That's rather specialised isn't it!

There is no end to the F-35 test program perfidy. First you had an UK civvie ex-UK knuck jumping off of ski ramps as lead test pilot, not to mention a Canuckian ONLY test pilot 'flying' the F-35B 'on the ground' in a cold/hot test chamber then he goes and beez the only aerobatic Parisian test pilot! What gives with this Norskman doing slippin' and a slidin' testin' for 'mericans, norf to Alaska - I'm going norf the rush is on. :} Plenty more test pilots are specialists but I'm too tired to type them all. :hmm:

It’s all behind him now......

A bit OTT, but expressing the view of many USMC Grunts. The links embedded in the story lead to the original article.

SNAFU!: Pentagon takes over cost savings program from Lockheed...Death spiral obviously on the horizon.

Is the drag chute programme a fully LGBTXi? compliant exercise in female clothing?????

:} I wondered when the drag queen aspect would open but as 'ORAC' said "it is behind him". :} Is that a bump on the behind or is it just glad to be there?

Yes. The experience is so exhilarating it is leaving them quite breathless.

New F-35 warplane costs $1 trillion to operate

The estimated lifetime cost to operate and support the world’s most expensive warplane has risen by almost a quarter in four years, a US spending watchdog has found.

The figures on the US fleet of F-35 Lighting II, from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in the United States, were released on Thursday, barely a week after a British defence minister, giving evidence to MPs, said that she did not know the UK-specific cost for the full F-35 programme......

The GAO report, entitled F-35 aircraft sustainment, painted a picture of rising support costs and a lack of understanding within the US military of what they were paying for. It said that the US Marine Corps, which flies the F-35B — the same variant as the UK — saw the amount of money charged for support this year rise to $364 million from $293 million, largely because of contractor personnel costs. To afford the hike “the Marine Corps had to reduce its planned flying hours”, the GAO said.

The F-35 JPO wants to reduce by 30 per cent the 60-year cost of support and operation for the US’s fleet of F-35s. It was estimated to be $850 billion in 2012. However, as of 2016 the estimate had jumped by 23.9 per cent to $1.06 trillion, the GAO said. It warned of a failure by the Pentagon to set budget limits for support costs based on what the military could afford. This could affect the availability of spare parts and support to Britain’s F-35s. The US plans to buy 2,457 jets in all. Britain owns 12 and plans to buy a total of 138.

A Lockheed Martin spokeswoman said: “We are working with the JPO to understand every factor of the cost per flying hour and identify disciplined ways we can reduce the overall operations and sustainment costs as we have done on the F-35’s unit recurring flyaway cost.”.....

Report is here:

http://www.gao.gov/assets/690/687982.pdf

I'm ready to be corrected, but I don't see where these numbers include the recurring costs of Block upgrades, particularly new hardware. They certainly don't include the development and testing costs for upgrades, which are the thick end of a billion per year (so if you're assessed according to your fleet, and you are at a point where there are 1000 airplanes in service, it's still $1m/aircraft/year.

I suspect that this is one of the things crimping UK and USAF procurement and giving the USAF pain in reaching 60/year. That's the magic rate, as the average age of the fighter force is already creeping towards 30 years; because if you nominally have 1763 jets to be replaced by F-35s, 60 a year is a 30-year turnover so you can only stabilize at a 30-year average age.

Quote

"Navy deployments are even more difficult, since “intermediate-level” repair capabilities are needed on board ship. A lack of budget for that program, the GAO warns, leaves a $267 million shortfall between 2019 and 2023.

As was discussed by Warisboring last week, it's possible as many as 200 F-35s will remain permanently unfit for combat, because “the Pentagon would rather buy new aircraft than upgrade the ones the American people have already paid for”.

I fail to understand the lack of comprehension of on-board operations and the need to "fix stuff" on board ship.
It's almost criminally negligent..

F-35B Does Vertical Landing & SRVL in Warton UK Simulator

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h-Ux4QCACo

Interest in the B model just gets betta & betta....
Turkey expresses interest in buying F-35B STOVL variant 30 Oct 2017 Kerry Herschelman

Will SRVL be used to bring back unexpended stores to the boat or will the jet be able to VL will stores? Thinking hot weather here (Gulf).

The F-35B is able to comply with the KPP to return for a VL with internal stores and an appropriate amount of fuel for such a VL in stated WX conditions. However the UK invented 'hotter weather east of sewers' so they had to bring back the SRVL (if it ever went away). :} Yes thinking hot weather by UK brings to mind those mad dogs & Englishmen.... The English always wanna be different. :eek:

Mad dogs and Englishmen aside, it appears to me that the delusional ones are the people who think that since the MIL-STD-210A assumes a certain pressure, and the KPP assumes a WOD, reality will conform to the MIL-spec wherever you might be operating.

Gulf weather is different, and generating WOD is not always easy without running into a tanker or out of water. And of course it doesn't help that even stripped, carved up, with downgraded g, the jet is still a ton heavier than it was at contract signature.

Interesting, earlier this year the Turkish President Erdogan indicated Turkey will build aircraft carriers: Erdogan says Turkey to build aircraft carriers



We could see some interesting continuing, new, or returning, players to fixed wing carrier aviation with the B aboard various flat decks. Besides the US and UK, there have been the musings about Japan, Egypt, Australia, Italy, Spain all with their biggish flat tops, and now Turkey....


Bet Brazil would like to, but can't afford it

I don't think Turkey can either, SD.

Depends what "block" your talking about....weight increases up to block 4 with increasing mission equipment jammers etc etc..

And if the history of every other aircraft program will continue to be followed it will continue to grow for every model thereafter.

There are suggestions by LM to change the engine of course (having eliminated the contemporary more powerful competitor), but at least a decade or more in the future - and untold billions more in cost - and unaffordable as a retrofit and thus fulfilling their wishes for a solution involving the replacement all the current and programmed tranches.....

Cynical? Moi??