F-35 Cancelled, then what ?
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Chickens starting to come home to roost - both for beginning series production before completing testing , which they were repeatedly warned against; and because of the escalating program cost.
It should be pointed out that the Block 2B software is that installed on all USMC F-35Bs delivered so far, declared as IOC, and operationally deployed - and which is now proposed will never be upgraded to what is considered the basic operational standard......
US considers non-combat-rated subset of F-35 fleet
Scores of US-owned Lockheed Martin F-35s would remain in the fleet with a software operating system rated below combat-grade under one of several cost-saving proposals under review by the Joint Programme Office.
Scores of US-owned Lockheed Martin F-35s would remain in the fleet with a software operating system rated below combat-grade under one of several cost-saving proposals under review by the Joint Programme Office.
Delays during the development stage caused Lockheed to deliver more than 108 aircraft with Block 2B software. Each fighter requires 150-160 modifications to be raised to the combat-rated Block 3 standard, says Vice Adm Matt Winter, the F-35’s programme executive. The looming modification bills are threatening to suck resources from a looming production ramp-up with more than 900 aircraft projected for delivery over the next five years, Winter says. “We’re looking at solution spaces to give our warfighters options,” Winter says.
One of those options is to keep a subset of the F-35 fleet at the Block 2B software standard. It would follow a practice used on the Lockheed F-22 programme, which has about 30 fighters maintained at Block 20 for training missions and about 150 fighters using the go-to-war Block 30/35 standard.
Safety Experts: Some F-35 Ejections Pose ‘Serious’ Death Risk
It should be pointed out that the Block 2B software is that installed on all USMC F-35Bs delivered so far, declared as IOC, and operationally deployed - and which is now proposed will never be upgraded to what is considered the basic operational standard......
US considers non-combat-rated subset of F-35 fleet
Scores of US-owned Lockheed Martin F-35s would remain in the fleet with a software operating system rated below combat-grade under one of several cost-saving proposals under review by the Joint Programme Office.
Scores of US-owned Lockheed Martin F-35s would remain in the fleet with a software operating system rated below combat-grade under one of several cost-saving proposals under review by the Joint Programme Office.
Delays during the development stage caused Lockheed to deliver more than 108 aircraft with Block 2B software. Each fighter requires 150-160 modifications to be raised to the combat-rated Block 3 standard, says Vice Adm Matt Winter, the F-35’s programme executive. The looming modification bills are threatening to suck resources from a looming production ramp-up with more than 900 aircraft projected for delivery over the next five years, Winter says. “We’re looking at solution spaces to give our warfighters options,” Winter says.
One of those options is to keep a subset of the F-35 fleet at the Block 2B software standard. It would follow a practice used on the Lockheed F-22 programme, which has about 30 fighters maintained at Block 20 for training missions and about 150 fighters using the go-to-war Block 30/35 standard.
Safety Experts: Some F-35 Ejections Pose ‘Serious’ Death Risk
Last edited by ORAC; 19th Sep 2017 at 06:45.
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“We’re looking at solution spaces to give our warfighters options,” Winter says.
-RP
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LM F-35 GM says in the video that in 'BEAST' mode the F-35 carries 22,000 pounds of ordnance with 18,000 pounds of that external (see graphic screenshot).
Lockheed Martin's Babione Shares F-35 Lightning II Fighter Update at ASC17 Defense & Aerospace Report 19 Sep 2017
Lockheed Martin's Babione Shares F-35 Lightning II Fighter Update at ASC17 Defense & Aerospace Report 19 Sep 2017
Last edited by SpazSinbad; 20th Sep 2017 at 01:37.
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Perhaps Babione needs one of these for hyperventilation issues but hey I digress.
Air Force Tests New System to Monitor for Hypoxia Problems 18 Sep 2017
Air Force Tests New System to Monitor for Hypoxia Problems 18 Sep 2017
"...Cobham’s system has inhalation and exhalation monitors that fit in a flight vest pocket. The inhalation monitor is designed to measure oxygen pressure, temperature, pressure within the breathing hose, humidity and other factors. The exhalation monitor checks oxygen pressure, expired carbon dioxide, and pressure within the mask, among other variables...." https://www.defensetech.org/2017/09/...oxia-problems/
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Chickens starting to come home to roost
Indeed. Clucking hell!
I recall, although I don't remember exactly where, that there were some warnings a couple of years back that the early-standard jets might get left behind. It may have been when Bogdan warned that the business of bringing multiple standards of airplanes up to a common new standard, while incorporating fixes coming out of tests, with the whole process rolling forward so that the depot-upgraded airplanes were the same as new-production jets, was going to be... interesting.
But the logic of the depot is merciless. If I'm running the depot and there's a backlog of airplanes waiting to be inducted, the jets that need least labour and fewest parts come to the front of the line. The ones that need a lot of both may sit in backlog for a long time as new arrivals turn up, like fat poor guys in line at a posh nightspot.
Indeed. Clucking hell!
I recall, although I don't remember exactly where, that there were some warnings a couple of years back that the early-standard jets might get left behind. It may have been when Bogdan warned that the business of bringing multiple standards of airplanes up to a common new standard, while incorporating fixes coming out of tests, with the whole process rolling forward so that the depot-upgraded airplanes were the same as new-production jets, was going to be... interesting.
But the logic of the depot is merciless. If I'm running the depot and there's a backlog of airplanes waiting to be inducted, the jets that need least labour and fewest parts come to the front of the line. The ones that need a lot of both may sit in backlog for a long time as new arrivals turn up, like fat poor guys in line at a posh nightspot.
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LM F-35 GM says in the video that in 'BEAST' mode the F-35 carries 22,000 pounds of ordnance with 18,000 pounds of that external.
With a radius of action denominated in feet, I should think. Sanitary dihydrogen monoxide auto-ingestion in action.
With a radius of action denominated in feet, I should think. Sanitary dihydrogen monoxide auto-ingestion in action.
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F-35B UKers do stuff in sims with others:
F-35 pilots from across the UK and Europe begin coalition interoperability trials 12 Sep 2017
F-35 pilots from across the UK and Europe begin coalition interoperability trials 12 Sep 2017
"For the first time, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force pilots have teamed up with fellow F-35 pilots from Italy and the Netherlands to take part in the latest in a series of F-35 interoperability trials..." F-35 pilots interoperability trials | Newsroom | BAE Systems | International
I recall, although I don't remember exactly where, that there were some warnings a couple of years back that the early-standard jets might get left behind. It may have been when Bogdan warned that the business of bringing multiple standards of airplanes up to a common new standard, while incorporating fixes coming out of tests, with the whole process rolling forward so that the depot-upgraded airplanes were the same as new-production jets, was going to be... interesting.
It's almost as if the early F-16A/B models (that had reduced combat capability compared to the Block 15 onwards) were never upgraded to be compatible with the C/D either......
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Well, none were upgraded to C/Ds - but then the C/D (unlike the F-35 Block 3F) was developed to deliver capabilities not in the original contract. Also, many Block 1 and Block 5 aircraft were upgraded to Block 10s and at least some Block 10s made it all the way to MLU, which was superior to the initial C/D.
And you might ask the Iraqis whether or not the Block 10 was a fully combat capable aircraft.
And you might ask the Iraqis whether or not the Block 10 was a fully combat capable aircraft.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
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Without wishing to indulge in semantics, there's a difference between the phrase "fully combat capable aircraft" and "reduced combat capability compared to the Block 15 onwards".
The potential early obsolescence / limited capability of early LRIP blocks of aircraft is not exactly a new (or unexpected) phenomenon. As others point out Eurofighter has similar issues - as had Tornado F2 or even the MDD F4B if you want to go way back.
Somewhat counter-intuitively, it would appear that far from easing upgrades, software and IT hardware technologies make them harder. Or maybe there were just proportionately bigger budgets back in the day.....
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Yeah, budgets.....
I'm tending to take Secretary Mattis's word for it, when he states that uncertainty in budgets is the biggest problem facing the Defense establishment. It is entirely, completely, a counter-factual, but if the sequester had not occurred, and if certainty in appropriations and funding had been maintained even to only a modest extent, how much of this fifth-generation drag would be vortexing off the wingtips of the program, at least that's the question some inquiring minds want to know.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Germany asks for Boeing fighter data as weighs order options
BERLIN • Germany has asked the U.S. military for classified data on two Boeing fighter jets as it looks to replace its aging Tornado warplanes, giving a potential boost to the U.S. company locked in a trade dispute with Canada and Britain.
A letter sent by the German defense ministry's planning division, reviewed by Reuters, said it had identified Boeing's F-15 and F/A-18E/F fighters as potential candidates to replace the Tornado jets, which entered service in 1981. Both fighters are made in St. Louis. A classified briefing is expected to take place in mid-November, following a similar briefing provided by U.S. officials about the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 fighter jet in July.
The ministry has said it is also seeking information from European aerospace giant Airbus, which builds the Eurofighter Typhoon along with Britain's BAE Systems and Italy's Leonardo.........
BERLIN • Germany has asked the U.S. military for classified data on two Boeing fighter jets as it looks to replace its aging Tornado warplanes, giving a potential boost to the U.S. company locked in a trade dispute with Canada and Britain.
A letter sent by the German defense ministry's planning division, reviewed by Reuters, said it had identified Boeing's F-15 and F/A-18E/F fighters as potential candidates to replace the Tornado jets, which entered service in 1981. Both fighters are made in St. Louis. A classified briefing is expected to take place in mid-November, following a similar briefing provided by U.S. officials about the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 fighter jet in July.
The ministry has said it is also seeking information from European aerospace giant Airbus, which builds the Eurofighter Typhoon along with Britain's BAE Systems and Italy's Leonardo.........
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F-35A Arrives In Alaska For Cold Weather Testing
Short video clip of an F-35A arriving at Eielson AFB, noteworthy is the brake chute fairing/housing between the tail fins...
-RP
-RP
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Never seen ice meself but this info may interest others:
"... This test’s purpose has two major outcomes: certifying the Norwegian drag-chute and demonstrating that the entire fleet of F-35As are capable of landing at a runway condition reading (RCR) of 7. The RCR scale is based on how wet and dry each runway is. A RCR 23 is considered a dry runway while an RCR 5 is compared to landing on ice.
“The F-35A is currently certified to land at an RCR of 12,” said Capt. Daniel Campbell, the 354th Fighter Wing F-35 PIO director of mission support. “This test is important to the base because it will help certify the F-35A to operate at an RCR of 7. The 354th Civil Engineer Squadron and 354th Operations Support Squadron try to keep our runway at an RCR of 12 or better during the harsh winters, but often are below that. We need the lower RCR certification to ensure the F-35A can operate throughout our winters.”..." https://www.dvidshub.net/news/251623...ielson-testing
“The F-35A is currently certified to land at an RCR of 12,” said Capt. Daniel Campbell, the 354th Fighter Wing F-35 PIO director of mission support. “This test is important to the base because it will help certify the F-35A to operate at an RCR of 7. The 354th Civil Engineer Squadron and 354th Operations Support Squadron try to keep our runway at an RCR of 12 or better during the harsh winters, but often are below that. We need the lower RCR certification to ensure the F-35A can operate throughout our winters.”..." https://www.dvidshub.net/news/251623...ielson-testing
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For the last 27 years or so, anything looking like that, bolted to an LO jet, has been called an "RCS augmentor". But I guess the F-35 is so awesome that it repeals Maxwell's equations as well as Breguet's, not to mention the laws of economics.
