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

[Jura The idiot]

Friday at 8:36 AM

Feb 25, 2017
here's an interesting update:

“After eleven years and over 16,000 flight hours, the full Block 3F SDD (system development and demonstration) developmental test phase is quickly approaching an end,” Conn wrote.
“We estimate completion to be March/April 2018. The program can now proceed into IOT&E (initial operational test and evaluation). IOT&E is critical to the Navy because we have linked the successful demonstration of 3F capabilities in IOT&E to our IOC declaration for the F-35C. Our IOC criteria states that the aircraft will be in a 3F configuration with the ability to conduct assigned operational missions utilizing SDD program of record weapons, mission systems, sensors and performance envelopes. … IOC is capability and event driven, not calendar driven. The Navy understands that the threshold and objective dates, August 2018 and February 2019, are at risk due to a delay in the IOT&E schedule. Once full 3F capability has been demonstrated in IOT&E, and all other IOC criteria have been met, the Navy will declare that the F-35C has achieved Initial Operational Capability.”

etc. etc.: Schedule at Risk for Navy F-35C Fighters to be Combat Ready by End of Year

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related:
U.S. Navy Prepares To Declare F-35 Combat-Ready In 2019

Mar 29, 2018

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The U.S. Navy is gearing up to declare its

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carrier variant ready for war in 2019, the director of the F-35C integration office told Aerospace DAILY in his first interview in the role.

But the Navy won’t give the Joint Strike Fighter the green light until it successfully demonstrates its full warfighting software, 3F, during the final test period, initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E), Rear Adm. Dale Horan said March 29 at the Pentagon.

The Navy has set a goal of declaring initial operating capability (IOC) for

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’s new fighter between August 2018 and February 2019, so the service can sign off early next year and still be within that window. But that window is getting tighter: Due to delays in finishing the F-35’s $60 billion development period, IOT&E is not scheduled to begin until September 2018 at the earliest.

“IOC is capability and event-driven, it’s not date-driven,” Horan said. “We think probably next year, sometime in 2019, but we are not wedded to the dates.”

However, he stressed that he sees no “showstoppers” in reaching the milestone.

The Navy’s F-35 enterprise is laser-focused in 2018 on preparing for IOC. The “Rough Raiders” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 125, the “Grim Reapers” of VFA-101, and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 9 recently completed carrier qualifications (CQ) on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which Horan said “went very well” despite bad weather.

“The deck was pitching, and pretty low ceilings, and some varsity conditions, we call it,” Horan said. “But the airplane was really stable coming aboard the ship, the pilots were really comfortable with the airplane.”

During the CQ period, the Navy successfully used the deployable version of the Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS), the aircraft’s internal logistics system, which has been a source of headaches for the other services. Operators saw some challenges in learning how to optimize ALIS for a shipboard environment, specifically in getting the system to communicate seamlessly with the ship, but overall ALIS “worked as advertised,” Horan said.

“We were able to get it out there, get it installed, induct the airplanes into it, sign for the aircraft order parts, get parts delivered, document maintenance, do mission planning,” Horan said, though he acknowledged: “As with any new system, it’s complex, and we will work to improve it, to make it work better.”

The Navy is closely watching the F-35Bs that are operationally deployed with the U.S.

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on the USS Wasp in the Pacific, and will take lessons learned from them, he noted.

The most recent at-sea period on the Lincoln focused on CQs, and did not involve integrating the F-35 with the full carrier air wing—a critical test of the Navy’s ability to actually use the new fighter. The first opportunity the Navy will have to conduct full-blown missions with the F-35 and carrier air wing will be this summer during an operational test detachment on the Lincoln, Horan.

Integrating the F-35 with the carrier air wing could prove challenging from a data-sharing perspective. The F-35 operates on Link 16 and the stealthy Multifunction Advanced Data Link, while the rest of the carrier air wing passes data over the Tactical Targeting Network Technology.

But Horan is confident this integration will ultimately be successful.

“Anytime you integrate a new aircraft into a system as complex as a carrier strike group there will be challenges,” Horan said. “I’m confident that we have the solutions in work to make it do what it needs to do.”

Meanwhile, the Navy is taking several other steps to get ready for IOC. Horan is sending F-35Cs to every “Top Gun” class to hone tactics, and next year will conduct a wargame that simulates an F-35 carrier deployment.

The Navy will no doubt see challenges in getting the new fighter ready for its close-up, and is continuing to work on areas such as interoperability, communications, and weapons integration, Horan said. But he stressed that pilots, once they get in the cockpit, have no qualms.

“We see a fair amount of negative press on this airplane, but the pilots love this airplane,” Horan said. “I want young pilots to hear that, I want kids in college to hear that. If they are thinking about flying for the Navy they should want to fly this airplane, because it’s a really exceptional aircraft.”

 

[Jura The idiot]

Pentagon formulating plan to move F-35 management from central office to services

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sounds revolutionary, transformational LOL

The Defense Department plans to dissolve the F-35 Joint Program Office and revert to a more traditional management structure where the U.S.

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, Navy and Marine Corps all run their own program offices – eventually.

In a March 27 letter to Congress, the Pentagon’s top acquisition official acknowledged that

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into smaller offices is likely the way to go for the

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.

But exactly when such a transformation will occur was not defined in the letter written by

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, and the expectation in the Pentagon is that it could happen within the next several years.

“In order to effectively integrate and sustain the F-35 in the joint force, the military departments must have more direct ownership of the F-35 program and leverage organic capabilities, processes and infrastructure,” Lord wrote in the letter, which was sent to the congressional defense committees and first acquired by

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.

“The department will evaluate the right time to begin this transition through the F-35 executive steering group, which has participation across the department.”

The department intends to formulate a plan over the next year on how best to transition to service-led offices, Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Patrick Evans told Defense News.

Evans told Defense News that the transition will occur in three phases:

• “A measured restructure of the existing F-35 management structure, which begins immediately.”
• A hybrid structure, where separate service-run F-35 program offices report to a Joint Program Executive Officer, a position currently held by
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  .
• The full transition, where the services will have separate program offices and program executives that will report to the military department’s acquisition head. “The full transition dates will be determined through a conditions-based detailed implementation plan with risk-informed criteria,” he said.

Lord’s letter lays out nine near-term actions that will enable the stand up of F-35 program offices specific to each military department. Lord’s letter specifies that the eventual management structure will be comprised of an F-35A office led by the Air Force and an F-35B/C program office run the Navy and Marine Corps.

Some of the near-term changes involve greater participation by the services within the F-35 JPO. For instance, the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy will establish service deputies at the O-6 level. Those officials will be collocated at the JPO to provide the services’ feedback on JPO decisions and also to help execute the transition to separate service-led offices.

The JPO will also bring in “F-35A, F-35B and F-35C variant leads” that will eventually form the “nucleus” of future transition teams, the letter states.

Meanwhile, the services will “conduct a gap analysis, charter and implementation plan to stand up individual fleet management offices.” That plan will include a proposed schedule and criteria for initial and full operational capability for the offices.

The Pentagon will also conduct an audit of the JPO’s billet structure and review the F-35 program charter with the intent to optimize manpower and cut down on bureaucracy, it said.

While the changes could make it easier for the services to have oversight over their respective F-35 variants, the eventual dissolution of the JPO could make it more difficult for international customers to interface with the program.

The JPO currently functions as a one-stop shop for foreign buyers — some of which, like Japan, are considering buying more than one variant of the aircraft. The office also oversees the work done by final assembly lines in Japan and Italy, as well as at sustainment hubs around the world.

Evans said that the department will continue to work closely with F-35 international partners, but acknowledged that “in the longer-term, current international agreements will need to be updated and transition to service-based agreements. The phased implementation approach allows time to work through these changes in close coordination with our international partners in a way that maintains our strong commitment to them and our partnership.”

In an emailed statement, the JPO said it was supportive of this initiative to improve the management of the F-35 program.

“We are implementing improvements to increase transparency, and we’ll continue to assess and evaluate the most efficient ways to support and manage this vital national defense program,” the statement read.

 

[Jura The idiot]

noticed
Navy fighter squadron begins switch to the F-35

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While the Navy’s two Joint Strike Fighter training squadrons tested their sea legs in the Atlantic in March, the future of the Navy’s operations was getting underway in earnest at Naval Air Station,

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, California.

The Argonauts of Strike Fighter Squadron 147 technically began the transition to the F-35 in December after landing back at Lemoore following a six-month deployment aboard the carrier Nimitz as part of Carrier Air Wing 11.

“That was the final time they flew in the Super Hornet and their maintainers and pilots have now been training, both down at Eglin Air Force Base, as well as in Lemoore with the [Replacement Squadron], VFA-125,” said Cmdr. Ron Flanders, spokesman for Naval Air Forces in San Diego.

“Pilots have been going to training in the full-mission simulators in Lemoore and we anticipate them being certified as safe for flight later this year,” he said. Despite the wait, “they are officially considered an operational squadron, the Navy’s first and only operational F-35C squadron.”

Navy officials are targeting October as a ready date for VFA-147, which will be receiving aircraft from the Roughriders of VFA-125, as well from the factory.
But what is clear is that the Navy has an ambitious plan for the Joint Strike Fighter, with a goal of fielding 20 operational JSF squadrons by the early 2030s.

Executing that plan will most likely be the responsibility of a new joint strike fighter wing — based in Lemoore — that will debut in the near future. That command’s mission will be to focus on building the Navy’s JSF capabilities and managing the transition of the squadrons that will be switching to the Navy’s newest fighter jet.

The next step for the Argonauts will be to start more intensive flying as they begin their integration into a carrier air wing, a process that will include preparation for deployment on the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson in 2021.

What remains unclear, though, is who will come after VFA-127 in the transition to the F-35C. The Navy has not yet clarified how that continued transition will unfold.

 

[Jura The idiot]

now
Navy Confirms Plans to Send Carrier-Capable F-35C to Iwakuni by 2021

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The U.S.

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plans to deploy its

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variant to

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, Japan, in roughly the next three years amid reports the C-variant will achieve combat-ready status later than expected.

While the timeline is not set in stone, Carrier Air Wing 5 in the Pacific is expected to receive the

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sometime after 2021, Cmdr. Reann Mommsen told Military.com.

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The Navy "places its most advanced and combat-capable units in the forward-deployed naval force," she said in an email. "CVW-5 has the Navy's most lethal aircraft, including the most combat-capable

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strike fighters."

Mommsen said the first F-35C squadron will replace an F/A-18 Super Hornet squadron, which will return to the U.S.

When the transition is complete, CVW-5 will have a mix of fourth-generation Super Hornets and fifth-generation F-35Cs designed to take off and land on aircraft carriers.

"Like all fixed-wing squadrons in CVW-5, the F-35Cs will forward deploy to MCAS Iwakuni. This future upgrade will enhance the capabilities of the air wing and its mission to defend Japan and contribute to regional peace and security," Mommsen said.

The F-35C is not expected to reach initial operating capability until 2019, according to a report from Aviation Week.

Rear Adm. Dale E. Horan, commander of Carrier Strike Group 8,

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that the Navy needs to see a successful demonstration of the F-35's software during its Initial Operational Test and Evaluation trials before it can declare the C-variant combat ready.

The Lockheed Martin Corp.-made F-35 was expected to be ready for IOC sometime between August 2018 and February 2019,

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submitted to lawmakers.

Meanwhile, the Navy is also gearing up to replace its aging

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fleet aboard CVW-5 with new Navy CMV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, Mommsen said.

A "CMV-22B detachment is expected to replace the detachment of C-2A Greyhounds currently assigned to Carrier Air Wing 5 and

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," she said, adding that no decision has been made as to which base in Japan will receive the Ospreys.

The

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's version of the Osprey, the

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,

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of schedule.

A squadron of 10 Ospreys was due to arrive at

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in 2020, but five aircraft will first be based at U.S. Forces Japan under the accelerated move.

 

[Jura The idiot]

Yesterday at 7:55 AM

Pentagon formulating plan to move F-35 management from central office to services

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sounds revolutionary, transformational LOL

and here's what AirForceMag has to say:
F-35 Restructure Not Imminent
4/5/2018

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The Defense Department, in accordance with a mandatory report sent to Congress this week, will eventually devolve management of the joint-service F-35 to the individual branches flying the jet, but not soon, according to Pentagon and Capitol Hill officials.

Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, sent to Congress a report required under the Fiscal 2017 defense authorization bill to explain how the F-35’s management would be improved and possibly restructured. The report said that steps will be taken to put each service in charge of its own F-35 variant, rather than have a single Joint Program Office, as has been the case for the last 18 years.

Even though she said moves will be made “immediately” to improve F-35 management and the services will be given “more direct ownership” of the program as it pertains to them, “the Department will evaluate the right time to begin this transition,” according to the letter. No time certain for such a transition has been set.

Defense officials said there are “already” service representatives at the O-6 level involved with the program, and Lord’s new plan calls for program deputies at that level for each service, reporting to the JPO director, Vice Adm. Mat Winter. Eventually, those deputies will either become or report to service program managers for the F-35, each of which will have their own system program office.

Those shifts will happen when the services are ready for them to happen, and won’t be calendar-based, Pentagon officials said. The Air Force and Navy already have their own F-35 integration offices.

The reason why the services have not led their own F-35 efforts thus far was to ensure that maximum commonality among the services and foreign partners was maintained through the end of the System Design and Development phase. Now that SDD is wrapping up, the services can more reasonably manage their own improvement programs and do the internal horse trading to fund various parts of their own fighter/attack portfolios.

One official involved with the F-35 said the JPO is “still essential as we transition to a deployed system and a normalized support apparatus,” and that some form of the JPO will still be necessary even after the services take on “the day-to-day management of their own variants” so the US can deal effectively with partner nations and FMS customers. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin has set up regional manufacture, maintenance, and repair facilities around the world to more efficiently sustain the F-35 fleet.

“Let’s be real about this,” the official said “These are three different airplanes, but if we hadn’t had the JPO … we’d have three very different airplanes by now,” and support costs would be “out of sight.” However, other officials said international relationships would likely shift to align with the services using the specific variants used by partner countries.

Lord told Congress in the letter she envisions an Air Force office overseeing the conventional takeoff F-35A version and a Navy/Marine Corps office supervising the carrier/short-takeoff, vertical landing C and B variants, respectively.

The services are to start developing plans for the transition and creation of their own SPOs in the near-term. These will be evaluated by Lord’s office in an effort to make sure the change doesn’t cause the number of manpower positions devoted to F-35 management to soar due to duplication.

Asked for comment, the F-35 JPO said it “supports this initiative to ensure the Defense Department, US services, and our international partners have the most effective management structure to deliver warfighting capability. We are implementing improvements to increase transparency, and we'll continue to assess and evaluate the most efficient ways to support and manage this vital national defense program."

 

[Jeff Head]

I expect at this point that F-35C IOC will be in 2019...and that is fine by me.

A few months later than originally scheduled, but they are coming along and they are going to add 5th gen stealth to the carrier air wings and that means a lot right there.

 

[Jura The idiot]

Mar 29, 2018

Today at 7:12 AMwhile
US Air Force aims to lower F-35 sustainment costs to that of an F-16

57 minutes ago

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now Lockheed Gets Edict to Cut F-35's $1.1 Trillion Support Bill

• Air Force could be forced to cut purchases if costs remain
• Company says it is taking steps to lower some estimated costs

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must find ways to reduce the Pentagon’s current $1.1 trillion estimate to own and operate the F-35 jet, the world’s costliest weapons program, according to the Defense Department’s latest annual program overview.

According to the document, Lockheed “must embrace much-needed supply chain management affordability initiatives” to cut costs on the next-generation stealth fighter.

The $1.1 trillion estimate to sustain the U.S. F-35 fleet through 2077 was compiled in 2015 by the Pentagon’s independent cost assessment office but has not been updated, according to the Selected Acquisition Report, or SAR, obtained by Bloomberg News. The Pentagon said this week that the estimate will be updated next year before acquisition officials meet to decide whether the program should enter full-production.

Although the estimate is unchanged, the acquisition report focused at length on the importance of reducing the $1.1 trillion figure as well comments from the F-35 program office pointing out what it said are shortcomings of the independent estimate.

The report acknowledges that under current forecasts, “the projected F-35 sustainment outlays are too costly” and “given planned fleet growth, future U.S. service operations and support budgets will be strained.” Bloomberg reported

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that the U.S. Air Force may have to cut its F-35 purchases by one-third, or about 590 jets, if it can’t find ways to reduce operations and support costs by as much as 38 percent over a decade.

“Are O&S sustainment costs a major concern?” General David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, said last month, referring to operating and support costs for the new fighter. “Absolutely.”

According to the acquisition report, Lockheed should also “optimize priorities across the supply chain for spare and new production parts, and enable the exchange of necessary data rights” to the U.S. military of software currently owned by the company.

Lockheed spokeswoman Carolyn Nelson said in an email that the Bethesda, Maryland-based company “is investing in several initiatives to lower the industry component” of the estimated costs and “continues to partner with the Joint Program Office to reduce overall operations” and support costs.

Cost Complaint
“We expect to see a similar cost reduction trend as we’ve seen with production as the sustainment program matures and the operational fleet grows,” Nelson wrote.

Although the F-35 program office has complained about the $1.1 trillion cost estimate, its own current estimate is only slightly less, according to figures contained in the report.

As of January, 268 F-35s were fielded and another 670 aircraft are expected to be delivered and fielded by 2023.

The Pentagon testing office’s annual report to Congress on major weapons systems in January said the availability of the F-35 for missions when needed -- a key metric -- remains “around 50 percent, a condition that has existed with no significant improvement since October 2014, despite the increasing number of aircraft.”

‘Measured Successes’
The Pentagon report said that aside from the looming operations and support bill that needs to be reduced, the program last year “had measured successes” including delivering the final version of what is meant to be it’s most capable software and establishing -- albeit years late -- initial depot repair locations in the U.S.

Among the key 2018 goals are “improving aircraft quality while driving costs out of the production line and supply chain” and “holding F-35 industry partners accountable to the performance and quality outcomes we require.”

The F-35 program office also chided Lockheed for its “slow negotiation behaviors” that “unnecessarily extends the time to contract award.” The parties have yet to finalize after months of back and forth the 11th low-rate production contract for the largest number of jets to date -- 141 F-35s for the U.S., international partners and foreign military sale customers.

“As production ramps up,” the F-35 program office “has concerns” with Lockheed’s ability to negotiate in a timely manner to meet required delivery schedules with the required quality and performance,” the report said.

 

[Jura The idiot]

now noticed through AirForceMag story F-35 Prepares for First Combat Deployment

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:
F-35B visits CENTCOM as it prepares to enter theater

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The F-35B Lightning II aircraft arrived at U.S. Central Command on MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., April 4, 2018. The purpose of the two-day visit was to inform CENTCOM senior leadership on the capabilities and limitations of the F-35B platform before it enters the CENTCOM area of responsibility.

The F-35B is fully operational, ready for combat and will make its first combat deployment aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex as part of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit increasing air dominance capabilities and meeting the demands of the complex CENTCOM environment.

“For all the versions of the F-35, we combine a very robust sensor package and probably the best group of sensors that’s being flown on any aircraft in the world right now in terms of how varied they are in their capabilities,” said Lt Col. Chad Vaughn, an F-35B pilot stationed at Marine Aircraft Group 11, out of Yuma, Ariz. “This version of the F-35B, specifically because of its short take off and vertical landing capabilities, opens up a lot of basing options, specifically expeditionary basing operations that we haven’t had in the past.”

The jet can conduct full spectrum combat operations from simple to complex for the Amphibious Readiness Group and the 13th MEU. The F-35B provides strategic attack capabilities that allow it to destroy or neutralize adversary targets that threaten ARG/ MEU Marines, Sailors and other U.S. or coalition assets.
“What we want to do is make sure this jet helps out the entire MAGTF, specific for MAGTF operations, obviously the Marine rifleman but everybody we’re supporting on the ground,” said Vaughn.

Advanced avionics equip the pilot with real-time access to battle-area information with overall coverage. With this technology, commanders in the air, on land or sea are able to receive data collected from the F-35B’s sensors that will empower them with a high-fidelity view of ongoing operations.
“The F-35B is more than just an aircraft,” said Lt Col. Jaime Macias, Chief of Plans at Marine Corps Forces Central Command. “It’s a system of systems that’s flying; its got sensors and anti-axis aerial denial capabilities.”

The F-35B combines next-generation characteristics with radar-evading stealth and advanced logistical support with a wide-range sensor package over any fighter aircraft in history.

With the addition of the F-35B, ARG/MEU missions will become more lethal and survivable on land, air, and sea. It increases the efficiency or ARG/MEU through next-generation technology, lethality, and battle-space awareness.

The F-35B also provides war-fighting capabilities for the future of CENTCOM, ARG/MEU, and Joint Force.

“Today is a big deal not only for CENTCOM but for the Marine Corps,” said Macias. “This is the newest and most-lethal aircraft that the Joint Force has, and the fact that it’s coming into the CENTCOM theater and potentially seeing some combat operations is a big deal.”

This aircraft brings all of the access and lethal capabilities of a stealth fifth-generation fighter or a modern bomber. It is an all-threat environment air support platform.

“What the F-35B gives you is multi–role capabilities, so now you have one aircraft that can do a broad range of capabilities and do it to a level that none of the legacy aircraft have been able to do to this day,” said Macias.

The aircraft’s capabilities have been demonstrated during training such as Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course, Exercise Red Flag, Agile Lightning, as well as day-to-day training across the fleet. The Marine Corps has activated four squadrons and has over 35,000 flight hours in the aircraft.

“The jet is in the fleet, it’s here it’s now, it’s deploying, it’s deploying with the MEUs,” said Vaughn.

 

[Jura The idiot]

Will U.S. Navy’s F-35 Be Ready On Time?
No.
Apr 5, 2018

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The U.S. Navy’s USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier will be headed to sea loaded with war-ready

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for the first time in 2021, if all goes according to plan.

But the F-35C carrier variant has a long road ahead before it can kick off its first operational deployment.

The Navy version of

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’s new fighter has made major progress over the last year. The “Rough Raiders” of VFA-125, the “Grim Reapers” of VFA-101 as well as VX-9 recently completed carrier qualifications on the USS Abraham Lincoln, greenlighting the first nine F-35C pilots to take off and land. At NAS Lemoore, California, the “Argonauts” of VFA-147, which will support the 2021 deployment, in February began their transition to the F-35C.

Meanwhile, the Joint Program Office (JPO)

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a “green glow” that obscures pilots’ vision during nighttime carrier landings; violent vertical oscillations during carrier launches; and overloading of the wings when carrying

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’s

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air-to-air missiles, the aircraft’s primary dogfighting weapons.

These accomplishments mark significant progress toward the Navy’s goal of declaring initial operating capability (IOC) between August 2018 and February 2019, and kicking off the first F-35C operational deployment in 2021.

But Rear Adm. Dale Horan, director of the Navy’s F-35C integration office,

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last month that the Navy has decided not to declare the F-35C combat-ready until it successfully demonstrates its full warfighting software—3F—during the final test period, initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E).

The Navy can sign off on IOC early next year and still be within the target. But that window is getting tighter: Due to delays in finishing the F-35’s $60 billion development period, IOT&E is not scheduled to begin until this September, at the earliest.

“IOC is capability- and event-driven, it’s not date-driven,” Horan says.

The Navy also is working to implement fixes to three technological challenges.

The most worrisome is the “green glow” on the Gen III Helmet Mounted Display. It uses an active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) to project symbology electronically onto the pilot’s visor. But the display’s backlighting produces a green glow that can obscure the outside environment, particularly in low-visibility conditions, making it difficult for pilots to detect outside light sources and the cues they need to land safely.

Early next year, the Navy expects to field the first production version of a new helmet that uses an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, instead of the AMLCD. The F-35 enterprise has been testing a prototype of the helmet, and so far the OLED does not have the same backlighting problems as the AMLCD version, Horan says.

In the meantime, the Navy has devised an interim software solution that will allow pilots to adjust the display on the AMLCD helmet using the aircraft’s hands-on throttle and stick. Although only experienced pilots are permitted to carrier-qualify and fly missions using the AMLCD helmet, use of this modification means the Navy can move forward with operational test, Horan says. “It’s not perfect, but it has helped.”

The Navy also is satisfied with a solution to another significant problem seen during carrier operations:

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. Pilots reported these oscillations were so severe that they could not read flight-critical data, according to the Pentagon’s director of operational test and evaluation. The oscillations also caused most pilots to lock their harnesses during launches, making emergency switches hard to reach.

Testers discovered that the tension setting on the repeatable release holdback bar—the bar that holds the nose gear immediately before the catapult shot—was too strong, Horan explains. Engineers relaxed that tension slightly, which reduced the oscillations. In addition, the Navy is teaching pilots to pay more attention to the way they strap into their seats.

Horan acknowledges that “it’s still a pretty aggressive catapult shot,” but the Navy is now satisfied the oscillations do not pose a safety or health risk to the pilots. Vice Adm. Paul Grosklags, chief of Naval Air Systems Command, has stood down the tiger team he set up to work on the problem and considers it resolved.

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to allow the aircraft to carry Raytheon air-to-air AIM-9X Sidewinders. Testers discovered during flight trials in 2015 that the outer, folding portions of the wings were not strong enough to support the loads induced by pylons with the AIM-9Xs during certain maneuvers.

Flight-testing of the enhanced outer wing design has been completed, and now the Navy is racing to install the modifications in time for IOT&E, Horan says. Four of the six aircraft required for IOT&E have received the fix, and Horan is confident all six will be completed in time to start the test period on schedule later this year.

After that, two kits per month will be delivered to the fleet until all the F-35Cs have the fix, Horan said. AIM-9X capability is planned for the 3F software block.

In addition to implementing software and hardware fixes, the Navy must integrate the F-35C with the carrier airwing. During the carrier-qualifications period, the Navy tested the deployable version of the Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS), the aircraft’s internal logistics system, which has been a source of headaches for the other services. Although overall ALIS “worked as advertised,” operators saw challenges in learning how to optimize ALIS for a shipboard environment, specifically in getting the system to communicate seamlessly with the ship, Horan says. “As with any new system, it’s complex, and we will work to improve it, to make it work better.”

The team did successfully demonstrate use of the Joint Precision and Landing System, which uses GPS to auto-land aircraft safely on the ship, and maintainers performed their first unassisted F-35C tire change.

But the most critical test of the Navy’s ability to actually use the new fighter is planned for this summer with an operational test detachment on the Lincoln. During the at-sea period, the service will have its first opportunity to integrate the F-35C with the carrier airwing, Horan says.

This could prove challenging from a data-sharing perspective. The F-35 operates on Link 16 and the stealthy Multifunction Advanced Data Link, while the rest of the airwing passes data over the Tactical Targeting Network Technology.

But Horan is confident this integration ultimately will be successful.

“Anytime you integrate a new aircraft into a system as complex as a carrier strike group, there will be challenges,” Horan notes. “I’m confident we have the solutions in the works to make it do what it needs to do.”

Meanwhile, the Navy is taking other steps to prepare for real-world operations. Horan is sending F-35Cs to every “Top Gun” class to hone tactics, and next year will conduct a wargame that simulates an F-35 carrier deployment.

The Navy no doubt will see challenges in getting the new fighter ready for its close-up, and is continuing to work on areas such as interoperability, communications and weapons integration, Horan says. But he stresses that pilots, once they get in the cockpit, have no qualms.

“We see a fair amount of negative press on this airplane, but the pilots love this airplane,” Horan says. “I want young pilots to hear that, I want kids in college to hear that. If they are thinking about flying for the Navy they should want to fly this airplane, because it’s a really exceptional aircraft.”

 

[Jura The idiot]

noticed
Italian Air Force F-35A Lightning II Aircraft Have Completed Their First Deployment To “Deci”
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