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

[FORBIN]

LRIP for 2020

Lockheed Martin targets USD80 million unit price for F-35A in LRIP 14

Lockheed Martin is targeting a unit price of USD80 million for its F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) A-model conventional variant in its low rate initial production (LRIP) 14 negotiations, including the engine, according to a key executive.

Jeff Babione, Lockheed Martin executive vice-president and general manager of F-35, told Jane’s on 16 November that the company and its Pentagon counterparts in 2014 targeted a USD85 million F-35A unit price for 2019. This would be USD89.6 million in 2017 dollars.
Lockheed Martin announced in February that its F-35A unit price for LRIP 10 was USD94.6 million for the F-35A; USD122.8 million for the F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant; and USD121.8 million for the F-35C aircraft carrier variant. These unit prices include jet, engine, and fee. Unit prices are generally understood to be declining as the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin ramp up F-35 production.

Babione said Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon are currently negotiating LRIP 11. The US Navy on 28 July issued Lockheed Martin a USD3.7 billion undefinitised contract action (UCA) to continue building LRIP 11 aircraft prior to a final agreement on price. LRIP 11 will ultimately procure 141 F-35s – 91 aircraft for the United States, 28 aircraft for international partners, and 22 aircraft for Foreign Military Sale (FMS) customers, according to a late July Pentagon statement. The statement did not break down the UCA by variant

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[timepass]

Infographic :

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's Vital Role In JSF F-35 Fighter Program ......

 

[Air Force Brat]

Infographic :

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's Vital Role In JSF F-35 Fighter Program ......

No doubt it would be a major setback, my Dad spent some time at Incirlic hauling "trash" in the C-119 flying boxcar,,, so I'm a long time appreciator of the Turkish People and their country, I am however extremely concerned/disappointed with the direction Turkey has taken under Erdogan?? feel free to "educate me" with your own views?? or maybe reassure me that we are still a good "fit"

If Turkey does choose to buy the S-400?? (why do they need it) from the Russians??? I have no problem pulling the plug on the F-35 deal, I would NOT allow our top-secret 5 gen technology to be "cherry picked" by the Russian's, NO WAY HOSEA!

 

[Jura The idiot]

noticed
F-22 and F-35 stealth jets will put on a massive show of force right off North Korea's borders to cap off a heated 2017

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• The US and South Korea have one last military exercise planned in 2017, and it's likely to put the fear into North Korea.
• The US will send F-22 and F-35 stealth jets, which North Korea cannot detect or track.
• North Korea considers US and South Korean drills as practice for invading their country, and stealth jets are exactly what the US would use to kick off an invasion.

The US and South Korean militaries will join together for a final military exercise to close out a heated 2017 with F-22 and F-35 stealth jets training right off North Korea's borders.

The exercise, called "Vigilant Ace," will run from December 4-8 and involve 12,000 military personnel between the US and South Korea, as well as 230 aircraft,

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.

It will also be the first time six F-22 Raptors will visit South Korea, and it will focus on enemy infiltration and precision airstrikes,

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.

The drill will close out a heated 2017 where President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have exchanged vicious threats of destroying each other's countries.

With the emphasis of stealth jets to the annual US-South Korea exercises, this drill will be unlike any others. The US typically invites international observers to its military drills, but North Korea simply has no way to track stealth jets.

In late September the US flew a B-1B bomber and a few F-15 fighter jets near North Korea, and Pyongyang never found out. In the past, the US has had to tell North Korea about B-1B flights, because North Korea can't detect them on their own, a South Korean defense official

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.

That's why

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.

North Korea sees US and South Korean military drills as preparation for an invasion to remove Kim. North Korea has specifically

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when they fly

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. Often, North Korea schedules its missile launches around the dates of US and South Korean drills in protest.

But North Korea has no chance of spotting, tracking, or shooting down stealth jets, and the commonly accepted role of stealth platforms as being "door kickers," or weapons systems to start wars off, will only aggravate Pyongyang's worst fears.

So a year of record-high tensions between the US and North Korea will end with practically invisible jets flying over the Korean Peninsula, and there is little that Kim Jong Un can do in response.

 

[Jura The idiot]

Thursday at 5:49 AM

sounds like real world UK military chief ‘sympathetic’ to cut in F-35 fighter jet order

November 21, 2017

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related:
Britain Mulling F-35 Future Commitments
Nov 22, 2017

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Britain appears to be scaling back its

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ambitions as officials reassess the country’s defense plans.

The 2015 Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR) reconfirmed the UK’s commitment to its full complement of 138 F-35s over the lifetime of the Joint Strike Fighter program. But now, just two years on, the language of defense chiefs is changing.

Lt. Gen. Mark Poffley, the deputy chief of the UK defense staff, told a parliamentary defense committee on Nov. 21 that he was “sympathetic” to the idea that the overall number of F-35s being purchased by Britain could fall, saying “this was the reality of the world we are living in.”

Poffley said the UK had “in principle committed to 138,” but had contracted for 48 jets. He added that there was no recourse to “adjust those numbers.”

Members of parliament have been attempting to shine a light on F-35 costs in a series of hearings. The defense ministry has so far released costs for fleet operations “with a degree of precision,” according to Stephen Lovegrove, the defense ministry’s most senior civil servant, up until 2025. It has also provided cost estimates for a 48-strong fleet for up to 2048.

The F-35s are expected to cost around £9.1 billion ($12.1 billion) up to 2025 and to around £13 billion in 2048.

The £9.1 billion figure includes Britain’s contribution to the System Development and Demonstration program and its 48 aircraft, as well as support and infrastructure costs.

A defense ministry spokesman said “our plan to buy 138 F-35 jets over the life of the program has not changed, with only the U.S. planning to buy more aircraft.”

Britain plans to take delivery of its 14th aircraft by year’s end. It will then receive three additional aircraft in 2018 and a single aircraft in 2019. Britain wants to purchase 17 aircraft in

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’s anticipated three-year block buy,and a further 13 in a second two-year-long block buy as part of Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) batches 15 and 16.

The uncertainty over F-35 numbers emerges as the defense ministry braces itself for a reappraisal of the decisions made during the SDSR. The assessment, announced by the Cabinet Office in July, is being conducted by Mark Sedwill, Britain’s national security advisor, and is expected to result in additional defense cuts to try to close an independently estimated £20 billion black hole in the ministry’s finances.

One of the primary causes for the gap was the shock fluctuations in the strength of the British pound, particularly against the U.S. dollar, following the UK’s decision to exit the European Union. The pound’s weakness has increased the cost of equipment purchased from the U.S. by up to 15-20%. With the F-35 now the second largest procurement program in the defense ministry after the renewal of the nuclear deterrent, the uncertainty around foreign exchange rates is likely to be a factor in any future purchases.

But officials also hinted again that the UK could be looking to purchase a mix of F-35 variants for future requirements, with Poffley saying that “judgment [on future fleet mix] will be taken later.”

For now, it seems the F-35 fleet will be focused on the UK’s carrier strike capability, with the formation of two frontline squadrons of 12 aircraft and an operational conversion unit for training.

“For carrier strike to be viable the carrier should operate two squadrons,” Poffley said.

The first of Britain’s new aircraft carriers, on which the F-35 will embark, is due to be commissioned by the queen into

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service on Dec. 7.

 

[Jura The idiot]

here's DefenseNews Sure, the F-35 is stealthy. But can it handle icy roads?

49 minutes ago

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Lockheed Martin will be testing whether its F-35 jets can battle an icy runway.


According to a company statement, the F-35 Lightning II testing is part of the certification process for the Royal Norwegian Air Force. It will continue over the next several weeks in Alaska.

The initial testing is the first of two phases to make sure the F-35 can operate in the challenging weather conditions. The second phase of testing will be in 2018 and test the Norwegian drag chute’s landing capabilities.


Weather has posed some challenges for the F-35 in the past. Early development revealed the need for modifications for lightning protection — a problem with teh electrical and fuel tank systems that were fixed. The issue resurfaced earlier this year in Australia, however, when the F-35 had to depart the March Avalon Airshow early, because the modifications had not yet been completed on the two visiting Australian aircraft.

 

[FORBIN]

haha they have moods problems now they can wait before i post on Chinese part nah

Santa outfitt almost for RSC less good

F-35A icy runway testing for Norwegian drag chute underway in Alaska

 

[Jura The idiot]

Yesterday at 8:29 PM

here's DefenseNews Sure, the F-35 is stealthy. But can it handle icy roads?

49 minutes ago

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related:

The F-35A’s drag chute, being developed for Norway, is mounted in a large cylinder-shaped housing fitted onto the rear fuselage (circled), where Lockheed says it will not degrade the aircraft’s stealth characteristics. (LM photo)

(it's on top of

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webpage right now)

 

[Jeff Head]

LRIP for 2020

Hehehe...despite the naysaying...despiye the dire warnings that the US would never be able to afford the F-35, or its allies either...the Lockheed and US Military have done EXACTLY what they promised they would do and that was to get the cost down to a price to equal, or evn be lower than that of a fully outfitted, new build modern F-16...and now they are doing it!

The beat goes on and on and on!

 

[Jeff Head]

Thursday at 5:49 AM

related:
Britain Mulling F-35 Future Commitments
Nov 22, 2017

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For now, it seems the F-35 fleet will be focused on the UK’s carrier strike capability, with the formation of two frontline squadrons of 12 aircraft and an operational conversion unit for training.

“For carrier strike to be viable the carrier should operate two squadrons,” Poffley said.

Which means for two carriers they will need four squadrons of ruse by the carriers, and a scquadron for testing and training.

I hope and pray they do not lose nerve or heart.

They are building two excellent carriers and they need to ensure that the aircraft are available for both in the event of any major problems or hostilities.

I hope there very liberal politicians are not successful in neutering the two carries into a single carrier available type thing.