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

I guess some clap their hands, some facepalm :) at
AVALON: F-35 programme head lauds 2016 success, eyes lower costs
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The head of the US Joint Programme Office (JPO) for the Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is upbeat about the aircraft’s progress, although certain risk areas remain.

“Last year was a pretty good year for the F-35 programme,” says Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan. “Since I first visited Avalon in 2013, this is a different programme. It is growing and accelerating.”

In 2013, Bogdan used his presentation at the air show outside Melbourne to blast the yawning gulf between industry and the US government over the programme.

He cited a number of successes last year. These included a “supersonic cruise missile” attack on a simulated Aegis cruiser at the White Sands Missile range. In the test, an F-35B acted a sensor platform, detecting a low-flying target. It passed the targeting information back to the USS Desert Ship via a datalink, allowing the land-based veseel to destroy the target with a Raytheon SM-6 missile.

“The cruiser shot down the missile without ever seeing it,” says Bogdan. “The F-35 makes other platforms more lethal and survivable.”

Bogdan adds that costs are under control. When the programme was “re-baselined” 2011 after years of cost overruns and delays, the plan was to finish flight testing in 2017, and deliver full capability between August 2017 and February 2018.

“Today, we’re well within that window for completing all the flight testing and delivering all that capability.”

At the time of re-baselining the, the government allocated a range between $13.9 billion and $15.2 billion for the balance of development work. He estimates that when the development programme is completed next year, the total cost will be $14.2 billion.

“When you have people tell you this is a tragic programme out of control, go back to what it looked like in 2011. I don’t think this programme has problems now…although there are risks and challenges.”

One risk he cites is the major production ramp up for the aircraft, and the pressure this could place on the F-35’s extensive supply chain. The Lot 9 production run agreed in 2015 was for 61 aircraft, but when Lot 11 is negotiated this year it will be for 134 jets. By 2020, each lot will contain about 160 jets.

Bogdan also touched on extensive reports that the Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet would be cast in a competition against F-35, following comments from US president Donald Trump that apparently propose such a plan.

“The message that the administration is giving both industry and the defence department is that it wants better value, and this is a great message,” says Bogdan. “I applaud the president and the new administration from taking that on.”

He says that this proposal is unrelated to the air force’s F-35A or US Marine Corps F-35B variants, and only relates to the F-35C. Bogdan cast it as mainly a discussion about the mix of F-35Cs and Super Hornets to be deployed aboard aircraft carriers in the coming years.

As for the nose wheel oscillations experienced by F-35C pilots during catapult launches during flight tests, Bogdan said that this phenomenon only happens with “light” jets, i.e. not those with operational loads. Tests have taken place to see if this can be remediated by changing the settings of the catapult mechanism.

He also says that work continues to drive unit costs down. From roughly $94.6 million per Lot 10 aircraft, Bogdan says that the previously discussed $85 million unit cost for Lot 13 aircraft is achievable, with these jets being delivered in 2019. A $80 million unit cost is possible for Lot 14, which would be for aircraft for delivered in 2020.

He adds that Lot 12, 13, and 14 will be combined into a block purchase, thus helping economies of scale.
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
more from Avalon:
AVALON: USMC touts F-35B as ‘killing machine’
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oops 1256 hours here have to go so just the link sorry
Thank you good :) i give like :=)

But a important thing,
a force of four F-35s and four older fighters

Efficient use stealth and no stealth fighters in same airstrike not bad for stealth to be together, i mean not stealth " attract the attention " of radars to long range and F-35s with have more chance to be detected ?

During Iraq Wars 1991, 2003 or Serbia/Kosovo 1999 F-117s and B-2s were always used separately, alone.
 
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Feb 15, 2017
"15:1" not enough: "Although they don’t have an updated figure, the pilots told us that the F-35 kill ratio was higher than the 15-1 figure they initially reported."
will they make it 20 and revoke one "loss"? LOL
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source:
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LOLOL they just made it 20: "Indeed, while early reports suggested a
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recent Air Force testimony by Lt. Gen. Jerry D. Harris, Vice Commander of Air Combat Command characterized the kill ratio as “20-1” meaning that, for one F-35A “lost” in simulated combat in a high threat environment that the aircraft destroyed 20 simulated enemy aircraft."
Looks like the F-35 achieved an impressive 20:1 kill ratio at Nellis Air Force Base’s Red Flag 17-1
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FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Jura allow me to post here coz Brat like we ;) and see ... and in more he is an amazing, nice personn.

I am ready for a gesture i am sure ur not a " bad boy " in addition we are Europeans, few here
Also possible In writing u don't undestand me clear not only for English ofc and you imagine things...

Sorry for last post but i defends myself u post !

I joke tease only for posts u mentionned but for ur post for the Kuznetsov ur not very nice !

So give a " check hand " dude o_O
 
Last edited:
Jura allow me to post here coz Brat like we ;) and see ... and in more he is an amazing, nice personn.

I am ready for a gesture i am sure ur not a " bad boy " in addition we are Europeans, few here
Also possible In writing u don't undestand me clear not only for English ofc and you imagine things...

Sorry for last post but i defends myself u post !

I joke tease only for posts u mentionned but for ur post for the Kuznetsov ur not very nice !

So give a " check hand " dude o_O
FORBIN if the libel "Your not only dishonest but also disgusting dude" (which I've specifically reported as personal attack) is removed from what you posted Today at 3:20 PM, I'll forget the rest
 
now noticed Lockheed Martin gets $1B F-35 sustainment contract
Lockheed Martin raked in a $1 billion contract Tuesday for F-35 sustainment and logistics support for U.S. military and international customers.

According to the contract announcement, Lockheed will provide sustainment services including ground maintenance, depot activation, supply chain management, and initial pilot and maintainer training. It also covers work on the F-35’s logistics platform, the Autonomic Logistics Information System, which guides maintainers through repair processes and helps manage spare parts.

The company “is honored by the trust and confidence the [Department of Defense] is placing in Lockheed Martin to support the maintenance and operations of the F-35 fleet across the world as the fleet builds up on an almost daily basis,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Last July, Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson announced a new sustainment cost-reduction initiative targeted at cutting at least $1 billion from fiscal years 2018 to 2022. Over that five-year period, Lockheed, together with F-35 subcontractors Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems, would invest $250 million in projects that could decrease operation and maintenance costs over the long haul, she said then.

The jury is still out on the finalized contract value of the 10th batch of F-35s, announced in January by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. From Lot 9 to Lot 10, unit prices decreased about 7.5 percent and the conventional F-35 model dropped to below $100 million a copy for the first time. Although final numbers have not been released, the Pentagon estimates the contract — which includes 90 F-35 airframes but no engines, which are procured through a separate deal — will be worth about $8.2 billion.
source is DefenseNews
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Feb 16, 2017
US Air Force 'must' retrofit so that LockMart makes even more profit out of all copies including the oldest, huh? that's ludicrous (but real world hahaha) and the US Air Force would be better off if it ditched the old Lots and used the resources on moving on in the program ... is what I think
now Lockheed Martin F-35 reliability pulled down by early versions -U.S. official
Feb 28 The overall reliability of Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jets is being pulled down by initial versions of the aircraft which do not perform as well as more recently delivered jets, the Pentagon's head of the F-35 programme said on Tuesday.

The programme has experienced extensive delays and cost overruns, but the price per jet has steadily declined as production increased, Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan of the U.S. Department of Defense said at Australia's Avalon Airshow.

As U.S. President Donald Trump pushes Lockheed Martin and its suppliers to cut costs, Bogdan said the price per jet should fall to $80 million by 2020 from $94.6 million at present.

The first F-35 aircraft were delivered to the U.S. military in 2011. With some of those earlier aircraft, production advances means they underperform newer models, Bogdan said.

"Unfortunately today the aircraft reliability and maintainability of the airplane is what I would call flat," he said. "It is not bad. It is just not getting a whole lot better really fast. You separate out their (Lockheed Martin's) good airplanes, they are getting better, faster. But not if you include the older airplanes. We have to work on that."

"Eventually when we modify those older airplanes up to the standards of the newer airplanes we will have a fleet that is fairly robust," Bogdan told reporters.

The Royal Australian Air Force took delivery in 2014 of two F-35s, which are being used to train pilots, and which are scheduled to be fitted with the latest technology.

"We already have started to undertake some modifications done in later aircraft," said Air Vice-Marshal Leigh Gordon.

The F-35 will make its first public appearance in Australia at the airshow on Friday, but the aircraft will not be permanently based in the country until December 2018.


Australia is one of 10 U.S. allies participating in the F-35 programme. It has ordered 72 F-35 aircraft worth A$17 billion ($13.05 billion).

Lockheed Martin's F-35 Communications Director Mike Rein told Reuters the aircraft maker had always expected the jets would get progressively better as design and software matured.

"The good news is the older jets will all be updated to be on par with jets we're building today," he said.
source is Reuters:
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now noticed F-35 related info inside Russia buzzed NATO aircraft four times in a single day
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Gen. Tod Wolters, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and U.S. Air Forces Africa ...
also said that no decisions have yet been made on deploying F-35 aircraft to Europe and the Pacific, but that he's confident both theaters will receive the advanced plane soon. He suspects that when the F-35 is deployed it will likely be to RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom.

"The F-35 itself is a game-changing resource," Wolters said of the fighter's stealth capabilities and ability to relay information. "It delivers an effect in the battlespace that we haven't seen before. It affords us access that we haven't seen before. It serves as a powerful, powerful deterrent."
 
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