Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)

siegecrossbow said:
FoxThreeForDale is an active service USN pilot with F-18E/F-35C experience. He and tailhook proved their credential through cockpit shots so I’d take their analysis seriously.
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Unddit

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VishnuOsiris said:
Regarding the F-35's self-defense AMRAAMs, are they married to those missiles on those bay door hard points? In other words, if time/cost is of no consideration, can I put a 9x on the bay doors? Would I need a something virtually the same size and shape in order to replace the AMRAAM as the weapon du jour? From the layman's view, I would assume they are stuck with AMRAAMs, due to other weapons' unique arrangements. If this is the case, I will be stunned.
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I believe the rocket motor of the AIM-9X ignites immediately "off the rail" so in its current form it can't really be ejected and then have the rocket start. ASRAAM is capable of that launch method however, and I believe the UK originally specified that they could be carried internally in place of an AMRAAM. They may have lost interest in that requirement however and the larger F-35 program probably wouldn't have done the integration work and testing if that is the case.

For other air-to-air missiles, as just demonstrated a Meteor variant (I assume it has clipped fins) will fit, and the AIM-260 undoubtedly will too. Originally the Japanese were looking to develop a successor to their AAM-4 missile that would be capable of being carried internally by the F-35. At one point they were trying to collaborate with the UK on it as a joint program that would combine elements of both the Meteor (VFDR) and the AAM-4 (AESA radar seeker). I think that effort might have gone nowhere though. I'm not sure what Japanese air-to-air missile plans are beyond the current AAM-4 and AIM-120 purchases.
 
quellish said:
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The comment on the F-35B is particularly enlightening. Makes me wonder if all the earlier rhetorics about how if not for a joint service type none would've gotten their stealth fighter is actually true or not.
 
yeetmahboi said:
The comment on the F-35B is particularly enlightening. Makes me wonder if all the earlier rhetorics about how if not for a joint service type none would've gotten their stealth fighter is actually true or not.
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Well why on earth did the Marines “need” a “stealth fighter”?
 
quellish said:
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Thats one hell of a thread.

Unless the UK MOD contracts a very sizable order on the next two/three years there's no way that the RAF/RN gets anything near 138 airframes (wich, to be honest is no surprise), some hard choices for John Healey ahead.
If i was the Spanish Defense Minister i would be collecting the money for some twenty "B's" ASAP.
 
Sintra said:
Thats one hell of a thread.

Unless the UK MOD contracts a very sizable order on the next two/three years there's no way that the RAF/RN gets anything near 138 airframes (wich, to be honest is no surprise), some hard choices for John Healey ahead.
If i was the Spanish Defense Minister i would be collecting the money for some twenty "B's" ASAP.
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I posted that thread before on this forum. It seems that the mods must have deleted my post.
 
Same thinking here Sintra after wanting the entire order of 138 F-35Bs delivered I am now thinking that is a bit too far fetched.
 
WatcherZero said:
They needed a Harrier replacement and so did Britain, this was the next aircraft in development and it would have been hard to justify the cost of developing a solely STOVL fighter.
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USMC Needs?!? What for? Airshows?
 
WatcherZero said:
They needed a Harrier replacement and so did Britain, this was the next aircraft in development and it would have been hard to justify the cost of developing a solely STOVL fighter.
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I'd have preferred if there was no B variant and the UK had to purchase the F-35C and build CATOBAR carriers.
 
Forest Green said:
I'd have preferred if there was no B variant and the UK had to purchase the F-35C and build CATOBAR carriers.
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In that case, the RN might have ended with only one CVF or even none. I also suspect that the chosen aircraft would not be the F-35C and without STOVL the UK MOD would have droped out of the JSF program entirely.

Cheers
 
Sintra said:
In that case, the RN might have ended with only one CVF or even none. I also suspect that the chosen aircraft would not be the F-35C and without STOVL the UK MOD would have droped out of the JSF program entirely.

Cheers
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Probably worth it from a U.S. standpoint.
 
FighterJock said:
So does that mean that the USMC will stop all future production of the America class carriers and being more reliant on the large US Navy aircraft carriers in the future?
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No. Americas are necessary to replace the Tarawas, which were retired a bit early, and have left a bit of a gap in Marine landing capability ever since. It's why we're building a dozen of them as opposed to just 8 to replace the Wasps. I give them about six or eight ships before we break with tradition and get a USS Vandegrift to go with the Chesty Puller ESB.

Berger's helicopter axe murder incident of 2021 will probably be what really makes Americas a questionable purchase tbh.

yeetmahboi said:
The comment on the F-35B is particularly enlightening. Makes me wonder if all the earlier rhetorics about how if not for a joint service type none would've gotten their stealth fighter is actually true or not.
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Marines would still get the -C at the end of the day regardless. Just like how they got Super Hornet.

-B was always going to lose a budget fight but it's surprising it lasted this long tbh.
 
I am all ears. Going to be watching the F-35 Lightning 2 X channel like a hawk over the next few days.
 
Josh_TN said:
The whole program would faced a lot fewer delays and produced an aircraft with much better kinematics.
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It was the C model that had serious development issues, the A and B models had relatively trouble free development.
 
WatcherZero said:
It was the C model that had serious development issues, the A and B models had relatively trouble free development.
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Perhaps I misremembered. Where the issues weight related or technical? If the former, then I wonder how much the B length limit induced problems with the C.
 
Josh_TN said:
Perhaps I misremembered. Where the issues weight related or technical? If the former, then I wonder how much the B length limit induced problems with the C.
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Weight (stronger undercarriage with more tires required which led to a lot of tire blowouts on landing which could sever brake lines) Engine underperformance and excess heat (which did affect all models) but in the C's case meant it couldn't reach its max speed of Mach 1.6 in level flight, The C's arrestor hook didn't work and required a redesign taking two years, maintainability and corrosion issues.

F-35B was the first to enter service on 31st July 2015 with the USMC
F-35A entered service on 2nd August 2016 with the USAF
F-35C entered service on 28th February 2019 with the USN.
 
Josh_TN said:
The whole program would faced a lot fewer delays and produced an aircraft with much better kinematics.
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And been cheaper. The difference in price would probably have covered the difference in cost between a STOVL and CATOBAR carrier.
 
I have not done a detailed analysis of the project, but certainly the length limit for the USMC was 9 feet shorter than the USN. It is hard to imagine that did not massively impact the program.
 
VishnuOsiris said:
Regarding the F-35's self-defense AMRAAMs, are they married to those missiles on those bay door hard points? In other words, if time/cost is of no consideration, can I put a 9x on the bay doors? Would I need a something virtually the same size and shape in order to replace the AMRAAM as the weapon du jour? From the layman's view, I would assume they are stuck with AMRAAMs, due to other weapons' unique arrangements. If this is the case, I will be stunned.
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While it might be possible to swap out missiles (like using a 9X), it would likely require adjustments or modifications, as the bay's configuration is designed around certain dimensions. The whole setup is more about stealth and performance, so I doubt it’s as simple as just swapping missiles.
 
The integration process for the Meteor BVRAAM appears to be going well so far, from Defense Updates:


Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM), has been successfully flown on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jet for the first time.
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On February 28, the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) reported that an F-35B, a short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant operated by the US Marine Corps (USMC), carried an inert version of the missile during test flights conducted from Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River in Maryland.According to the announcement, the trials were a collaborative effort involving the UK and US governments, along with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), and industry partners MBDA and Lockheed Martin.
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In this video, Defense Updates analyzes how integration of Meteor BVR missile will significantly enhance the lethality of F-35?
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#defenseupdates #meteormissile #f35
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Chapters:
0:00 TITLE
00:11 INTRODUCTION
01:45 INTEGRATION
03:01 METEOR
06:11 ANALYSIS
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NMaude said:
Defense Updates has put out a video about apparent concerns from the PRC concerning the potential sale of F-35s to India


On February 13, during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House, President Trump offered the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets. Trump stated, “We’ll be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars. We’re also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters.”
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*Trump voice* Get me Marillyn Lockheed!
 
www.navalnews.com

F-35 Set to Receive Critical Upgrades in 2025 Production Lots - Naval News

Between the addition of new anti-ship cruise missiles and the delivery of new F-35 jets with Sidekick compatibility, the U.S. Navy is pushing forward
www.navalnews.com www.navalnews.com

Naval News has received confirmation that the U.S. Navy has taken delivery of ‘Six-in-the-Bay’ capable F-35Cs delivered in the previously-held Lot 15 aircraft. Deliveries of these aircraft resumed in July 2024 with 41 aircraft delivered across the Joint Strike Fighter program by the end of fiscal year 2024. As part of those 41 aircraft, several F-35Cs were delivered to the U.S. Navy with necessary weapons bay modifications needed to enable the internal carriage of the two additional air-to-air missile
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Several services have been experimenting with mirror-like coatings designed to reduce the corrosion and general degradation of radar absorbent coatings used on stealth fighters. As Naval News understands, the F-35 will receive a new coating developed in the Next Gen 2.0 OML Coating Program, designed to improve both maintainability and survivability. It is currently being tested with Test and Evaluation Squadron 9 (VX-9) and was trialed with VFA-125 onboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in 2023.
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