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

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
if you want, check
Turkey Military News, Reports, Data, etc. 11 minutes ago
with the F-35 news inside, you know

amazingly, nobody reads even this thread anymore

I explained precisely how this how action would "play out", when Turkey indicated that they would be buying the Russian S400, with 100% accuracy and indeed more directness than LockMart, the Sec Def Mattis, and or even our very direct President Trump! Now those have finally caught up with the Air Force Brat? and still you doubt me??? LOL

and as importantly, "amazingly, nobody reads even this thread anymore",,, I read damn near every word on this thread, even much of the in-accurate non-sense that is posted, often by you my friend???

So, you live with two women, drama is no doubt a part of your everyday life my friend?? (I would love to start all over raising my children, but I would dispense completely with the drama!) when your kid says "everybody is doing it", your wife says, "you always", your wife and daughter both stare at you, roll their eyes, and say "nobody does that anymore"! you are being manipulated, put on the defensive, and the general desire is that you will realize how foolish you are to even attempt to argue with the little women folk...

I have an ex-wife, a new wife (beautiful and smart, but still 110% female), and 7 daughter's whom I love and respect, and get along well with (most of the time).... that happens because I am clear, direct, and 110% accurate, and expect the same

my friend, you must need some affirmation, yes I do read "damn near everything" posted on the J-20, F-22, and F-35 threads, actually the Su-57 thread as well! those are the 4 most important threads on SDF.... so yes, yes, I do read this stuff, I even make a valiant attempt to read most of other relevant threads, yes some of it is extremely boring, some of it is ignorant, and some of it? damnable lie's, written by liars, for the consumption of the ignorant, but I do my due diligence to be informed before I comment...

so yes, somebody does indeed read this thread, but only those somebody's who actually have an interest in the F-35??? so no, it's not the hottest topic on SDF, I also really love the aerodynamics thread, that's #5, well actually it may be #1, so there you go, hope your happy that I'm ready this "stuff".....
 

Brumby

Major
I have an ex-wife, a new wife (beautiful and smart, but still 110% female), and 7 daughter's whom I love and respect, and get along well with (most of the time).... that happens because I am clear, direct, and 110% accurate, and expect the same

Not sure whether being direct is necessarily a good strategy when dealing with a household full of females. Sometimes it is best just to remain silent. LOL.
 

Brumby

Major
US Could Use Turkish F-35 Parts Contracts to Entice New Customers
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


If the United States ejects Turkey from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, it would gain new enticements to help sell the stealth fighter jet to other allies.

That’s because contracts for the 900-plus F-35 parts currently made in Turkey could be offered to countries that are considering buying the jet, such as Canada, Finland, Switzerland and Spain. It’s common practice for U.S. arms manufacturers to sweeten export deals by offering potential customers manufacturing and co-production work and even technological know-how.

U.S. officials have long threatened to toss Turkey from the F-35 program if it buys Russia’s S-400 air-defense system. On Friday, Turkish officials announced that they had begun to take delivery of S-400 parts. Pentagon officials announced, then canceled, Friday press conferences to discuss their response.

Last month, Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, said that JSF program officials with the Pentagon and lead contractor Lockheed Martin had secured backup suppliers for the F-35 parts made in Turkey.
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
Not sure whether being direct is necessarily a good strategy when dealing with a household full of females. Sometimes it is best just to remain silent. LOL.

You're absolutely right sir, but my point was when "wifey" says "you always", or "you never" sometimes that's "true", but oftentimes? it is an overstatement of her case against me, so often at great personal risk, I ask for clarity??

Anyway accuracy is helpful when you're trying to clarify an issue you wish to resolve, but you don't have to tell everything you know, or suspect....
 
Apr 7, 2019
now
F-35 on track to hit 80% mission capability rate by September 2019
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

so let's wait and see in like a half of year
actually
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

"Transparency (canopy) supply shortages continue to be the main obstacle to achieving this. We are seeking additional sources to fix unserviceable canopies," Esper said in response to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Presumptive Defense Secretary Mark Esper says flatly the F-35 “is not expected” to meet the 80 percent readiness goal set for it this year because of problems with a cockpit part that improves stealth performance.

“Transparency (canopy) supply shortages continue to be the main obstacle to achieving this. We are seeking additional sources to fix unserviceable canopies,” Esper said in response to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committe (SASC).

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) mentioned the canopy issue in a recent report, calling it a “special coating on the F-35 canopy that enables the aircraft to maintain its stealth.” That, the congressional watchdog said. “failed more frequently than expected” so F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin went looking for more manufactures to produce enough canopies to meet demands. GAO also said the F-35 program was considering a new design.

This is all apiece with the general problem the F-35 program has had with obtaining new and spare parts.

“A key contributor to spare parts shortages is the F-35 program’s limited capacity to repair broken parts,” the GAO says in its April report. “The average time to repair an F-35 part was more than 6 months, or about 188 days for repairs completed between September and November 2018—more than twice that of the program’s objective of 60-90 days.”

As the SASC noted, former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis ordered the Air Force and Navy to increase mission capable rates for the F-35, F-22, F-16, and F-18 inventories to above 80 percent by the end of September 2019. “What progress,” the committee asked in the written questions, “has the Department made in increasing mission capable rates and decreasing costs for all four platforms?”

The good news for the Air Force is that F-16 rates are better because the service has been able to increase parts supplies and add maintenance shifts. The F-16 fleet is expected to meet the 80 percent goal this year, Esper wrote.

Not so, the F-22. It too faces stealth maintenance issue, made worse, Esper noted, “by the extreme damage at Tyndall Air Force Base from the effects of Hurricane Michael.” The F-22 fleet rates are improving but it probably won’t make 80 percent this year. Oh, and Congress: “Improving mission capable rates for both fleets required additional funding investment for this fiscal year.”

The Navy’s fleet of F-18 is on track to meet the goal by September 2019. The Navy created a Maintenance Operations Center (MOC) to coordinate maintenance activities and optimize resources and reformed its depot and front-line maintenance process, thus improving regular inspections. Among a host of other changes, the Navy implemented supply chain reform that made it easier to track data across multiple sources.

In the meantime, to address the gap in part repair capabilities at the military depots, the prime contractor Boeing has begun incentivizing manufacturers to increase their capacity to repair spare parts by establishing performance-based repair agreements. As of October 2018, according to program documentation, Boeing had established seven such agreements, with six more planned by May 2019.

I contacted Lockheed and the F-35 Joint Program Office for comment and will add it when it arrives.
it's
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
 
Yesterday at 8:21 PM
if you want, check
Turkey Military News, Reports, Data, etc. 11 minutes ago
with the F-35 news inside, you know

amazingly, nobody reads even this thread anymore
related (by the way was good to see this thread wasn't abandoned LOL) is
Trump: Turkey Will Be Out of F-35 Fighter Jet Program After S-400 Buy
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

The Trump administration has confirmed that NATO ally Turkey will be removed from the
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
program after it
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
of the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system, which Moscow calls the "F-35 killer."

While President Donald Trump called it "a very tough situation," he said sales of the stealth jet to Turkey would no longer be an option due to its pursuit of the S-400.

"We are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we're not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets," he confirmed before a cabinet meeting at the White House.

"With all of that being said, we're working through it. We'll see what happens, but it's not really fair. They wanted to buy. I don't stick up for countries. I don't stick up for Turkey," Trump said, adding he still has a "good relationship" with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Speaking to lawmakers Tuesday,
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
Secretary Mark Esper, Trump's nominee to become defense secretary, called Turkey's decision to purchase the S-400 the wrong choice.

"They have been a long-standing and very capable NATO ally, but their decision on the S-400 is the wrong one," he said during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. "It's disappointing."

Esper's response to lawmakers was the first public comment by a Pentagon official on the matter since Turkey and Russia
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
.

Retired
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, former program executive officer (PEO) for the F-35 program, agreed with the administration that Turkey needs to exit the program to protect the integrity and security of the F-35.

"The S-400 system and the F-35 are not compatible, and there's too much at stake with the F-35 for the U.S. government not to do something about it," he said during an interview with Military.com.

Bogdan, who was the JPO chief between 2012 and 2017, was replaced by Vice Adm. Mathias W. "Mat" Winter in the job. Winter retired last week.

"When I was the PEO, we saw this coming. And the previous administration had discussed it and, diplomatically and politically, they tried hard to avoid it," Bogdan said during a phone call Tuesday. "And I don't know about this administration and what it's done to try and avoid it. But now we're … faced with a very tough decision."

Trump has repeatedly blamed the Obama administration for the U.S. finding itself in this dilemma, saying it didn't supply Turkey
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, made by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co. However, officials have touted the Patriot to Turkey
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
.

Turkey expressed interest in the system at one point after the war in Syria began in 2012. However, Erdogan insisted on also getting a technology transfer so that Turkey could someday build its own SAM system,
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. The Obama administration declined.

But these type of risks -- sometimes foreseen -- within a high-level program are not unique, Bogdan said.

"The dilemma of a partner leaving the program is not new to the F-35 [Joint Program Office]," he said, referencing troubles the U.S. has
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
to commit to the program.

"I would suspect that the JPO, in concert with the other parts of the U.S. government, were not surprised by this necessarily and have a set of courses of actions that they're working through," he said about the Turkey fallout.

"What is different about this situation is that Turkey's already bought airplanes and committed to buying the airplanes, but now they've committed to buying a radar system that is totally incompatible with having both the F-35 and that radar system," he said.

Turkey's decision to buy the S-400 has been in the works for years. In 2017, it
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
with Russia to purchase the S-400, known as the "Triumf." It came after relations between Turkey and Russia had slowly begun to ease: Erdogan in 2016 formally apologized to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the shootdown of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber aircraft over Turkish airspace in 2015.

Since then, Pentagon leaders, lawmakers and State Department officials have raised concerns over the vulnerabilities posed should Turkey operate the F-35 and S-400 simultaneously.

Most notably, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord during a June 7 briefing with reporters said that prolonged proximity between the F-35
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
the SAM to "understand the profile" of the jet.

Lawmakers in recent months have pointed out the national security threat this could pose to U.S.-made systems.

Officials from both the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin, the F-35's manufacturer, told Military.com in recent weeks that they are looking to mitigate or track any risks to the program that could arise.

Those risks could include costs, production facility setbacks or production mismanagement from a supplier.

Turkish industries produce 937 parts for the F-35, including items for the landing gear and fuselage.

There is a little bit of wiggle room. It takes three to four years to build an F-35, so there is time to play catch-up should an entire production line close down, a Defense Department official, speaking on background, said Friday.

The U.S. will look to American suppliers for the time being as Turkey slowly exits the program, the official said.

The plan is to cancel contracts with Turkey by early 2020, according to Lord.
 
... also related is
Trump blames Turkey-F-35 dispute on Obama-era Patriot decision
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

President Donald Trump blamed former President Barak Obama for Turkey’s decision to buy the S-400 missile system – a decision which has caused the USA to ban the sale of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II to the country.

Trump said in public comments ahead of a cabinet meeting that Ankara would have not have signed up for the S-400 had it not been for the Obama administration’s initial refusal to sell the country the Raytheon Patriot missile system. On 12 July, Turkey took delivery of the first batch of components for the Russian-built S-400 surface-to-air missile system, defying threats from the USA that it would be cut from the F-35 stealth fighter programme.

The USA views the Almaz-Antey S-400 Triumf missile system, which has been advertised as having anti-stealth capabilities, as a threat to the Lockheed F-35 stealth fighter. Washington has also said the Russian weapon cannot be networked with other NATO air defence systems, which it claims would make coordinating air defence with Turkey more difficult.

“The Obama administration would not sell (Turkey) the Patriot missiles. They need the Patriot missiles for defence. They would not sell them, under any circumstance,” Trump says. “We are now telling Turkey that, because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we’re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets. It’s a very tough situation that they’re in. And it’s a very tough situation that we’ve been placed in — the United States.”

Trump claims that after the Patriot missile system was made available to Turkey it was too late and the country had already made substantial payments to Russia for the S-400 and could not back out.

“With all of that being said, we’re working through it. We’ll see what happens. But it’s not really fair,” says Trump. “I would say that Lockheed isn’t exactly happy. That’s a lot of jobs.”

The president also seemed to express frustration with restrictions placed by the US Congress on the sale of F-35s to Turkey.

“Because of the fact (Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) bought a Russian missile, we’re not allowed to sell him billions of dollars’ worth of aircraft,” he says. “It’s not a fair situation.”
 
my thoughts on the current Turkey etc. situation (inspired by Brumby in the other thread):

what's ironic the biggest publicity for the S-400 was provided by the Pentagon; the LM Sales Dept.; the US defense journalists, and of course Western fanbois in "combined" attempts to "justify" an enormous investment into one-size-fits-all aircraft

it's doubly ironic now one of the original partners of the F-35 program leaves it to get its hyped threat
 
23 minutes ago
my thoughts on the current Turkey etc. situation (inspired by Brumby in the other thread):

what's ironic the biggest publicity for the S-400 was provided by the Pentagon; the LM Sales Dept.; the US defense journalists, and of course Western fanbois in "combined" attempts to "justify" an enormous investment into one-size-fits-all aircraft

it's doubly ironic now one of the original partners of the F-35 program leaves it to get its hyped threat
and now got to
Esper Refuses to Recuse Himself on Raytheon Matters in SecDef Confirmation Hearing
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

:

"In discussing NATO ally Turkey's
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, Esper appeared to suggest that the S-400 would be effective against the
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, as Moscow has claimed.

Esper said the S-400 "undermines the capabilities of the F-35," and added that Turkey's purchase of the system despite repeated warnings from the U.S. will have consequences that include barring the country from the F-35 program.

Turkey has to understand that "you can have the S-400 or you can have the F-35," but not both, he said."

see? this is like an ad for the S-400! free ad, by a SecDef candidate!

I doubt it's some kind of US ruse what's going on; or is it?
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
There is a concern, there should always be one. But concerns don’t mean absolutes. S400 is an impressive system but has been hyped as doing everything from killing stealths to making julian fries.
The main worry is that because hypothetically Turkish F35 would be operating next to S400 and sharing data the S400 would be getting clean scans of F35 on a regular basis and would need data access to Data link and other signals to prevent Blue on Blue. All of which would weaken the ability of F35 to be used against S400 if needed.
It would give Russia access to signals and signature as they would be part of the S400 maintenance system.
 
Top