is on record to buy 100 F-35As.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan sounded confident this week that the Turkish planes would be delivered on time, telling reporters at the Pentagon, “I expect them to be delivered.”

Despite the drama — and

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that it will buy the S-400 no matter what its allies think — the first Turkish planes are arriving on schedule. Officials confirmed Thursday that the first of two Turkish F-35s was delivered to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona Wednesday, with another ready for delivery on Friday. Turkish pilots will use them for training.

“The training will continue at Luke Air Force Base,” Summers told reporters at the Pentagon Thursday. He added that there are currently no plans to take those two jets back.

it's

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[Jura The idiot]

now I thought about the history when the Marines had been left on Guadalcanal without air cover, Kurita sailed down there to bombard them etc., I think that's connection:
Marines Accelerating F-35C Procurement to Support Carrier Deployments; F-35B Buys Would Slow

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The Marine Corps is accelerating its F-35C carrier variant Joint Strike Fighter procurement and slowing its F-35B vertical landing variant to support Navy deployment requirements, the Marines’ top aviator told lawmakers today.

In its Fiscal Year 2020 budget request the Marines asked for 10 fewer F-35Bs; in the budget’s projection for outyears, the service dropped its planned F-35B buys by five F-35Bs in 2021 and three in FY 2022. For the F-35C, though, the service increased its request by nine planes in the five-year Future Years Defense Program.

Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder, deputy commandant of the Marine Corps for aviation, told the House Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee that those changes were meant to support upcoming deployments.

With the Marine Corps on the hook for some of the planned F-35C carrier strike group deployments, “we rebalanced this year with more Cs – just really more to catch up. Now that we have begun training our first F-35C squadron up in Lemoore, we will be the second carrier deployment with the United States Navy with our F-35Cs,” Rudder said.

The Navy’s Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147 will conduct the first deployment with the F-35C integrated into the carrier air wing, and Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314 will

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.

Rear Adm. Scott Conn, the Navy’s director of air warfare (OPNAV N98), said at the hearing that the Navy and Marine Corps would continue to rotate which service transitions the next squadron to the F-35C until about 2026 or 2027.

The Marine Corps hasn’t changed how many of each variant it plans to buy, but the new emphasis on F-35Cs and a slowing of F-35Bs will allow the small service to keep up with the latest squadron transition and deployment plans.

Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Christopher Harrison told USNI News that, as part of the rebalance in the FY 2020 budget request, “the Marine Corps increased its procurement of F-35Cs over the FYDP from 19 to 28 F-35Cs to ensure the service would be able to transition its F-35C squadrons on schedule. Specifically, the Marine Corps increased its F-35C procurement in 2020 to ensure TACAIR Integration (TAI) F-35C Squadrons make their planned transition and timeline for deployment. The Corps’ approved Program of Record remains 353 F-35Bs and 67 F-35Cs.”

To support accelerating F-35C acquisition, the Marines will decelerate F-35B procurement, “deferring several F-35B aircraft into future [low-rate initial production] contracts in order to balance concurrency management while taking advantage of emerging future technologies and capabilities,” Harrison said.

That balance of models still heavily favors the F-35B that will operate from amphibious assault ships, but Rudder said the commonality between the B and C will give the service flexibility to move pilots and maintainers between B and C squadrons and will reduce the training and maintenance burden.

Previously, the Marine Corps operated three types of fixed-wing aircraft: the EA-6B Prowler electronic attack aircraft, the AV-8B Harrier vertical landing strike aircraft, and the F-18 Hornet fighter. Each had its own separate training pipeline for pilots and maintainers and a separate logistics chain for spare parts.

“What that means is, for our small 18 squadrons … we’ll be able to mix pilots back and forth between the B and C; one simulator. One maintainer, one supply account. And that creates efficiency for us,” Rudder said.
“For us to stay with the fourth-gen, we’ve got to keep a whole other institution for our fourth-gen fighters. For fifth-gen for us, for the business model, one type aircraft is efficient and affordable.”

Rudder said that today, the Marine Corps has about 80-percent fourth-generation aircraft – Harriers and Hornets, with the

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– and 20-percent fifth-generation aircraft. That 80/20 balance will have reversed by 2028, and by 2030 the Marines should be fully into the F-35 for all its fixed-wing squadrons.

Whether his Marines are on amphibs in the F-35B or on carriers in the F-35C, Rudder stressed the importance of the Joint Strike Fighter for potential future fights.

“As we look at, for us, the Marine Corps being an inside force and we are deployed forward … I think if you look at the competition from 2025 into 2030, fifth-gen for us as an inside force will be required to win.”

 

[Jura The idiot]

Mar 20, 2019

congratulations huh
The Navy's "Operational" F-35C Is Fully Mission Capable Less Than Five Percent Of The Time

March 20, 2019

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now inside
Navy Fighter Readiness Nearing 80 Percent Mission Capable Target

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:
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program – which the Navy and Marine Corps are still in the early stages of incorporating into the fleet – has a high readiness rate for all three fighter variants, Vice Adm. Mat Winter, the F-35 program executive officer, said during Thursday’s hearing.

“We’re on a trajectory to reach 80-percent capability by the end of the year,” Winter said.

Currently, the F-35A variant used by the Air Force has an availability rate of 61 percent, the F-35B short take-off and vertical landing variant has an availability rate of 64 percent, and the F-35C carrier variant has an availability rate of 84 percent, Winter said.

When F-35 squadrons deploy, Winter said they now bring spare parts packages with them. With those packages, Winter said, “those mission capability rates average between 65 and 85 percent.”

Winter’s office has worked with to suppliers to build up spare part inventories at depots and on the flight line, Winter said. Now maintainers have the right parts on hand, so they don’t have to keep going back to the manufacturer to order more parts. The F-35 program is doing a better job of keeping maintainers stocked with parts such as canopies, blade shields and wingtips. And when possible, Winter said, flight line maintainers now have the authority to fix parts.

“We can get spare parts to maintainers one of two ways – get new parts to flight lines, but also giving the authorities for maintainers to fix parts on the flight line,” Winter said.

Plus, as the program has matured and is nearing full-rate production, Winter said the production line ironed out many of the problems that caused the first F-35s to require more maintenance.

“The aircraft itself, lot over lot over lot, is getting more reliable,” Winter said. “Therefore, it doesn’t break as often, so therefore it’s more ready.”

what the is going on

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

now I thought about the history when the Marines had been left on Guadalcanal without air cover, Kurita sailed down there to bombard them etc., I think that's connection:
Marines Accelerating F-35C Procurement to Support Carrier Deployments; F-35B Buys Would Slow

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The Marines plan is to phase over to a single ship for their fast mover fleet. Taking them from the current 3-4 types to 1 And a naval variant. This would obviously not change the other wings of the Air Marines KC130J, MV22,CH53K,AH1Z,UH1Y and their nascent drone program.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

Mar 20, 2019
now inside
Navy Fighter Readiness Nearing 80 Percent Mission Capable Target

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:
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program – which the Navy and Marine Corps are still in the early stages of incorporating into the fleet – has a high readiness rate for all three fighter variants, Vice Adm. Mat Winter, the F-35 program executive officer, said during Thursday’s hearing.

“We’re on a trajectory to reach 80-percent capability by the end of the year,” Winter said.

Currently, the F-35A variant used by the Air Force has an availability rate of 61 percent, the F-35B short take-off and vertical landing variant has an availability rate of 64 percent, and the F-35C carrier variant has an availability rate of 84 percent, Winter said.

When F-35 squadrons deploy, Winter said they now bring spare parts packages with them. With those packages, Winter said, “those mission capability rates average between 65 and 85 percent.”

Winter’s office has worked with to suppliers to build up spare part inventories at depots and on the flight line, Winter said. Now maintainers have the right parts on hand, so they don’t have to keep going back to the manufacturer to order more parts. The F-35 program is doing a better job of keeping maintainers stocked with parts such as canopies, blade shields and wingtips. And when possible, Winter said, flight line maintainers now have the authority to fix parts.

“We can get spare parts to maintainers one of two ways – get new parts to flight lines, but also giving the authorities for maintainers to fix parts on the flight line,” Winter said.

Plus, as the program has matured and is nearing full-rate production, Winter said the production line ironed out many of the problems that caused the first F-35s to require more maintenance.

“The aircraft itself, lot over lot over lot, is getting more reliable,” Winter said. “Therefore, it doesn’t break as often, so therefore it’s more ready.”

what the is going on

“We’re on a trajectory to reach 80-percent capability by the end of the year."

The previous report was over a date range of October 2016 to December 2018 this more modern report is more likely from January 2019-last month.

 

[Brumby]

F-35 demo at recent Melbourne airshow flying with 3F software i.e. with 9G capability

 

[Brumby]

The previous report was over a date range of October 2016 to December 2018 this more modern report is more likely from January 2019-last month.

There are a couple of major reasons for improvements and we are seeing the results as they come in. The sequestration years under the Obama administration constrained funding which is being addressed through the Trump administration. We are starting to see the effects of increased maintenance funding and through spares management. Secondly, retiring the legacy Hornets by the USN also removed one major weakness in the availability metrics. As to the targeted availability of the F-35s to 80 % and whether it is indeed sustainable, time only can be the judge. I am more sceptical but we shall see.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

Let's not forget the huge scope of time. They were ranging from October 2016 When the Navy had yet to declare IOC the Marines had but were still doing demos.
Until the end of last year. The point of these reports is to show where improvements can be made not to have "GAT-Yahs" for the critics to Troll level for cheap points on the interwebs and RT. It's likely that part is not all of those improvements were already in the line for implementing from January 1 2019.

 

[Jura The idiot]

The previous report was over a date range of October 2016 to December 2018 this more modern report is more likely from January 2019-last month.

how did you edit Today at 1:28 AM to get
"winter said:"
please if you understand the question

 

[Jura The idiot]

The Marines plan is to phase over to a single ship for their fast mover fleet. Taking them from the current 3-4 types to 1 And a naval variant. This would obviously not change the other wings of the Air Marines KC130J, MV22,CH53K,AH1Z,UH1Y and their nascent drone program.

it's quarter to eight am here so I don't understand your post; I got lost right in the first sentence, what's "a single ship for their fast mover fleet"
?