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

[Brumby]

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An interesting comment about the F-35 range which might be worthwhile noting.

In the course of the debate, various sources have been flooding Israeli decision-makers with presentations, statistics and analyses showing that the stealth fighter's performance is much lower than what one would expect from an aircraft that costs more than $100 million. According to these claims, the jet has a limited range of just 1,200 kilometers (746 miles), problems with its stealth capacity and a diminished weapons load. The biggest deficiency of all, however, is US insistence on keeping the jet’s source code to itself. It will not allow any of the countries that purchase the jet to know what really takes place in the aircraft’s impenetrable “brain,” or to control its operating system.

The Israeli air force rejects all of these allegations outright. The top pilots and experts in what is considered the best air force in the world have examined and tested the F-35’s performance and were satisfied with it. The commander of the Israeli air force, Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel, even spoke with his Italian counterparts, who took the jet on long flights (including from Italy to the United States) and reported that its range is significantly greater than what is now being claimed.

 

[Jeff Head]

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A much anticipated and important test mission for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program is underway with the "deployment" of six operational test and evaluation F-35s and more than 85 Airmen from the 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron, who arrived Feb. 8-9.

This is the first simulated deployment test of the F-35A Lightning II, specifically to execute three key initial operational capability mission sets: suppression of enemy air defenses, close air support and air interdiction.

The 31st TES will execute each of these in a limited scope from a "deployed" location for this test. The deployed location is Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. The 31st TES at Edwards AFB falls under the 53rd Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida, which is leading the test design, management and execution of the F-35A deployment test.

The achievements of an F-35A squadron testing ability to deploy, employ and sustain operations will set the benchmark capability for the Air Force to declare F-35A initial operational capability scheduled for this fall, according to the 53rd Wing.

During the test at Mountain Home AFB, the aircraft will be engaged in simulated combat scenarios to exercise representative mission processes such as tasking, execution, debrief and intelligence reporting. The test team will be working to capture a broad spectrum of capabilities and limitations of the F-35 system to include both operations and maintenance. The team will focus on areas such as mission planning, scheduling, weapons building/loading, sortie generation, life support, mission employment, debrief and aircraft turn.

Nellis AFB in Nevada will serve as a simulated remote air operations center for the deployed environment. Mountain Home AFB is providing a secure location with ranges to employ fourth-generation aircraft as well. The F-35As will integrate with F-15E Strike Eagles from the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain Home AFB and A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the 124th Fighter Wing at Gowen Field, Idaho.

The entire test event is expected to last about a month.

In that last picture, in September of 2014, year my wife and I took three of our grandsons to Mountain Home AFB for the Gunfighter Skies Air Show and the two F-35As that were there visiting that day were underneath the aircraft awning to the right there.



Here's the link to my thread here on SD about it:

https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/gunfighter-skies-2014-airshow.t7027/

 

[strehl]

F-35C making an arrestment with a load of bombs and carrying a gun pod. With the ROE's the way they are this is a must have feature.

 

[Hyperwarp]

And now he get a Winchester !

***

A little little " handicap " for Stealth fighters in this case the F-35 has to open up gun trap doors to use the gun, which adds 0,5 second delay.
180 rounds for F-35A internal gun and 220 rounds for external stealth pod on F-35B/C.
GAU-22/A fires 184 g projectile with 16,7% HEI content (~31 g) at 1.040 m/s muzzle velocity max rate of fire of 3,300 rounds per minute.

But especialy Rafale and Su-35 get a more lethal gun, shell of 30 mm more big 275g about vs 184 g.

Here are some Hi-res stuff on that:

US Air Force - Maj. Charles Trickey, a 461st Flight Test Squadron F-35 Lightning II experimental test pilot, successfully fires a four-barrel 25 mm GAU-22/A Gatling gun while in flight Oct. 30, 2015, over China Lake Weapon Range, Calif. (U.S. Air Force photo/Chad Bellay) -

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Original size -

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[Hyperwarp]

US Air Force - An F-35A Lightning II team parks the aircraft for the first time at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, Feb. 8, 2016. The aircraft arrived at the base to conduct operational testing in order to determine its combat capabilities. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Connor J. Marth) -

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* Here is the nice humongous original image (7237 x 4830):

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(Don't say I didn't warn you about the size )

 

[Air Force Brat]

* Here is the nice humongous original image (7237 x 4830):

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(Don't say I didn't warn you about the size )

Those of you who are into aerodynamics will notice the very noticeable "wash-out" at the wing tips, in lay-mens terms the wing leading edge appears to and does have a demonstrable twist downward as it progresses from the root to the tips.

What that does is insure that at very high AOA as the wing stalls, the stall develops from the root on each side toward the tip, so the wing root stalls before the tips, developing heavy aerodynamic buffeting at the root, and allowing the wing tips to continue to develop lift and maintain full roll control through the stall.

This is very important and is prevalent in almost every modern aircraft, assuring that you have plenty of warning, ie buffeting, rumbling, that is not only felt, but probably audible as well??? In a fighter as you attempt to follow a bogey, and hope to gain a shot, you are able to pull the aircraft very violently into a rapid positive pitch transition, and yet feel that nibbling as the wing begins to depart, maintaining full roll control into the full departure, and yet feel the buffeting as the wing wash rolls over your horizontal stabs, that burble of departing airflow, is disrupting the clean airflow over the stabs.

 

[Brumby]

US commander defends Joint Strike Fighter F-35A ahead of Senate inquiry

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The American head of the global Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program has acknowledged the software in the aircraft is "a big risk" ahead of a Senate inquiry into the Federal Government's acquisition of the jets.

Australia is spending around $17 billion on buying 72 US-made aircraft, with the first expected to arrive in Australia in 2018 and enter service in 2020, replacing the Hornet fleet.

US Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan, the head of the JSF Joint Program Office, is set to appear before an Australian Senate inquiry into the Federal Government's acquisition of the F-35A jets in Canberra on Thursday.

"One thing you ought to know — and I am pre-empting my speech in front of the Senate — I am not an F-35 salesman," he said.

"There is no match in the world [for the F-35s] and there won't be for 10 or 20 years.

"Here's what an F-35 can do for you: long before two aeroplanes get close enough to see each other the F-35 is going to see that other aeroplane and kill it."

The Senate enquiry is this Thursday. I will try catching it on live stream.

 

[Brumby]

Programme head claims F-35 has no rivals in the air

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No aircraft in the world today could take on the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and survive, the head of the Pentagon's F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) said on 24 February.

In a robust defence of the F-35's capabilities at a media briefing in Canberra, Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan said critics of the programme "have no data to base their opinions on".

"I have the data," he said. "I have the pilots who are flying the airplane. Here is what I will tell you: there is not an airplane in the world today anywhere that, if put up against an F-35 in an air-to-air environment, we would not see them first, shoot them first, and kill them first."

Sorry AFB. That statements seems to include the F-22.

 

[Hyperwarp]

Heh! I am sure there'd be more than a few F-22 pilots who will be like "BRING IT ON"!

 

[FORBIN]

A bit too much anyway, possible a part of true for BVR combat especialy but it would be surprising he says otherwise...
And we know instructions USAF personnals have received

It was sure F-35 don' t beat F-22 in dogfight.