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

[TerraN_EmpirE]

 

[thunderchief]

Chief, the idea that the F-35 is somehow substandard as a warfighter???? that's internet fan-boy talk, the F-35 may even have an edge on the Raptor, if the pilot in the F-35 pulls the Raptor into his game, but if you go play with the F-22 on its dirt??? well you are in big trouble????
You may be right, lots of folks train hard these days, but not everyone trains to the gold standard, and some folks don't really get to the crux of the matter??? IMHO

In any respect, in a BVR engagement the F-35 is the likely winner, the wild card being the Raptor?? on a given day?? things could change up, but for the most part the F-35 has a very substantial advantage over any other fighter!

F-35 is being advertised as being able to shoot first in air-to-air combat, and therefore win in BVR before classical "merge" between fighters even begin . This may or may not be true, as avionics on aircraft develop much faster then stealth . F-35 was design in era of mechanically-steered radars , X-band and limited capabilities of IR and other electro-optical sensors. Unfortunately , by the time it becomes fully operational (somewhere around 2020) it would have to live in world populated by modern PESA and AESA radars, S-400 SAM batteries , GPS and communications jammers , decoys etc ...

It is quite reasonable to analyze what would happen if enemy fighters manage to survive first salvo of missiles and get close enough to employ their own weapons . IMHO, in such scenario , against most likely opponents like Flankers (being produced in great quantities in Russia, China and India ) F-35 would be at severe disadvantage . It has been discussed at length, so I don't want to repeat all that stuff.

 

[Jura The idiot]

"a spare" engine to be flown etc.:
U.S. Marines sending engine module to ship as part of F-35 testing

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was successful:

In fact, the biggest and most important question has now been answered regarding the aircraft's behemoth engine produced by Pratt & Whitney. One was successfully brought aboard the Wasp May 20 via MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. It now sits in the ship's maintenance hangar.

The successful exercise proved that the engine could be placed on a custom-built cradle that fits in an Osprey without surpassing weight and balance limits that would degrade the tiltrotor's handling beyond acceptable limits.

says

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[Jura The idiot]

looks interesting:

(I know the video is old but is related to the ongoing F-35B OT-1)

 

[Brumby]

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ABOARD USS WASP: When you start getting bored during an operational test after watching the seventh or eighth F-35B float down the carrier deck and slip up into the air, you know the Marines and Navy are doing something right — or being very lucky.

The six pilots have put their planes into the air close to 100 times since Operational Test 1 (OT-1) began May 18. I was out on the USS Wasp all day yesterday.

Much of what the Marines are doing is focused on operations, in keeping with their plan to declare the F-35B ready for

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) in July. Today, the F-35Bs are flying simulated operations to protect the Wasp from incoming enemy aircraft played by other F-35s. They’re trying to begin the process of generating sorties at the same pace they might have to during a war. (We heard from one pilot that the F-35Bs had already met and beaten the ship boarding rate of the Harrier fleet.)

 

[Jura The idiot]

what

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had to say ...

... this time to Flightglobal:
Pentagon firming F-35 Block 4 configuration

As the Pentagon decides what new combat capabilities to “bake” into the Block 4 configuration of the

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, there is concern about planned upgrades sliding beyond Block 3F, and about the overall price tag as those modifications are rolled out in the early 2020s.

“We’ve seen programmes where our appetite is more than we can afford,” Maj Gen Jeffrey Harrigian, who heads the US Air Force

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integration office, said at a recent Mitchell Institute event in Washington, DC.

The air force expects its first squadron of 12 to 14 A-model F-35s in the baseline Block 3i configuration to be ready for combat in a limited capacity by August 2016. But each aircraft will need to be modified to achieve “full warfighting capability” with the full suite of armaments and improvements provided in the subsequent Block 3F and Block 4 upgrades.

Harrigian says the F-35 joint programme office is currently defining exactly what will be included in Block 4 ahead of a Pentagon requirements review later this year. Once approved, the configuration will be the baseline for future Block 4 increments as they are rolled out every two years or so.

The general’s two main concerns are “sliding things from 3F into Block 4” and affordability. He says the air force is in discussions with the joint programme office and the F-35 industry team about how best to stage the delivery of new capabilities so they are inserted at the right time and at the right cost.

“We’re trying to be as clear-eyed on what we think we can afford to make sure as we go through [increments] 4.1 and 4.2 we’ve got our priorities straight,” he says.

The Marine Corps is in the final stages of F-35B operational testing aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp as it works to achieve initial operational capability in the Block 2B configuration in July. Those aircraft along with the early air force Block 3i jets will be capable of conducting limited air-interdiction and close-air-support operations with basic guided bombs and air-to-air missiles.

Block 3F adds all of the weapons qualified during the system development and demonstration phase including the

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Small Diameter Bomb I, Raytheon AIM-120D Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, AIM-9X Sidewinder and

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25mm gun. Other weapons being considered for Block 4 include Raytheon’s Small Diameter Bomb II and Kongsberg’s Joint Strike Missile, among others. Block 4 might also include integration with the B61-12 guided nuclear bomb being developed by the US Air Force, National Nuclear Security Administration and Boeing.

The first air force squadron will stand up at Hill Air Force Base in Utah starting with the first aircraft delivery this September. That base is followed by Eielson AFB, Alaska, in July 2019 and then

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Air National Guard Base, Vermont, in July 2020, Harrigian says.

If all goes according to plan,

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Lakenheath in the United Kingdom will receive its first US F-35s in 2021.

Production of the F-35 is expected to scale up significantly over the next five years, growing from 123 aircraft now to more than 650 operated by the US and six other international programme partners by 2020.

Harrigian says air force senior leaders “feel very comfortable” about achieving initial operational capability in 2016. However, he says some of the largest challenges the air force is working on right now include reducing the time it takes to populate the aircraft’s mission data file with operational information; ensuring an adequate amount of resources and aircraft are available for mission qualification training; and managing software glitches with the F-35 Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS), which tracks maintenance and repair work.

“The hardware for ALIS is going to come out later this fall,” Harrigian says. “What training do the maintainers need to manage that software once it’s received?”

The general says the head of the Air Combat Command will determine whether to certify the F-35 as combat-ready based on its performance conducting basic close air support, air interdiction and suppression and destruction of enemy air defences.

“This is just a pit-stop en route to the full warfighting capability that we’re going to bring,” he says.

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[Jura The idiot]

about arming British F-35Bs etc.:
No UK Spear Cap 3 Decision on F-35 until 2018

A decision on whether to purchase a homegrown missile or buy a US-developed rival to equip British F-35B combat jets with a medium-range strike weapon may not be made until at least 2018, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The British are studying whether to push ahead with development work under a long-running assessment phase agreement with Europe's top missile maker, MBDA, or purchase the more mature small diameter bomb II (SDBII) being offered by Raytheon to meet the Selective Precision Effects At Range 3 (Spear Cap 3) requirement .

"MBDA and Raytheon weapon solutions are being considered and no investment decision has been taken at this time. ... The next review point is in late 2015 or early 2016. ... It is likely that down selection won't be made until the full relationship between cost and capability has been assessed and validated. ... It is expected that a decision will be able to be taken in 2018 on current plans," said a Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) organization spokesperson.

The spokesperson said the timeline on Spear Cap 3 is being guided by the introduction of new block capability upgrades planned for the F-35.

"The timeline brings the program into alignment with a key multination decision on the make-up and timing of the next available upgrade package for the joint strike fighter. ... The timescales for the weapon procurement and integration programs are defined by those international agreements," said the spokesperson.

The rival weapons, both intended for internal carriage on the F-35, are radically different.

Most notably, MBDA is working on a turbo-jet powered winged weapon, known as Spear, with a range thought to be around 70 nautical miles while the SDBII is a glide bomb with a 40 nautical mile range.

The Raytheon weapon has already been ordered by the US military in substantial numbers for a range of platforms including the F-35B, where it is targeted to achieve initial operating capability in 2022.

Doug Barrie, the senior air analyst at the International Institute of Strategic Studies think tank in London, reckons cost could be a big factor in any selection.

"The choice may come down to whether they go for something that meets the requirement or whether they lowball it because they can't afford to do anything else. If you are in an environment where you are financially constrained then the temptation might be to say actually that [the SDBII] is good enough," he said.

Barrie said that while it was reasonable to follow the US lead on a weapon for its F-35Bs, the British concept of operations is completely different.

"In the UK scenario, where you have a very limited number of platforms, you really want to minimize the risk to that platform per se. So marrying up a low observable platform with a stand-off weapon gives you greater survivability," he said.

"Even for a weapon coming out of an F-35, they still felt they needed a stand-off range of at least 100 kilometers to maximize chances of survival against threats like the Russian S350 and S400 class [ground-based air defense] weapons. That's what you are looking to live with in terms of contested airspace. I can see no reason why the threat environment is now more benign than when they first drew up the requirement for Spear Cap 3," he said.

In an interview with Defense News recently, Raytheon's Richard Daniel said Britain could save some "£500 to £600 million [US $771 million to $925.2 million] in integration, development and manufacturing" costs by adopting the SDBII compared with the MBDA weapon.

"We want to offer them choices with value-for-money solutions, that's where SDBII comes in compared with a unique and bespoke weapon [Spear]," he said.

Daniel said the MoD would consider the options for Spear Cap 3 in the strategic defense and security review underway in Britain.

The Raytheon UK boss said the company already had clearance from the US to look at the possibility of Britain becoming part of the global supply chain for the SDBII.

The guidance area, a key manufacturing capability for Raytheon in Britain, is one of the potential sectors being looked at for possible local manufacture, he said.

MBDA declined to discuss any aspect of the Spear Cap 3 requirement.

Spear Cap 3 will eventually be a key part of the offensive strike capabilities planned for the fleet of F-35B jets to be purchased for the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.

Raytheon's Paveway IV precision-guided bomb is the only strike weapon slated for the British F-35Bs when they achieve initial operational capability, planned for the end of 2018, but MBDA's Storm Shadow cruise missile, the Brimstone 2 ( also known as Spear Cap 2) could also eventually join Spear Cap 3 on the F-35.

At present there are no plans to deploy Spear Cap 3 on Britain's other strike jet, the Typhoon, but the aircraft is being used in Spear trials, said the DE&S spokesperson.

"Currently, Typhoon is only being used as a platform to trial the MBDA-designed solution. This is solely in support of the planned Lightning II integration timelines," said the spokesperson.

Originally, the British were looking at pushing ahead with the MBDA Spear missile development under the Team Complex Weapons arrangement between government and industry designed to protect critical skills and capabilities in the UK by not opening up certain requirements to foreign competition.

That position has been set aside for Spear Cap 3 with the SDBII now being part of the evaluation process.

The DE&S spokesperson said the current studies being conducted by the procurement team cover cost, capability, technical maturity and platform integration aspects of the two weapons with information being provided by the two potential suppliers.

The process stops short of a formal competition though.

"MBDA is undertaking assessment activity on their solution for the Spear Cap 3 requirement, and providing information to the UK MoD to enable cost, risk and capability forecasts to be undertaken. As Raytheon has a more mature product, they are able to provide established data into the UK MoD's operational and cost effective analysis work. Any subsequent down selection will be undertaken when there is sufficient confidence in the data and when a meaningful comparison can be made, currently forecast for after 2017," said the spokesperson.

Barrie said the eventual procurement decision by the MoD will be a test of the Conservative government's policy on retaining skills and capabilities in the sector.

"This could be a bit of a litmus test for the UK government's commitment to sustaining a top-end indigenous or European-based missile business. Given there is natural tendency in the US to try and minimize the number of foreign weapons on the platform, partly because it cuts costs and also the more non-US stuff they can keep off the platform the more they can sell themselves," he said.

"From a European perspective, this is an important platform to get weapons integrated on so as to offer an alternative to the US and help their own weapons sector," he said.

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[Jeff Head]

As Brumby posted...F-35B Operational Testing continues aboard WASP...and they have already shown in these tests, the capability to meet or beat the ship board landing rate of the Harrier. Nice. Here's a veo from day before yesterday.

Good stuff.

 

[Air Force Brat]

As Brumby posted...F-35B Operational Testing continues aboard WASP...and they have already shown in these tests, the capability to meet or beat the ship board landing rate of the Harrier. Nice. Here's a veo from day before yesterday.

Good stuff.

Jeff, for once I'm going to say I am totally "blown away" by this airplane, I didn't like it, I almost hated it for doing in my baby (Raptor), now in spite of my prejudice against this airplane, its winning me over, in fact its almost a Raptor, but we will soon have as many F-35s as Raptor's and we get to share these with our friends, WOW! talk about the Home Team, thanks to our many faithful partners, and their stalwart support, we will have a force to reckon with,,,,"BAD GUYS BEWARE"!

 

[Brumby]

"BAD GUYS BEWARE"!

I understand the USN plan to deploy USS Wasp to the Asia-Pacific region in 2017 with a squadron of 16 F-35Bs. Maybe the plans might have to be accelerated given what is happening in Asia.

By the way, anybody know why the operational testing wasn't done on board the USS America instead considering it is more optimally configured to accommodate aviation assets?