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F-35 Cancelled, then what ?

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F-35 Cancelled, then what ?

Old 10th Feb 2015, 13:45
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Most applications will be approved without condition, but waiting periods or other conditions may be imposed on those applications where there has been a close link between the applicant (when serving in the Armed Forces) and the proposed employer, or that company's competitors.

That rule has fewer teeth than a rather elderly anteater.
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Old 10th Feb 2015, 17:19
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RAF and FAA look to be progressing at least, with British F-35s now operating out of 3 different airfields, Eglin, Edwards and Beaufort.
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Old 10th Feb 2015, 17:30
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Flight Global:-
RAF's 17 Sqn assumes control of F-35 test and evaluation

The Royal Air Force’s 17 Sqn has assumed control of the test and evaluation of the UK’s first Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II, marking the start of independent operational testing by the UK of its future Joint Strike Fighter.

The aircraft – dubbed BK-1 – is based at Edwards AFB, California, where 17 Sqn has now begun to test and evaluate without the assistance of US forces that have until now supported the test campaign for the UK’s aircraft.

Both RAF and Royal Navy personnel make up the squadron, which will work to ensure that the aircraft is interoperable with the UK’s regulations and its other assets – including the RN’s new aircraft carriers – ahead of initial operational capability clearance for the aircraft, which is earmarked for 2018. The UK has a current requirement for 138 of the B-model short take-off and vertical landing version of the type, and the UK is the first of eight international partners to begin operational testing, the Ministry of Defence says.
Click on the link for the rest of the article and photos.
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Old 10th Feb 2015, 17:52
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I thought you all might be interested to see what the next jet engine might look like for the generation of fighter aircraft beyond the F-35, whatever generation the F-35 is.

There is lots of words in green throughout the verbiage to click on that gives more details of the various technologies that are becoming mature. Be sure to click on the ADVENT engine just below the rendering of the engine…

Amazing New Material Could Revolutionize Jet... - GE Reports
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Old 10th Feb 2015, 17:52
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Any more word on the "fix" for the F135 engine? You know, the one that planned to be in place last December?
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Old 10th Feb 2015, 18:11
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More about RAF 17(R) Sqn and the F-35B here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9srIxkngyA

http://www.raf.mod.uk/news/archive/l...adron-10022015

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/u...gins-in-the-us
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Old 10th Feb 2015, 20:08
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defence-aerospace.com republishes all the press releases about 17(R) Sqn in full - from MoD, RAF and RN
UK F-35 Lightning II Testing Begins In the US

But it rather sniffily adds an editorial comment that might be apt
Although it is called “operational testing,” the work planned for the RAF’s 17 Squadron in California will be severely limited by the fact that no F-35 built to date has demonstrated any operational capabilities to test.
airsound
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Old 10th Feb 2015, 21:04
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Good question, Orac. And how can you begin testing an aircraft with limitations in place due to the engine issue? Great to have received their first jet, but you can't do meaningful operational testing if you can't employ the aircraft fully.
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Old 10th Feb 2015, 21:20
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I was just seeking clarification of the situation, and whether any such rule (which presumably isn't legally enforceable?) exists.
The problem with having a senior stakeholder, who makes key decisions on military programmes based partially on personal benefit, is that objectivity is lost. This will often result in poor value and reduced capability being delivered. It is therefore important, for the taxpayer, that the MoD takes its obligations seriously and enforces restrictive covenants where it is proper to do so.

Where there is an active procurement in progress, it is potentially unlawful for the Authority or bidder to allow circumstances that skew competition unfairly. So when it transpires that one bidder has just recruited a member of the Authority's evaluation team, the other bidders have grounds to challenge the process. This causes delay, expense and loss of reputation.

Agency Theory, or the age old question of for whose benefit is the organisation run for? (shareholder, customer or senior manager) has always been a problem in the military - as it is in other industries. However, my personal opinion is that we should not be too draconian - retaining knowledge and capability within the UK defence sphere is also very important. Going all communist about it might not serve us well.
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Old 10th Feb 2015, 21:27
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ORAC & CM,

Bogdan hedged his December bet:
Bogdan: F-35 Engine Fix May be Ready by Year’s End
You can dig the seal trench deeper and make it wider, but that isn't the root cause of the problem. IMHO, and I've said this before, the engine is flexing the fix becomes complicated to stop it from flexing. It gets into the basic structure of the engine, even the mounting system. For sure, the final solution will not be a lighter engine, but maybe one that can be run throughout the flight envelope without concern. But when? Big question. It takes time…
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Old 12th Feb 2015, 16:33
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defence-aerospace.com now draws our attention to what the British House of Commons has just (6 Feb) been provided with. It's a 24-page 'note' on the UK's F-35. You can download it from the defence-aerospace article. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

I don't think it tells us much that we didn't already know - but at least our Members of Parliament can now be more knowledgeable if they want to be.....

It does include a brief section on 'Concerns about the F-35', so it's not all LM puffery.

enjoy

airsound
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Old 12th Feb 2015, 19:13
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I don't think it tells us much that we didn't already know - but at least our Members of Parliament can now be more knowledgeable if they want to be....
It had better have lots of big color pictures.
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Old 13th Feb 2015, 00:46
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It had better have lots of big color pictures.
Nope, no pictures, just lots of words…
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Old 13th Feb 2015, 01:18
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Courtney,


While I agree with your point, you can do 'some operational testing' without a fully spammed jet.


You could, if a 3G limit exists, test the High Alpha weapon release, IMC formation keeping, RADAR and links...etc,etc.


I'm not detracting from your point, just pointing out that one, or in this case many, limitations may require an operational test schedule 'reshuffle'.


O-P
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Old 13th Feb 2015, 02:54
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Nope, no pictures, just lots of words…
Not much use to the pollies then
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Old 17th Feb 2015, 10:27
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Takeoff run

This weeks Flight has a special on Australia

They say

"..... RAAF Williamstown will see.....a 610 m (2000ft) runway extension to 3050m (10,000ft) to support the F-35A in service....."

I never realised it was replacing the B-47 as well as everything else.......

Maybe we should base ours at Fairford or LHR....
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Old 17th Feb 2015, 11:09
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While I agree with your point, you can do 'some operational testing' without a fully spammed jet.
This is the F-35B, right?

AW&ST - 4th Feb: JSF Program drops test phase to protect schedule

A major operational test series planned for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been abandoned in an attempt to protect the schedule for delivering a fully operational aircraft, according to the just-released fiscal 2014 report on the program from the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E).

Also, the Block 2B version of the fighter’s software, at the time of a review at mid-year, contained 151 mission-critical deficiencies, some of which may not be corrected until the final Block 3F is completed.

The Operational Utility Evaluation (OUE) of the Block 2B configuration – the Block 2B is the basis for the Marine Corps’ plan to declare initial operational capability with the F-35B later this year – was removed from the schedule in April 2014 on DOT&E’s recommendation. The critical schedule item was the time needed to bring enough aircraft to a representative Block 2B configuration to support the OUE, which would have delayed the start of the evaluation into late 2016. This in turn threatened to delay the development of Block 3F software.

Rather than carrying out a full OUE, "limited assessments" of Block 2B capability will be carried out using F-35A operational test aircraft at Edwards AFB, California.

Developmental testing of the Block 2B software is expected to be complete next month, earlier than the DOT&E predicted in last year’s report (May to November 2015). Most of the improvement came from a decision by the program office to consolidate test points from earlier blocks into 2B testing, eliminating a net 840 test points, equivalent to four months of testing.

The critical risk to Marine IOC identified in the new report is the availability of "mission data load" software, which works in conjunction with software permanently loaded in the aircraft system and contains information to operate sensors – for example, the data needed to identify hostile radars. The operational requirement is for these to be generated in a government facility, the U.S. Reprogramming Lab (USRL), but some equipment for the USRL was held by Lockheed Martin three years past its due delivery date. On baseline plans, the first two mission data loads will not be available until November, but the report refers to a plan to "truncate" development and carry out limited flight tests, creating "significant operational risk to fielded units."

DOT&E also notes that an apparent improvement in a major reliability metric — "mean flight hours between failure – design controllable" — up to late summer 2014 may be due to changes in reporting. More failures were reported as "induced," or due to maintenance actions, and fewer to "inherent" design problems. Also, once a redesigned version of a failure-prone part is introduced into the fleet but before 100% of the fleet has been retrofitted, the program stops counting failures of the previous version, improving the system’s on-paper reliability even though failures are occurring.

One of the F-35’s distinctive features, the Distributed Aperture System, is still problematical, the report says, continuing "to exhibit high false-alarm rates and false target tracks, and poor stability performance, even in later versions of software."

Lockheed Martin and the JSF Program Office had not responded to the report by midday on Jan. 20.
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Old 17th Feb 2015, 12:31
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No worries, HH - You're getting the B model, which can use very short runways. You just need to resurface the runway every two or three sorties...

That's interesting about Williamtown, given that the base is at sea level and that the local climate is mild by Australian standards.
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Old 17th Feb 2015, 13:20
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I suspect the 'B will be the first STOVL aircraft to need several '000 feet of runway to get airborne at MTOW.
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Old 17th Feb 2015, 14:53
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JATO Bottles are the answer.....................
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