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

[Jura The idiot]

Sure!, it's just a man to man challenge,, hang everybody's dirty laundry to "air out",,, not just our poor little "Baby Raptor", LOL

by the way, Happy Casimir Pulaski day, we celebrate his B'day in Central Obamastan, known as the father of the American Calvary! even though I'm rather lacking as a "horse soldier" myself,, although for a time aeroplanes where calvary mounts??

died young though :-(

 

[Air Force Brat]

died young though :-(

yes, "Meatloaf" sang, "only the good die young", and the helo-coptor is now a faithful mount for the CAV,, Lakota, ain't that the Bell-Boelkow, BO-105,, anyway,,, I'm anxious to see what you post on the SU-57 and the J-20, be sure to shoot me a PM when you do.... LOL

I really do think you ought to be a little more fair in your analysis,,, you know I'm gonna love you as a brother no matter what?? but the optics of only critiquing the F-35, or F-22,,

and when has any customer ever liked the price?? ask one of your friends who has a new Ferrari or Lamborghini,,, or maybe a Corvette??? rich guys love to whine and moan about how they got "taken",,, but they still keep buying em, and the USAF, USMC, and USN, (well maybe not the USN, they're really broke)!!

and remember?? who told you??? "5th Generations are ALWAYS too Expensive!", and they always will be, but they are worth every dime!

you see, I can imagine strapping my sorry butt into an A-10 and going to bust some "Roooshian" tanks,,, or throw me the keys to your shiny little F-35,,, yeah baby! that might give you a lot better chance, the A-10, "one way ride", remember the Fat Pilot,,, "stay on target, stay on Targ BOOM!"

"Now give me my F-35A, and throw those steaks on the barby, I'll be BACK!"

 

[Jura The idiot]

,,, I'm anxious to see what you post on the SU-57 and the J-20, be sure to shoot me a PM when you do.... LOL

... not sure if you're attempting 'whataboutism'? F-35 issues have nothing to do with PAKFA or China LOL

 

[Air Force Brat]

... not sure if you're attempting 'whataboutism'? F-35 issues have nothing to do with PAKFA or China LOL

No, simply "reality therapy", its popular here to "diss the US", and nit-picking our 5 gen is fine, but the F-35 is currently doing things that NO other airframe has ever done, its expensive, but no more expensive than the Rafale or Typhoon, or the F-15 for that matter?

This airplane is wildly ambitious, but meeting our expectations in most areas, and when you are "opening up the envelope", which the F-35 is doing by vast margins it should be your expectation that there will be many wrinkles to be "ironed out"!

the Raptor continues to be "fleshed out" and has taken on some new capabilities that weren't necessarily on the drawing board, the F-35 is doing the same, moving from A2G to an outstanding A2A combatant as well..

In fact nothing else currently in production or even on the immediate horizon is likely as stealthy or as sensor fuzzed as the F-35, and that my friend is capability, it cannot be underestimated, it cannot be replicated without the full weight and breadth of engineering and money that has driven the F-35 program.

to my knowledge, aside from the F-22, we've never had a "force multiplier" in the same range as the F-35,,, but hey, no piece of equipment is perfect, and if you were curious enough, and honest enough to share what you found in a similar disclosure of the Su-57 and J-20, the honest truth is, the F-35 would come out looking rather brilliant and well engineered....

 

[Jura The idiot]

No, simply "reality therapy", its popular here to "diss the US", and nit-picking our 5 gen is fine, but the F-35 is currently doing things that NO other airframe has ever done, its expensive, but no more expensive than the Rafale or Typhoon, or the F-15 for that matter?

This airplane is wildly ambitious, but meeting our expectations in most areas, and when you are "opening up the envelope", which the F-35 is doing by vast margins it should be your expectation that there will be many wrinkles to be "ironed out"!

the Raptor continues to be "fleshed out" and has taken on some new capabilities that weren't necessarily on the drawing board, the F-35 is doing the same, moving from A2G to an outstanding A2A combatant as well..

In fact nothing else currently in production or even on the immediate horizon is likely as stealthy or as sensor fuzzed as the F-35, and that my friend is capability, it cannot be underestimated, it cannot be replicated without the full weight and breadth of engineering and money that has driven the F-35 program.

to my knowledge, aside from the F-22, we've never had a "force multiplier" in the same range as the F-35,,, but hey, no piece of equipment is perfect, and if you were curious enough, and honest enough to share what you found in a similar disclosure of the Su-57 and J-20, the honest truth is, the F-35 would come out looking rather brilliant and well engineered....

LOL you started with, in quotes, reality therapy, and went on with a sales pitch

I think the most important news in the previous page was Thursday at 12:26 PM

inside
US military targets F-35 labour costs, repairs for savings

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:
"Only about 20 flight test points remain to complete testing of Block 3F software, marking the end of an 11-year flight test campaign during the system development and demonstration phase, Winter says."

(from what I figured, F-35 has to pass independent testing, with that software drop, before a block buy of 400 plus copies)

let's wait and see now

 

[Jura The idiot]

now noticed really strange OPINION: F-35 cost issue is solvable, but needs fixing fast
02 March, 2018

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on one side boasting as in LockMart brochures:

"The F-35’s capabilities are no longer up for debate. The aircraft’s unique blend of advanced active and passive sensors bring an unprecedented level of situational awareness of the air and surface domains into the cockpit. Taken together with a stealthy radar profile and a potent weapons package, the fighter represents a new approach to air power."

on the other side threatening with death spiral; here's the text anyway:

Some time in the next several weeks or months, the Lockheed Martin F-35 programme will pass a historic milestone. The system development and demonstration phase that began 17 years ago appears poised – barring any unforeseen showstoppers – to conclude by the end of summer. The aircraft, engine, simulators and logistics system will shift from development to operational status, albeit six years behind schedule.

As remarks on 28 February by Vice Adm Mat Winter make clear, the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) still faces perhaps its most important test, which, if surmounted, will secure the programme’s future for decades to come.

The F-35’s capabilities are no longer up for debate. The aircraft’s unique blend of advanced active and passive sensors bring an unprecedented level of situational awareness of the air and surface domains into the cockpit. Taken together with a stealthy radar profile and a potent weapons package, the fighter represents a new approach to air power.

All that means nothing, however, if the F-35 is unaffordable to buy and operate in the quantities planned by the US military. According to Winter, the JSF’s programme executive officer, the aircraft’s costs are unsustainable as the fleet grows.

Such a statement has severe repercussions: the US military expects to increase the fleet from 280 aircraft today to more than 800 over the next five years. If it cannot afford the bill to operate the F-35 in 2022, the Pentagon could be forced to slow procurement. As the production ramp-up slows, planned manufacturing efficiencies will be lost, further increasing costs. It is the familiar “death spiral” of defence acquisition, in which unaffordability leads to lower production volumes, causing costs to rise still further.

Winter’s office is now attempting to intervene. Its strategy covers a broad set of targets. Nearly 200 F-35s delivered before the ninth lot of low-rate initial production must be upgraded to the latest software standard. Lockheed must resolve issues with its maintenance alerting system, and the US government is helping industry fix a chronic and costly spare parts shortage.

Evidence suggests the F-35’s cost problem can be mended. Lockheed’s once-broken final assembly process for the F-35 delivered 66 aircraft last year, exactly on target. The reliability of JSFs delivered last year is markedly better than the jets shipped the year before.

The only question that remains is whether Winter’s cost-reduction strategy will be too little and too late.

 

[bd popeye]

The USMC F-35B is deployed aboard USS Wasp and operational

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An F-35B Lighitng II performs deck landing qualifications on the USS Wasp (LHD-1), March 5, 2018. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 embarked a detachment of F-35Bs on the USS Wasp for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Spring Patrol 2018, marking the first operational deployment of the F-35B with a MEU. As the Marine Corps' only continuously forward-deployed MEU, the 31st MEU provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide range of military operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Bernadette Wildes)

EAST CHINA SEA (Mar. 5, 2018) An F-35B Lightning II with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 touches down on the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), marking the first time the aircraft has deployed aboard a U.S. Navy ship and with a Marine Expeditionary Unit in the Indo-Asian-Pacific region. VFMFA-121, assigned under the Okinawa-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, will remain embarked aboard Wasp for a regional patrol meant to strengthen regional alliances, provide rapid-response capability, and advance the Up-Gunned ESG concept. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Michael Molina/Released)

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An F-35B Lightning II aircraft touch down on the USS Wasp (LHD-1), marking the F-35B’s first operational deployment with a Marine Expeditionary Unit, March 5, 2018. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 embarked a detachment of F-35Bs on the USS Wasp for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Spring Patrol 2018. As the Marine Corps' only continuously forward-deployed MEU, the 31st MEU provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide range of military operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Bernadette Wildes)

Go here for HI-RES;

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[Air Force Brat]

The USMC F-35B is deployed aboard USS Wasp and operational

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Go here for HI-RES;

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The 31st MEU is continuously deployed, so they will remain a presence on the ECS, that's capability that is forward staged, and multi-talented, they will likely scramble to give any Su-35's or J-20's a "quick scan",,, like my Great Uncle Henry used to say! "Run your Kodak's over that!"

 

[timepass]

Marine F-35Bs Arrive on USS Wasp for First Shipboard Deployment.....

"The F-35B Joint Strike Fighter is deploying for the first time aboard a U.S. Navy ship, marking a historic milestone for the Pentagon's most lethal jet as the Marine-variant enters operational exercises in the Pacific.

The short takeoff/vertical landing F-35s from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 on Monday arrived on the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp for patrols in the region, according to an announcement from the Navy's 7th Fleet."

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[Jura The idiot]

oops Stealth features responsible for half of F-35 defects, Lockheed program head states

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As the production rate of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 joint strike fighter goes up, the company is wrestling with quality escapes involving the jet’s low observability features, which now amount to about half of all defects on the aircraft, the company’s vice president of the program revealed Monday.

Last week, Vice Adm. Mat Winter, the head of the government’s F-35 Joint Program Office,

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for what he sees as its too-slow progress on eliminating so-called “quality escapes”— errors made by Lockheed’s workforce that could include drilling holes that are too big or installing a dinged part.

While those errors are minor, the rework done to bring the plane up to requirements is driving up the amount of money and time spent producing an airplane, Winter said.

Speaking to reporters at

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on Monday,

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acknowledged that low observability, or LO, capabilities in particular are posing a challenge to the company.

In part, that’s because they are so unique and because production is ramping up quickly.

“That’s something that no other weapon system

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has had to do, and the F-22 never did it at the rates that we’re trying to do it. Once we get a handle on that, you’re going to see a dramatic reduction in the quality escapes that are made around the LO system,” he said.

In order to reduce the F-35’s signature, the panels making up its airframe must be precisely aligned. As each panel goes through the production process — build, then installation, then joining to other panels — small deviations can make it very difficult to meet standards, even for an experienced mechanic.

“It’s not a human problem; that’s just the result of our ability. We’re approaching the limits of our ability to build some of these things from precise-enough technology,” Babione said.

Still, he allowed that some human error remains.

“On the other hand, we inadvertently scratch the coating system, and we have to repaint it. Or when the mechanics spray the airplane [with LO coating], not all of it is robotically sprayed. There’s some overspray, and they have to go clean that,” he said.

Babione called decreasing the number of manufacturing defects on the F-35 a “huge, huge priority,” and for good reason. The company has had a couple of high-profile quality escape issues that have grounded operational F-35s , or had the potential to set back the number of planned aircraft deliveries.

Most recently, in September, the Defense Department

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for a month after it found Lockheed had not applied a primer in certain fastener holes, as per requirements. The error, though minor, needed to be corrected to prevent future corrosion on the aircraft and could have kept the company from delivering all planned 66 F-35s last year.

In 2016, the Air Force

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after coolant tube insulation installed in the wings of the jet was found to be breaking down. Ultimately, Lockheed determined that one of its suppliers had delivered the wrong insulation.

Babione said company is taking a two-pronged approach to cutting down on defects.

“Quality starts at the very lowest supplier and what are we doing is to ensure that quality is coming up to the supply chain as good as it can get,” he said. That means blocking faulty parts from ever getting to Lockheed’s production line in Fort Worth to “stop the quality issues from coming up in the first place.”

But to cut down the number of LO-related quality escapes, Lockheed is also taking steps to make it easier for workers to build the aircraft, whether through increased training or improved practices, he said without elaborating.

For the F-35 Joint Program Office, reducing the rework on the aircraft will help it close in on the “true cost” of the aircraft, allowing the government to push Lockheed’s price per aircraft as low as possible, Winter said last week at a roundtable with reporters.

It’s also seen as critical for keeping Lockheed’s delivery schedule as planned, with no future delays as production ramps up from 66 jets last year to about 90 this year and beyond, he said.

“I don’t have concerns that we’ll be able to keep having aircraft coming down the line and putting them together and delivering them. We’ll be able to do that,” he said. “But I have concerns that we might not be able to do it at the rate that our war fighter has asked us to do it.”