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

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The 2nd front line Sqn, 4th Fighter Squadron (FS) after th e421 FS before on F-16C/D block 40

New F-35A squadron stands up at Hill

The 4th Fighter Squadron (FS) ‘Fighting Fuujins’ and 4th Aircraft Maintenance Unit (AMU) received a first F-35A at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, last Wednesday, September 27.

The latest Lightning II to arrive at Hill was tail number 5133. The aircraft was flown in by Lt Col Yosef Morris, 4th FS commander, before being directed to its parking spot by Staff Sgt Timothy Ericksen, 4th AMU dedicated crew chief for the jet.

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[Jura The idiot]

815e6/3900 is about 209 thousand
LOL cheap compared to wiki pricing

Unit cost US$250,000FY2014

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(SDB II)

US clears $815M sale of F-35 weapons for Australia
8 hours ago

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The U.S. State Department has cleared a potential sale of weapons to Australia to augment that country’s future procurement of the F-35A joint strike fighter.

The deal primarily centers around selling the GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb Increment II, or SDB II, to Australia, potentially worth $815 million. All such announcements are notifications to Congress that the State Department is okay with selling the weapons and not an indication of a final deal.

The proposed sale would cover up to 3,900 GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb Increment II, up to 30 GBU-53/B Guided Test Vehicles (GTV) and up to 60 GBU-53/B Captive Carry Reliability Trainers (CCRT). Also included would be maintenance, transportation and support for the weapons.

In an announcement by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the U.S. notes that “the proposed sale of SDB II supports and complements the ongoing sale of the F-35A to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). This capability will strengthen combined operations, particularly air to ground strike missions in all-weather conditions, and increase interoperability between the United States and the RAAF.”

Australia intends to procure 72 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing models, with the first planned for deliver in 2018 and entering service in 2020.

Raytheon will be the prime contractor for the agreement, with work done at its Tuscon, Ariz., facility.

DSCA said it alerted Congress of the potential sale on Sept. 29, making it the final DSCA alter of fiscal year 2017, which had already set a record of $68.6 billion in arms announcements cleared by the State Department.

 

[Jura The idiot]

Aug 29, 2017

... (dated Aug 25, 2017):
First F-35A Squadrons To Get Full Combat Capability In September

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did it?

 

[Jura The idiot]

found that segment from

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in the vid

since about 10:25

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[Jura The idiot]

Jun 9, 2017

... in the process I've heard MADL is of "line of sight nature" (to use the expression from wiki

now noticed this info (in an old article

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):
"MADL uses six antennas providing spherical coverage around the aircraft. It use a Ku narrowband waveform employed in a “daisy chain” scheme—the first aircraft sends the directional signal to a second aircraft, then to a third aircraft, and so on."

 

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Close approach F-35B

 

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Some number for production about :

05/2017 : delivered : 118 F-35A
12/2016 : 33 F-35C whose 6 USMC
12/2016 : 54 F-35B

09/2017 : flight tests
15-5138 F-35A AF-129 For 57 Th Wg Nellis
169414 F-35B BF-59

Delivered 10/2017 :
136 F-35A
28 USN F-35C
68 USMC B/C whose at less 6 F-35C maybe 7 doubtfull so normaly 62 F-35B
232 F-35s

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[Jura The idiot]

interestingly, here's what AirForceMag brought in:

F-35 Strike Fighter
The F-35 fighter should be through with development in the next few months, Vice Adm. Mathias Winter, program executive officer, reported in a panel discussion on acquisition program affordability. He thinks operational test and evaluation will begin nearly on time—early in 2018—and he expects prices will go lower. However, Winter said the biggest challenge for the program will be sustainment costs, and right now they’re “too high.”

Jeff Babione, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program manager, said he expects F-35 prices to eventually reach a level “comparable to those of the F-16.”

Air Combat Command chief Gen. James “Mike” Holmes told Air Force Magazine the service simply can’t afford to buy F-35s at the desired rate of 100 a year. In fact, even 80 a year—USAF’s target for 2022—is a goal that’s been given up. With all the budget pressures, 60 F-35s per year is probably going to be the buy rate “for the foreseeable future,” Holmes said.

inside Modernization Turbulence
November 2017

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[Jura The idiot]

I now read Will the F-35 feature laser weapons in the future?
October 13, 2017

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Lockheed Martin is considering laser weapon concepts for use by the F-35 and other aircraft.

A press briefing in the Netherlands for the F-35 has restarted the rumour mill that the F-35 will be one of the platforms that will eventually feature laser based weapons technology.

The US military and its allies have allocated millions of dollars for directed energy research and development. The US Air Force is pursing laser weapon systems for installation on fighter jets as well as the AC-130J Ghostrider gunship.

The UK also recently announced its interest in demonstrating a directed energy based defence system, similar to Phalanx, for its warships.

Lockheed Martin, Notre Dame University, DARPA and the Air Force Research Lab last year started flight testing a streamlined and miniaturised airborne laser turret.

The turret allows for 360 degree aiming coverage for directed energy weapons that will be flying on military aircraft in the not so distant future and is able to rapidly aim at targets and focus a directed energy burst through the atmosphere at those targets to disable or destroy them.

Lockheed senior fellow for laser and sensor systems said at a media briefing:

“We’re looking at concepts for the integration of a laser weapon onto the F-35. We’re also looking at the utility and doing models and calculations so you would understand the utility of a leaser weapon system in the F-35.”

General Ellen Pawlikowski, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, said recently that the US Air Force is continuing efforts to field directed energy weapons:

“I think we’re on the cusp of actually being able to field a true laser weapon within the next five to six years. We’ve got an activity that’s going forward, to put a laser on a fighter aircraft, not to blow up scud missiles or to win in a dogfight, but as an air defence.”

Rumours and speculation are rife but at a time where directed energy based technology is fast being adopted by the military, we can only expect them to become more common.

so I'm probably supposed to say

'wow'

especially about "The turret allows for 360 degree aiming coverage for directed energy weapons that will be flying on military aircraft in the not so distant future and is able to rapidly aim at targets and focus a directed energy burst through the atmosphere at those targets to disable or destroy them."

wow

 

[Jura The idiot]

now noticed

Published on Oct 13, 2017