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

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
No, and I'm proud that you finally found a "fun" link!

Yep, more evidence that the F-35 is likely the most agile aircraft ever flown without OVT, not only agile, but a "pussy cat" handling and maneuvering, even post stall. This is what Dr. Song was aiming to accomplish with the J-20, by incorporating distant coupled canards and all flying ruddervators with ventral fins, his paper demanded that the J-20 be recoverable post stall without OVT.....

Actually what I would like to see? are the J-20 and F-35 flying their latest routines in line abreast formation? I like both of these aircraft, and I believe they are each one in their own right, very agile,, I'd just like to see how these two very different configurations would "flow" as these maneuvers were flown..

I will make every attempt to get to an airshow where the F-35 flies its demo routine this summer......

does anyone have the display schedule?? I will look for it later if not??
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
She is no pussy cat! They call her Panther!

She is a damn "PUSSY CAT" to FLY Bub! she doesn't have a mean bone in her body, after all that spin testing and recovery, they pulled the spin chute off and went from 73 degrees max angle of attack to 110 degrees max angle of attack,, she's just a little sweety on the up close and personal end, probably sweeter than the Raptor??

You can call it a Panther?? but I'm gonna call it the THUNDERHOGG II!
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
It's the USAF who calls her Panther. View attachment 50740
Some call her Raven
Its an unoffical like how F16 Drivers prefer the Viper moniker. Squids call it Reaper.
Don't know what the Marines call it.

well my Buddy Klepto was not impressed by ThunderHogge II for the F-35??? but he LOVED "ALIEN BIRD! for the Raptor, which he was flying that day!

Anyway, she's a streamlined as a little "porker", a little heftier than the Warthog, so take Warthog and Lightning II, and you come up with ThunderHogge II!
 
Mar 12, 2018
bro you missed completely the point of the post you quoted (or pretend to have missed it LOL), long short: Japan first spent I don't know how much on FACO (don't worry LOL it's “final assembly and check out” plant), later found out it should be cheaper to buy directly from LockMart-US

that's what I called "super-smart" Feb 28, 2018
and
Japan to cease in-country assembly of F-35 jets
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Japan has confirmed it will not use in-country final assembly facilities for its next lot of Lockheed Martin
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.

A spokesperson from the U.S. ally’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, or ATLA, told Defense News it will instead acquire aircraft imported from overseas for its upcoming fiscal 2019 contract.

The ATLA spokesperson referred Defense News to Japan’s Defense Ministry when asked why Japan will stop local assembly and checkout for its F-35s. The ministry has yet to respond to inquiries.

However, the recent defense guidelines and five-year defense plan released by the Japan government in late December said the country wants to “acquire high-performance equipment at the most affordable prices possible” and “review or discontinue projects of low cost-effectiveness.”

The Japanese government earlier that month
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, which includes $612.35 million for the acquisition of six F-35As for the upcoming Japanese fiscal year that runs from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020.

The budget additionally allocates $366.12 million for “other related expenses,” which include maintenance equipment tied to Japan’s F-35 program.

Japan has taken the local final assembly and checkout, or FACO, route since 2013 for the final assembly of F-35As it previously ordered. According to the ATLA spokesperson, the FACO facility, which is operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, will continue to carry out production work until FY22 to fulfill the F-35As contracted by Japan between FY15 and FY18.

Japan has struggled to sustain its local industrial base, with recently released defense guidelines acknowledging it needs to overcome “challenges such as high costs due to low volume, high-mix production and lack of international competitiveness.”

According to Japanese budget documents, the country agreed to purchase 24 of the F-35As, with each aircraft costing an average $144.2 million, although the cost per aircraft has been on a downward trend, with the FY18 batch costing $119.7 million each. (Both figures are based on current exchange rates and do not take into account currency conversion fluctuations.)

In addition to the 42 F-35As, Japan has also indicated it intends to procure a further 105 F-35s, which will include 42 of the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant. The defense plan has called for the acquisition of 45 F-35s over the next five years, of which 18 will be F-35Bs.
 
so,
OPINION: Can F-35 hit programme targets in 2019?
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As years go, 2018 was about as good as it gets when casting a historical eye at the various trials and tribulations which have affected - and at times afflicted - the Lockheed Martin F-35 over the past decade or so.

First Israel, then the US Marine Corps used the fifth-generation type in anger for the first time, striking ground targets in the Middle East. Then, as the year drew to a close, Italy and the UK each declared reaching initial operational capability with the fighter. A protracted, 11-year system development and demonstration phase was at last wrapped up, and successful landing trials were also conducted aboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Potential order boosts were hinted at by existing recipients Japan and the Netherlands, and Belgium also opted to advance discussions to buy the A-model jet as a successor for its long-serving Lockheed F-16s. All good news for a programme which will stand or fall on the volume and longevity of its production run.

There were of course setbacks, including a brief suspension of deliveries to the US Air Force amid a dispute over corrosion repair costs, a first-ever crash, involving a USMC F-35B, and the heating up of a simmering spat with Turkey over Ankara's parallel procurement of the Lightning II and Russian-made surface-to-air missile systems. Still to be resolved, this issue could impact Washington's plans to deliver an eventual 100 new aircraft to its NATO ally.

Meanwhile, a record 91 deliveries were also made, from Fort Worth in Texas and national final assembly and check-out lines in Italy and Japan: an impressive rise from the 66 examples transferred in 2018 and 46 the year before. Unit prices also continued to fall, as promised.

The challenge now facing Lockheed is to repeat this achievement as output jumps by a further 40%, to at least 130 aircraft during 2019.

After eight years of production deliveries, the coming 12 months will provide the sternest test yet for Lockheed, its manufacturing partners BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman, and countless other companies throughout its sprawling supply chain for the Lightning II. Success should keep the programme on a path to delivering an $80 million F-35A from 2020, but any fresh turbulence could deter additional prospective buyers, and offer encouragement to rival producers such as Boeing, Dassault, Eurofighter and Saab.

Outside the three US services, which our data shows have a combined 264 F-35s in active use, nine other nations have now taken delivery of the type, boosting the global inventory beyond 350. While the Lightning II has at times polarised opinion and perhaps still has more than its fair share of detractors, it is rapidly growing in not only capability, but also operational relevance to the countries which have invested so heavily in it.

Lockheed's ability to keep the programme on target has never been more important.
 
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