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

FighterJock said:
Thanks Ronny. So why don't we design our own GBU-53 equivalent weapon using the SPEAR 3 as a starting point by removing the missiles engine and keeping the fins and the guidance kit? It would not be that difficult?
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MBDA have already proposed some additional Spear variants:

Spear-EW - Spear without a warhead, additional fuel and Britecloud derived EW package to act as a decoy/stand in jammer
SpearGlide - Spear without the engine, but warhead at least twice the size....basically a UK SDBII

There is also the MRUSW requirement...which is essentially SpearGlide without the MMW seeker. GPS/INS and perhaps SAL only. Essentially a UK SDB1.

The idea is you integrate Spear to a platform and the rest can be easily integrated (albeit Spear-EW will require integration to EW system) as they all share the same mold line, CoG, weight etc. Essentially a full package of weapons types from EW decoy/jammer, mini-cruise missile, gliding complex munition and gliding simple munition.

As for SmartGlider I wouldn't anticipate it being particularly cheap, and a lot less effective than SDBII, Spear or SpearGlide. Basically the entire premise is daft...it's France own 'Not invented here' syndrome at play...
 
FighterJock said:
I actually thought that the whole SPEAR family of guided weapons was a UK invention that started with the Brimstone missile.
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I think there is some relation, they might have used the basics of Brimstone 2 as starting point. The dimensions of the cylindrical missile body look to be the same. 180mm diameter and 1.8-meter length.
 
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Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, in the Indo-Pacific:
Italian F-35B and AV-8B+ alongside USN F-35C, E-2D and Super Hornet overfly the Cavour and USS Lincoln

1000w_q95.jpg



www.dvidshub.net

U.S. Navy and Italian Navy Conduct First Indo-Pacific Multi-Large Deck Event

The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and the Cavour Carrier Strike Group concluded the first-ever bilateral Multi-Large Deck Event (MLDE) held in the Indo-Pacific by the U.S. Navy and Italian Navy, Aug. 9.
www.dvidshub.net www.dvidshub.net
 
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GTX said:
www.armyrecognition.com

Analysis: Selling the S-400 Air Defense System, Pathway for Turkey to Rejoin the F-35 Program?

Analysis: Selling the S-400 Air Defense System, Pathway for Türkiye to Rejoin F-35 Program?
www.armyrecognition.com www.armyrecognition.com
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I'm repeating myself for the millionth time, but the whole S-400 deal was just an excuse for the US; the reasons behind kicking Turkey out are purely geopolitical since the only thing that has ever kept the US and Turkey together and kept the alliance functional was the threat of the USSR; and since then the Americans have partnered with and legitimized yet another terrorist group in the Middle East and casted the security of yet another ally of theirs aside.

It's just that Erdogan gave them a bland but perfect excuse on a silver platter and the whole induction timeline for the Kaan fighter (that was initially designed to complement the F-35 à la F-35&F-22) was not only changed but accelerated due to the looming threat of obsolescence. That means back in 2018 they literally had to sit down with the Air Force Command again, realign the requirements and painfully redesign the aircraft from scratch.

So don't expect such a deal happening ever again.
 
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But does Turkey would have the rights to resale it?!

Otherwise, I am pretty sure the USAF or USN would be delighted to base some Raptor and Lightning in Turkey.
 
TomcatViP said:
But does Turkey would have the rights to resale it?!

Otherwise, I am pretty sure the USAF or USN would be delighted to base some Raptor and Lightning in Turkey.
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Then why haven't they? The S-400 batteries have been kept in storage ever since they were airlifted to Turkey so there's no excuse to not flying F-35s over to local Turkish exercises as they do with everyone else including Greece.

Moreover, why don't they ever fly those shiny F-35s alongside Turkish F-16s in international exercises?
 
Oh, look... Another day of F-35 wanting back in...

S-400 works as much as things that be within limits. We will hear rather more colourful anectodes of how Western systems do, when it will not be high treason to talk about them. They were of course available to Americans as soon as they arrived. The Russian ambrassador to Ankara said we could do whatever we wanted with them down to the use of trucks in transporting tomatoes from the fields. Those who claim to have inspected the missiles themselves say on the social media that it is the usual Russian mess of wires going everywhere but it does what it does.

We are not going to fight China; too far away. We are not going to fight Russians; too busy with relatives. We are not going to fight Iran; because we have lived under hostile nuclear weapons for ages. This country will not even fight Greece unless it is an election year; this year's or the last year's wars of words were soul stirring. Anything we need we are doing, as the entire media here ceaselessly tells us. I expect a few heart attacks when the commentators suddenly discover the possibility of that being the actual case.

We do not need the F-35. Which is back on the table because the 20plus billions US$ contracts and election promises have met the true economy and can not be honoured. Pentagon can even get its Block 70s back, promise, l won't make a scene. Do it now before some wake up to the conspiracy that Pentagon did things to sell F-16s first.
 
NMaude said:
Why not just earn some brownie points with the EU and donate the remaining SA-21 batteries and missiles to Ukraine (While simultaneously giving Putin the finger).
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Don't get me wrong NMaude but that's a pretty naive worldview. And it's not like Turkey hasn't declared military support for Ukraine before; in fact, it was one of, if not the first NATO member to supply advanced weapons to them before the war.

https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/11/the-stalwart-ally-turkiyes-arms.html?m=1

Like him or not, Erdogan has even been saying the famous "Glory to Ukraine!" slogan way before they got the Western block's attention as a Russian military equipment graveyard.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y3SqhFsx7jE&pp=ygUYRXJkb2dhbiBnbG9yeSB0byB1a3JhaW5l
 
NMaude said:
I fail to see how that's a naive worldview.
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Military Equipment Sales are very meticulous deals and there are all kinds of export controls in place for potential resales of equipment; simply put you can't give the equipment to a 3rd party without Russian blessing. Remember all that noise about (ex-East) German howitzers (or was that some other kind of artillery equipment?) that Lithuania wanted to provide to Ukraine in the first year of the war?


Secondly but most importantly, Turkey and Russia actually share not just borders but also a long history of bloodly conflict and rivalry. The fact that Turkey isn't located at the western end of Europe like France, UK or Germany (Central-West) means that they don't get to be reckless with their actions against Russia because no one else will have their back as seen in the 2015 Su-24 shoot-down incident.

And lastly, international politics. The whole reason Turkey purchased the S-400s in spite of the US in the firs place was to give them a political middle finger due to their meddling in Turkish politics and also American actions in Syria that affects Turkish security (because unlike the US, Turkey doesn't come from thousands of kms away to right down its border with Syria, what happens there actually has consequences for Turkey)

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GTX said:
www.thedrive.com

The 1,000th F-35 Has Been Built

Delays with a key upgrade program mean Lockheed Martin has yet to deliver the 1,000th F-35 and others to their customers.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com
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Apparently, these pictures show the 1000th F-35. But this jet was delivered clean later, without the tail art and all those writings.
Sources:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1824830869774684348
View: https://x.com/Doha104p3/status/1824830869774684348

https://twitter.com/x/status/1824830876024283498
View: https://x.com/Doha104p3/status/1824830876024283498
 

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1000 airframe with soon 1M flight hours*. This is truly impressive.
To my knowledge, neither the Typhoon, Rafale or Gripen have yet achieved that.

*I understand that in July 2024 Lightning flight hours reached the level of the Typhoon ones.
 
TomcatViP said:
1000 airframe with soon 1M flight hours*. This is truly impressive.
To my knowledge, neither the Typhoon, Rafale or Gripen have yet achieved that.

*I understand that in July 2024 Lightning flight hours reached the level of the Typhoon ones.
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And yet some still claim it's in a death spiral about to be cancelled any day... :D
 
The F-35 being cancled GTX? No chance of that happening concidering how many have been sold worldwide to this day and how many countries that are interested in buying the F-35.
 
snne said:
This is quite interesting

https://twitter.com/x/status/1824447979618455812
View: https://x.com/KDefenseInsight/status/1824447979618455812
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This is totally the sky is blue, water is wet, and gravity is the law. Every military flying unit has a can jet because there will always be some part not available fast enough from the supply system (that very well may be sitting in a risk kit mind you, but don't touch the war spares!!!) that's needed to get a sortie out now.

Actually 350 in 5 years across an entire fleet sounds quite reasonable. Since I was a B-1 Maintenance Officer from 2002-5 and easily saw that amount in the year I was Assistant OIC on the flight line for our wing.
 
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT243OG_bmQ


LM planning to deliver 41 F-35C aircraft to the Navy and Marine Corps in 2025.
LM tested the LO coating by building some LO panels and using them as door mats to make sure the coatings would hold up.
LM has validated that the aircraft's radar signature doesn't increase by much after receiving lots of abuse aboard a carrier.
 
joshjosh said:
LM has validated that the aircraft's radar signature doesn't increase by much after receiving lots of abuse aboard a carrier.
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They've claimed that before though, among other things, so forgive me if I'm more than a bit sceptical.
 
Allowing the U.S. to monitor S-400s in storage, likely in areas far from any airbases hosting F-35s, and, presumably, notifying Washington when, if ever, they would be deployed or relocated in advance is likely what Ankara presently has in mind.

Analysts previously expressed skepticism that Turkish F-35s and S-400s would ever have been “co-located” if Turkey received both. Either way, having Turkey’s S-400s inactive and in storage under U.S. supervision would undoubtedly further reduce any risk of Russia gleaning any intelligence on the F-35 or anything else.
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www.forbes.com

Stored And Inspected: Turkey’s Latest Reported S-400 Proposal Isn’t New

The alleged Turkish offer to keep S-400s in storage with an inspection arrangement suggests Ankara wants to meet Washington halfway.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com
 

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