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

[Jeff Head]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

The Air Force is going to send 4 A Models to Nellis, to play with the big boys, we shall see how she does against both the fourth gens and soon the F-22, my money is all on the Raptor, LOL. It will be the first serious flying and I'm quite sure they will go relatively slow, but not as slow a the Lioaning? So it will be interesting to see just how much we learn, I'm sure we will get some anecdotal info in 6 mos or so? Brat

This year, eh? That will be great! Cannot wait to see how they do. Once the F-22 gets its helmet mounted targeting and the AIM-9X all aspect missiles, nothing will be able to touch it from BVR to right up close and personal.

I heard that the Eurofighter scored some wins (and they are touting them, but they never say how many they had to lose to get those wins) against the Raptor up close because the Raptors only had the older Sidewinders that were not all aspect while the Euroofighters had all aspect IR missiles and helmet mounted targeting.

I'm not too concerned about that because the Raptors will have that, and because I have a hunch that though they may indeed have one a time or two, that they still lost a lot more than they won.

It will be interesting to see how they develop the tactics and policies for the JSFs and how they perform in the big leagur. I believe they are going to do just fine.

 

[delft]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

Spain and Italy are going to need some of the "B" model for their carriers Cavour and Juan Carlos, if they want an airwing. There is no other future option for them. But we shall see.

More probably Cavour and Juan Carlos will only carry helicopters, will be sold to some other country that too will only use helicopters or will be broken up. The finances of Italy and Spain are worse than those of The Netherlands and where are the enemies against which those F-35B or even these ships are to be used?

 

[Air Force Brat]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

This year, eh? That will be great! Cannot wait to see how they do. Once the F-22 gets its helmet mounted targeting and the AIM-9X all aspect missiles, nothing will be able to touch it from BVR to right up close and personal.

I heard that the Eurofighter scored some wins (and they are touting them, but they never say how many they had to lose to get those wins) against the Raptor up close because the Raptors only had the older Sidewinders that were not all aspect while the Euroofighters had all aspect IR missiles and helmet mounted targeting.

I'm not too concerned about that because the Raptors will have that, and because I have a hunch that though they may indeed have one a time or two, that they still lost a lot more than they won.

It will be interesting to see how they develop the tactics and policies for the JSFs and how they perform in the big leagur. I believe they are going to do just fine.

The Raptor boys were not happy, and they made some intimation of "fowl play" and taking shots after "no joy" was called, but Max the bossman told them to back off and not worry about it, I would like to know for certain how it went down, but when the Raptor boys have company, they have to change the rules so that they will likely lose a few, otherwise they can't find any neighbor kids to play with them, not saying the Raptor is invincible, but it will outturn the Typhoon which maxes out at 25 degrees AoA, but the helmet mounted sight is a game changer and it is a great assett to the Typhoon and it will be to the F-35 as well. Brat

 

[kwaigonegin]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

jeebus!! is this program cursed or what? more problems found on the F-35 program..

While I understand ALL fighter programs have issues they have to work out but it seems like the frequent issues encountered is causing a lot of our allies and countires in the joint development to lose confidence in this aircraft. I hope the latest news don't cause them to further cut down their orders.

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[Air Force Brat]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

jeebus!! is this program cursed or what? more problems found on the F-35 program..

While I understand ALL fighter programs have issues they have to work out but it seems like the frequent issues encountered is causing a lot of our allies and countires in the joint development to lose confidence in this aircraft. I hope the latest news don't cause them to further cut down their orders.

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Yep, crack in the third stage LPT, they've seen these before, but it is not a good sign, it was found by the borescope at Edwards, so back to Conneticut for further testing, aircraft grounded until they get answers???? what did Mr. Bill say? "ooooohhhh Noooooohhh!". WOW? it does defy explanation, doesn't it ? Brat

 

[advill]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

No doubt the F-35 is a good next generation fighter aircraft, but there could be serious problems mainly costs, not only for allies in Europe and other countries, but to the USAF itself. The troubling reports we read about drastic US defense budget cuts and comments by the Chairman Joint Chiefs & the 4 Service Chiefs could be ominous to not only financing the F-35 project/s but also other US Armed Forces weaponry and equipment. "Fokoku Kowei" = Rich Country Strong Military - this Japanese phrase can be interpreted the opposite way which is the fact of geopolitics consideration.

My Dutch center-right newspaper describes the situation in its editorial today as: The new government has decided to look at the JSF again but now this think tank has done most of this work for them - we can buy a reasonable number of F-35's, but then we can't also pay for a useful army and navy.
I wonder how much this will be different for other countries that are expected to buy the F-35. A financial commentator said there is now a new collection of countries that should be watched: FISH, France, Italy, Spain, Holland. I would be surprised if the Italians get to use the F-35.

 

[kwaigonegin]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

No doubt the F-35 is a good next generation fighter aircraft, but there could be serious problems mainly costs, not only for allies in Europe and other countries, but to the USAF itself. The troubling reports we read about drastic US defense budget cuts and comments by the Chairman Joint Chiefs & the 4 Service Chiefs could be ominous to not only financing the F-35 project/s but also other US Armed Forces weaponry and equipment. "Fokoku Kowei" = Rich Country Strong Military - this Japanese phrase can be interpreted the opposite way which is the fact of geopolitics consideration.

I agree. But the hundreds of Billion$ spent so far are sunk cost and if more partner nations pull out or reduce their initial orders that means the per unit cost of each bird is going to get higher and higher. As good as the lil plane is, it is not worth $200 or $250 million a piece when a F-16E/F block 60 or Silent Eagle cost a fraction of that.. not saying they have similar capabilities but at some point you have to weigh cost/effectiveness...If things are not fix right and soon, the per unit cost is slowly creeping up to surpassed even the mighty Raptor !

 

[Air Force Brat]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

I agree. But the hundreds of Billion$ spent so far are sunk cost and if more partner nations pull out or reduce their initial orders that means the per unit cost of each bird is going to get higher and higher. As good as the lil plane is, it is not worth $200 or $250 million a piece when a F-16E/F block 60 or Silent Eagle cost a fraction of that.. not saying they have similar capabilities but at some point you have to weigh cost/effectiveness...If things are not fix right and soon, the per unit cost is slowly creeping up to surpassed even the mighty Raptor !

General Mike Hostage, Chief of Air Combat Command, has stated that if the F-35 is lost, that he would recommend we re-open the F-22 production line, which would make me extremely happy, but not likely to happen. BHOs mess will snowball here in a few weeks-the timing on this could not possibly be worse, coming as it does on the heels of the F-35s reduced performance reports. The F-35 could still turn out to be a wonderfull airplane, but the electric jet is way more complicated than it should have been, and having to step up to Raptor country A2A has further complicated things for the F-35. Hopefully this will be fully resolved and a bad memory in a coupla months, but that is the price you pay for all your laundry being out in public.

Now, for all we know the J-20 has similar issues, but it won't be laid out for all the world to see if it does and we know the T-50 has some cracks for certain, but specifics on that are also hard to come by, this is the cost of the American way of doing business, to many Chiefs and not enough Indians, civilians buying military hardware has worked when most of the citizens loved their country and had a desire to defend it and at least a common understanding of who and what were threats to her national security, but as WWII well illustrated, the cost of being caught with your pants down was very, very high! AFB

 

[kwaigonegin]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

General Mike Hostage, Chief of Air Combat Command, has stated that if the F-35 is lost, that he would recommend we re-open the F-22 production line, which would make me extremely happy, but not likely to happen. BHOs mess will snowball here in a few weeks-the timing on this could not possibly be worse, coming as it does on the heels of the F-35s reduced performance reports. The F-35 could still turn out to be a wonderfull airplane, but the electric jet is way more complicated than it should have been, and having to step up to Raptor country A2A has further complicated things for the F-35. Hopefully this will be fully resolved and a bad memory in a coupla months, but that is the price you pay for all your laundry being out in public.

Now, for all we know the J-20 has similar issues, but it won't be laid out for all the world to see if it does and we know the T-50 has some cracks for certain, but specifics on that are also hard to come by, this is the cost of the American way of doing business, to many Chiefs and not enough Indians, civilians buying military hardware has worked when most of the citizens loved their country and had a desire to defend it and at least a common understanding of who and what were threats to her national security, but as WWII well illustrated, the cost of being caught with your pants down was very, very high! AFB

Amen brutha... they should stick with making the F-22 A2A and the JSF a simple stealth fighter cheap and not complicated primarily for A2G roles....instead they decided to make the Raptor having a role as a ground pounder when it was designed a straight up an air superiority fighter.. and the F-35 it was suppose to be 'cheap' .. a workhouse like the Viper was in the 80s and 90s...but they added so many bells and whistle to it it has become a nightmare and far from cheap and we've yet to see if it actually becomes a workhorse!

Truth is when your workhorse becomes more expensive and higher maintenance than your elite fighter something is wrong!!! Don't even get me started on the 35 Bravo. Don't get me wrong, super duper cool and an engineering marvel and who does't like a VTOL 5th Gen stealth BUT again we live in the real world with real budget, real bullets and real blood.

Fighters supporting an amphibious landing doesn't need 'stealth' as much as others.. by the time tanks, AAVs LCAC's make a beach landing it's all over anyway. The Navy and USAF would've cleared the skies long before an major amphibious landing takes place anyway. I mean if the Bravo is free sure no prob.. let's take a few thousand of them but as it is I think the Bravo really added a whole new set of complications and costs to the equation. It is mainly only for the USMC also.. most JSF partner countries were never intending to buy that version anyway. Even the Brits are teetering on wheater to even buy the jump jets now and most likely just go for the conventional Naval variant....

/end rant!

 

[asif iqbal]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

Today all 51 of the operational F35 have been grounded, engine issues, the 2nd time in 2 months