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

[thunderchief]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

What's making the issue seem more overblown than usual is that all variants of the F-35 are being built to Navy fatigue standards. The USAF will accept some minor cracking in the airframe over time from use. The USN doesn't accept any cracking in the airframe period, and will ground an airframe that the USAF would very likely keep flying otherwise.

F-35A had cracks in in the engine thrust mount shear webs . F-35B had cracks in bulkhead flange on the underside of the
fuselage (7000 hour inspection) . F-35C had cracks in the floor of the avionics bay and some other places . It is all in the report .

 

[Air Force Brat]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

F-35A had cracks in in the engine thrust mount shear webs . F-35B had cracks in bulkhead flange on the underside of the
fuselage (7000 hour inspection) . F-35C had cracks in the floor of the avionics bay and some other places . It is all in the report .

That is of course "why" we do fatique testing and testing to destruction, while not pretty, it does give you a clue where to look when maintaining them, it also shows the engineers where to "beef up" those structures that are showing stress, as well as allowing you to remove material that doesn't need to be there. Read about the Airbus A380, that bird had some serious stress fractures, some from assembly stresses and other likely from fatigue,, it is common for new aircraft to experience fatique cracking.

 

[Pointblank]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

That is of course "why" we do fatique testing and testing to destruction, while not pretty, it does give you a clue where to look when maintaining them, it also shows the engineers where to "beef up" those structures that are showing stress, as well as allowing you to remove material that doesn't need to be there. Read about the Airbus A380, that bird had some serious stress fractures, some from assembly stresses and other likely from fatigue,, it is common for new aircraft to experience fatique cracking.

Indeed, and consider that our previous fighters never were designed for the service lives they are performing. The F/A-18 was only designed for a service life of 20 years, based upon 100 carrier landings a year. They've well exceeded that number already, and the USN has done SLEP's to keep them flying for much longer. The F-16 has been experiencing hairline cracks in the airframe and the USAF and other F-16 operators have been doing service life extensions to fix the issues.

 

[Franklin]

Re: J-20 The New Generation Fighter Thread IV

I do not know what is the big fuss going on with what Mr Gates actually said or had done. I mean, at that time, the US had the best plane in the form of F-22 and there is no one near. The J-20 flew... yes, but it was a prototype at that time. and even when J-20 finally made it to the production line in 2020 and flew in greater number, I don't think the US is going to be in any sort of a trouble.

We do have to take note that the US had the technology base, and money (although not as much now) to support newer projects... and who knows they do have newer and better projects going in full steam now. By 2020 (another 6 more years) when the J-20 started flying, I am very sure that the US would have better aircraft than their F-22 flying too.

The problem is that the Americans and a few of her allies have laid all their eggs in one basket the F-35 Lightning II. The cost of that plane is already escalating to put it mildly. I haven't heard of any new fighter projects down the pipeline coming out of the US yet. And they are not funding an alternative either. The problem is that even if they had a better plane on the drawing board it will be hard to fund it because all the money is going to the F-35. Any cancellation of orders means that both the unit cost and the life cycle cost of the F-35 will rise concurrently. Rather the US can build and then buy a better plane is not a technical issue but a business and money issue. And the international element in the production of the F-35 could turn a procurement issue into a diplomatic and economic issue with its allies.

 

[latenlazy]

Re: J-20 The New Generation Fighter Thread IV

The problem is that the Americans and a few of her allies have laid all their eggs in one basket the F-35 Lightning II. The cost of that plane is already escalating to put it mildly. I haven't heard of any new fighter projects down the pipeline coming out of the US yet. And they are not funding an alternative either. The problem is that even if they had a better plane on the drawing board it will be hard to fund it because all the money is going to the F-35. Any cancellation of orders means that both the unit cost and the life cycle cost of the F-35 will rise concurrently. Rather the US can build and then buy a better plane is not a technical issue but a business and money issue. And the international element in the production of the F-35 could turn a procurement issue into a diplomatic and economic issue with its allies.

Well, at this point the US and its allies are stuck with the F-35. They've put in too much, and they're out of time (the USAF needs to begin replacing its F-15s and F-16s, before they literally fall out of the sky). What's funny is if they kill the B-Variant for the Marines and RAF, costs would become more controllable in an instant and the project wouldn't look nearly as inane. Anyways, we're stuck with the F-35 for this generation of fighters, but that shouldn't stop them from beginning development of the next generation within a decade's time.

 

[Air Force Brat]

Re: J-20 The New Generation Fighter Thread IV

The one 'weapon' the Chinese don't possess that gives them an edge over the U.S. is 'concurrency', also known as 'acquisition malpractice' per Frank Kendall.

I would have whole heartedly agreed with you two years ago, but as the issues with the F-35 have come up and been corrected, with the F-22 out of production and our legacy fleet having been beat to death in two wars, not to mention training, concurrency is the way to go. With the Marines getting the B up and running and the USAF getting the A model shortly thereafter, the Navy looks to be carrier qualing the C in early October, we currently have over 100 flyable LRIP aircraft, involved in test and training. The cost of concurrently testing, building, and flying operational aircraft (yes, I am using that word advisedly), puts us years ahead of where we would be otherwise...

Furthermore, I will be surprised if both China with the J-20, and Russia with the T-50, do not follow suit, the tweaking of the J-20, to introduce changes to the Airframe, and the hoped for first flight of 2011 are indicative that they have possibly chosen to embark upon a similar course.

 

[asif iqbal]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

Just to summarise the 100 units produced so far consist of the following

44 x F35A
42 x F35B
14 x F35C

This includes 3 x F35B for the UK and 2 x F35A for the Netherlands

 

[asif iqbal]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

And I forgot to add that Japan's fighter expansion will now include 28 x F35A as part of the five year period covered by the Mid term defence plan with another 14 following later

This means Japan will have 42 x F35A in the coming years and their home is already decided it will be at Misawa Air Force Base

IHI and Mitsubishi has got contacts to build parts for the aircraft too but this is just part of the F35 plan

This is where it gets exciting, Japan is also finalised a second purchase of F35 this time not for F35A but the STOVL version the F35B

That means only one thing the Hyuga or Izumo Class will have a F35B why else buy the F35B, wow this is going to be big news

Two Hyugas and Two Izumos means they can use the smaller one for ASW screening and use the larger one for fixed wing operations

Also Japan has finalised the purchase of 17 x V-22 Ospreys and the US Marine have already demonstrated the landing of V-22 on the Hyugas and Osumi Class ships

Keep your eyes open for USN F35B landing on Izumo Class soon it's got a side elevator this is all part of a larger plan Japan just doesn't advertised it for obvious reasons

I should also add my source it's Combat Aircraft March Issue 2014 pages 28-29

 

[Jeff Head]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

This is where it gets exciting, Japan is also finalised a second purchase of F35 this time not for F35A but the STOVL version the F35B.

I should also add my source it's Combat Aircraft March Issue 2014 pages 28-29

The March 2014 Combat Air uses the USNI article by Kyle Mizokami ,

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, for this information. That article was published earlier in United States Naval Institute News.

In that article is states:

Japan will acquire 28 F-35A Joint Strike Fighters during the five-year period covered by the Mid Term Defense Plan, with another 14 to follow later. Japan is considering a second F-35 purchase, possibly including the F-35B vertical takeoff and landing version for deployment on Japan’s Izumo

That article links to another article from English.news.cn,

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. that says the following about this considered purchase:

Japan's MOD is particularly eyeing two of the F-35 models for their vertical and short take off and landing ability, and officials here have said that the jet could be used along with ground troops and amphibious vehicles for rapid deployment operations to remote islands off Japan.

So, it sounds like they are may be considering this purchase...which in itself would be BIG news...but we cannot say at all, based on these sources, that they have finalized this purchase at this point.

But it sure bears watching. Because if it transpires, this is the type of thing we will see in the Western Pacific as a result of it:

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[asif iqbal]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

Got this update from a friend, 138 aircraft is a good fleet we will know next year for sure