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

[Air Force Brat]

you quote F-35 fanbois
I quote Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer

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Beancounters always maximize cost and expense to the worst case scenario,,, end users always maximize "value", there is NO doubt that F-35 critics love to stick it with knives, hoping it will die??? it won't and aircraft are and will be delivered.

The United States is currently in an Existential crisis, the Welfare State will never be able to suck all the money that they feel "entitled to" out of the rest of us, while the rest of us prepare to build and defend our nation against an internal and external enemy!

The F-35 is a critical aircraft for what has become a hyper-critical time, it does deliver on all of its design criteria, and has been called to provide critical air defense on top of its designed purpose?? So, it has no replacement or peer, and trying to limp along on the OLD fourth gen aircraft will guarantee failure against the very real threats we are facing!

So, I AM a TAXPAYER, I pay my taxes, and I expect my elected government to do whatever is necessary to defend this nation. I'm not against sending folks who are not contributors back to their native lands and nations??

No I don't want to live in a "Marxist phantasm" as some here are trying to change the heart and soul of this nation, so "America, LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!"

 

[strehl]

A Norwegian article based on interviews with Norwegian F-35 pilots.

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Interesting quote at the end (awkward wording is from Google Translate):
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In general, it seems that the biggest critics of how the F-35 acts come from people who do not even have flown the aircraft,

- There is much in it. There is certainly no doubt that those who are critical of the F-35 is being heard and getting a lot of talk. And when we explain what this fighter is actually similarly capable of, we feel may not be that we get the same talk time. However, it is probably also some ulterior motives and part politics here too, says Tesli.

 

[Jura The idiot]

Per the document you provided, the cost per unit for the F-35A are $123 million and $116 million for FY2016 and FY2017 respectively.
...
IMO, the prospect of achieving $80 million per unit on the F-35A by 2018/2019 is too unrealistic but $90 million per unit is probably achievable. ...

I quickly scrambled this:

and will wait about three years, I guess EDIT and while it sounds as a long time, last week I obtained a new credit card which expires, quote, 12/20, end of quote LOL

 

[FORBIN]

you quote F-35 fanbois
I quote Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer

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Per the document you provided, the cost per unit for the F-35A are $123 million and $116 million for FY2016 and FY2017 respectively.

View attachment 28920
In comparison, the source of Forbin's numbers (after adjustment for advance procurement) are $121 million and $113 million for FY2016 and FY2017 respectively. The two different sources are reasonably close in terms of pricing.

View attachment 28921

IMO, the prospect of achieving $80 million per unit on the F-35A by 2018/2019 is too unrealistic but $90 million per unit is probably achievable. This is comparable to the cost of a F-18 E/F but one is getting a lot of capabilities with the F-35.

I quickly scrambled this:

And nah Jura waiting apologies and faster as you scrambled ...

 

[Jura The idiot]

And nah Jura waiting apologies and faster as you scrambled ...

LOL your source

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can't be F-35 fanbois:
"The F-35 is the DoD's most expensive weapon system ever and schedule delays and cost overruns have dogged the aircraft's development. The total program cost has soared from $233 billion to an estimated $379 billion."
as this is something F-35 fanbois wouldn't have said ... I missed this part, and I'm sorry

EDIT
at first I went quickly to pricing info, noticed
"These reductions should make Lockheed Martin able to offer the F-35 at a unit cost around $80 million by 2018/19. "
right above it, considered it wishful thinking

 

[Brumby]

Lockheed sees deal soon with Pentagon for 160 more F-35 combat jets

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Lockheed Martin Corp said on Thursday it expected to reach an agreement soon with the U.S. Defense Department about contracts for the next 160 F-35 radar-evading fighter jets, two long-awaited deals valued at around $15 billion.

Jeff Babione, Lockheed's F-35 program manager, told reporters he was "very, very encouraged" by the discussions about the ninth and 10th contracts, which are being conducted in tandem, and expected to finalize a deal with the Pentagon soon.

Babione said the price of the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing version of the multi-role jet would drop to under $100 million per plane in the 10th low-rate production batch. That includes an engine built by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp.

"I know it's going to be less, it's just how much less," he said. He said Lockheed was still working to drive the price of the jets down to around $85 million by 2019.

Six of the F-35 Lightning IIs will fly this week at the Royal International Air Tattoo near Fairford, England, the world's largest military airshow, along with a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor, also built by Lockheed, the Pentagon's largest supplier.

The F-35 had been due to make its international premiere at the same air show two years ago, but those plans were scrapped after an engine failure grounded the overall F-35 fleet.

Two F-35s made their premier appearance at an international air show in the Netherlands last month after carrying out a series of tests that officials said showed that the new stealthy jets were no noisier than previous jets.

Babione said the program had come a long way in the past two years, with more than 180 F-35s now flying and the U.S. Air Force poised to declare an initial squadron ready for combat between August and December.

A year ago the U.S. Marine Corps declared as ready for combat its first squadron of F-35Bs, the short take-off and vertical landing version. It plans to deploy that first squadron to a U.S. air base in Iwakuni, Japan early next year.

Babione said Lockheed was ready to invest an additional $60 million to $100 million in new technologies or changes that can further lower the cost of the jets under a program called Blueprint for Affordability.

The first phase of that program involved investments of $170 million by Lockheed and primary development partners Northrop Grumman Corp and BAE Systems Plc.

IMO the targeted $85 million by 2019 is highly subjective to two key drivers; (a) volume driving economies; and (b) continuing investment in the "Blueprint for affordability".

 

[siegecrossbow]

I recently saw a link from a Chinese site that claimed the F-35 could launch AIM-9X from it's internal weaponsbay at 9G. Could someone confirm?

 

[Jura The idiot]

Jun 23, 2016

F-35 Software Runs Smoothly During Mountain Home Deployment

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inside:

"We cleared 88 of 88 sorties, and we were on time for 100 percent of those sorties for the large force exercises,” Maj. Brad Matherne, an F-35A pilot from the 34th Fighter Squadron, told reporters during a June 21 conference call.

now:

Nonetheless, Carlisle said the current iteration of ALIS was not “a limiting factor,” and the aircraft boasted a 92.3 percent mission capable rate during the Mountain Home deployment.

in
Air Combat Command Head Suggests F-35A Approaching IOC Soon

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[Brumby]

3-star general compares F-35 to 'Jurassic Park' velociraptor

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Saying an advanced military aircraft is like a dinosaur usually isn’t a good thing, but Marine Lt. Gen. Jon Davis meant it as the highest compliment.

The Marine Corps recently put the F-35B Lightning II through its paces in a highly-contested airspace combat scenario. The result? The joint strike fighters were able to destroy all 24 enemy targets without taking any losses.

“It was like 'Jurassic Park,' watching a velociraptor,” Davis said. “It kills everything. It does really well.”

Speaking before the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness Wednesday, Davis said that fourth-generation aircraft like the F/A-18 Hornet and EA-6B Prowler would get shot down by their pseudo aggressors when running similar training scenarios.

“We just ran a normal scenario we would have with our legacy aircraft," he said. "Generally about half to a third of the airplanes don’t make it through.”

But the advanced stealth and electronic warfare capabilities of the F-35 are impressing military leaders with their high mission success rates and advanced capabilities, said Davis, the Corps’ deputy commandant for aviation.

“We’re very excited about the airplane," he said. "What we’re seeing right now in the F-35 is exceptional capability. We can’t get that airplane fast enough into the fleet.”

 

[Jura The idiot]

3-star general compares F-35 to 'Jurassic Park' velociraptor

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as in "Pew Pew Pew" panel, By Tech. Sgt. Steve Stanley, Air Combat Command Public Affairs / Published June 21, 2016:

from

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