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

[Jura The idiot]

Lockheed, JPO close to signing next F-35 production deal

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sounds like a LockMart ad, excuse me, independent journalism, but contains interesting info anyway: "46 delivered in 2016"

 

[FORBIN]

F-35A which take part to Red Flag 13 from 388 FW, 34 FS to Hill the Sqn have right now about 17 on 24
https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/us-military-news-reports-data-etc.t1547/page-678#post-435684

VFA-125 new unit

We begin the first month of this year with an exciting customer milestone when the U.S. Navy accepts the first three F-35C’s at Naval Air Station Lemoore later this month. These aircraft will transition from VFA 101 at Eglin Air Force Base and help stand up VFA 125 at Lemoore
...

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[Air Force Brat]

F-35A which take part to Red Flag 13 from 388 FW, 34 FS to Hill the Sqn have right now about 17 on 24
https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/us-military-news-reports-data-etc.t1547/page-678#post-435684

VFA-125 new unit

We begin the first month of this year with an exciting customer milestone when the U.S. Navy accepts the first three F-35C’s at Naval Air Station Lemoore later this month. These aircraft will transition from VFA 101 at Eglin Air Force Base and help stand up VFA 125 at Lemoore
...

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That is exciting, and with "Mad Dog" leading the way and on point, there is much better leadership for Navy and the USAF at the Pentagon than there has been in a long time. The Head of the Joint Chief's and Mad Dog both know and understand "air-power" the organic introduction for air-power at the right place, and the right time, thats what ultimately drives the need for the Nimitz and Wasps in the real world.

Mad-Dog knows that only a 5gen platform like the F-35C and F-35B will keep our carrier force relevant, just as the Israeli Air Force appreciates that only those 5gen F-35As will give cover and real meaning to their 4gens. That's why the Marines have their F-35Bs in Japan, real airpower, real teeth for the "Mad Dog"!

 

[FORBIN]

That is exciting, and with "Mad Dog" leading the way and on point, there is much better leadership for Navy and the USAF at the Pentagon than there has been in a long time. The Head of the Joint Chief's and Mad Dog both know and understand "air-power" the organic introduction for air-power at the right place, and the right time, thats what ultimately drives the need for the Nimitz and Wasps in the real world.

Mad-Dog knows that only a 5gen platform like the F-35C and F-35B will keep our carrier force relevant, just as the Israeli Air Force appreciates that only those 5gen F-35As will give cover and real meaning to their 4gens. That's why the Marines have their F-35Bs in Japan, real airpower, real teeth for the "Mad Dog"!

I didn' t know a Pitbull

James «mad dog» Mattis

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[Air Force Brat]

I didn' t know a Pitbull

James «mad dog» Mattis

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"WHO LET THE DOGS OUT", I would post a link to that little pop/rap ditty of a few years ago, look it up on you tube. A very smart guy who during his senate hearings displayed the "KOOL" that got him to the top, a true "thinker", he has already defended the necessity of the F-35, it is as he says "indispensable", and it will keep our carriers relevant and deadly to "bad boys"!

I'm already sleeping better at night, knowing Trump has "Mad Dog" on point! I'm gonna love this.

Actually more like a "German Shepard", smart and intelligent, well mannered, and friendly, up till end, then the "TEETH!" protective, but well mannered.

 

[FORBIN]

Lockheed, JPO close to signing next F-35 production deal

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sounds like a LockMart ad, excuse me, independent journalism, but contains interesting info anyway: "46 delivered in 2016"

Lockheed Martin Reports Increased Sales in 2016
Lockheed Martin’s net sales increased by $6.7 billion in Fiscal 2016 to $47.2 billion, due in part to the acquisition of Sikorsky Aircraft and increased production of the F-35 strike fighter, the company announced on Monday. Net sales in Lockheed’s aeronautics’ division jumped 14 percent, a $2.2 billion increase, in Fiscal 2016, due to “higher net sales of about $1.7 billion for the F-35 program … [and] increased volume on aircraft production and sustainment activities,” states the fourth quarter and full-year earnings report. However, the company delivered seven less F-35s in 2016 than it had expected (46 instead of 53). The F-35 program has come under fire recently from President Donald Trump, who says it's too expensive. Company CEO Marillyn Hewson has met with Trump four times to discuss lowering program costs,

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. Lockheed’s aeronautics’ division also saw an increase of about $160 million for its F-16 program, about $100 million for the C-5 program, and $100 million for the C-130 program due to increased aircraft deliveries from FY15 to FY16, states the release. The company’s rotary and mission systems division saw a 48 percent increase in net sales, which is attributed mostly to the

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on Nov. 6, 2016. However, the company reported that Sikorsky “did not adequately identify, design, and implement appropriate process-level controls for its processes,” noting the company planned to remediate “this material weakness” before the end of Fiscal 2017,

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.

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So 46 for 2016 less some Italians 3.5 by month the plant very modern and large can built sure as in 1980's for F-16 150 by year ! so 12/13 by month.
They buil again F-16 especialy for Iraq 1/month.

Only for USA the big majority 2/3
Ordered
LRIP-9/FY2016 28 A, 6 B and 2 C : 36 foreign : 21
LRIP-10/2017 planned yes a big ramp up 47 ; 15 ; 6 : 68 !

LRIP-11 is the last LRIP normaly Def News mentionned a 13 th ? after FRP lots the first 44 -48 F-35A USAF want surely this minimum for do transition to 2 Sqns by year before planned 60 A now this number planned for FRP 4 /2021 initialy envisaged up to 80 A richness ! so in fact idealy 3 Sqns /year.


Find for F-16 production up 30 by month ! possible USAF receive these years for 6 Sqns, 2 Wings !!!

Lockheed has dramatically scaled back production of the F-16 at its facility in Fort Worth, Texas, to about one plane a month now - from a peak production rate of 30 planes a month in June 1987, said spokesman Mark Johnson. At the moment, the company is completing work on the last one of 20 F-16s it built for

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. That jet and seven others are being stored at the Fort Worth plant after the United States announced it would withhold most military aid due to concerns about democracy and human rights.

It is also working on 12 F-16s for

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, several of which are in varying states of completion at the slimmed-down F-16 production line in Building 8, also known as the "Falcon's Nest," plus a total of 36 jets ordered by

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. One of the 145 jets being upgraded for

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is also in the factory, its nose cone already open for insertion of the new Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. McHenry said Lockheed saw additional opportunities to upgrade existing F-16s to the new F-16V configuration, which includes the AESA radar, embedded global positioning, updated electronic warfare equipment and avionics systems.

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For Oman i have 8 C/D Block 50 all delivered very soon the last maybe yet build but in the Gulf no countries have buy F-35s a bit curious no problem for money... new F-15s/16s, Typhoons, Rafales.

 

[Air Force Brat]

So 46 for 2016 less some Italians 3.5 by month the plant very modern and large can built sure as in 1980's for F-16 150 by year ! so 12/13 by month.
They buil again F-16 especialy for Iraq 1/month.

Only for USA the big majority 2/3
Ordered
LRIP-9/FY2016 28 A, 6 B and 2 C : 36 foreign : 21
LRIP-10/2017 planned yes a big ramp up 47 ; 15 ; 6 : 68 !

LRIP-11 is the last LRIP normaly Def News mentionned a 13 th ? after FRP lots the first 44 -48 F-35A USAF want surely this minimum for do transition to 2 Sqns by year before planned 60 A now this number planned for FRP 4 /2021 initialy envisaged up to 80 A richness ! so in fact idealy 3 Sqns /year.


Find for F-16 production up 30 by month ! possible USAF receive these years for 6 Sqns, 2 Wings !!!



For Oman i have 8 C/D Block 50 all delivered very soon the last maybe yet build but in the Gulf no countries have buy F-35s a bit curious no problem for money... new F-15s/16s, Typhoons, Rafales.

F-35s only for sale to "partners", its way too dangerous to let any "iffy" folks have it. I have grave concerns for one of our partners after the recent "unrest", very bad business??

 

[Jura The idiot]

Jan 16, 2017

... back to this thread, I'm particularly unsure about CAS role of F-35s

now I thought I would delete this rant but I won't

and A-10 vs. F-35 Flyoff May Begin Next Year: General

The future flyoff between the Cold War-era A-10 ground attack aircraft and the F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighter will be “very interesting,” a general said.

The A-10 Thunderbolt II is

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the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in a series of weapons tests as early as next year under a stipulation in the latest National Defense Authorization Act, the annual defense policy and spending bill.

The legislation also prohibits retirement of the lumbering, low-flying, snub-nosed aircraft popularly known as the Warthog until the Air Force can prove the F-35’s ability to conduct close air support missions on the battlefield.

“It’ll be a very interesting test,” said Pleus, a former F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot who directs the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program’s integration office for the service.

“The A-10 was built to deal with tanks in Europe,” he said. “A low, slow, big cannon on the front of it meant to destroy tanks and assist troops in contacts and do [close-air support]” a mission the aircraft has flown more recently in the Middle East against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

Pleus added, “CAS is a mission, not an airplane.”

The cannon the general referred to is the 30mm, seven-barrel GAU-8/A Avenger in the nose of the Warthog. The weapon can hold as many as 1,174 rounds and is configured to fire at a fixed rate of fire of 3,900 rounds per minute.

The F-35 also features a gatling gun,

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.

The GAU-22/A, a four-barrel version of the 25mm GAU-12/U Equalizer rotary cannon found on the Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier II jump set, is designed to be internally mounted on the Air Force’s F-35A version of the aircraft and hold 182 rounds. It’s slated to be externally mounted on the Marine Corps’ F-35B jump-jet variant and the Navy’s F-35C aircraft carrier version and hold 220 rounds.

“The A-10 is a great CAS platform in a no-threat environment,” Pleus said, adding it was never meant to be a fast, high-flying aircraft that could maneuver in a contested environment — like in current parts of Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The test between the A-10 and F-35 will be structured and certified by the Defense Department’s Operational Test and Evaluation Office, Pleus said. “That plan is something they are still developing” for the comparison testing “to start undergoing in 2018,” he said.

Citing his F-16 experience, Pleus said he would bet the A-10 comes out “as the better CAS platform” in a no-threat environment against the F-35, which performs similarly to the Fighting Falcon. But “as you now start to built the threat up, the A-10s won’t even enter the airspace before they get shot down — not even within 20 miles within the target.”

In that case, the F-35 would be the only aircraft left flying — even against more current versions of fighters.

Pleus said the argument isn’t over whether the A-10 has and can still perform close air support missions. The decision for Air Force leadership and lawmakers going forward, however, is how to distribute the resources to platforms that can do the mission, he said.

“Where are you getting your bang for your buck?” he said. “A single-platform A-10 that only does CAS and can’t do anything else and it has to be in an uncontested environment is probably not a realistic place for us to be continuing funding…for the future.”

The general continued, “If I were to develop that plan you have to show that the close air support is not just in a no-threat environment, because CAS is not always in a no-threat environment.

Pleus said, “When we get to the actual testing I think that’s where you’re going to see the differences.”

source:

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[FORBIN]

Naval Air Station Lemoore F-35C Era Begins
NAS Lemoore, California // January 25, 2017

A new chapter in Navy history began today when four F-35Cs arrived at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, joining the VFA-125 Rough Raiders and reestablishing them as a training squadron. Nearly 400 sailors, families and local civic leaders witnessed the arrival and the accompanying ceremony marking the occasion. NAS Lemoore is the first west coast naval installation to have F-35Cs permanently assigned and is the Navy’s only west coast Master Jet Base. By the end of 2017, the base will have 10 F-35Cs, building to more than 100 jets in the early 2020s.

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With a nice four ship

 

[FORBIN]

VX-9 gallery

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4 units equiped with F-35C :
2 OEU test units
VX-9 based temporarly to Edwards move after to China Lake now 3 F-35C after 6

The famous VX-23 to Patuxent River which have many aicrafts types about 40 F-18 C/D/E/F, EA-18G, T-45 and 4 F-35C + 3 F-35B

New VFA-125 to Lemoore FRS F-35C Pacific fleet have 4 F-35C whose 1 USMC 10 for end of year presumably receive some of the VFA-101will have 40 fgihters whose 10 USMC
VFA-101 OEU unit to Eglin have 22 whose 5 USMC normaly after OEU/FRS F-35C for Atlantic Fleet i think and move to Oceana.

And after VFA-147 do transition from F/A-18E to Lemoore in 2018 first front line unit with 10 F-35C

Delivered
33 F-35C whose 6 USMC