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

[Jura The idiot]

Jura, my buddy Michael Gilmore ...

LOL!

 

[Air Force Brat]

from the link in your post:
"Israel’s first cadre of F-35 pilots are headed next month to the United States to begin simulator and ground-based training on the new stealth fighter ...
By the middle of next year, 12 IAF pilots will have passed through the approximately 100-day US Air Force training program, which prepares them for actual flight training in Israel on Israeli aircraft."

so now I can perhaps understand more the conjecture I've read some time ago, which was something like this:
Israel gets (gets, doesn't pay, of course) F-35s, but leaves them in storage; this way

• Pentagon is satisfied as it can claim tremendous international success now, and
  
• Israel's enemies are discouraged (what if F-35 worked as advertised?!), and
• Israel is satisfied as the above came at no cost, plus
• LockMart is satisfied: gets the money now (from the State Department account but who cares)

LOL!
anyway, they're on the way:

"Fill her up" with that good "Gulf NO-KNOX", the good old KC-135s tanking the Israeli's F-35I's on the way to "Gods Country!", LOL, the "bad guys" are gonna be in a world of hurt, quote me on this.

the Israeli's like the Marine's are gonna make a name for the F-35, they aren't afraid to "project power"!

Oh! and to the Sino Defense's own Mr. F-35, Jeff Head you are in our thoughts and prayers this morning brother!

 

[kwaigonegin]

I'm sure you could Kwai, both of us would love to fly the A and the C, let those Gyreenes play around with that fool thang B model! but we absolutely do have to get together. If you check out my Facebook, my little brother took a few pictures of me flying our old 172 in formation with him!

Let me seriously state the B model will revolutionize Marine Corp power projection, and as Master Jeff and others have stated, add a 1/2 dozen carrier strike groups to the mix as needed. I am looking forward to the B's being forward deployed to Japan in the very near future, those Marines realize that the BRAVO is the bird that will change the balance of power in the very near term.

While I cussed and discussed the B, at this date, it is the MOST IMPORTANT aircraft in the US inventory! Trust me on this, and I was a naysayer, but I AM a TRUE Believer NOW!

I agree. I think jump jets are the wave of the future and the F35 bravo is a precursor of things to come. The Harrier started the itch but the F35B made it much more 'practical'.
We are still in the infancy with v/stovl technology but we're getting there. I believe sometime in the near future ... Ok .. maybe not mine but my kid's future we will see VTOL aircraft with similar performance characteristics as any other aircraft.

 

[Jura The idiot]

Dec 1, 2016

F-35 Joint Program Office Saved – for Now
yeah let's see what Donald does about this 'legacy'

source:

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seems he's started to talk about it yet: "He ... went on to slam the F-35 joint strike fighter program as "totally, totally, like, uncontrollably over budget."
Trump Proposes Lifetime Ban on Defense Firms Hiring DoD Contracting Officials

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[kwaigonegin]

I'll be curious to see if he further depletes the F35 acquisition. His campaign rhetoric appears to be all gung Ho on defense spending but his speeches since he won has been uninspiring to say the least.

 

[Jura The idiot]

I'll be curious to see if he further depletes the F35 acquisition. His campaign rhetoric appears to be all gung Ho on defense spending but his speeches since he won has been uninspiring to say the least.

and now imagine what if he'd read
Thursday at 12:44 PM

... does Trump know what the price of an F-35 is now? and what the terms, conditions are? what amount of funds "has been obligated so far", the total from "definitized contracts" and those downpayments? EDIT as in Nov 29, 2016

will be fun to watch!

! this could've become a challenge for him hehe

 

[Jura The idiot]

wow
F-35 Triggers Conceptual Overhaul in Israel Air Force

Nearly a decade of planning preceded Monday's scheduled delivery of the first F-35Is to the Israel Air Force (IAF), but once they touch down at the stealth fighter’s desert base at Nevatim, another process will just begin, with vast implications on how Israel wields airpower near and very far from home.

From the single network that will support the IAF’s ability to use the fifth-generation Adir (Awesome/Magnificent) alongside fourth-generation fighters to hunt and fight in packs to the means by which it trains and maintains its combined force, the new F-35Is will be driving wholesale changes throughout the mightiest air force in the Middle East.

“The IAF needs to adapt itself to this fifth-generation plane, and not vice versa,” a general officer on the IAF Air Staff told Defense News.

“We need to look at all our existing concepts and to re-evaluate them as a result of this capability. We’ll ask questions we never asked before, because we’ve been used to training, operating and supporting according to fourth-generation concepts.”

From “Day 1” of the Adir’s arrival, the general officer said the new fighters will be co-located with an F-16I “escorting squadron” to allow the service to determine all it needs for seamless integration of its frontline fighter force.

“We need this quality team from Day 1 to live together, train together and learn all they need to speak the same language,” the officer said.

“We’ve defined the team’s mission as escorting the Adir and leading the way to joining fourth- and fifth-generation elements of our force,” he said.

“Of course, this F-16I squadron will have other missions. It’s not a dedicated team in the purest sense, since we don’t have the luxury of a stand-alone squadron. But their mission is clear: As smartly and as quickly as possible, we need to create a truly integrated force of fourth- and fifth-generation assets.”

As an example of “refusing to be locked into old concepts,” the officer cited the distances at which IAF fighters currently fly in operational formation; distances now determined by visual contact.

“We shouldn’t be using this plane in visual range. So it’s likely that we’ll fly differently in the formation,” he said.

Composition of force packages will also change, since the F-35I’s stealth capabilities should lessen the need in many combat scenarios for beefed up support and special mission aircraft.

All that, he emphasizes, is predicated on Israel’s ability to integrate its own communication system produced by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and electronic warfare capabilities by Elbit’s Elisra in the new Adir force.

“At this point, it’s still theoretical. The F-35s that arrive here are basic aircraft. We need to integrate all these capabilities so have self-sufficiency with communications and electronic warfare. This is crucial for us to allow the networked connection with our four-generation force.

“Otherwise, if the F-35 is detached from the rest of our force, it has no significance in terms of networked operations force-wide,” he added.

In terms of maintenance, the officer noted that the new F-35I comes with its own simulator for technicians; something that the service may seek to replicate for fourth-generation fighters.

“Before, when we thought about simulators, we thought about pilot training. But now there is a simulator for technicians, and we may want this for our fourth-generation aircraft,” he said.

And unlike other partner members of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, where depot-level maintenance will be performed at designed depots, Israel has been working with the US government and Lockheed Martin to ensure that no F-35I aircraft will ever leave the country.

“The intention is that the platform stays here. That’s obvious, due to our clear and compelling need for self-sufficiency,” the general officer said.

“Of course, some elements we may need to send to another place to fix. But in most cases, we should we able to replace them from what’s on the shelf … The important thing is that we will not send aircraft out of the country.”

He noted that because the aircraft are new, depot-level maintenance should not be relevant for years — perhaps more than a decade — to come, given the manufacturers advertised lifespan of some 50 years. But once it becomes relevant, Israel hopes to have put in place a process whereby depot-level work will be done in-country.

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, other top US officials and a cadre of Lockheed Martin executives are expected to participate in Dec. 12 acceptance ceremonies at the F-35I Adir’s home base at Nevatim.

In a Dec. 11 statement highlighting the “awesome/magnificent” meaning attached to F-35I’s chosen name of Adir, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman praised his Carter for contribution to Israeli security.

“It’s only symbolic that Carter’s tenure as Secretary of Defense is concluding with the arrival of the Adir to Israel … because like the aircraft, Carter’s contribution to the security of Israel was, indeed, awesome.”

source:

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[Jeff Head]

The Israeli will make excellent use of the F-35 and her sensor fusin.

They recognize and will quickly put to use these mini-AWACS strike fighters to good use.

...and the beat goes on.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

not to mention her electro optics granting exceptional eye in the sky.

 

[Jura The idiot]

Dec 1, 2016

seems he's started to talk about it yet: "He ... went on to slam the F-35 joint strike fighter program as "totally, totally, like, uncontrollably over budget."
Trump Proposes Lifetime Ban on Defense Firms Hiring DoD Contracting Officials

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now mainstream took notice:
Mon Dec 12, 2016 | 11:05am EST
Trump targets Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet costs

Donald Trump on Monday criticized Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet program as too expensive, the latest attack by the U.S. President-elect on large defense contractors.

The aerospace giant's shares dropped 4 percent after Trump's tweet, while shares of several other defense contractors also weakened.

"The F-35 program and cost is out of control," Trump said on Twitter. "Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th."

Last week, he also used Twitter to target Boeing Co (

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) for its "out of control" costs on a new fleet of Air Force One planes, urging the federal government to "Cancel order!"

Lockheed Martin's F-35 program leader, Jeff Babione, responded by saying the company understands concerns about affordability and has invested millions of dollars to reduce the jet's price.

Babione said Lockheed's goal was to reduce the price of the F-35 by 70 percent from its original estimates. "We project it to be about 85 million dollars in the 2019 or 2020 time frame,” he told reporters in Israel.

A week before Trump won the Nov. 8 presidential election, the U.S. Defense Department and Lockheed Martin (

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) concluded negotiations on their ninth contract for 90 F-35 fighter jets after 14 months of negotiations, the Pentagon said.

Lockheed won the contract, valued at up to $7.18 billion, in late November and has received an interim payment.

Trump campaigned on a promise to cut waste in federal government.

Lockheed and its key partners, Northrop Grumman Corp (

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), Pratt & Whitney and BAE Systems (

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), are developing and building three variants of the F-35s for the U.S. military and 10 allies including Britain, Australia, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, Israel, Japan and South Korea.

After Trump's Monday morning tweet, shares of Northrop Grumman were down 4.5 while shares of BAE Systems (

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) were 2.4 percent lower in London.

Shares of General Dynamics (

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), Raytheon, and United Technologies (

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) were all lower Monday, as were shares of Boeing.

United Technologies Corp , which had a run-in with the President-elect over a plan to ship 2,100 jobs to Mexico from Indiana operations of its Carrier air conditioning unit. The company last week agreed with Trump to keep about 800 of the threatened manufacturing jobs in Indiana, and retain another 300 headquarters jobs, in return for state tax incentives.

The attacks on Boeing and Lockheed Martin raise concerns that the incoming Trump administration will threaten defense contractors' profit margins.

“His emerging habit of using Twitter as a bully pulpit could become a threat to controversial high profile programs,” Cowen analysts wrote last week after Trump criticized the cost of Boeing's Air Force One replacement program. “Even if Trump only launches a bombastic Twitter shout-out, this more aggressive approach to contractor relations could impact the stocks.”

Earlier this month, the Pentagon's chief arms buyer said he was hopeful that Lockheed F-35 block buy will proceed.

source is Reuters

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Lockheed Martin's F-35 program leader, Jeff Babione ... said Lockheed's goal was to reduce the price of the F-35 by 70 percent from its original estimates. "We project it to be about 85 million dollars in the 2019 or 2020 time frame,”

and now you may look here, Mr. Babione, at what you have been projecting, and projecting, and projecting ...:
Nov 3, 2016

...

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