F-35 Joint Strike Fighter News, Videos and pics Thread
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Jura The idiot
General
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
USAF Names RAF Lakenheath As F-35A Base, Unveils Closures
Jan 8, 2015
Jan 8, 2015
LONDON – The U.S. Air Force has chosen Lakenheath in the U.K. as its first base for the in Europe.
Two squadrons of F-35s will be located at the airbase, with the first aircraft due to arrive in 2020.
But the arrival of the aircraft will coincide with significant upheaval in the ’s basing structure, most notably in the U.K. That is where nearby RAF Mildenhall – home to the Air Force's only European-based aerial refueling squadron – will be closed and handed back to the U.K. The KC-135 tankers and a co-located special operations group flying the MC-130J Commando II and Ospreys will move to bases in Germany.
The changes are a result of the U.S. 's European Infrastructure Consolidation (EIC), a two-year-long study to downsize the number of sites and facilities being used by U.S. forces in Europe.
The results of the EIC announced in Washington on Jan. 8 mainly affect U.S. Army facilities in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy, with a total of 15 sites closing. Air Force operations at Lajes Field in the Portuguese Azores island chain will also be downsized, European Command (EUCOM) said.
The U.K. was hit particularly hard. On top of the closure of Mildenhall, the intelligence-gathering and support facilities at RAF Alconbury and RAF Molesworth will also close and be consolidated into the communications base at RAF Croughton, Northamptonshire.
Both Alconbury and Molesworth are due to close in 2022.
The Defense Department says the EIC and F-35 basing decisions will result in a net decrease of about 2,000 U.S. military and civilian personnel in the U.K. into the early 2020s due to the removal of about 3,200 U.S. personnel from RAF Mildenhall. This will be offset by the addition of about 1,200 U.S. military personnel who will be stationed alongside the two F-35 squadrons at Lakenheath.
Announcing the EIC results at the Pentagon, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Derek Chollet said the process was based on that used for the the Pentagon's Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC). It was approved by senior officers who wanted to reduce infrastructure costs without impacting manpower, which currently stands at 67,000 personnel from all the U.S. services stationed in Europe.
Chollet said annual savings as a result of the changes would be more than $500 million a year after the process was complete.
The closure of Mildenhall alone is expected to save the DOD around $125 million a year.
Two squadrons, each with 24 F-35As, will be based at Lakenheath, eventually replacing two squadrons of Strike Eagles and a single unit of F-15Cs currently based there. The F-15Cs had widely been expected to be withdrawn following the fiscal 2014 budget. But issues in Ukraine and the need to reassure NATO’s eastern states seem to have caused the aircraft to be kept in Europe longer. It is currently unclear when the F-15s will finally leave Lakenheath.
Eucom officials told Aviation Week that Mildenhall’s KC-135s would move to Ramstein air base in Germany, while the Special Operations Group would move to Spangdahlem air base. This is due to occur "within seven years," according to a U.S. Air Force Europe (USAFE) statement.
A final closing date for Mildenhall has yet to be decided, but the divestiture process for the base is due to begin in 2019.
But officials have said they do plan to keep facilities to support deployments of the intelligence-gathering RC-135 fleet in Britain. Mildenhall is currently home to the 95th Reconnaissance Squadron, a unit that does not have any aircraft assigned to it but is responsible for the regular detachments of RC-135 Rivet Joints and its associated derivatives to the U.K.
Now that the U.K. is operating the Rivet Joint, it has been suggested that the Air Force deployments could also operate from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. But this has not been confirmed by either the U.K. defense ministry or the DOD.
British Defense Minister Michael Fallon welcomed the decision to base the F-35s at Lakenheath. He said basing the U.S. jets close to the U.K.’s F-35 base at Marham, just 20 mi. away, would provide "opportunities for training and wider support partnerships, including flight training simulation."
Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and U.S. Air Forces Africa, said "we understand these changes will have substantial impacts on the local areas. But we are dedicated to working closely with our community neighbors, defense partners, personnel and families to ease the impact of these transitions as much as possible. These infrastructure consolidations will allow USAFE-AFAFRICA to better meet alliance mission requirements."
Well little bruda, when you are attempting to field what will become the most capable, quiet, complex-ie a smart airplane??, cautious optimism is always the way to go. DOD Buzz, The Daily Beast et al are all internet "news???" sights, when there is no real news they did around in the old "dung-heap" until they find some "KRAP" and try to stir it up and make more "news".. That's how they get paid, and they like to inflame the "haters and baiters" who will inflame other "haters and baiters", and these old these "bull shooters" who are the smartest people in the world, get to bloviate in public. Heck some of these folks get on the Sino Defense Forum and start forking their "KRAP" into their own little "KRAP SHOOTERS", why the old AFB encourages folks on here to be honest, and not play Johnny Raygun with their little krap shooters on the SDF... I'm a farm boy, I learned to carry the KRAP, (why yes, I am Teutonic), outside and put it in a pile to place it into the "manure spreader" and fertilize the fields to grow a crop, you don't spread it around inside, as one of my little church ladies stated one-time- "the more you stir a stink, the worse it gets"!
I'm not against folks expressing their concerns, just keep it honest and to the point, and yes we all know fifth gen is expensive,,, but it is worth it, why the bad boys are trying very hard to build their own toys!
Jura The idiot
General
you know I don't have any agenda
let me ask you about the EOTS laser designator:
officially
according to
while
says
(I'm asking about the laser designator because I've read in some Czech military journal the French had to send Super Etendards to do targeting for Rafales, which was ... impractical)
Just to make that distinction (not sure if you're aware or not), a Laser Designator and an IR Pointer are two different things. The Designator is the device that puts a laser beam on an object to guide a laser guided weapon on it or to allow a Laser Spot Tracker in a targeting pod to find that spot and slew the sensor accordingly.
I think in early 2011 the targeting pod for Rafale wasn't ready yet, which is why SEs did the designation part using the Damocles pod. Same way the RAF Tornados did for the Eurofighters back then.
The IR Pointer, however, is a much weaker laser in a different wavelength, just beyond visible red, that is displayed under NVGs. So at night if the fighter pilot thinks he found the target the JTAC talked him onto, or if the aircrew want to point something out they found, they put that beam on the object of interest, allowing the JTAC / ground forces to cross reference. It's quiet a usefull tool. For target reference the video downlink capabilty does the job though. One of the previous articles mentioned the F-35 utilizing it's Link 16 transmitter for that. I wonder if it can use the establushed ROVER infrastructure, or if it requires a new one (hopefully not).
The IR Pointer is a nice gadget to have, but one can do CAS without it.
I think in early 2011 the targeting pod for Rafale wasn't ready yet, which is why SEs did the designation part using the Damocles pod. Same way the RAF Tornados did for the Eurofighters back then.
The IR Pointer, however, is a much weaker laser in a different wavelength, just beyond visible red, that is displayed under NVGs. So at night if the fighter pilot thinks he found the target the JTAC talked him onto, or if the aircrew want to point something out they found, they put that beam on the object of interest, allowing the JTAC / ground forces to cross reference. It's quiet a usefull tool. For target reference the video downlink capabilty does the job though. One of the previous articles mentioned the F-35 utilizing it's Link 16 transmitter for that. I wonder if it can use the establushed ROVER infrastructure, or if it requires a new one (hopefully not).
The IR Pointer is a nice gadget to have, but one can do CAS without it.
Well, this was a firm commitment for purchase...bringing to six that they have made that firm commitment on.
Turkey plans to get 100 all together.
Turkish Defense Executive Committee said:
A very fine answer Scratch, and one I can't add anything to, other than anecdotally, while lots of folks are worried about this or that, the F-35 is still the most sensor fused aircraft that the US has ever designed or fielded. The F-35 is single cockpit, because the smart quiet folks have equipped this bird with lots of helps/assists for it single pilot mission. I can't and won't specifically argue point by point for or against things I don't understand completely, (nor do I really care about). My interest is primarily in the F-35 as an airframe/aircraft, its powerplant, and how it flys and performs, in the air and during launch/recovery, and how it will perform its mission, stealthiness and how that will play tactically, in other words will it be able to put weapons on target, A2A or A2G, will it survive and be able to sneak/fight its way back to base for another go around.
Master Jura, I KNOW you are as clean and pure as the driven snow, that's why you are my real Bruda, that's why I make every attempt to answer each and every question in a way that hopefully is both honest and direct, and helps you understand this very fine airplane. Having said that, I am a pilot/mechanic/eyeball engineer??? I do have some grasp of this aircraft, I do have some gut feel about how it will perform and stack up in everyday life, against both the Chinese and Russian fifth gen prototypes. I have criticized the F-35 from time to time, and the logic and reasoning behinds its strength and weaknesses, I have no doubt that the F-35 will be nearly unbeatable in the real world both as a solo one on one, and in team exercises as well, any 4 or 4.5 gen aircraft prolly better run if they get the chance.
Folks are flying these airplanes in the colors of our partners, the F-35 is being sold and deployed, right now in the test and training mode, very shortly it will be operational, as Jeff's last post notes, this airplane is the future, and it is a very good future, and this airplane will contribute to the safety and security of the free world, and even of the not so free world. Today the F-35 is wearing the colors of the USAF, MARINES, and USN, the UK, AUS, and the Dutch???? ,,,,, tomorrow it will be wearing more colors, it will be deployed, it will be tested, and in the words of Lord Vader-"this Death Star is Fully Functional"!
Master Jura, I KNOW you are as clean and pure as the driven snow, that's why you are my real Bruda, that's why I make every attempt to answer each and every question in a way that hopefully is both honest and direct, and helps you understand this very fine airplane. Having said that, I am a pilot/mechanic/eyeball engineer??? I do have some grasp of this aircraft, I do have some gut feel about how it will perform and stack up in everyday life, against both the Chinese and Russian fifth gen prototypes. I have criticized the F-35 from time to time, and the logic and reasoning behinds its strength and weaknesses, I have no doubt that the F-35 will be nearly unbeatable in the real world both as a solo one on one, and in team exercises as well, any 4 or 4.5 gen aircraft prolly better run if they get the chance.
Folks are flying these airplanes in the colors of our partners, the F-35 is being sold and deployed, right now in the test and training mode, very shortly it will be operational, as Jeff's last post notes, this airplane is the future, and it is a very good future, and this airplane will contribute to the safety and security of the free world, and even of the not so free world. Today the F-35 is wearing the colors of the USAF, MARINES, and USN, the UK, AUS, and the Dutch???? ,,,,, tomorrow it will be wearing more colors, it will be deployed, it will be tested, and in the words of Lord Vader-"this Death Star is Fully Functional"!
Jura The idiot
General
seems you guys here can take naysayers' quotes from me hope you know for me it's just quotes!
says
yeah but this seems to be an outrage for many debaters below articles on American servers I quote here
hope you know for me it's just quotes!says
and
yeah but this seems to be an outrage for many debaters below articles on American servers I quote here