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

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
BEautiful, just beautiful.

The only nation with an operational 5th generation aircraft now has two different ones operational.

179 of the F-22 out there operational and able to take all comers.

Approaching or just over 200 F-35s now, and its going to end up being close to 2,500 of them...and they two will take on all comers.

That's a beautiful pic. Thanks.

Merry Christmas Brother, from Central Obamastan, Blessings to you and your's,, always educational and encouraging to look how far we've come? Inspiring to be able to look ahead, and see where we are going, Trusting our Master is watching over His Sheep tonight, cold, clear, snowy eve here on the plains!

Nice to know we've got "top cover"! especially those who live near our Northern Border!
 
in case you didn't know Air Force Names Next Guard Bases to Receive F-35As
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
units in Wisconsin and Alabama have been chosen to receive the
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
in the next few years.

The
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
announced Thursday that Truax Field Air National Guard Base in Madison, Wisconsin, and Dannelly Field in Montgomery, Alabama, have been named as the preferred locations for the next two Air National Guard F-35A bases.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

"As F-35As arrive at these locations, we will use the existing aircraft at these fields to replace the aging F-16s at other Air National Guard units," Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said in a release.

"Putting F-35s at these two Air National Guard bases continues our transition into the next generation of air superiority," added Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein.

Even though fourth-generation fighters such as the
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
and the
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
aren't going away anytime soon, the service anticipates the Lockheed Martin-made F-35 will become its dominant aircraft, the release said. The Air Force plans to buy 1,763 F-35s overall.

"Selecting Truax Field and Dannelly Field will increase Air National Guard F-35A units providing fifth-generation airpower around the world," Wilson said.

Dannelly Field -- home to the 187th Fighter Wing, the legacy unit for the Tuskegee Airmen "Red Tails" -- is expected to receive 18 aircraft, according to a statement from Rep. Martha Roby, a Republican representing Alabama's 2nd Congressional District.

"Landing this mission is a tremendous boost for the River Region community and the entire state. It could bring as many as 1,000 jobs, $70 million in upfront facility upgrades, and as much as $3 billion in capital investment in Montgomery," she said in
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
.

Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, said placing the F-35 at Truax Field will boost his state's military footprint and increase national security.

"The Air Force agrees that the great men and women of the Wisconsin Air National Guard are uniquely prepared to host the F-35," he said
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. Truax Field is home to the 115th Fighter Wing.

Last December, the service was weighing five Air National Guard bases to host the F-35s, including Dannelly Field; Gowen Field Air Guard Station in Boise, Idaho; Jacksonville Air Guard Station in Florida; Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Detroit; and Truax Air Guard Station.

It had previously selected three active-duty operational locations and one Air National Guard location to host F-35As:
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, Utah;
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, England;
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, Alaska; and Burlington Air Guard Station, Vermont.

The Air Force expects the F-35As to begin arriving at Truax Field in early 2023 and at Dannelly Field later that year, service officials said.
 
just web browsing on the train:
Message from Head JSF Division – AVM Leigh Gordon AM, CSM
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

The operational tempo of the Joint Strike Fighter Division remains high as we approach the end of what has been an incredibly busy year. I would like to thank everyone involved in the F-35 enterprise – both Defence and industry – for their efforts to ensure the Australian F-35A Project remains on schedule for First Aircraft Arrival (FAA) in December 2018 and Initial Operating Capability (IOC) by the end of 2020.

In early November I was pleased to represent the Chief of Air Force at the
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
where I met with Ms Ellen Lord (United States [US] Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) and Ms Heidi Grant (US Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs). During these bilateral meetings I reinforced the benefits of cooperative programs like the F-35 Program, including: supporting interoperability with Partner nations; more diversity of thinking and therefore better problem solving and project outcomes; and material contributions by Partners to projects, including funding. Ms Lord recognised that cooperative programs support the three priorities of US Secretary for Defense James Mattis, specifically in the areas of delivering military capability to the warfighter, engagement and reducing cost.

During my brief visit to the Middle East I also took time to meet with Royal Australian Air Force personnel deployed to Australia’s main logistics base in the region. I passed on my thanks for their efforts in helping to sustain Australian Defence Force operations in the Middle East and answered questions about the Australian F-35A Project.

Last month
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
at Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Fort Worth, Texas, marking another major milestone in Australia’s F-35A Project. No. 3 Squadron markings were applied to the aircraft in early November – this was the final stage in the production process before the aircraft undergoes several weeks of ground and flight testing at Fort Worth. We are planning to accept A35-003 and our fourth aircraft, A35-004, in January and I am looking forward to this positive start to 2018. Both aircraft will join A35-001 and A35-002 in the training pool at the international F-35A Pilot Training Centre (PTC) at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. More than 270 F-35 aircraft have now been delivered to Partner Nations in the F-35 Program, operating from bases in the US, Italy, Norway, Japan and Israel. The F-35 Program is a truly global enterprise and Australia is proud to be a Partner Nation.

As part of the F-35A reprogramming solution, JSF Division is executing
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. This project will upgrade the mission data capability of Defence’s Joint Electronic Warfare Operational Support to meet the requirements of modern fifth-generation combat systems. In September, SRC Australia was awarded a $17 million Defence contract to help deliver the Ghosthawk mission support system. This partnership with SRC Australia highlights the continued opportunities being presented to Australian industry as a result of the Australian F-35A Project and I look forward to developments in that important capability next year as we move towards FAA.

On the topic of FAA, there is a buzz in the air at RAAF Base Williamtown as personnel prepare for the arrival of the first two F-35A aircraft for permanent basing in Australia. During October,
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
were successfully tested at the recently commissioned
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, while the fourth and final annual
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
in September brought together personnel from Defence, industry, the US F-35 Joint Program Office, and Prime Contractors Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney to assess the base’s readiness to support critical F-35A air operations. Monthly reviews have now commenced in the lead-up to FAA.

Of course, none of this can happen without the commitment of our people. In November I had the pleasure of presenting a bronze commendation to the JSF Division finance team, members of which have continued to demonstrate their personal drive and resilience in an ever-changing environment. This small team actively participates in the F-35A Project’s business, while ensuring the reforms of the finance shared services arrangement are implemented. I greatly appreciate the financial support provided by Leanne Connor and her team. I was also very glad to recently approve a silver commendation for our Information Manager, Alistair Dally, who has served in the JSF Division for four years. Alistair and his team have made a significant contribution to the effectiveness of the Integrated Project Team by delivering a number of efficiency enhancements to the SharePoint system, which have saved an estimated 3,000 working hours annually. I know I can speak on behalf of all members of the Division when I say this work has been greatly appreciated. I would also like to congratulate Flight Lieutenant Mitchel Heming on his Defence Support Services Silver Commendation, which Director-General JSF Acquisition and Sustainment (DGJAS), Air Commodore Terry Saunder, presented to him during the Site Activation Task Force Activity at Williamtown in September. Flight Lieutenant Heming was instrumental as the Facilities Support Officer during his posting to JSF Division from 2014-16, playing a key role in the design, delivery and commissioning of critical F-35A facilities at RAAF Bases Tindal and Williamtown.

We also had the pleasure of hosting the first two Australian F-35A pilots at our offices at Brindabella Park in Canberra during November. Wing Commander Andrew Jackson and Squadron Leader David Bell are based at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, instructing at the international PTC. The pilots were in Australia to help members of the Air Combat Transition Office and JSF Division develop the Verification & Validation plan for when the first F-35A aircraft begin arriving at Williamtown. This is extremely important work and I thank everyone for their efforts in this process.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank the outgoing DGJAS, Air Commodore Terry Saunder, for his commitment and critical work during his three years with JSF Division. On 11 December, Terry passed the baton on to his replacement, Air Commodore Damien Keddie, and will retire from the Royal Australian Air Force at the end of February 2018 after more than 38 years of dedicated service. He achieved much success during his career and has been instrumental in driving the Australian F-35A Project forward. Terry will be sorely missed and I wish him and his family well as they enter this new stage of life. With this, I formally welcome Air Commodore Damien Keddie as the new DGJAS. Damien has a wealth of acquisition and sustainment experience and I have no doubt he will continue Terry’s efforts in ensuring the Division works hard to deliver the F-35A capability as we move towards FAA and IOC in the years to come.

It has been an incredibly busy year and next year will be no different – in fact, the tempo will only increase. I ask for the same high level of commitment displayed thus far as we work hard in the lead-up to FAA and IOC. Success will depend on the combined efforts of the entire F-35 enterprise and I look forward to continuing our work as we lead the introduction of this transformational capability on behalf of Defence.
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
Only the 26 but Santa is here :)
View attachment 44345

Air Force Brat sorry but curious new avatar I preferred the old o_O

Yes, Christmas is a little tougher every year, but my new Keurig and strong black coffee has restorative and medicinal powers! that's my Great! Great! Granpa Brat, who started the Air Force with a single Wright flyer and a 12 Gauge Shotgun, baling wired to the wing! just a little "Air Force History lesson!"
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
Only the 26 but Santa is here :)
View attachment 44345

Air Force Brat sorry but curious new avatar I preferred the old o_O

Yeppers! some people do say my beard makes me look "OLDE"?? but Naww, under that layer of facial hair? the Air Force Brat is as young and handsome as ever!

LOL, "Major Fong, "Donger"! "only in America Brother!"

channeling david bowie,,, "this is ground control to Major Fong!!" can you hear me "Major Fong"?? can you hear me Major Fong???

hope this makes it past the watchful eye of our newly "up-armed" Mod's, those Dudes are real "Gun Slingers!" thanks to Webby! LOL!
 
according to DefenseNews Japan, South Korea may refit naval ships for F-35 fighters
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Amid growing tensions in the region, both Japan and South Korea are reportedly investigating options to operate the Lockheed-Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter on board their respective ships.

Quoting reports from unnamed military sources in their respective countries, Japan’s Kyodo news agency and South Korea’s Yonhap said that the short take-off vertical landing, or STOVL F-35B variant is being considered for operations from Japan’s Izumo-class DDH helicopter destroyer and South Korea’s Dokdo-class amphibious assault ship, turning them into combat-capable aircraft carriers.

Kyodo’s also reported that the F-35Bs could be used to defend Japan’s far flung southwestern islands, which lack long runways needed for conventional fighter jets to operate.

That strategy is being considered
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, as well as China’s rapid military modernization,

Asked about the reports at a media conference on Tuesday, Japanese defense minister Itsunori Onodera repeatedly denied any plans to modify the Izumo-class to operate F-35Bs, only going as far as saying the ministry is constantly “conducting various studies evaluating Japan’s defense capability.”

Modification of the ships to operate the F-35B will enhance flexibility and expand the range of missions, with Yonhap quoting a source as saying that the South Korean military is looking at “maximizing the strategic value of the vessel’s capabilities.” The ships can carry several helicopters during normal operations, with the Izumo and Dokdo class designed to carry a maximum of 14 and 10 helicopters respectively.

Both ship classes will however need to be modified extensively internally and externally to operate the F-35B, including the application of a thermally protective coating on areas of the flight deck to withstand hot exhaust gases during F-35B vertical landings, and possibly even reshaping the flight deck to allow rolling takeoffs.

They will also need to have the ammunition magazines hardened and enlarged to accommodate the F-35B’s weapons, while aviation fuel storage facilities will also likely need to be expanded to account for higher fuel consumption compared to helicopters.

Reuters has suggested that a ski-jump may be fitted to the Izumo as part of any modification program for the F-35B, however with the Izumo-class being 248 meters long and the Dokdo 199 meters, both already have flight decks long enough for the F-35B to carry out rolling takeoffs — no ski-jump needed.

Both Japan and South Korea have a single Izumo and Dokdo-class ship in service, with another ship of each class being constructed. The two countries are also operators of the F-35A conventional take off and landing version, with Japan and South Korea having 42 and 40 F-35As on order respectively.

The possession of aircraft carriers by Japan will be a significant shift in its defense posture and is likely to be a contentious issue, with critics likely to point to Japan’s pacifist constitution banning the country from acquiring what is referred to as “war potential.”

But Corey Wallace, an Einstein postdoctoral fellow in the Graduate School of East Asian Studies at Berlin’s Freie Universitat wrote in the East Asia Forum that Japan’s constitution does not explicitly ban specific capabilities — offensive or otherwise. Rather, its government interprets ‘war potential’ as referring to the total strength of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces relative to potential threats and international conditions, and not whether a given capability is mostly offensive or defensive.
 
now some hype:
The F-35 and F-22 Teach Each Other New Tricks
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

A dozen years after the F-22's operational debut and two years after the F-35 was declared ready for combat, the flow of lessons learned is running both ways.
At the outset of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, there were high expectations that it would benefit from lessons learned from its elder stablemate, the F-22 Raptor, also made by Lockheed Martin.

Now, a dozen years after the F-22’s operational debut and two years after the F-35 was declared ready for combat, the flow of lessons learned is running both ways. The two fifth generation fighter programs are working together to reduce costs and make both systems more effective.

The F-22 has been a pathfinder for the F-35: Its formations and methods of employment are a model for the junior fighter. In return, the small F-22 fleet is gaining economy-of-scale benefits by getting in on parts buys with the far larger—and growing—F-35 fleet. More advanced and hardier stealth features on the F-35 are working their way back to the F-22, the two aircraft share radar features, and operational and manufacturing experience with the F-35 are helping define upgrades for the Raptor.

“The F-35 and F-22 were always meant to operate alongside one another, so it makes a lot of sense to apply that same logic to the programmatic side of both platforms,” said Lockheed Martin F-35 program manager Jeff A. Babione. “We’re constantly taking advantage of newer, more advanced technologies and processes. If we can apply the same advances to the F-35 and F-22, we drive costs down and pull schedules to the left on both programs.”

The F-22 pioneered fifth generation tactics and those are being applied straight to the F-35, according to Col. Paul “Max” Moga, commander of the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla. The 33rd trains new F-35 pilots, but Moga spent years in the F-22, as an instructor and demonstration pilot and later as a squadron commander, after starting out in F-15s.

Regarding employment techniques on the F-22 and F-35, “I would describe them as a direct transfer,” Moga said. In the F-22, the key to employment is “managing signature, sensor, and what we refer to as ‘flow,’ ” which he explained is how the plane and pilot sense the battlespace, steer between threats, and get into the optimum position to engage. That same concept applies to the F-35, he said.

Though fourth generation aircraft pilots have to manage visual and infrared signatures, “it’s not until you get in the fifth gen world that you really concern yourselves with radar signature management. … That is a core competency of any fifth gen platform, and that is a direct transfer over from the F-22 to the F-35.” Pilots of both jets must “manage our signature as we employ the aircraft and optimize our survivability and lethality,” Moga said.

The F-22 was a “generational leap” over fourth gen fighters such as the F-15 and F-16, and it took a conscious shift in culture to shed old tactics that were no longer relevant when the F-22 came online, he noted.

In a fourth generation jet, a wingman must provide “mutual support” within visual range, “welded” to the flight lead just a few miles away. But “pretty early on in Raptor tactics development, we realized that, based on the capabilities of the airplane, we didn’t need visual mutual support. We needed a mutual support by presence, which, for us, can be upward of 10, 15, 20 nautical miles away from one another,” said Moga.

For a former fourth gen pilot who has always depended on someone close by having his back, “it takes a while to get used to that,” Moga said.

GROWING UP FAST

Now, in the F-35 as well as the F-22, “we train our younger wingmen to operate outside the visual [support] environment, which means they have more responsibilities on their shoulders.” They have to grow up fast, Moga said.

In both jets, “our young wingmen are making tactical decisions and executing accordingly at a level that historically, in our fourth gen fleet, we would not expect out of them until they were a seasoned flight lead, if not a mission commander or instructor pilot,” he assessed.

Fifth gen pilots have to “get up to speed a lot quicker because when they’re by themselves, the consequences can get dire if they make an improper or incorrect tactical decision.” There’s no “safety net” of “somebody being two miles away from them that can clean somebody off their six o’clock,” he noted.
This is all made possible by the extraordinary sensor capability in both aircraft that draws information from both onboard and offboard sensors and from the sensors of their wingmen’s jets. “You no longer need four … or eight sets of eyeballs to scan the horizon and look for threats and put together the tactical picture that you need to execute. … The aircraft does all that for you,” he explained. In fact, it’s so much data that sometimes “it’s more than you need.”
The airplanes’ missions are complementary. The F-22 is primarily an air superiority fighter with ground attack capability, while the F-35 is optimized for attack, with dogfighting capability as well. By remaining unseen and undetected, the F-35 can use the stealth dogfight tactics already well-established by the F-22, though perhaps not to the same speeds and altitudes.

One mission not shared between the two is close air support. Moga said CAS is a new one for him to learn. Though early on the F-22 units did try to practice CAS, Moga admitted that “we kind of got off track back in those years.” Since then, the F-22 operators “got back in our lane and realized there were other platforms that were really optimized for that mission far more efficiently and effectively.”

The F-22 has been a success story in Operation Inherent Resolve, Moga asserted. Though its high-end dogfight capabilities have never been tested in combat, “I think the F-22 has performed tactically better than most people thought it was going to in theater.” When not “gainfully employed,” dropping bombs or escorting packages of other aircraft, the F-22 has proved stellar in other ways, putting together “the electronic order of battle, … the airborne order of battle,” and then conveying that information “back to the platforms it may be more applicable to.”

A lesson learned—and one certainly being applied on the F-35—is “the importance of maintaining accurate and up-to-date mission data files,” Moga noted. This is another area where exhaustive information on regional threats is applicable to both airplanes. The software facility that loads both aircrafts’ mission data files is at Eglin. USAF and partner nations collaborate to populate the databases with every threat known to intelligence.

“There’s a lot of work to be done, and it’s a fast-moving ball game, but we’re making a lot of progress,” he said. Still, “we’ve got a little ways to go before we can raise the flag and say we’re where we want to be,” Moga added.

The F-35 pilot wears a helmet that shows practically all aircraft, environment, and target data, but this capability came along after the F-22 was designed. While it would be impractical and expensive to backfit the F-22 fleet with the “see through the floor” electro-optical systems on the F-35, “most of the pilots flying [the F-22] would like … some version of a helmet” that displays data and allows the full use of more advanced weapons, Moga asserted. Both jets can carry the AIM-9X short-range dogfight missile, for example, but only the F-35 can aim the missile far off-boresight (at a high angle off the nose of the airplane), because the missile can be cued by the pilot simply looking at the target and designating it. Lacking a targeting helmet, the F-22 can’t employ that tactic.

The F-35 helmet is “a game-changer,” Moga asserted. Besides offering the off-boresight shooting capability, “there’s also other utilities they can use it for now that they have an air-to-ground-mapping SAR (synethetic aperture radar) … capability.”

The helmet and cockpit displays in the F-35 also offer “many more options” for calling up and displaying information. Though for an “old guy” like him, the wealth of displays and information can be “overwhelming,” Moga said, young pilots take to it quite naturally.

“When I watch their tapes in the debrief and I see how quickly they’re changing their displays from this to that and spending half a second to get just what they need and then flipping back … it’s pretty phenomenal.” The young pilots were reared on “Windows and Playstation,” he noted. A new helmet is on the short list for F-22 upgrades.

...
... size limit reached; the article goes on below

vaporware? "A new helmet is on the short list for F-22 upgrades."
I've been hearing this type of statements since I joined the SDF so they're probably much older (LOL)
makes me wonder if like five years from now I'll see a line of "eventually ultimately undoubtedly will" Raptors get a new helmet
 
Last edited:
Top