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

[GTX]

Tories given green light for F-35 jet decision
STEVEN CHASE AND DANIEL LEBLANC
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Jun. 12 2014, 8:35 PM EDT

For the first time in two years, the path is clear for the Conservative government to select Canada’s next fighter jet, a choice that could very well mean buying the controversial F-35 Lightning without a competition.

A panel of independent monitors on Thursday gave its blessing to a still-confidential Royal Canadian Air Force report that evaluated the risks and benefits of purchasing four different warplanes and has been forwarded to the federal cabinet.

Sources say cabinet is expected to make a decision on fighters within the next couple of weeks.

Thursday’s seal of approval fulfilled the Harper government’s final obligation before making a pivotal decision to either buy the F-35 without competition or open the field to bidding from all jet makers.

The Tories froze this procurement in 2012 after blowback over an earlier decision to buy the F-35 that critics said was made with a lack of due diligence. After a damning Auditor-General’s report, the Harper government vowed to hold off until it had fulfilled a “seven-point plan” to restart the process of replacing Canada’s aging CF-18s.

But as of Thursday, the seven-point plan has been fulfilled. Government sources say the federal cabinet is “more than likely” to take up the report in the next few weeks.

A four-member independent review panel gave the government the affirmation it was seeking, saying it had no hesitation in pronouncing the RCAF’s assessment of Lockheed Martin’s F-35, the Dassault Rafales, the Boeing Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon “rigorous and impartial.”

Former federal comptroller-general Rod Monette, one of the panelists, compared the group’s independent seal of approval to the Auditor-General signing off on the government’s books.

Still, the panel acknowledged the measurements used to analyze the fighters were based on the same Conservative defence policy used to justify the now-aborted decision in 2010 to buy 65 F-35s without a competitive bidding process.

“The policy is used to guide acquisitions,” said Philippe Lagassé, a military expert at the University of Ottawa who was a member of the independent panel.

The federal government opted to analyze the technical data from four fighter jets through the lens of its 2008 Canada First Defence Strategy.

This six-year-old policy is widely considered outdated. It specifically calls for the acquisition of “next-generation fighter aircraft,” using Lockheed-Martin’s favourite buzzword to describe its F-35 as the only aircraft that is a full generation ahead of its rivals.

The independent review panel was made up of former fighter pilot and ex-Communications Security Establishment Canada chief Keith Coulter, Prof. Lagassé as well as two retired senior civil servants, James Mitchell and Mr. Monette.

While the panel’s thumbs-up is public, the crucial air-force report that they shepherded through the system is not.

The government will release only a partial version of the RCAF report to the public, excised of all sensitive and commercial information, once Ottawa has announced the next step in buying fighters.

This full report is in the hands of federal ministers, who will be able to compare the four aircraft using a colour-coded scheme that lays out the risks associated with six types of missions that future jet fighters might be called upon to fulfill.

The risk for each mission ranges from low (green) to very high (brown), laying out the capabilities and deficiencies of each aircraft in conducting operations such as patrolling the Arctic or attacking foreign forces in an overseas mission.

 

[bobbymike]

Luke's First Reserve F-35 Instructor

Maj. Justin Robinson will become the first Air Force Reserve Command F-35A instructor pilot assigned to Luke AFB, Ariz. Robinson is currently an instructor with AFRC's 69th Fighter Squadron, which is transitioning, along with Luke's Active Duty 56th Wing from F-16 training to F-35 training. "I think going out and learning a new airframe and helping to bring it online offers the kind of challenge that is really appropriate for me at this point," said Robinson in a June 11 release. To accommodate the transition, the squadron’s parent 944th Fighter Wing plans to grow to as many as 250 maintainers to augment their active duty counterparts. "They will start working on the F-16s initially and then transfer to the F-35" over the next four years, said Col. Kurt Gallegos, 944th FW commander. Luke is slated to host 144 F-35As eventually. Luke's first F-35 arrived in March

F-35 Software Delay Won’t Hit IOC

There’s about a six-month lag in testing the version 3F software for the F-35 strike fighter, but it’s not affecting the services’ initial operational capability yet, according to program leaders. In a teleconference with reporters on June 12 following an F-35 steering committee meeting at Eglin AFB, Fla., Pentagon acquisition executive Frank Kendall said IOC for the Marine Corps and the Air Force, with the 2B and 3I software builds, respectively, is on track. The services are still expected to declare IOC on time: the Marine Corps with the 2B software in July 2015, and the Air Force with 3I software in August 2016. The 3F version, which every user will eventually have, is behind schedule. Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, F-35 program executive officer, said “if we don’t do anything better over the next two or three years,” then the 3F deployment may be late, but he said there’s still some schedule margin remaining. Kendall said it’s premature to think about whether the Navy, which intends to declare IOC with 3F software in 2018, would slip IOC or declare it with an earlier software build. “That’s a decision the Navy will make,” said Kendall, but he doubts the service will make any changes “unless forced to.”

F-35 Incentives

The F-35 steering committee, comprising US program leaders and international partners, met at Eglin AFB, Fla., this week. On the agenda was the financial challenge of each user buying its planned inventory of the jets. Pentagon acquisition czar Frank Kendall said the United States faces a problem with the budget sequester, and “can’t make a firm commitment” on the number it will buy. Other countries “have the same financial challenges we have,” but everyone agrees on “the need for stability” in the buy targets, he told reporters during a teleconference on June 12. The committee is exploring whether to offer “financial incentives” to partners to buy their planned allotment, since any cuts in production “raise prices … for everybody,” he said. The United States is looking at F-35 multiyear contracts as one way to cut costs, though “we’re just beginning to think about that,” said Kendall. He also said the committee discussed “the next round of improvements” for the F-35, beyond the Block 4, which comes after the initial version is deployed.

 

[GTX]

F135 Live Fire Testing

(Source: Lockheed Code One blog; dated June 2, 2014)

The Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan engine in the F-35 Lightning II completed a series of live fire tests in late May 2014. The testing, led by Naval Air Systems Command's Weapons Survivability Laboratory at China Lake, California, included F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing propulsion system tests; dynamic and static engine ballistic tests; and total fuel ingestion tests.

These tests were aimed at better understanding the advanced engine control system; the capabilities of the main engine with battle damage; and to assess the engine's fuel ingestion tolerance.

According to the US Navy's Joint Aircraft Survivability Program Office, "the test results were favorable, and in many cases, the propulsion system performed better than predicted."

This series of tests was intended to mimic battlefield damage in wartime scenarios.

-ends-

 

[GTX]

Navy Prepares F-35C for Carrier Landing
By Kris Osborn Friday, June 13th, 2014 4:48 pm
Posted in Air, Naval

Navy test pilots are conducting numerous shore-based test landings of the F-35C of the next-generation Joint Strike Fighter in anticipation of its first at-sea landing on an aircraft carrier later this year, service officials said.

The shore landings, taking place at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., are designed to replicate the range of conditions which the F-35C is likely to encounter at sea – to the extent that is possible.

Test pilots are working on what they call a structural survey, an effort to assess the F-35C’s ability to land in a wide range of scenarios such as nose down, tail down or max engaging speed, said Lt. Cmdr. Michael Burks, or “Sniff,” a Navy test pilot.

Max engaging speed involves landing the aircraft heavy and fast to determine if it is the aircraft or the arresting gear that gets damaged, Burks explained.

“The whole purpose is to make sure the landing gear and the aircraft structure are all suitable to take the stresses that the pilot could see while trying to land aboard the deck of an aircraft carrier,” Burks explained.

While recognizing that the mix of conditions at sea on board a carrier cannot be replicated on land, Burks said the test landings seek to simulate what he called unusual attitudes such as instances where the aircraft is rolling with one side up or descending faster than normal with what’s called a “high sink” rate.

“We’ve done about 90 carrier-style landings,” said F-35 Test Pilot Lt. Cmdr. Tony Wilson, or “Brick.”

High sink rate is reached when an aircraft is descending 21-feet per second, much faster than the typical 10-feet per second descend rate, Burks explained. The shore landings also seek to replicate an airplane condition known as “yawing” when the body of the aircraft is moving from side to side.

The F-35C is engineered to be larger than the Air Force’s F-35 A or Marine Corps short-take-off-and-landing F-35B because the structure of the aircraft needs to be able to withstand the impact of landing on a carrier. Also, the F-35C has larger, foldable wings to facilitate slower approach speeds compatible with moving ships, Navy officials said.

“In order to withstand the forces experienced during an arrested landing, the keel of an F-35C is strengthened and the landing gear is of a heavier-duty build than the A and B models,” an official with the F-35 Integrated Test Force said.

The wings of the F-35 C are also built with what’s called “aileron control surfaces” designed to prevent the aircraft from rolling.

At sea, pilots must account for their speed as well as the speed of the wind, the weather or visibility conditions as well as the speed of the boat, Burks explained.

“The landing area is constantly changing. This is a challenge to structure of the aircraft because there is no way of knowing for certain how hard we are going to hit the deck or at what angle they are going to be at,” he added.

On an aircraft carrier, the ship has arresting wires or metal cables attached to hydraulic engines used to slow the aircraft down to a complete stop within the landing area.

“On an aircraft carrier, the landing area is off about 10-degrees. The boat’s motion itself is moving away from you — so you can’t just aim at the boat,” Burks said.

The cable is four to six inches above the deck of the carrier and hydraulic fluid controls the pace of deceleration for the aircraft, Burks said. A hook lowers from the back end of the F-35C aircraft, designed to catch the cable and slow down the plane.

“In order to maintain our stealth configuration, we had to put the hook internal to the airframe. On all the legacy systems, the tail hook sits up underneath the engine externally. We have three doors that open up to allow the tail hook to fall down,” Burks said.

The aircraft also needs to be able to withstand what’s called a “free flight,” a situation where the pilot receives a late wave off to keep flying after the hook on the airplane has already connected with the wire, he explained.

“We need to be sure that the engine and the aircraft itself can handle the stress of essentially being ripped out of the air by the interaction between the cable and the hook,” Burks added.

Describing landing as a controlled crash into the aircraft carrier, Wilson explained that pilots look at a light on the ship called the Fresnel Lens in order to orient their approach.

“The whole purpose of the lighting system is to show us where we are in reference to a specific glide slope. What this lens does is it tells us where we are,” Wilson said.

In total, the Navy plans to acquire 340 F-35C aircraft. So far, five F-35Cs have been delivered for pilot training at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Both Burks and Wilson, former F-18 hornet and super hornet pilots, said flying the F-35C represents a large step forward in fighter jet technology.

Wilson referred to the JSF’s touchscreen cockpit display which combines information from a range of sensors, cameras, radars….ect.

“Unlike our legacy aircraft where I might have to look at several different displays – the F-35C’s integrated core processor integrates all the information for the pilot. It very neatly and concisely displays all that information in one location, making tactical decisions much easier,” Wilson said.

Source

 

[bobbymike]

http://breakingdefense.com/2014/06/f-35-prompted-by-prc-stealth-jets-others-starts-next-gen-threat-planning/?utm_source=Breaking+Defense&utm_campaign=1a3b538b43-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4368933672-1a3b538b43-407814345

The stealth arms race is on!!

 

[GTX]

House Appropriators Add More F-35s for 2015

By Brendan McGarry Wednesday, June 11th, 2014 2:02 pm
Posted in Sequestration, The Defense Business

A U.S. House of Representatives committee has voted to add more funding for the F-35 fighter jet program in fiscal 2015.

The House Appropriations Committee, headed by Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Kentucky, on Tuesday passed its version of the annual defense spending bill, which included funding for 38 of the stealthy, fifth-generation fighters. That’s four more of the aircraft than the Defense Department requested for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

The bill will go to the full House for debate, reportedly sometime this summer before the August recess.

The Pentagon had planned to purchase 42 of the planes, known as Lightning IIs, next year but was forced to reduce the quantity to 34 due to automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.

Both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees supported the department’s budget request for the Joint Strike Fighter program, though the quantities could still change during negotiations on a final authorization bill.

The F-35 program is the Pentagon’s most expensive acquisition effort, estimated to cost a total of about $400 billion for 2,457 aircraft for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.

Notably, the House appropriators also differed from their defense committee colleagues in agreeing to retire the A-10 gunship. The panel rejected an amendment that would have steered $339 million from the Pentagon’s operations and maintenance account to keep the Cold War-era plane known as the Warthog flying.

The bill was otherwise similar to the one that passed out of the panel’s defense subcommittee, headed by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-New Jersey, with more funding for weapons procurement than the President Barack Obama’s budget request, but less money for research and development and operations and maintenance.

The procurement funding includes $2.4 billion for 87 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and 37 MH-60S/R choppers made by United Technologies Corp.‘s Sikorsky unit; $1.6 billion for seven KC-46A refueling tankers made by Boeing Co.; and $789 million to refuel the aircraft carrier USS George Washington.

It also includes $975 million for 12 EA-18G Growlers, also made by Boeing. The added money for the Growlers comes after an aggressive lobbying campaign by the Chicago-based aerospace giant to promote the radar-penetrating qualities of the jet over the F-35.

Source

 

[GTX]

http://youtu.be/VERMAh6Moc0

 

[bring_it_on]

F-35 Fighter Jets Temporarily Grounded by Engine Problems

The Pentagon temporarily grounded the entire F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet at the start of the weekend after one of the advanced jets suffered an engine oil leak and declared an in-flight emergency.

While the suspension of flight and ground testing on Friday was described by F-35 program officials as a precautionary move, it is the second time in 16 months that engine problems have grounded the entire fleet. It comes just two weeks before the plane is due to make its first international appearance.

Engine maker Pratt Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp. UTX -0.05% , said most of the 104-jet fleet had been cleared to resume flying by late Saturday following the safety inspections mandated by the F-35 managers on Friday. The F-35 program office said these revealed potential problems on two more jets.

The incident on June 10 involved an F-35B jet, which can take off and land vertically. The pilot declared an in-flight emergency after being alerted to an engine oil problem, and landed safely back at base at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona.

Pentagon officials on Friday ordered engines on all three models of the F-35 to be inspected before they could resume flights.

Pratt Whitney said in a statement that it was working to identify the cause of last week's problem, with jet-by-jet inspections taking around 90 minutes each. Program officials have pointed to problems with an oil-flow-management valve.

The F-35B is one of three variants of the jet built by Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT +0.86% , and scheduled to be the first to be declared combat ready. Program officials last week expressed confidence that it will be ready for the Marine Corps as scheduled in July 2015.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/f-35-fighter-jets-temporarily-grounded-by-engine-problems-1402854181

 

[bobbymike]

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2014/06/11/house-appropriators-add-more-f-35s-for-2015/

 

[bobbymike]

http://defensetech.org/2014/06/18/air-force-develops-threat-data-base-for-f-35/

 

[Triton]

"Lockheed sees expanded F-35 production, additional jobs"
Posted Saturday, Jun. 21, 2014
By Steve Kaskovich

Source:
http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/06/20/5916806/lockheed-sees-expanded-f-35-production.html

FORT WORTH — Despite ongoing budget pressures, Lockheed Martin expects production of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to expand significantly over the next several years, creating more than 1,000 additional jobs at its west-side plant, the company’s top executive in Fort Worth said Friday.

Orlando Carvalho, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said production of its next-generation fighter is expected to expand from about 36 this year to more than 120 a year by the end of the decade. He made his comments during a speech at a Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Petroleum Club.

The latest projections are less than what Lockheed had estimated just a year ago, when executives told the Star-Telegram that they hoped to boost production to more than 150 planes a year by the end of the decade and add 2,400 jobs in Fort Worth. Carvalho said Lockheed currently has about 13,300 employees in Fort Worth.

Lockheed is aiming to reach full-rate production on the aircraft now that it has worked through a bevy of technical issues that delayed its development. The U.S. government and the manufacturer expect that increased production will bring down the cost of the plane, currently at more than $100 million apiece, to between $70 million and $80 million.

But sequestration and political pressures in Washington continue to loom over defense spending plans. Earlier this year, the Defense Department revealed plans to cut 17 of the 343 F-35 fighters it planned to buy between fiscal years 2016 and 2019 unless Congress decides to get rid of automatic budget cuts.

Carvalho said the bipartisan budget deal reached late last year relieved pressure on the program for two years but that the threat of reductions in future years remains. Still, he said Lockheed is confident that it will build more than 3,000 F-35s over the life of the program for U.S. and foreign customers. It completed its 100th F-35 in December.

The F-35, he predicted, will one day be as successful as Lockheed’s F-16, which this year is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Lockheed is still building the Fighting Falcon and sees opportunities for future sales to countries such as Colombia and Pakistan that could extend the life of its production line in Fort Worth beyond 2017.

Earlier this month, Lockheed staged a ceremony in west Fort Worth to deliver the first of 36 F-16s it’s building for Iraq. With advances by Islamic militants now causing a crisis in that country, the arrival of the first F-16 in Iraq, which was expected this fall, has been delayed. Production of the other F-16s for Iraq will continue, Carvalho said.

“We’re all very sad to see what’s happening in Iraq, with the commitment our country has made over the last 10 years,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking.”

 

[Triton]

"Air Force develops threat data base for F-35"
by Kris Osborn
Published June 19, 2014
Military.com


Source:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/06/19/air-force-develops-threat-data-base-for-f-35/

Joint Strike Fighter officials are developing a mission data system that can immediately tell pilots if they are flying against a MiG-29 or Su-27 or any other enemy fighter.

The system will serve as a computer library or data base of known threats and friendly aircraft in specific regions of the world, said Thomas Lawhead, operations lead for the JSF integration office.

The mission data packages, now being developed by the Air Force’s 53rd Wing are designed to accommodate new information as new threat data becomes available. The data base is loaded with a wide range of information to include commercial airliner information and specifics on Russian and Chinese fighter jets.

Without the mission data files and computer-driven sensor fusion of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, fighter pilots would have to simultaneously interpret and organize input from a range of different sensors including their radar warning receiver, Lawhead explained.

“You can think of the mission data as the memory that feeds the fusion engine to identify threats. It is the data which tells the aircraft whether something is a good guy or a bad guy,” said Col. Carl Schaefer, the Air Force’s top JSF integration official.

“A sensor receives input. Then, the aircraft’s fusion engine takes that input and fuses it with other input from other sensors. It then takes that information and balances it against the mission data. Based on that match it can tell you what the threat is,” he explained.

Sensors on the F-35 include the Active Electronically Scanned Array, or AESA, radar as well as a system called Distributed Aperture System, or DAS, which combines input from as many as six different electro-optical cameras on the aircraft.

The aircraft also draws upon a technology called Electro-optical Targeting System, or EOTS, which helps identify and pinpoint targets. EOTS, which does both air-to-air and air-to-ground targeting, is able to combine forward-looking infrared and infrared search and track technology.

Overall, information from all of the JSF sensors is “fused” through the aircraft’s computer, providing the pilot with clear, integrated information.

The Air Force is developing 12 different mission data files for 12 different geographic areas, Lawhead explained. The first four are slated to be ready by the time the service reaches its planned initial operating capability with the F-35A in August 2016.

“One of the ways we respond to emerging threats is through the mission data files. If we are going to a region of the world, we want to be able to understand what the threats are and make sure that all the data that we have on the bad guys of that area is fed into the mission data file,” Schaefer added.

 

[GTX]

'Workhorse' becomes first F-35 to achieve 1,000 flight hours
by Kenji Thuloweit
412th Test Wing Public Affairs

6/18/2014 - EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- AF-2, the second production F-35 Lightning II for the U.S. Air Force, became the first F-35 to reach 1,000 flight hours.

Paul Hattendorf, Lockheed Martin test pilot, was flying an Airframe Loads Envelope Expansion mission June 11 when the fighter reached the milestone.

"AF-2's nickname is 'Workhorse,' said Randy Thompson, F-35 Integrated Test Force, Government Air Vehicle lead. "It continues to carry the Flight Sciences testing load executing its primary mission of loads envelope expansion. Every AF-2 flight-test hour moves the JSF enterprise closer to providing our warriors with the Air Force Initial Operational Capability (IOC) and final System Development and Demonstration maneuvering envelopes.

Thompson added that data collected from all Flight Sciences aircraft help refine the airframe usage spectrum, which in turn allows for a more accurate fleet life determination.

The 412th Test Wing is home to 15 Lightning IIs. The Edwards F-35 ITF has nine F-35s assigned for developmental testing - representing all three variants of the fifth-generation fighter: six F-35As, two F-35Bs and one F-35C.

Additionally, Edwards AFB's Operational Test units have six F-35As assigned.

"AF-2 is the 'Pull G's jet.' It was the first aircraft to hit plus-nine-G and negative-three-G and to roll at design-load factor. In addition, AF-2 is the first F-35A to intentionally fly in significant airframe buffet at all angles of attack," said Thompson.

Both AF-2 and AF-1 ferried to Edwards from the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth, Texas, May 17, 2010.

Thompson said AF-2 has specific instrumentation and was calibrated for in-flight loads measurements prior to ferrying to Edwards. In addition, it is instrumented to execute airframe buffet testing; landing, braking and arresting hook testing; and ground and in-flight gun testing.

The Lightning II software has 24 million lines of code, which is continually being updated and improved. The ITF team, AF-2 and the rest of the Edwards F-35 test fleet, continues to get closer in getting the world's most advanced fighter into the hands of the warfighter.

"The entire F-35 Edwards ITF team and the 412th TW are pressing hard to complete testing required for the 2B fleet release (Marine Corp IOC mission systems software release and AF IOC maneuvering envelope release). As aircraft compete their slated 2B testing, the team moves ahead with testing required for the final SDD clearances. Post 2B testing milestones include putting the final SDD talons on the Lightning II with the first flight of the Small Diameter Bomb, first gun fire and continued external GBU-12 envelope expansion, as well as beginning to test the final SDD mission systems suite," concluded Thompson.

The planned date for Air Force Initial Operational Capability of its F-35As is August 2016.

Members of Edwards AFB's F-35 Integrated Test Force pose in front of AF-2 on June 11, the day the Lightning II became the first F-35 to reach 1,000 flying hours. (Photo courtesy of Darin Russell/Lockheed Martin)

 

[bobbymike]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-23/lockheed-f-35-upgrades-cost-920-million-less-u-s-says.html

 

[sferrin]

Anybody have more details on this:

http://news.usni.org/2014/06/23/breaking-fire-breaks-f-35-eglin-air-force-base-pilot-safe

"A Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was severely damaged — possibly destroyed — in a Monday morning fire on the runway at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., USNI News learned.

No injuries were reported and officials have begun an investigation into the incident, defense officials told USNI News on Monday.

“The aircraft was preparing to conduct a continuation training mission at the time of the incident, but aborted during takeoff at Eglin Air Force Base due to a fire in the back end of the aircraft,” according to a Monday statement provided to USNI News from the Air Force.
“Emergency responders extinguished the fire with foam.”

The aircraft was a F-35A — the Air Force variant of the fighter — assigned to the 33rd “Nomads” Fighter Wing. The wing is schoolhouse for all versions of the JSF and trains sailors, airmen and Marines."

 

[Triton]

"McCain questions 'cronyism' on Lockheed F-35 program"
By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON Mon Jun 16, 2014 8:36pm ED

Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/17/us-lockheed-fighter-mccain-idUSKBN0ES01E20140617

(Reuters) - Republican Senator John McCain on Monday said he was concerned by recent revelations of U.S. government-industry "cronyism" in developing Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet, and said the $398.6 billion program still had "major problems."

McCain, a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he had long been troubled by the Pentagon's payment of 85-percent or higher award fees to Lockheed on the F-35 program despite cost increases and schedule delays, adding the background to those decisions was "disturbing."

Former Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter last month said the Pentagon's F-35 program manager told him he had kept the fees high because he liked the Lockheed executive in charge, and the company official had said he would be fired if the fees fell below 85 percent.

Carter, who was the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer at the time, made the remarks at a university event on May 16 and they were reported by InsideDefense.com on May 30.

“This is, of course, totally unacceptable. It is the kind of cronyism that should make us all vigilant against, as President Eisenhower warned us over 50 years ago, the military-industrial complex," McCain said in a speech on the Senate floor on Monday.

Carter did not name the people involved but said the F-35 program manager was fired. Then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired Brigadier General David Heinz, the two-star Marine Corps general who was running the F-35 program at the time, in February 2010 and elevated the job to the three-star level.

Lockheed later announced the departure of Dan Crowley, who was the company's F-35 program manager at the time. Lockheed declined comment on Monday.

McCain said the incident raised questions about why award fees were included in the initial F-35 contract in 2001, and why senior officials overseeing the program had not questioned the level of the fees given cost and schedule problems.

He said it also highlighted the importance of giving federal acquisition officials the tools they needed to avert the "unwarranted influence" of contractors on government programs.

McCain said the F-35, the Pentagon's largest weapons program, continued to face major challenges despite a recent report from the Government Accountability Office, which said it was "moving in the right direction."

"This is clearly a program that has had and continues to have major problems," McCain said, citing mandatory inspections ordered last week of all F-35 jets after an oil leak caused an in-flight emergency at a Marine Corps based in Arizona.

Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's current acquisition chief, last week highlighted the importance of incentive fees in structuring contracts, but rejected the use of "one size fits all" policies on contracts since each deal was unique. He said training acquisition workers was critical.

McCain also said was skeptical about letting acquisition officials decide which contract structure was "appropriate" in the absence of effective guidance and training.

 

[GTX]

Some Eglin F-35A Operations Suspended Following Plane Fire

By: Dave Majumdar
Published: June 24, 2014 12:27 PM
Updated: June 24, 2014 1:18 PM

Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighters at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, have temporarily suspended operations after a fire severely damaged an aircraft on take-off yesterday.

“Flights for the F-35A CTOL [conventional takeoff and landing] aircraft are temporarily suspended today,” said 1st Lt. Hope Cronin, a public relations officer for the 33rd Fighter Wing. “The F-35Bs and F-35Cs are on a weather pause at this time as Florida weather is rather disagreeable at the moment.”

The rest of the F-35A fleet is flying however according to Joint Program Office spokesman Joe DellaVedova. “Experts are working root cause,” he said.

The fact that the F-35A fleet is still flying suggests that a design flaw is not suspected as a cause of the fire.

This is the first incident this severe for the JSF during the life of the tri-service program.

There are currently 104 Joint Strike Fighters in the U.S. inventory — split between U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and U.S.
Marine Corps variants, according to information from Lockheed.

Eglin — located on the Florida panhandle — is the home the training centers for pilots and maintainers for all three U.S. variants of the JSF as well as international variants.

The 33rd was designated as the F-35 schoolhouse in 2009 and received its first F-35 in 2011. The wing is set to receive an estimated 59 aircraft by 2018.

The wing is part of the larger F-35 Integrated Training Center which plans to have annual output of 100 pilots and 2,100 by 2018.

The JSF fleet was grounded earlier this month after a Marine variant of the aircraft suffered an engine oil leak in flight.

 

[GTX]

Lockheed F-35 Upgrades Cost $920 Million Less, U.S. Says
By Tony Capaccio - Jun 23, 2014

The projected cost to upgrade F-35 jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) has declined by about $920 million, or 36 percent, in less than two years, according to the Pentagon’s latest analysis.

The estimate for improvements and corrections for aircraft already built or planned in the first 10 contracts to be awarded through 2016 has dropped to about $1.65 billion from a $2.57 billion estimate in September 2012, the Pentagon said in an annual assessment to Congress. The projection is $100 million less than the one made last year.

The need to retrofit the planes stems from the Defense Department’s decision to produce the F-35, the costliest weapons system, even as it’s still being developed. The Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer has criticized that approach, known as concurrency.

“Putting the F-35 into production years before the first flight test was acquisition malpractice,” Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, said in a 2012 industry presentation. “It should not have been done. But we did it.”

Kendall signed the latest report showing success in reducing the projected cost of upgrades.

That’s good news for Lockheed, the world’s largest defense contractor. Since the fifth of seven contracts signed so far, the Pentagon has required the contractor to pay an increasing share of the costs for retrofitting the planes. Beginning with the sixth contract, Lockheed has had to absorb half the costs.

Escalating Costs

“This cost-sharing approach is intended to motivate Lockheed Martin to incorporate concurrency changes as quickly as possible on the production line,” according to the previously undisclosed report obtained by Bloomberg News and dated May 1.

The projected $398.6 billion acquisition cost for the F-35 has climbed 71 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars since the Pentagon signed its initial contract with Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed in 2001, even as plans were adjusted to buy 409 fewer aircraft. The estimated cost to operate and support the plane over a 55-year service life has declined to $1.02 trillion from $1.11 trillion.

The revised estimate for upgrades bolsters findings by U.S. Government Accountability Office analysts and Pentagon program officials that Lockheed is making progress in managing the jet’s simultaneous development and production at this point, before the most difficult combat testing begins.

Lockheed’s Commitment

“This is the result of improved efficiencies and total commitment to driving costs out of the program,” Lockheed spokesman Michael Rein said in an e-mailed statement. “We will continue” to “implement further cost savings measures,” he said.

Concurrency has the benefit of producing aircraft faster on the premise that advanced computer modeling and simulation can reduce the risk of error. The danger is that costly changes will be needed to planes already built because of flaws discovered in flight and ground testing or in engineering analysis.

The reduction in projected costs stems in part from fewer anticipated technical flaws and from Lockheed working collaboratively with the Pentagon to manage the process and reduce time on the assembly line to retrofit planes, the report said.

The latest estimates also are based less on computer models using historical data and more on actual costs of implementing approved changes.

The estimate for upgrades under the fifth contract of 32 jets has dropped to $270 million from $450 million, according to the report. Estimates for the sixth lot of 36 F-35s dropped to $190 million from $350 million. Projections for the seventh batch of 35 jets have dropped to $140 million from $230 million, the report said.

Annual Updates

The retrofit cost for 43 jets in the eighth contract that’s now under negotiation is estimated at $100 million, down from an initial $120 million.

“Estimates will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis” and “these will contain adjustments as a result of retiring, realizing, re-scheduling or adding changes as the program progresses,” according to the report.

Among the forecast issues that could require retrofits are those “that may occur” based on historical qualification and flight and ground test data from the F-35’s predecessors -- the F-16, F-15, F-22 and F/A-18E/F fighters, the report said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tony Capaccio in Washington at acapaccio@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Walcott at jwalcott9@bloomberg.net Larry Liebert, Mark McQuillan

 

[bobbymike]

Full Report

http://breakingdefense.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2014/06/F-35-Concurrency-Report-April-2014.pdf

 

[donnage99]

"But the vertical landing restrictions that are emerging cast doubt on an important part of the operational utility of the F-35B, at least with respect to its service with the USMC. The Marines’ concept of operations emphasizes the use of austere forward operating locations (FOLs). Lockheed Martin has said that the difference between the heat generated by an F-35B vertical landing, compared to an AV-8B, is insufficient to affect operations. Heavy aluminum matting was laid at NAS Patuxent River, Md., where theU.S. has conducted most of the operational testing of the F-35B."

from: http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ain-defense-perspective/2014-06-16/f-35b-vertically-challenge

 

[GTX]

Misawa : Japan to deploy F-35 fighters at Misawa Air Base from FY 2017
06/25/2014 | 02:23am US/Eastern

Japan will begin deploying the next-generation F-35 fighter jets at its Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture from fiscal 2017, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Wednesday.

"We will coordinate with the U.S. side so local residents will not have to feel concerned," Onodera told Aomori Gov. Shingo Mimura, pledging efforts so that safety will be ensured, in a meeting in the city of Aomori.

Mimura requested Onodera take measures to prevent accidents or other incidents involving the aircraft that could endanger the public.

About 20 F-35 jets will be deployed at the Air Self-Defense Force'sMisawa base, the defense chief told reporters after the meeting.

The deployment plan for the stealth fighter aircraft was revealed following the launch of temporary operation in early June of U.S. Global Hawk surveillance drones at the U.S. Misawa base on the same site.

(c) 2014 Kyodo News

 

[bobbymike]

F-35Bs Crawl, Walk, Run to Transformation

The F-35B strike fighter is a “transformational” capability, on par with how the MV-22 tiltrotor platform revolutionized expeditionary operations, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Glueck, head of Marine Corps Combat Development Command, told reporters on Thursday. But some of its capabilities will take years to perfect, he said. “I would say we are in the crawl stage on that,” said Glueck when asked about the maturity of data links and systems to disseminate the jet’s electronics and command and control capabilities. The F-35B is “transformational because of what it does,” he said. “It is a battlefield integrator,” and when its systems mature, it will be able to deliver information about the overall picture of a conflict down to marines and troops on the ground, he said. The F-35B will eventually replace three aircraft across the Marine Corpsy: the F/A-18, EA-6B, and AV-8B, said Glueck. “It will be a disruptive technology in the beginning,” he said. “It’s going to take a while to realize what we need on the ground to take full advantage of all the capabilities,” he added.​
—Marc V. Schanz


F-35B on Track to Reach IOC in 2015

The Marine Corps is still optimistic it will declare initial operational capability for its new fleet of F-35B strike fighters in 2015, said Lt. Gen. Kenneth Glueck, deputy commandant for combat development and integration, on Thursday. The Marines plan on reaching full operational capability already by 2016, he told reporters in Washington D.C. Additionally, the service is “still on track” to deploy F-35Bs at sea by 2017 aboard the USS Wasp for a western Pacific deployment, he said. “That may be delayed, but that’s due to the schedule of the Wasp,” noted Glueck.​​
—Marc V. Schanz

 

[shedofdread]

http://aviationweek.com/defense/british-f-35b-not-yet-ready-transatlantic-crossing

WASHINGTON and LONDON - The transatlantic crossing of the F-35B for its international air show debut is on hold, as one of the four Lockheed Martin fighters due to make the trip remains on the ground at Eglin AFB, Florida.
The other three F-35Bs have arrived at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, the departure point for their historic Atlantic crossing to the United Kingdom. All four F-35Bs are due at RAF Fairford in England the week of July 7 at the latest to allow pilots time for verification flights for their displays at the Royal International Tattoo and Farnborough air show this month

 

[sublight_]

F-35 fleet grounded indefinitely. Once again.

The Pentagon has officially announced that all its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II jets has been grounded following the runway fire incident which involved an F-35A at Eglin Air Force Base, on Jun. 23.

The news came just ahead of the long weekend for U.S. Independence Day, as Joint Strike Fighters were expected to cross the Pond to take part to Farnborough International Air Show and Royal International Air Tattoo, in the UK next week.

The participation of the F-35s has not been cancelled yet (indeed, the F-35B STOVL – Short Take Off Vertical Landing variant of the plane, expected to take part to the two leading European airshows, had resumed flights on Jun. 28) but the fleet-wide grounding puts the aircraft’s international debut at risk.

Here’s the official statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby on F-35 Fleet Grounding:

The technical air worthiness authorities of the Department of the Air Force and Department of the Navy have issued a directive to ground the F-35 fleet based on initial findings from the runway fire incident that occurred at Eglin Air Force Base on Monday, June 23. The root cause of the incident remains under investigation. Additional inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered, and return to flight will be determined based on inspection results and analysis of engineering data. Defense Department leadership supports this prudent approach. Preparations continue for F-35 participation in international air shows in the United Kingdom, however a final decision will come early next week.

This is not the first time the entire F-35 fleet is grounded.

On Feb. 22, 2013 the Pentagon decided to suspend the flights of all Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter planes after a crack was found on a turbine blade of a test aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

The decision came only nine days after the DoD had cleared the STOVL variant to resume flying activity after a month-long grounding due to a fueldraulic engine problem.

 

[bobbymike]

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2014/07/07/report-engine-responsible-for-f-35-fire/

 

[Triton]

"F-35 Report: overview of problems with F-135 engine"

Jul 09 2014

Source:
http://www.jsfnieuws.nl/?p=1224

KESTEREN, Netherlands — The grounding last week puts the Pratt & Whitney F-135 engine back in the public spotlights, just one week before the planned international debut of the F-35B at the RIAT 2014 and Farnborough Airshows.

During 2007-2009 repeated problems with turbine blades contributed to significant delays in the F-35 test program and a partial redesign of certain parts of the engine. The grounding in February 2013 was caused by crack, found in a Low Pressure LPT3 turbine blade. Investigations of the latest engine fire seem to focus at the same problem.

The question is: are the F135 problems to be considerd as incidents or is something wrong in the design and do the F-35 operators have a structural problem?

Long history of engine problems since 2006

It cannot be excluded that the root cause of the current problem is more structural than a simple manufacturing error or an isolated incident. Since 2006 there had been a series of engine problems with the F-135 engine.

In May 2006, Aviation Week reporter David A. Fulghum wrote a detailed article “Joint Strike Fighter F135 Engine Burns Hotter Than Desired” and described the risk of a shorter engine life or engine damage caused by higher than expected temperatures on the F-135 engine.
In August 2007 and February 2008 there were serious problems. Turbine blades broke off suddenly by a form of metal fatigue. The cause was sought in a combination of factors. On 30 August 2007 in test engine FX634, after 122 hours of testing, a turbine blade in the 3rd LPT stage broke off completely.
On February 4, 2008 something similar happened to engine FTE06, also in the 3rd LPT stage, after 19 hours.
The JSF Program Office told the press that the engine failures in both cases were due to “high cycle fatigue testing”. These problems with the engine contributed significantly to the delays in the JSF test program for the period 2007-2008.

Redesign of the engine in 2008

In early 2008 an engine, the FX640 ground test engine, was equipped with numerous sensors and instruments. On April 21, 2008 a test process was started to find the cause of the problem. Through a detailed test plan the forces and tensions that arise in the engine were mapped in different power ranges.

At that moment it seemed to be primarily an issue of the F-35B STOVL (vertical landing) version. The cracks in the turbine blades were created in exactly the same place, and seemed to occur when switching from forward to vertical drive. Later in 2008, the results became available. The blade cracks seemed to have been caused by certain vibrations that triggered a material failure.

This led to a redesign of a number of elements in the engine. One of the upgrades was a change of the distance between the turbine blades. After the redesign the engine was retested and recertified. At the end of 2008 Pratt & Whitney issued a press statement, saying that they were convinced that the problems were solved.

In 2009, problems with redesigned engine

During testing in May 2009, Pratt & Whitney found that at high speed with full after burner and at low altitude certain pressure pulsations occurred. This “screech” problem, that prevented the engine from sustaining full thrust, has been addressed by modifications in 2010 and included design modifations in the fuel system, upgraded software and reductions of aerodynamic leakages.

In July 2009, the then head of the JSF Program Office, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. David R. Heinz, was still was not happy with the F-135 problems. He told the press: “The problems include too many individual blades that fail to meet specifications, as well as combined “stack-ups” of blades that fail early. I’m not satisfied with the rates that I’m getting.”

A few days later he was ordered by the Pentagon not to comment publicly on problems with the F-135 engine.

On September 11, 2009, again serious engine problems were revealed during testing of the Pratt & Whitney F-135 engine. At a crucial moment in the debate in the U.S. Congress on the choice of two competing engine types (the Pentagon wanted to axe the alternate engine (the GE / Rolls Royce F-136), a Pratt & Whitney F-135 engine broke down. Again, the cause seemed to lie in broken turbine blades. However, this time the same problem occurred in the new, redesigned engine with redesigned turbine blades.
Pratt & Whitney stated that a defected bushing led to damage of the some fan blades. Pratt & Whitney also announced that a “minor modification” would be incorporated in all ISR (Initial Service Release) engines.

Engine problems continuing in 2011

After the problems in 2009, officials no longer publicly commented about the engine problems. Also there were no indications that there actually were problems with the engine or that there were any reliability issues.

In April 2011, however, Admiral Venlet, the then Head of JSF Program Office, told reporters that some engine problems were impacting on the delivery schedule.
Pratt & Whitney confirmed to the press that “a small number” of F135 engines had been replaced with spares since March 2011 “with no impact to the F-35 test programme”. These replacements were ordered after detection of a mis-assembled ground test engine and further checks had identified the same problem on other (production) engines.

Two groundings in 2013

The F-35B STOVL variant was grounded Jan 18, 2013 after detection of a failure of a fueldraulic line in the aircraft’s propulsion system. The Pentagon cleared all 25 F-35B aircraft to resume flight tests on February 12, 2013. The Pratt & Whitney engineers diagnosed the problem as a crimp in one of the fluid lines of the fuedraulic system, which is a system that uses jet fuel (rather than standard hydraulic fluid) to lubricate mechanical parts.

A more serious issue was found when on February 19, 2013 a routine inspection took place of a Pratt & Whitney F135 engine at Edwards AFB, USA. During the inspection using a borescope, there were indications that there was a crack in a LPT turbine blade. It was confirmed after further investigation. The turbine blade is sent to Pratt & Whitney in Middletown (CT), USA for further investigation.
On Thursday, February 21, 2013, the Pentagon Friday ordered the grounding for all F-35 aircraft. The F-35 JSF Program Office said in a Feb. 22 statement to the press: “It is too early to know the fleet-wide impact of this finding, however as a precautionary measure, all F-35 flight operations have been suspended until the investigation is complete and the cause of the blade crack is fully understood.”

Some facts about the February 2013 incident

Involved in the February 2013 incident was the tenth F-135 engine with 700 hours, of which 409 flight hours. The aircraft was the F-35A test aircraft AF-2. The half-inch wide crack was found in a turbine blade of the low pressure turbine section. This makes it unlikely that it is caused by so-called FOD (Foreign Object Damage), such as a bird strike, because such an object has to pass the Fan Section (3 stages) Compressor Section (6 stages), combustor and high pressure turbine section before reaching the low pressure turbine section.
March 6, 2013 the JSF Program Office told the press that the problem was caused by thermal creep from stressful high-temperature, high-intensity testing at supersonic speeds and at low altitudes for a prolonged period of time, generating significantly more heat than expected.

New significant test failure December 2013

On December 23, 2013 ground engine FX648 experienced a “significant test failure” during accelerated mission tests (AMT) at Pratt’s West Palm Beach facility.
The engine suffered a failure of its 1st stage fan integrally bladed rotor (IBR, also known as a “blisk”) while doing ground accelerated mission durability testing. The stages are made up of integrally bladed rotors (IBR), the first of which is constructed from hollow titanium (the second and third are made of solid titanium).
The engine involved was the highest-time F135 in the test fleet, with about 2.192 hr. of running time, or approximately nine years of service as a test engine, more than four times the hours of any operational F-35 engine (By comparison, the high time SDD flight test engine has 622 flight hours and the high time operational engine has less than 250 flight hours).
This event was revealed months later, on March 26, 2014, by F-35 Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan during a testimony for the US House of Representatives,
Later he told the press that “they had underestimated the stress at low-cycle fatigue”.
Pratt & Whitney said in a statement: “Our investigation is ongoing, but we have determined this incident does not pose a flight safety risk and will have no near-term impact to the operational fleet.” In April 2014 the root cause of the problem was still unknown.

In-flight emergency F-35B after major oil leak - June 2014

A new fleet-wide grounding order was issued on June 13, 2014 after an in-flight emergency situation with a F-35B. The pilot landed safely at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (Ariz.) after the F-35B what NAVAIR said in a statement to be “a major engine oil leak, the source of which appears tob e a separated oil inlet line from the oil flow management valve (OFMV) Rosan fitting. The fitting is common to all F135 engines.”
After engine-by-engine checks, most of the F-35 fleet (104 units at that time) was cleared to fly again some days later, but two other F135 engines were declared to have “suspect findings”.

F-35A with extensive engine fire at Eglin – June 2014

On Monday June 23, 2014 at 9:15 p.m. a F-35A, assigned to the 33rd Fighter Wing, 58th Fighter Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, caught fire as the instructor pilot, was taking off as part of a two-ship formation for a continuation training mission. First reports told the “significant fire” originated in the tail of the aircraft, mentioning it a Class-A (big) incident.

The pilot successfully shut down the plane and escaped unharmed and the fire was extinguished with foam by a ground crew. The aircraft involved is the AF-27, s/n 10-5015, a LRIP-4 series aircraft that made its first flight on April 22, 2013 and was delivered on May 29, 2013 to the US Air Force. The F-35A was towed to a hangar. Accident investigators have collected any related foreign object debris at the same hangar for review.
No any pictures are known or published of the damaged F-35A. Uncorfirmed reports are considering the F-35A to be written-off.
Later, one eye-witness told, according to some press reports “The engine ripped through the top of the plane.” And, about six feet of debris was found on the runway around the jet.

All F-35A flight operations have been temporarily suspended at Eglin as they investigate the nature of the incident, but flight operations elsewhere continued.

However, after a week the Pentagon said it still had not found the cause of the fire, that the engine was the cause (not the Integrated Power Pack) and the technical air worthiness authorities of the Department of the Air Force and Department of the Navy issued a directive to ground the F-35 fleet based on initial findings from this runway fire incident. Additional inspections of F-35 engines had been ordered, and return to flight would be determined based on inspection results and analysis of engineering data.
Investigation is said to be focused – again - to the third stage turbine of the F135 engine as the likely source of the fire. The third stage turbine is the second stage in the low-pressure turbine section and common to all F-135 variants – the F-35A, F-35B and F-35C versions.

Preparations continued for F-35 participation in international air shows in the United Kingdom, (RIAT 2014, Fairford and Farnborough). A final decision is expected July 10, 2014.

A spokeswoman of the Joint Program Office (JPO) told IHS Jane’s that they had “temporarily suspended” negotiations for the next lot of F-135 engines and that
Negotiations about the LRIP-8 series of F135 engines would resume whene the scope of the latest engine issue and downstream effects would be known.

Conclusion

The repeated problems with the same part of the engine may be indications of a serious design and structural problem with the F-135 engine.

A future F-35 fleetwide grounding will paralyze the Western Airpower. Also, the lack of reliability will contribute to low service ability and to high operating and support costs of the F-35 fleets in several countries putting more pressure on the low defence budgets.

Since the F-35 will be the cornerstone of the NATO airpower and US homeland defence the next decades, the problems with the F135 engine need attention of the highest political decision makers.

BACKGROUND: History of previous F-35 groundings

May 2007 (electrical system, engine): The first incident was recorded in May 2007, when the F-35A prototype AA-1 experienced an electrical short that disabled flight controls on the horizontal stabliser. A grounding was ordered and continued until December 2007, due to time needed to redesign several parts of the 270-volt electrical system and F-135 engine problems.

July 2008 (cooling, electrical): On July 23, 2008, both flying F-35 prototypes were grounded after problems were detected with ground cooling fan electrical circuitry, DCMA reported on Aug 18, 2008 that tests were delayed as a result of testing anomalies on the 28 Volt and 270 Volt Battery Charger/Controller Unit, the Electrical Distribution Unit and the Power Distribution Unit. It was due to design problems. Flights were resumed first week of September-2008.

December 2008 (engine, ejection seat): On Dec 12, 2008 the F-35 was grounded again as a result of engine and ejection seat anomalies. Seat anomalies were observed in ejection seat sequence during an escape system test on Nov. 20, 2008. It took nearly 3 months to solve the problems and aircraft AA-1 did not return to the skies until Feb. 24, 2009.

May 2009 (most likely engine): The F-35 fleet didn’t fly between May 7, 2009 (84th flight of prototype AA-1) and Jun 23, 2009. Short after reports about new engine problems (the “screech” problem). No comments were available from JPO or L-M.

October 2010 (engine, fuel pump): F-35 fleet grounded after the fuel pump shut down above 10,000ft (3,050m). A fuel pump sequence error, caused by a software bug, could have initiated an engine stall.

March 2011 (Integrated Power Package): The entire F-35 fleet was grounded some weeks after test aircraft AF-4 experienced a dual generator failure on March 9, 2011. After both generators shut down in flight, the IPP activated and allowed the F-35’s flight control system to continue functioning. The problem was traced to faulty maintenance handling.

June 2011 (software): Carrier-based F-35C suspended from flying after engineers at NAS Patuxent River discovered a software problem that could have affected the flight control surfaces. Grounding was from 17 June until 23 June, 2011.

August 2011 (Integrated Power Package): A precautionary grounding of all 20 F-35s that had reached flying status was ordered Aug. 3, 2011 after a valve in the Integrated Power Package (IPP) of F-35A test aircraft AF-4 failed. On 18 August 2011 the flight ban was lifted to allow monitored operations. A permanent resolution would be installed later.

January 2012 (ejection seat): 15 Lockheed Martin F-35s are grounded for about 12 days to repack improperly installed parachutes (reversed 180 degrees from design). The grounded aircraft are equipped with new versions of the Martin Baker US16E ejection seat, designated as -21 and -23.

January 2013 (engine, fuelhydraulic line): The F-35B STOVL variant was grounded Jan 18, 2013 after detection of a failure of a fueldraulic line in the aircraft’s propulsion system. The Pentagon cleared all 25 F-35B aircraft to resume flight tests on February 12, 2013. Problem caused by a manufacturing quality problem (wrongly crimped fuel line).

February 2013 (engine, crack 3rd stage): On Feb. 21, 2013, the Pentagon ordered a grounding for all F-35 aircraft, after a routine check at the Edwards Air Force Base revealed a crack in a low pressure turbine blade in an engines of a F-35A.

June 2014 (engine, oil inlet line): Fleet-wide grounding order was issued on June 13, 2014 for several days after in-flight emergency of F-35B at MCAS Yuma after major oil leak. Root cause: separated oil inlet line from the oil flow management valve.

June 2014 (engine): Fleet-wide grounding from July 4, 2014 after F-35A engine fire at AFB Eglin during take-off on June 23, 2014. Root cause unknown at this moment (July 9, 2014). Investigation focused on third stage turbine of the F135 engine.

 

[sferrin]

"Pentagon: F-35 fire likely an isolated incident"

The blaze on an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that grounded the military’s fleet might be an isolated incident, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer told lawmakers Thursday.

“There’s a growing body of evidence that this may have been an individual situation, not a systemic one,” Frank Kendall told the House Armed Services Committee.
Kendall said the department has “inspected all the existing engines that are in service” and “we have not found ... anything that suggests the type of problem that we think caused this failure.”

The incident occurred on June 23, when an F-35 caught fire while trying to take off from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The Pentagon has grounded all 97 of its F-35 jets until the cause of the fire is determined.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/211870-pentagon-f-35-fire-likely-an-isolated-incident#ixzz375wZOrqt

 

[Triton]

10 July 2014 Last updated at 15:36 ET

"F-35 combat jet's UK debut at Fairford Air Tattoo cancelled"

Source:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28257349

It was hoped the F-35B Lightning IIs would be at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Fairford, Gloucestershire which, starts on Friday.

But last week the entire fleet of F-35's was grounded in the US following an engine fire.

There is still some optimism that the jet might appear at the Farnborough Air Show which starts on Monday.

Organisers of the tattoo said in a statement: "Despite everyone's best endeavours, it has now been decided that the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II will not fly at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) 2014 as all of the aircraft currently remain grounded."

At a cost of around $400bn (£230bn), the F-35 family of jets is the most expensive defence project in US history.
F-35B

Britain has invested heavily in the jet and some 500 British companies are involved in the project.

The initial UK order for 14 F-35Bs will, with support costs added, have a price tag of about £2.5bn.

BAE Systems has invested £150m in facilities that will build the rear part of the fuselage and tail fins.

BAE says it employs 2,000 "highly skilled" staff on the programme in the UK.

But the project, led by US-based Lockheed Martin, has been hit by repeated delays and cost overruns.
'Quite embarrassing'

Last week the US Air Force and the US Navy grounded the aircraft following an engine fire on one of the planes.

That has jeopardised the plane's appearance at the Farnborough Air Show, where four of the F-35B models - also known as the Lightning II's - were due to appear.

"If the F-35 doesn't make it to the show it's quite embarrassing. It will jeopardise the timing of export orders," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with Teal Group.

"But assuming there's no major problems here, we aren't expecting a serious blow to the programme."

Last week the Queen named one of the aircraft carriers due to carry the jets.

The RAF is taking the lead on bringing the jets into service, although each squadron of F-35B Lightning IIs will be joint with the Fleet Air Arm, with the first flight trials on board HMS Queen Elizabeth due in 2018.

 

[GTX]

Defense Secretary Visits Eglin

(Source: Eglin AFB Public Affairs; issued July 10, 2014)

EGLIN AFBASE, Fla. -- "You make a difference. You are defining history," said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, flanked by two F-35A Lightning IIs, during a troop call here July 10.

Hagel's four-hour tour of the 33rd Fighter Wing's F-35 integrated training center included the mission simulator, a hands-on tour of an F-35A static display as well as a discussion with joint strike fighter pilots and maintenance chiefs.

After the meeting, Hagel said the pilots and maintainers were clear about what they thought about this aircraft.

"They told me this is the best aircraft they've ever flown and some said it was easiest they've ever flown. They gave me a very good sense of this aircraft, capabilities, what it can do, how important it is going to be for our national security. I was particularly happy to hear that because I believe this aircraft is the future fighter of our services."

During the troop call, Hagel focused on safety first with reassuring words after a recent F-35 accident here temporarily suspended F-35A flying operations.

"We are not going to put aircraft in the air or ask anyone to risk their life on any platform for any reason unless we feel absolutely secure that it is safe," he said. "That is what we are evaluating now as you know."

The incident is still under investigation.

The Defense Secretary moved on to financial matters because he said he knows it is on troops' minds, especially how it affects their career, future, family.

"We are undergoing as intense a budget reduction process as this department has seen in many years ", he said. "We are going to have to be smart about how we prioritize our resources, be clear in our missions and be effective in how we operate. I know you are doing that and I'm aware of it. We are making progress in some areas."

After the troop call, Hagel shook hands with service members and handed out coins.

"People are the highest priority of our enterprise," Hagel said. "Quality of the people makes the institution. This base represents that quality of people and priority. The base is defining a new dynamic of world affairs and of security. This platform is going to do that as much as any platform we've had in recent times, but this would never work would work without you."

Members of the 33rd FW realize the significance of the defense secretary's visit.

"It's always an honor to have decision makers visit from DC," said Lt. Col. Eric Smith, 33rd Operations Support Squadron commander. "It signifies how important the program is to national defense."

-ends-

 

[GTX]

DOD Plans to Deliver F-35's 5th Gen Capability At 4th Gen Cost By 2019

(Source: F-35 Joint Program Office via Lockheed Martin; issued July 10, 2014)

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- Today, the Department of Defense announced an agreement aimed at reducing the price of an F-35 Lightning II 5th generation fighter to the equivalent of today's 4th generation fighters by the end of the decade.

Designated "The Blueprint for Affordability," the DoD and F-35 industry partners - Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems signed an agreement to implement cost reduction initiatives to lower the production costs of F-35 aircraft.

The agreement is built upon the U.S. Government's Better Buying Power 2.0 initiative, which encouraged defense contractors and the USG acquisition community to determine new and innovative ways to reduce the cost of their goods and services. Leading the change is an upfront investment by Lockheed Martin and F-35 industry teammates BAE Systems and Northrup Grumman.

Specifically, LM, NG, and BAE will invest up to $170 million from 2014 - 2016 in affordability measures, directly resulting in a lower-priced aircraft. Only after a reduction of cost, will industry recoup the investment plus profit with the accrued savings from the cost reduction initiatives.

From 2016-2018, the USG has the option to invest additional money if the initial cost reduction initiatives are successful. The primary way the government will realize its savings is through reduced F-35 unit recurring flyaway (URF) cost.

"This is a significant change in business approach within the F-35 program," said Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 Program Executive Officer. "Industry partners will make an upfront investment into cost cutting measures that the government and taxpayers will reap benefits from by buying F-35s at a lower cost. By 2019, we expect that the F-35 with its unprecedented 5th generation capability will be nearly equal in cost to any other fighter on the market, but with far more advanced capability."

The reduced URF will have long reaching benefits for the program, and international countries purchasing F-35s will also benefit from this savings. In the future, the government is looking at similar ways to drive down the costs of operating and sustaining the F-35.

"We are taking these unprecedented measures in support of our customers' affordability challenges," said Lorraine Martin Executive Vice President and General Manager, F-35 Program. "We have total faith in the F-35 to support the U.S. and our allies' future defense needs. Our industry team knows what is at stake given the current budgetary and global security demands to reach these cost milestones."

The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, advanced mission systems, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and cutting-edge sustainment. Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least 10 other countries.

-ends-

 

[fightingirish]

Code One Magazine - Cold Stops
By Eric Hehs Posted 11 July 2014

With the exception of serial numbers and other surface markings, one F-35A tends to look like the next F-35A. Soon, however, a small, aerodynamically clean bump on the upper surface between the two vertical tails will distinguish Norwegian F-35As from other F-35s.


The bump, more accurately called a pod, will contain a drag chute system for rapidly decelerating Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35s after landing on the country’s short, icy runways. While Norway will be the first country to receive the pod, Canada and the Netherlands are also considering adding the capability to their Lightning IIs.


“All three countries currently use supplemental systems to slow their fighter aircraft during landings in icy conditions,” explained Suku Kurien, the Lockheed Martin program manager for the Norway drag chute system. “Norwegian and Dutch F-16s use drag chutes. Canadian CF-18s use arresting hooks.” In general, drag chutes are used for fighters that operate from shorter runways or from short, wet or icy runways in extremely cold climates.


Since none of the baseline F-35 configurations required a drag chute, the system represents the first modification to the F-35 design to come after the System Development and Demonstration Phase. “The drag chute system is the first new capability to be contracted for the F-35 by one of the original eight international partners,” added Kurien.


The drag chute program was born from a Lockheed Martin study funded by Norway, Canada, and the Netherlands in 2010. “We reviewed many alternatives with Lockheed Martin, including thrust reversers and larger wings,” explained Lt. Col. Christoffer Eriksen, former F-35 Norwegian Assistant National Deputy who led the study for Norway. “We have used the drag chute regularly on our F-16s with ease and success. When this concept was proposed, we were comfortable with it as were our Dutch teammates who also fly F-16s.”


The biggest challenge for the program was to develop a pod that did not degrade the F-35’s stealth capabilities and aerodynamics. “We put a lot of effort into optimizing the fairing shape to provide sufficient volume for the drag chute and mechanism while minimizing drag and signature impacts,” according to Adam Minks, the Lockheed Martin lead for the study.


Norway further challenged Lockheed Martin by moving up the delivery of its first two aircraft to 2015. “We requested the drag chute internal capabilities be included even though the final requirements were not complete,” said Eriksen. “To save time, the development program began with reengineering the aircraft structure while simultaneously defining the program requirements,” said Kurien.


Representatives from Lockheed Martin, the F-35 Joint Program Office, and Norway began developing the drag chute system in 2012. The basic goals were defined early on including the specified minimums for runway length and defined icy conditions, flying qualities, and operational life for the drag chute and structure. Maintenance needs were also defined. The methods to verify and certify the system were established. Norway is expected to procure a total of fifty-two F-35s and associated drag chute systems.


Structural changes involved adding a load fitting onto an upper fuselage bulkhead near the aft portion of the wing and redesigning the skins in the wing and aft fuselage. The tool fixtures used to manufacture the wing carry-through and aft fuselage structures were modified to allow for the change. These changes were made on the production lines in Fort Worth, Texas, and in Marietta, Georgia, for the wing and in Samlesbury, UK, for the aft fuselages that are produced there.


The drag chute system itself consists of a removable, or missionized pod. While Norway will likely operate with the pod installed full-time, other countries have the option of installing the pod as needed. The system is being designed much as a wing pylon so that the pod can be installed and removed with minimal time and effort.


To deploy the chute, the pilot flips a switch up on the upper left side of the instrument panel. The switch activates hydraulic actuators that open the pod to release a Kevlar parachute. Once the aircraft is slowed sufficiently, the pilot flips the same switch down to release the drag chute as the aircraft comes to a stop.


Besides developing the pod and modifying the structure to accommodate it, the design team is evaluating the effects of the pod in terms of flight performance, signature, and sensor interaction, to ensure the aircraft capability is not degraded.


“The pod acts as a fin that, from analysis and wind tunnel testing, has little to no adverse effect on the aircraft's capabilities,” explained Kurien.


To verify the wind tunnel tests and certify the overall design for operational use, the drag chute system will go through a flight test program at Edwards AFB, California, beginning in 2017. “We are currently planning to use the SDD F-35A test aircraft designated as AF-2,” said Kurien. “AF-2 is a loads aircraft and has the best instrumentation to support the tests.”


Initial tests will confirm aero performance and flying qualities predictions. These tests will be followed by a series of landing tests with chute deployment on a dry runway surface with various crosswinds and aircraft configurations. The final tests at Edwards will involve wet runway landings with chute deployments.


AF-2 will move to a cold-weather location for the final tests, which will involve ground handling maneuvers and landings with chute deployment on an icy runway. The location for this test has not been finalized, though the test team is considering JB Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.


“Designing the drag chute system is truly a collaborative effort. Not just between Norway and Lockheed Martin but also with the F-35 JPO,” according to Jeff Mohr, the chief project engineer for the drag chute program. “Our success to date with such an aggressive schedule would only be possible with the trust and collaborative relationship among all three entities. Norway is involved directly with the engineers at a very detailed level. This level of involvement assures Norway that Lockheed Martin is incorporating its requirements to its satisfaction.”


“The drag chute system is a significant capability for Norway and for other F-35 customers,” said Kurien.“ Getting this design off the drawing board and into the F-35 fleet for the Royal Norwegian Air Force is important for Norway’s national defense plans. And it will be a major accomplishment for the F-35 program. Everyone involved will feel a huge sense of accomplishment when we see the system being used in an operational environment.”


Eric Hehs is the editor of Code One.

Article: http://www.codeonemagazine.com/article.html?item_id=138
Pictures: http://www.codeonemagazine.com/gallery_slideshow.html?item_id=3453


Some of these pictures were also printed the magazine "Air International - Special - F-35 Lightning II - An Air Warfare Revolution" in an article about the F-35 Lightning II for the [font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Royal Norwegian [/font]
Air Force.IMHO, I would not be surprised, if other customers would install that pod not to just only hold a drag chute. As like on the Israeli F-15I's and F-16I's, that pod could accommodate home built sensors, satellites communications or other electronic defense systems.

 

[Triton]

"Kendall: Fan-Blade Rubbing Cause of F-35 Fire"
Jul. 13, 2014 - 05:25PM |
By AARON MEHTA

Source:
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140713/DEFREG02/307130026/Kendall-Fan-Blade-Rubbing-Cause-F-35-Fire

LONDON — Inspectors now believe they know the cause of the fire that damaged an F-35A the morning of June 23, but remain unclear on why the incident occurred.

The fire was caused by “excessive” rubbing of fan blades inside the F135 engine that powers the plane, Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s head of acquisitions, told reporters today in London. The news was reported by multiple outlets, including Reuters.

However, the bigger question remains about whether the incident was a one-off situation or whether it is the result of a previously unknown fleet-wide defect. Sources indicated to Defense News it is likely not a major flaw across all the planes, but investigators continue to work the issue.

Kendall is expected to give more details Monday during a public event at the Farnborough International Airshow.

The fire , which heavily damaged the F-35A model known as AF-27, eventually led to the grounding of the entire F-35 fleet on July 3. That in turn caused the jet to miss its much-ballyhooed international debut at the Royal International Air Tattoo last week.

As the planes remain grounded, a follow-up appearance at the Farnborough International Airshow is also now in doubt, with organizers already ruling it out for Monday.

This is the second recent fan-related incident for F135 engine, designed by Pratt & Whitney. However, the last incident occurred in a different part of the engine, making it unlikely the two are related.

Bennett Crosswell, the head of Pratt’s military engine group, defended his company’s work on the platform Sunday.

“This is a challenging time for us as we go through this investigation, but overall when you look at the engine and how it’s done, mission readiness is over 98 percent in flight test, and high-nineties for operational use,” Crosswell said. “The engine is delivering, and we have to continue to do that going forward.”

“We’re focused on all our programs, but certainly the f-35 program is the largest program going forward. It’s still in development, in production and in sustainment. Being focused on all three phases and continuing to deliver for our customer, that’s really an important focus for us.”

 

[bobbymike]

http://tv.defensenews.com/?bctid=3668499939001

 

[Triton]

http://youtu.be/z53gAsudyLc

 

[bring_it_on]

Lt General Christopher Bogdon on the Future of the JSF program and the effects of sequestration : -

http://link.brightcove.com/services/...=3668499939001

 

[sferrin]

Lt General Christopher Bogdon on the Future of the JSF program and the effects of sequestration : -

http://link.brightcove.com/services/...=3668499939001

"Webpage cannot be found. . ."

 

[F-14D]

Lt General Christopher Bogdon on the Future of the JSF program and the effects of sequestration : -

http://link.brightcove.com/services/...=3668499939001

"Webpage cannot be found. . ."

Try here:
http://www.defensenews.com/videonetwork/3668498225001/Sequestration-and-the-JSF-Program

 

[bobbymike]

Lt General Christopher Bogdon on the Future of the JSF program and the effects of sequestration : -

http://link.brightcove.com/services/...=3668499939001

"Webpage cannot be found. . ."

Try here:
http://www.defensenews.com/videonetwork/3668498225001/Sequestration-and-the-JSF-Program

Which could all be found with other videos at the post #542 link above.

 

[Triton]

"F-35 Cleared to Fly With Restrictions, U.K. Air Show Appearance Unclear"
by Dave Majumdar
Published: July 15, 2014 9:41 AM
Updated: July 15, 2014 9:41 AM

Source:
http://news.usni.org/2014/07/15/f-35-cleared-fly-restrictions-u-k-air-show-appearance-unclear

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet has been cleared to fly within a restricted flight envelope after the jets were grounded following a June 23 fire that severely damaged an aircraft on take-off.

A problem with the jet’s Pratt & Whitney F135 engine caused the fire.

“Yesterday the air worthiness authorities for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force approved the F-35 fleet to return to flight,” said Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby in a statement.
“This is a limited flight clearance that includes an engine inspection regimen and a restricted flight envelope which will remain in effect until the root cause of the June 23 engine mishap is identified and corrected.”

Undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics Frank Kendall told reporters in London that the problem that caused the fire does not appear to be a fleet wide issue.

“We don’t see at this point what I call a systemic problem,” he said.

According to Kendall, the fire was a caused by fan blades on an integrally bladed rotor (IBR) rubbing against the engine casing. The blades were in the third stage of the F135’s turbine section. While some level of rubbing is acceptable, this particular engine was operating beyond tolerances.

Former Pentagon official Pierre Sprey, and frequent F-35 critic, said that micro-cracks developed in the blades before the rubbing led to a catastrophic failure.

“If the micro-cracks came first and very slightly elongated the fan blades, the rubbing plus heating that led to the ultimate disintegration would have been a consequence of far-to-early fatigue micro-cracks–and that means a redesign and requalification of the third stage,” he told USNI News.

The Pentagon still hopes that the F-35 will make its debut at the Farnborough airshow outside of London this week.

“This information is an encouraging step, but no final decision has been made at this time,” Kirby said.

The fleet-wide grounding of the F-35 raises questions about the wisdom 2011 cancellation of a backup engine for the aircraft called the General Electric F136.

The original idea was that Pratt & Whitney and General Electric would complete to supply engines keeping prices down and production quality high, however then-secretary of defense Robert Gates cancelled that effort due to cost. Having two engines would also mean that the entire fleet could not be grounded due to an engine malfunction.

 

[F-14D]

In addition to missing RIAT and the flyover of the Queen Mary, now F-35 has been canceled for Farnborough.

source: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28321023

"The Pentagon has said the F-35 combat jet - due to be used on the UK's new aircraft carriers - will not go to the Farnborough Airshow because of continuing inspections.

Farnborough organisers had initially said that while the jet would not appear on the opening day of the show, it might be shown later in the week.

The Pentagon's press secretary said it was a "difficult decision".

The F-35 has been grounded since last month due to an engine fire.

The announcement that the jet would not cross the Atlantic came at the same time the Pentagon announced it would resume test flights.

However, those flights would operate under restrictions which would make it difficult to carry out a long-distance flight.

One of the restrictions is that an engine fan must be inspected after three hours of flight - making a cross-Atlantic journey difficult.

"While we're disappointed that we're not going to be able to participate in the air show, we remain fully committed to the programme itself and look forward to future opportunities to showcase its capabilities to allies and to partners," said Navy Rear Admiral John Kirby.

The jet, whose manufacture is being led by Lockheed Martin, is the world's most expensive weapons project, costing approximately $400bn (£233bn).