Moderatore: Staff md80.it
Fonte ..... "Lockheed discusses key Asia-Pacific fighter production programmes" .....Lockheed Martin expects the Nagoya-based final assembly and checkout line (FACO) for Japan’s F-35A to be up and running in 2017.
Japan’s first four F-35As from a 2011 order for 42 aircraft will, however, be delivered from the company’s Dallas Forth Worth line, with the first example due this year, says Orlando Carvalho, executive vice-president of Lockheed Martin's aeronautics business, in a recent interview.
For the time-being the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries line in Nagoya is only schedule to produce 38 fighters.
Fonte ..... il 'Daily Report' dell' AFA .....Canadian Lightning IIs Back on the Table .....
Arie Church (2/24/2016)
The Canadian government resurrected the possibility of buying F-35 Lightning IIs to replace its long-serving CF-18 Hornet fleet, apparently reversing the government's vow to abandon F-35, Canada's The Star reported .....
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016 ... creen.html
Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said the government will not rule out buying the F-35, but will evaluate each potential F-18 replacement on its merits through a transparent selection process.
"The real issue here is we want to make sure that we replace the F-18 and have a suitable aircraft that meets the needs of Canada. That’s what we’re committed to do," Sajjan said, according to the paper.
Canada was one of the original F-35 development partners, and planned to purchase a total of 65 aircraft to equip the Royal Canadian Air Force before the selection process was re-launched on cost grounds in 2012.
The country's newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a platform of axing Canada's F-35 buy and replacing the F-18 with a cheaper alternative.
The RCAF plans to extend the CF-18 fleet to at least 2025 pending acquisition of a replacement fighter.
Fonte ..... il 'Daily Report' dell' AFA .....Deployment Ready Lightning ?
Arie Church (2/10/2016)
Four F-35A Lightning IIs deployed to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, on Monday to assess the strike fighter's ability to operate away from home station, officials announced .....
http://www.mountainhome.af.mil/news/sto ... =123468605
The operational readiness assessment is part of the Air Force's ongoing effort to judge the fifth generation fighter’s readiness for initial operational capability.
"What we’re trying to do is exercise the deployment concepts and to learn from maintenance and learn from [operations]," reported Reuters, quoting Maj. Gen. Jay Silveria, commander of the US Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis AFB, Nev .....
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lockh ... SKCN0VE0BT
http://www.nellis.af.mil/library/biogra ... p?id=17532
The jets, from Nellis AFB, Nev., which are conducting the Air Force's F-35A operational testing and evaluation effort, will conduct various operational scenarios over the Mountain Home Range Complex, in addition to testing the F-35 maintenance and logistics systems.
The US Marine Corps hit F-35B IOC last July, and USAF is aiming to declare F-35A IOC at Hill AFB, Utah, in August.
Fonte ..... il 'Daily Report' dell' AFA .....Checking Off F-35A IOC Boxes .....
John A. Tirpak (2/26/2016)
Lockheed Martin’s in the home stretch of providing the assets needed for the Air Force to declare initial operational capability with the F-35A in the August-December timeframe, company program manager Jeff Babione told reporters at AWS16.
“They do need a few things from us” before that happens, Babione said, and the company is still aiming for the “front end” of the time window.
While seven of the 12-24 aircraft required for minimum IOC are already at Hill AFB, Utah, Lockheed expects to deliver five or six more by August; those jets are now on the assembly line.
USAF also wants the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) version 2.0.2, and some other things, like Generation III helmets, Babione said.
Prior to IOC, USAF is planning a deployment with its operational aircraft to try them out in exercise conditions, as the Marine Corps did before going IOC with the F-35B last July.
USAF’s test squadron has deployed a number of F-35s to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, in a dry run of the evaluation.
The operational jets will have to demonstrate close air support, interdiction, and a “limited” Suppression or Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD/DEAD) capability to be considered IOC, Babione said, noting that Air Combat Command chief Gen. Hawk Carlisle “ultimately” will decide “as to whether or not they are ready.”
The IOC jets will have the 3i version of the software; “essentially the same” as the 2B version flown by the Marine Corps, “hosted on a faster processor,” he noted.
Fonte ..... "Norwergian pilot counters leaked F-35 dogfight report" .....A Norwegian fighter pilot has published a soft rebuttal to a damaging critique leaked last summer about the Lockheed Martin F-35A’s dogfighting prowess, contradicting many of the critical points made in the scathing review written by a Lockheed test pilot.
Norwegian air force Maj Morten “Dolby” Hanche, a US Navy test pilot school graduate with 2,200 flight hours in F-16s, has flown several mock dogfights at Luke AFB, Arizona, against F-16s since becoming Norway’s first F-35 pilot last November.
In a blog post on Norway’s Ministry of Defence web site, Hanche never directly mentions the leaked report entitled, “F-35A High Angle of Attack Operational Maneuvers”, dated 14 January 2015, and exposed last June by blogger David Axe on WarIsBoring.com.
Fonte ..... il 'Daily Report' dell' AFA .....A Lightning First .....
(3/2/2016)
Lt. Col. George Watkins, 34th Fighter Squadron commander, drops a GBU-12 laser-guided bomb from an F-35A at the Utah Test and Training Range Feb. 25, 2016.
Air Force photo by Jim Haseltine.
A combat-coded F-35A assigned to Hill AFB, Utah, dropped a GBU-12 laser-guided bomb over the Utah Test and Training Range last week, marking another first on the way to initial operational capability for the Air Force variant of the Joint Strike Fighter.
The F-35A has only ever dropped weapons in a testing environment.
“This is significant because we’re building the confidence of our pilots by actually dropping something off the airplane instead of simulating weapon employment,” said Lt. Col. George Watkins, commander of the 34th Fighter Squadron, in a release .....
http://www.388fw.acc.af.mil/News/Articl ... apons.aspx
Lt. Col. Darrin Dronoff, director of Hill’s F-35 program integration office, noted that the members of the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings, which participated in the mission, will “be the airmen called upon to take the F-35 to combat, whenever that call may come.”
The Air Force is expected to declare IOC between August and December.
Aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin told reporters during AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium last week the company was aiming for the “front end” of that window.
F-35 pilots at Hill will begin flying in the four-ship formation - the standard combat configuration - as early as March, according to the release.
L' articolo ..... "Norwegian F-35 Pilot Counters Controversial ‘Dogfighting’ Report" .....For the first time since a controversial report detailing how the F-35 performs in a dogfight emerged last summer, an F-35 pilot gave an in-depth analysis of his experience flying the jet in a close-range battle scenario.
Norwegian Air Force Maj. Morten “Dolby” Hanche, the first Norwegian to fly the F-35, analyzed the jet’s performance in a dogfight in a March 1 blog post published on Norway’s Ministry of Defense website.
Fonte ..... "Lockheed prepping Advanced EOTS and Legion Pod for flight tests" .....Lockheed Martin is assembling a prototype of its "advanced" electro-optical targeting system (EOTS) that is proposed to replace the baseline version on the F-35 fleet.
The company will complete design and construction of the next evolution of the air-to-air and air-to-ground targeting device this year for carriage on a surrogate Sabreliner test aircraft.
Fonte ..... il 'Daily Report' dell' AFA .....F-35s Fly Simulated CAS for Rangers .....
(3/10/2016)
Two F-35As assigned to Eglin AFB, Fla., supported Rangers with the 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, during an exercise at the base simulating hostile targets in close proximity.
During training, Rangers set up communications systems to encode and decode messages, prepare fire support plans with target coordinates, and determine target locations, according to an Eglin release .....
http://www.eglin.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123469938
The exercise isn’t the first time F-35s have flown simulated close air support during Army exercises; F-35As flew in support of Green Flag last summer .....
http://www.eglin.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123452337
The Eglin exercise highlight the F-35’s close air support capability, which has become a major point of contention between the Air Force and Congress as the service looks to retire its most famous close air support platform, the A-10 ..... http://www.airforcemag.com/DRArchive/Pa ... -A-10.aspx
See also: 'A New Way to do Close Air Support' ..... http://www.airforcemag.com/DRArchive/Pa ... pport.aspx
Fonte ..... il "Daily Report" dell' AFA" .....Lightning Heritage .....
(3/10/2016)
Members of the first-ever F-35 Lightning II heritage flight team from Luke AFB, Ariz., participate in the Heritage Flight Conference at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., March 4-6, 2016.
Air Force photo by SSgt. Staci Miller.
The F-35 strike fighter is now qualified to take part in Air Combat Command’s heritage flight program, which demonstrates the history of America's airpower as modern fighter aircraft fly alongside World War II, Korean, and Vietnam-era aircraft, the service announced.
The fifth-generation fighter qualified on March 6 at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., and its first air show as a member of the Heritage Flight Team will be April 2-3 at Luke AFB, Ariz., states the release.
"Being a part of these heritage flights allows the world to learn more about the F-35 and at the same time see just how far airpower has come over the years," said Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, 56th Fighter Wing commander .....
http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/Biographies/D ... pleus.aspx
"The F-35 will be the backbone of the Air Force fighter fleet and represent the future for the US, our partners, and allies. This will be a great opportunity for everyone to see how amazing the F-35 is."
The team will travel to 16 airshows across the United States ending at Nellis AFB, Nev., in November.
See the full schedule ..... http://www.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/t ... world.aspx
Fonte ..... il 'Daily Report' dell' AFA .....The F-35, More Than Just a Fighter .....
JOHN A. TIRPAK (3/11/2016)
Critics have to stop thinking of the F-35 as merely the new fighter that replaces the worn-out 1980’s-vintage F-16, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said Wednesday.
Speaking at an AFA Mitchell Institute event, Work said the F-35 is “not a fighter. It is a ‘BN-35,’ a Battle Network-35. It is a sensor computer node in the distributed campaign battle network that causes the decisions of the pilots to be so much better than [that of] the adversary and also provides enormous benefit to the battle network” by distributing vast amounts of information to the joint force.
Fonte ..... il 'Daily Report' dell' AFA .....F-35A IOC Creeping Right .....
JOHN A. TIRPAK (3/11/2016)
An August declaration of initial operational capability for the F-35A fighter with the Air Force is becoming less likely, according to comments made by Joint Strike Fighter program manager Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan .....
http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/Biographies/D ... ogdan.aspx
Bogdan said two things are putting August IOC at risk.
One is the final 3i software build (1), and the other is with the Autonomic Logistics Information System, or ALIS (2), he said during a McAleese and Associates seminar in Washington Thursday .....
(1) ..... http://www.airforcemag.com/DRArchive/Pa ... -Risk.aspx
(2) ..... http://www.airforcemag.com/DRArchive/Pa ... ystem.aspx
Right now, “we’re probably 40-60 days” behind, Bogdan said.
“That puts you in the September-October timeframe, and the US Air Force has said anytime between August and December is okay for IOC, so I do not see the threshold date of December at risk at all. But for my team, we’re still looking at 1 August.” .....
http://www.airforcemag.com/DRArchive/Pa ... Boxes.aspx
The problem with ALIS is that the next increment - required for USAF IOC - requires an update that tracks the life of certain parts that get swapped from one jet to another.
“Both systems,” Bogdan told reporters afterwards, referring to the logistics systems of Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney, “are proving to be really difficult in connecting with ALIS. That’s where the risk is in ALIS.”
The shift requires some “serious changes to Lockheed’s … system.”
Fonte ..... il 'Daily Report' dell' AFA .....F-35 Milestones Loom .....
John A. Tirpak (3/11/2016)
Besides Air Force initial operational capability, two other big milestones are looming for the F-35, program executive officer Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said.
Bogdan said he’s hoping for a “handshake deal” on Lot 9 production “by the end of the month,” he told reporters Thursday at a McAleese and Associates seminar in Washington, D.C.
He’s negotiating Lot 9 and 10 simultaneously, “and that’s not easy,” he said.
Together, they represent $16 billion of work, and because Lot 10 is “a bigger quantity of airplanes, it’s more money” and “some of the costs need to be investigated” more closely.
“We’re making sure we know every cost, on every line, of every one of those proposals,” he said.
He’s also meeting with all the partners at the end of March to “validate” what will be in Block IV: the first tranche of updates after the all-service 3F base level of capabilities.
He expects to send requirements to the Air Force and Joint Requirements Oversight Committees shortly thereafter.
“When it comes out at the other end of the JROC in the spring/summer timeframe, we’ll be able to share with everybody what follow-on modernization looks like for the F-35,” he said.
Not all partners will get what they want in Block IV, he added, because the weapons they want to integrate may not be mature enough at that point.
To them he’ll have to say, “I know when you want it, but this is when it’s going to happen.”
Fonte ..... Light F-35 Helmet Tests Begin, DOD Aims To Fix Escape System This YearThe F-35 joint program office will begin testing the first prototype of the new, lightweight Generation III helmet later this month, with the hope of resolving by November issues with the jet’s escape system that have kept some pilots grounded.
The JPO and industry will begin testing Rockwell Collins’ latest version of the F-35 helmet, built to be about 6 ounces lighter than the original Gen III helmet, in late March, said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, director of the F-35 integration office.
This will be the first time the JPO has tested the full-up Gen III “Light," although the program office has tested a modified helmet that is about the same weight as the light version, he said.
Fonte ..... "James visits Luke AFB for more insight on F-35 ops" .....Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James met with Airmen to gain a better understanding of Luke Air Force Base’s mission with a focus on F-35 Lightning II operations, and its maintenance and training facilities March 9-10.
During her first visit to the base, James held an all call where she took time to thank Airmen and give her impressions of Luke AFB.
Fonte ..... "F-35 goes on global publicity tour in battle for hearts and minds" .....The F-35 Lightning II might be the most sophisticated combat jet on the market today, but US programme officials and lawmakers worry that the fifth-generation stealth aircraft is losing the battle for hearts and minds.
That acknowledgement within the Pentagon and among the international partners has already seen the US Air Force establish an F-35 Heritage Flight Team that will fly at 14 events this year, with shows booked in cities from New York to Las Vegas.
Fonte ..... "F-35 Acquisition Cost Drops, But Operating Costs Rise With Life Extension" .....The cost to procure the F-35 joint strike fighter has dropped, but the total price to operate and support the fleet over its lifetime has risen – not because of problems with the program, but because the services plan to fly the fifth-generation fighter jet for six more years. (*)
Fonte ..... "Navy Carrier Built For F-35s Is Done Being Rebuilt So That It Can Operate F-35s" .....The USS America, a Gator Navy amphibious assault ship built specifically to accommodate Marine Corps F-35Bs, has just left port for sea trials after having to be overhauled for ten months immediately following its original introduction into the fleet due to issues over carrying the aircraft it was designed for.
Fonte ..... "F-35 Program Making Progress, Executing ‘Fairly Well,’ Program Chief Tells Congress"The Air Force is now receiving F-35As at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
Training is underway and the service should have its first combat-coded squadron this year, the general said.
The Marine Corps is flying the F-35B from austere air bases and is dropping and shooting live weapons, the general said.
To date, he said, 172 aircraft have been delivered to test, operational and training sites.
Fonte ..... "Bogdan, GAO at Odds Over F-35 Upgrade Program" .....The chief of the F-35 joint program office (JPO) is at odds with a prominent government watchdog over how to manage a follow-on modernization effort for the fifth-generation fighter jet.
Michael Sullivan of the Government Accountability Office called on the Pentagon to establish a standalone acquisition program for the Block 4 modernization effort, which is projected to cost $3 billion over the next six years.
If the JPO continues to manage Block 4 as part of the existing F-35 program rather than establishing a separate business case and acquisition baseline, it will be more difficult for Congress to keep the program office accountable for achieving cost, schedule and performance requirements, he argued.
Fonte ..... "Slimmed-down F-35 Gen III helmet to be introduced sooner" .....The Pentagon is bullish about resolving issues with the F-35 Lightning II’s escape system that has restricted lightweight pilots of from flying the fifth-generation combat jet, with the joint programme office (JPO) now expecting delivery of a slimmed-down “Gen 3” helmet from Rockwell Collins by November for rollout in 2017.
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“We’ll have our first Gen 3 light helmets now aligned with the seat in November of 2016, so we can remove the restriction for the lightweight pilots weighing under 136lb,” Bogdan said at a forum in Washington DC earlier this month.
“We’ve tested helmets with similar mass properties, and we think it’s going to work.”
Fonte ..... "Pentagon touts "Loyal Wingman" for combat jets" .....US Air Force plans to insert a “brain” into current-generation fighter jets to create autonomous flying wingmen paired with the Lockheed Martin F-35 were given a bump today, with the Pentagon’s second-in-charge saying he expects to see “unmanned wingmen in the air” before convoys of driverless Humvees.
Deputy defence secretary Robert Work touted the long-considered “loyal wingman” concept at a forum hosted by the Washington Post in Washington DC on 30 March, where he explained that the air force will pair unmanned Lockheed F-16s with F-35s in future battles.
"You take an F-16 and make it totally unmanned," Work says.
"The F-16 is a fourth-generation fighter, and pair it with an F-35, a fifth-generation battle network node, and have those two operating together.”
Fonte ..... "Lockheed Nabs $18.5M for F-35 Follow-On Development" .....Lockheed Martin won an additional $18.5 million to continue work on developing an F-35 upgrade program, the Defense Department announced this week.
The Pentagon awarded Lockheed a $18.5 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus, fixed-fee contract for development efforts for the F-35 Block 4 modernization program, according to a March 28 announcement.
The work, which is is expected to be complete in May 2017, will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, where Lockheed builds the jets.
.Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded $18,510,667 for modification P00002 to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-16-C-0008) for development efforts for the Block 4 System Functional Review in support of the F-35A/B/C aircraft.
Block 4 is a modernization program that includes new and upgraded capabilities to provide enhancements and continuous improvements to maintain viability against evolving threats, reduce life cycle costs, and improve operational suitability.
Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in May 2017.
International partner funds in the amount of $3,708,057 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
This contract combines purchases for the Air Force ($7,401,532; 40 percent); the Navy ($3,700,539; 19.5 percent); the Marine Corps ($3,700,539; 19.5 percent); and the international partners ($3,708,057; 21 percent).
The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting authority.
Fonte ..... "Marines ‘Looking Into’ F-35 Vertical Landing During UK Air ShowThe US Marine Corps is looking into the possibility of demonstrating an F-35B vertical landing during a major international air show in the United Kingdom this summer.
The Marine Corps F-35Bs, an aircraft unique in its ability to takeoff and land at short distances with no runway, will open the Royal International Air Tattoo and Farnborough air shows in July, according to Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Sarah Burns.
The two jets will join a pair of Air Force F-35As at the UK shows, Defense News reported in January.
