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

[Jeff Head]

Re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

Pictures of the first flight of the first Australian Air Force F-35A, AU-1.

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Nice looking! Good to see.

 

[FORBIN]

Re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

Based to Luke before Australia

Anyway actually with low visibility camo planes are much less beautiful / colorful that before

 

[bd popeye]

Re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

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NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The Department of the Navy, after carefully weighing the strategic, operational, and environmental consequences of the proposed action, has decided to base the F-35C aircraft at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore, California.

This will be accomplished by implementing Alternative 2 of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for U.S. Navy F-35C West Coast Homebasing.

Under Alternative 2, a total of 100 F-35C aircraft in seven Navy Pacific Fleet squadrons (10 aircraft per squadron) and the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) (30 aircraft) will be based at NAS Lemoore beginning in 2016. The proposed action will be completed in the 2028 timeframe. The Navy has determined Alternative 2 best meets the operational needs of the Navy and, where feasible, minimizes potential environmental impacts.

The 100 F-35C aircraft will replace 70 aging FA-18 Hornet aircraft. As a result, aircraft based at NAS Lemoore will gradually increase by a total of 30 aircraft by 2028. Although this action calls for an increase of 30 aircraft based at NAS Lemoore, the FA-18C FRS with 30 aircraft assigned was disestablished in 2013. When the FRS for the F-35C is operational (in about 2018), the number of aircraft based at NAS Lemoore will be similar to 2013 levels. There will be no changes in aircraft based at Naval Air Facility (NAF) El Centro, California, under Alternative 2. Basing the F-35C at NAS Lemoore will result in an increase of about 68,400 operations per year at NAS Lemoore and an increase of about 800 operations per year at NAF El Centro.

 

[Air Force Brat]

Re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

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A very smart decision that will take advantage of much more favorable flying weather and proximity to ranges, not to mention the "Pacific Pivot", just much more advantageous and will accrue flying hours to rapidly bring these birds and their airmen up to speed!

 

[bd popeye]

Re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

A very smart decision that will take advantage of much more favorable flying weather and proximity to ranges, not to mention the "Pacific Pivot", just much more advantageous and will accrue flying hours to rapidly bring these birds and their airmen up to speed!

It gets very,very foggy in Lemoore..very foggy indeed..

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sorry about the dinky chart.

 

[Broccoli]

Re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

I'm here hoping that F-35 will cost less than 100 million in 2020's when Finland makes a decision to buy it.

 

[Air Force Brat]

I'm here hoping that F-35 will cost less than 100 million in 2020's when Finland makes a decision to buy it.

Roger that!

 

[LesAdieux]

Re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

other news: Germany said "a manufacturing fault" was found with the Eurofighter Typhoon, germany has decided to cut typhoon's annual operation time by half, it said britain first noticed the defect and decided to cut the operation as well.

the typphoon has been in service for more than 10 years, how come it takes so long to detect such a serious fault?

 

[Jura The idiot]

Re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

other news: Germany said "a manufacturing fault" was found with the Eurofighter Typhoon, germany has decided to cut typhoon's annual operation time by half, it said britain first noticed the defect and decided to cut the operation as well.

the typphoon has been in service for more than 10 years, how come it takes so long to detect such a serious fault?

link, LesAdieux, post a link

 

[Scratch]

Re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

I must say I was puzzled by this as well. With so many units affected over so many years, that would be a serious qualitiy controll issue. Bad news just don't stop coming at us these days.
I want to think sometimes that it's just a consequence of not having designed an built a figher for many years here before the EF project. But this is something else ...

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Eurofighter Deliveries Frozen as BAE Detects Fuselage Fault
By Brian Parkin and Chris Jasper Oct 2, 2014 1:36 PM GMT+0200

Eurofighter Typhoon combat plane deliveries to Germany have been put on hold following the discovery of a construction flaw in fuselage assemblies made by BAE Systems Plc (BA/), Europe’s biggest defense company.

BAE shares fell as much as 2.2 percent after the German Defense Ministry said in a letter to parliament’s Budget Committee that deficiencies had been revealed in fuselage drilling work. The glitches affect all three tranches of Typhoons, it said, which total 390 planes delivered to states including Germany’s program partners Britain, Spain and Italy.

Eurofighter has temporarily halved the Typhoon’s permitted life-cycle to 1,500 hours as a precaution, while approving current safety standards and weapons operability, according to the letter obtained by Bloomberg News. Germany has suspended further deliveries of the plane, including six this year, “to avoid any disadvantages and to uphold legal claims,” it stated.

[...]

Eurofighter Chief Executive Officer Alberto Gutierrez said today in a statement that the “recently discovered quality issue” with the Typhoon’s rear fuselage doesn’t affect safety and won’t curb the aircraft’s flying capabilities.

“Anything like this is a concern until you’ve identified the nature and cause of the problem and and understood it’s implications,” said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. “If the aircraft has been declared safe to operate it doesn’t seem that there any immediate structural issues.”

RAF Deliveries

BAE Systems said in a statement that at no point was Eurofighter output stopped. The German letter, citing information from Airbus Group NV (AIR), a partner in the project, said that the London-based company had called a production halt following the discovery of the fuselage defect, which concerned insufficient fettling -- or finishing -- of the drilled holes.

“BAE Systems continues to deliver aircraft in accordance with contractual requirements and in line with the schedule required by the U.K. Royal Air force and the Royal Saudi Air Force,” the British arms-maker said in an e-mailed statement.

[...]

The defect adds to the German military’s equipment woes as Chancellor Angela Merkel seeks to an expand its engagement in Africa and the Kurdish part of Iraq. Army inspectors last month said that glitches, spare-part shortages and obsolescence threatened the operational effectiveness of missions abroad.

[...]

Germany would not be able to fulfill its commitment to supply 60 operational Eurofighters from its fleet of 109 to North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners in the case of an emergency, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Sept. 28, according to newspaper Bild, which cited an interview. Von der Leyen blamed industry for slow component delivery while adding that the armed services needed more budget cash mid-term. ...