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

[bobbymike]

Eglin F-35s, Airmen Set Sortie Record

8/8/2016

​​While all the focus has been on F-35 initial operating capability, the training wing at Eglin AFB, Fla., has set a new record. The 33rd Fighter Wing in early August set a record during a sortie surge, flying 111 sorties over three days from Aug. 1-3. “This surge not only provided numerous training flights in a short amount of time but also exercised rapid sortie generation, which is critical in certain combat scenarios,” 33rd FW Commander Col. Lance Pitch said in an Air Education and Training Command release. Airmen with the 33rd Maintenance Squadron and 58th Aircraft Maintenance Unit worked 12 hour shifts during the surge to keep the F-35s flying. The 33rd at Eglin has been responsible for training most of the airmen working on the Air Force’s F-35 fleet, training more than 3,000 maintainers and more than 250 pilots, the release states. The wing has flown more than 11,300 hours and more than 7,600 sorties, according to AETC.

 

[Triton]

Hopefully, I can go to Abbotsford, BC next week end! ;D

"F-35 to Debut in Canada at Abbotsford International Airshow"
by Contributed - Abbotsford News
posted Aug 7, 2016 at 2:00 PM— updated Aug 7, 2016 at 3:19 PM

Source:
http://www.abbynews.com/news/389425501.html

History will be made at the 2016 Abbotsford International Airshow when the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II will appear in Canada for the very first time. The aircraft is set to arrive at Abbotsford International Airport on Thursday, Aug.11 and will be on public display at the airshow starting Friday, Aug. 12 through Sunday, Aug.14.

“We are always thrilled to connect people with airplanes, and certainly we are ecstatic to have the F-35 make its Canadian debut right here at the Abbotsford International Airshow”, said Airshow President Jim Reith.

 

[Dragon029]

What are Butterfly set-ups? Is that where the aircraft are in pairs one behind the other? I'm referring to a flight of aircraft as shown below;

Nope; I'm not a pilot, but according to this BFM handbook [PDF], it's this:

 

[bring_it_on]

Simulation of the Support Fleet Maintenance of Modern Stealth Fighter Aircraft - Staci Colbacchini, Allison Gahafer, Lindsey McEvoy, and Bryan Park
United States Air Force Academy

The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th Generation, multirole stealth fighter aircraft that is expected to replace the aging “legacy fighters” and their roles in our national defense. The plane was designed and is currently produced by Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force recognize that a proper information infrastructure is critical to sustaining a functional and mission ready aircraft fleet. Thus, to provide the information technology backbone and capabilities to support current and future Warfighters across the U.S. and allied military services, the U.S. Air Force started adapting a modern electronic information system. The F-35 has been equipped with an Autonomic Logistics Information System to allow operators the ability to plan ahead, to maintain, and to plan and sustain its systems of the newly created fleet. Within the system is a problem ticket system that serves as a means to resolve issues with F-35 systems. An Action Request System, which utilizes this ticketing system, to efficiently funnel the tickets to an appropriate engineering organization and back to the originator for issue resolution. This paper studies that ticketing process with the goal of creating a model that can be used to study and optimize the time it takes to move a ticket through the process from creation to closure (resolution). To best understand this problem, we have worked closely with the Luke Air Force Base Maintenance Group to create a discrete event simulation that exposes different bottlenecks in the current process. Using this simulation, we identify which stages in the process will benefit most from a reallocation of resources. The simulation tool will be used by the client to perform future analysis.

https://www.scribd.com/document/320548399/ALIS-IEEE

 

[Sundog]

What are Butterfly set-ups? Is that where the aircraft are in pairs one behind the other? I'm referring to a flight of aircraft as shown below;

Nope; I'm not a pilot, but according to this BFM handbook [PDF], it's this:

Thanks, I have the one written by the former Top Gun instructor, but it's decades old now.

 

[Airplane]

Did I read the chart correct, the 15c is better in a lot of categories? Sorry if this is just news thread and not a place to ask questions. Newer more powerful engine might correct that.

Chart 1 states that the F-15C has a better instantaneous and sustained turn rate, as well as a better ability to recover airspeed (not surprising for a dedicated air supremacy fighter; there's a reason they're keeping them for another 25 or so years), but that the F-35 has significantly better responsiveness at slow airspeeds and has better stack / scissors performance.

Chart 2 states that pilots prefer the F-15C for 9000ft perch setups, but the F-35A for everything else (although the opinion wasn't unanimous for butterfly setups).

They also left out the F-22 in comparison in which case I'm sure the F-22 would have dominated.

These charts are comparing jets against a Block 3i F-35A with a 7G max load rating as well; when the next software update unlocks 9G loading the F-35's instantaneous turn rate rating will increase further as well as (presumably) its performance in some of the ACM scenarios.

 

[fightingirish]

First pictures of the F-35A ( 69-8701, AX-1 ) for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF)

Links(English):
http://airheadsfly.com/2016/08/15/japan-shows-its-first-lightning-ii/
http://www.janes.com/article/62957/jasdf-releases-images-of-first-f-35
______________________________________________________________________________________

Seven F-35Cs aboard the USS George Washington (CVN-73)
Link (English):
http://www.defensetech.org/2016/08/15/photos-navys-f-35-completes-final-carrier-tests/

 

[Triton]

"F-35 test fires AIM-9X Block I"
Geoff Fein, Washington, DC - IHS Jane's Missiles & Rockets
18 August 2016

Source:
http://www.janes.com/article/63054/f-35-test-fires-aim-9x-block-i

The US Air Force (USAF), US Navy (USN) and Raytheon have successfully test-fired three AIM-9X Block I missiles from an F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The demonstration was the first time the AIM-9X Block I has been fired from the F-35.

The AIM-9X Block I is the first short-range, air-to-air missile to be used on the F-35, Raytheon confirmed in a statement. "We're currently firing Block I missiles, which will be certified on Block 3F aircraft. Block II [missiles] will be used in the next stage of integration tests for Block 4 aircraft," Mark Justus, AIM-9X programme director for Raytheon Missile Systems, told IHS Jane's on 16 August....

 

[Triton]

"Pentagon Grants Lockheed About $1B To Stem F-35 Lot 9 Production Costs"
By: Valerie Insinna, August 12, 2016

WASHINGTON — With F-35 contract negotiations stretching on, the US Defense Department in August approved about $1 billion in additional funding to reimburse joint strike fighter manufacturer Lockheed Martin for costs incurred on the ninth batch of aircraft, sources with knowledge of the program said Thursday.

The move provides some financial relief to the company, which had been paying out of pocket for expenses associated with low-rate initial production (LRIP) lots 9 and 10. Last month, Lockheed’s chief financial officer, Bruce Tanner, said the company had spent nearly $1 billion of its own funds to compensate suppliers.

While the F-35 program executive office declined to confirm how much money had been obligated to the company, joint program office (JPO) spokesman Joe DellaVedova told Defense News that “with what we have provided, Lockheed will be able to continue the LRIP 9 production without bearing any undue burden.”

The JPO obligated the funding through an already existing undefinitized contract action (UCA) for the ninth batch of LRIP aircraft. It is now negotiating with Lockheed on a separate UCA that would provide some cash for LRIP 10 if a final contract is not agreed to by then, DellaVedova said.

“We appreciate the actions taken by the JPO to ensure delivery of F35s to our warfighter customer,” Lockheed spokesman Mark Johnson said in an email.

The Defense Department issues UCAs in cases where it needs a vendor to perform work before the final terms of a contract have been set in stone. Lockheed had already collected $625 million through the LRIP 9 UCA, announced Nov. 3. The agreement has a not-to-exceed value of $5.37 billion, meaning that the government could use it to inject even more cash at a later date.

DellaVedova declined to comment on the timing and potential value of an LRIP 10 UCA.

During a quarterly earnings call in July, Lockheed executives said the company could not sustain paying the costs of the F-35 program with its own funds. Either a final deal on LRIP 9 and 10 — which the Pentagon has said is worth approximately $14 billion for more than 140 aircraft — or a UCA would be necessary to provide relief.

“If we don't either get funding through a funding mechanism such as a UCA funding item or we definitize the contracts, we will not be able to continue and have that level of cash outflow as a corporation,” Tanner said then. “We simply don't have that capacity. The Pentagon clearly knows that situation, and I'm optimistic that we're going to get cash soon.”

DellaVedova stressed that the JPO did not obligate additional LRIP 9 funding in response to Tanner’s statements. The office started the process to increase the value of the UCA in June, he said.

“The F-35 joint program office manages the program. We know the cost. We know the technical issues with the program,” he said. “And working with industry partners, we know what it takes to deliver aircraft. So we knew that additional funds would be needed to cover the work for the LRIP 9 jets and so we took action to provide funds so there was no undue burden upon the company.”

Asked whether the UCA funding signified that LRIP 9 and 10 negotiations will continue to drag on, DellaVedova demurred.

“We want to ensure the continued production of F-35s while we continue to negotiate a fair deal,” he said.

The JPO initially predicted it would have a final contract in hand early this year.[ /quote]


Source:
http://www.businessinsider.com/more-pentagon-money-for-f35-2016-8

 

[Triton]

"Navy Pilots Describe How the F-35’s Brains Will Change Air Warfare"
By Patrick Tucker

August 16, 2016

Source:
http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2016/08/navy-pilots-describe-how-f-35s-brains-will-change-air-warfare/130812/

 

[Triton]

"Navy finishing up testing of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter"
Mike Gooding, WVEC 5:50 PM. EST August 16, 2016

ABOARD USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (WVEC) -- The Navy is finishing up its third and final round of sea-based developmental testing on its fighter jet of tomorrow, the F-35-C Lightning Two Joint Strike Fighter.

The experimentation is taking place this week in the Atlantic, aboard the U-S-S George Washington, 100 miles off the coast of Virginia, in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Air Force earlier this month proclaimed that its variant of the stealthy F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has reached "initial operating capability."

The Navy's not quite there yet, this week, finishing up two years of at-sea testing.

The $100 million, single engine airplane features a revolutionary software upgrade that makes the flight's final moments far easier for F-35 pilots. It's called "MAGIC CARPET," and What it does is put the jets into a sort of automatic landing mode that guides the plane's trajectory to the deck and reduces any frantic adjustments out of the process.

The pilots like it.

"It extremely reduces the workload of landing aboard the aircraft carrier, making it a really enjoyable experience." said LCDR Daniel Kitts.

CDR Ted Dyckman agreed, saying, It's just easy, it's really easy to fly."

But getting to this point has been anything but easy.

The Joint Strike Fighter, with more than 400 deficiencies, including numerous hardware malfunctions and software glitches during testing, is already the most expensive weapons program in U.S. History.

And by 2014, the program was already $163 billion over budget and 7 years behind schedule.

Still, Navy leaders are optimistic about what the future holds.

"There's always a risk when you're doing something that's new," said RADM Roy Kelley. "So there's always some concern. But at the same time, we've had some very good successes with the programs."

The Navy hopes to have the Joint Strike Fighter operational by February, 2019. Between the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force, the plan is to eventually purchase and fly 2,443 of them.

Source:
http://www.13newsnow.com/news/navy-finishing-up-testing-of-f-35-joint-strike-fighter/299854183

 

[Triton]

Published on Aug 15, 2016

The U.S. Navy's newest warfighting aircraft is one step closer to becoming battle-ready.

https://youtu.be/vGc4Npg1oy0

 

[Triton]

F-35C Lightning II Stealth Operations USS George Washington (CVN-73) (Final Flight Tests) HD

Published on Aug 18, 2016

Aviation Week’s Pentagon Editor Lara Seligman joined the U.S. Navy aboard the USS George Washington Aug. 16 just off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, for the final phase of developmental testing of the F-35C carrier variant.
This three-week test period is a significant milestone for the Joint Strike Fighter program, marking the first time test pilots will fly the jets with external weapons.
The pilots will fly the F-35Cs in its final 3F warfighting configuration, equipped with GBU-12, GBU-21 and GBU-32 laser-guided bombs.

https://youtu.be/t98FRkIRFks

 

[Triton]

"US Navy makes F-35C carrier qualification push"
17 August, 2016 BY: Stephen Trimble Washington DC

The US Navy continued a three-year campaign to build the Lockheed Martin F-35C’s sea legs with the third and last shipboard deployment of the development test phase for the carrier-based variant starting on 14 August.

Five production aircraft from the navy’s Eglin AFB-based training squadron joined two test F-35Cs — numbered CF-3 and CF-5 — onboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean for a two-seek series of flight tests, as well as deck and hangar suitability checks.

The third carrier deployment since November 2014 for the single-engined fighter is focusing on expanding the F-35C’s flight envelope with take-offs and landing, including various configurations of external stores, a semi-automated landing mode called Delta Flight Path and take-offs and landings in cross-wind conditions.

The F-35C also is being scrutinized for how its redesigned arresting hook performs the George Washington’s flight deck. In the first round of carrier testing aboard the USS Nimitz in November 2014, the F-35C’s resculpted tailhook performed flawlessly, with no unplanned missed landings in 122 attempts, according to a 2016 report by the Pentagon’s Office of Test Evaluation. Such testing includes some planned missed approaches to evaluate how the aircraft performs during a go-around.

But a follow-up deployment last October aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower resulted in seven “bolters” in 62 attempted carrier landings. Those results may have been skewed, however, because one of the four arresting wires on the Eisenhower’s deck was out of service during the demonstration.

In dozens of attempted landings from 14 August to 17 August on the Washington, the F-35Cs had reported no unplanned missed landings, according to the F-35 joint programme office.

Carrier suitability also evaluates how the F-35C is maintained at sea. Operations require maintainers to perform checks of engines and auxiliary power units (APUs) below-deck inside the carrier’s hangar. The functional APU in the F-35C — Honeywell’s integrated power package (IPP) — vents hot exhaust upward from the top of the fuselage. The navy’s maintainers are monitoring whether the heat damages the hangar ceiling and how the emissions escape from within the hangar bay.

The F-35C also introduces a new innovation in flight controls for cold-sweat-inducing carriers landings. Under the “Magic Carpet” programme, the navy integrated direct lift controls into the throttle and coupled that with a new Delta Flight Path law to partially automate the glideslope path, with the pilot required to make only minor corrections after “calling the ball” on final approach to the carrier.

Passing the carrier qualifications is one of the final steps in the overall F-35 programme’s 15-year-old system development and demonstration (SDD) programme. The F-35C is scheduled to become the last of the three variants to achieve initial operational capability in 2018, following operational clearances for the US Air Force’s F-35A in July and the Marine Corps’ F-35B a year before.

So far, only the US Navy and Marine Corps plan to buy C-model, with the former taking 260 and the later 80. With longer and folding wings, strengtehend landing gear and additional control surfaces, the F-35C is optimised to be operated at sea.

The 13.1m (41ft) wingspan is longer than the F-35A and F-35B by 2.4m, but has recently hit a snag. Last October, a front spar of an F-35C in a durability test rig cracked at 13,731 simulated flight hours, or nearly 6,000 flight hours beyond the type’s required service life. Even so, the programme office is developing a fix using conventional methods, such as cold working and local strengthening. After 20 more hours of durability testing, two new cracks were discovered on either side of a fuselage bulkhead on the F-35C. Those cracks were still under investigation as of last March.

Source:
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/us-navy-makes-f-35c-carrier-qualification-push-428594/

 

[fightingirish]

Lockheed Martin Flickr-Album: F-35C Development Test III

 

[fightingirish]

Navy F-35C Landed So Precisely, It Tore Up a Runway
POSTED BY: HOPE HODGE SECK AUGUST 18, 2016
Before seven of the Navy’s carrier-variant F-35 Joint Strike Fighters embarked aboard the carrier USS George Washington for its third and final round of developmental testing, they completed a required ashore training period, practicing landings at Choctaw Naval Outlying Field near Pensacola, Florida. The landings went well — maybe a little too well.

“They were landing in the same spot on the runway every time, tearing up where the hook touches down,” Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, head of Naval Air Forces, told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Thursday. “So we quickly realized, we needed to either fix the runway or adjust, put some variants in the system. So that’s how precise this new system is.”

The new system in question is called Delta Flight Path, a built-in F-35C technology that controls glide slope and minimizes the number of variables pilots to monitor as they complete arrested carrier landings. A parallel system known as MAGIC CARPET, short for Maritime Augmented Guidance with Integrated Controls for Carrier Approach and Recovery Precision Enabling Technologies, is being developed for use with the Navy’s F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers. Together, these systems may allow carriers to operate with fewer tankers, leaving more room for other aircraft, Shoemaker said.

Military.com reported on the implications of this new landing technology from the carrier George Washington earlier this week, as the first operational pilot-instructors with Strike Fighter Squadron 101, out of Oceana, Virginia, began daytime carrier qualifications on the aircraft. On Thursday, Shoemaker had an update on the ongoing carrier tests.

Of about 100 F-35C arrested landings completed on the carrier, he said, 80 percent engaged the 3-wire, meaning the aircraft had touched down at the ideal spot. As of Monday, there had been zero bolters, when the aircraft misses an arresting wire and must circle the carrier for another attempt.

“I think that’s going to give us the ability to look at the way we work up and expand the number of sorties. I think it will change the way we operate around the ship … in terms of the number of tankers you have to have up, daytime and nighttime,” he said. “I think that will give us a lot of flexibility in the air wing in the way we use those strike fighters.”

Tankers, or in-air refueling aircraft, come into play because they as required to be at the ready when aircraft make arrested landings in case they run low on fuel during landing attempts. Fewer bolters means, prospectively, a reduced tanker requirement.

“Right now we configure maybe six to eight tankers aboard the ship,” Shoemaker said. “I don’t think we need to to that many. That will give us flexibility on our strike fighter numbers, increase the Growler numbers, which I know we’re going to do, and probably E2D [Advanced Hawkeye carrier-launched radar aircraft] as well.”

The F-35C’s last developmental testing phase is set to wrap up Aug. 23. MAGIC CARPET is expected to be introduced to the fleet in 2019, officials have said.

Link: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2016/08/18/navy-f-35c-landed-so-precisely-it-tore-up-a-runway/

______________________________________________________

:HOT: 14 Minutes long!

F-35C Carrier Variant Joint Strike Fighter Flight Deck Operations
F-35C Carrier Variants of the Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter conduct flight operations aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) on August 14, 2016. The F-35C is going through its third and final developmental test phase (DT-III) and starting carrier qualifications. The F-35C is expected to be Fleet operational in 2018. Units - Salty Dogs of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX-23) and Grim Reapers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA-101).

https://youtu.be/aBP1wU6lHE4

https://youtu.be/aBP1wU6lHE4

 

[fredymac]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-xkUj14rA4

 

[seruriermarshal]

F-35 Integrated Test Force at EdwardsAFB completes month-long weapons test "surge" with final Block 3F software

https://www.f35.com/news/detail/f-35-lightning-ii-surges-forward-with-record-breaking-weapons-test-successe

 

[bobbymike]

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/coming-soon-the-us-navys-aircraft-carriers-the-f-35c-stealth-17422

 

[seruriermarshal]

More F-35 BLOCK 3F test photos

;D

 

[bobbymike]

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/f-35-control-armed-attack-drones-17474

 

[seruriermarshal]

First Japan Air Self Defense Force F-35A Makes First Flight

 

[seruriermarshal]

Luke receives Air Force’s 100th F-35 on heels of IOC announcement, unit activation

LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) -- The F-35 Lightning II program took another huge step forward Aug. 26 when the Air Force’s 100th F-35, designated AF-100, arrived here following the recent announcement of the fifth-generation jet fighter’s initial operational capability.

 

[bobbymike]

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2016/september/Pages/AirForceF35ProponentsStrikeBackatCritics.aspx

 

[bobbymike]

F-35 Targets Last Unmanned Phantom

8/31/2016

​The last unmanned QF-4 Phantom targeting drone flew as an F-35 target this month at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Manned Phantoms will continue to be flown through December, when the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron Detachment 1 will finish its transition to flying QF-16s, according to a 49th Wing release. The QF-4 was also flown at Tyndall AFB, Fla., but the last was shot down in May 2015. The 82nd ATRS has been flying the QF-16s since September 2014. The use of the modified F-16s “initiates the next chapter in advanced aerial targets, predominantly in support of more technologically superior air-to-air weapons test and evaluation programs,” said Lt. Col. Ryan Inman, the former 82nd ATRS commander, in the release

 

[bobbymike]

http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2016/September%202016/F-35-Lightning-Unleashed.aspx

 

[SpudmanWP]

http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2016/September%202016/F-35-Lightning-Unleashed.aspx

ugh.. he repeated the "f-35's nozzle came from the Yak-38" myth...

I can just hear the head editor now...
Where oh where has my fact checker gone, where oh where can he be???

 

[KoV]

Haha Yak-38 .. That's more copied from Yak-141.

 

[sferrin]

Haha Yak-38 .. That's more copied from Yak-141.

Neither.

 

[Grey Havoc]

This could prove to be very bad news for the F-35 program, especially with regards as to any remaining pretensions about CAS capability and the like:

http://www.defenseone.com/business/2016/09/what-expect-when-congress-returns-american-fighter-jets-made-india-textron-stop-making-cluster-bombs/131221/

Textron Restructures

Textron Systems announced this week that it would stop building the Sensor Fuzed Weapon, a 1,000-pound cluster bomb, “in light of reduced orders,” the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. And that means layoffs. The move will “generate headcount reductions, facility consolidations and asset impairments within its Weapons and Sensors operating unit and also includes additional headcount reductions and asset impairments in the Textron Systems segment.” The firm has already deleted the bomb’s page from its website. (Google, of course, has it cached here.)

(Note that the linked cache now seems to have been deleted as well.)

Now it's always possible that this is just a pressure move by Textron to get the USAF to place (well overdue) new orders, as well as to get the current administration to stop unduly restricting export sales of the SFW. If it's not though, or if it fails....

 

[SpudmanWP]

What does this have to do with CAS?

SFW is an Anti-tank round.

 

[kitnut617]

Haha Yak-38 .. That's more copied from Yak-141.

Neither.

Yeah!, both the Hawker P.1214 and P.1216 had a hot nozzle which worked like the F-35's, and they predated the Yak-141 by some years. More like the Yak design came from info on the Hawker projects.

 

[Grey Havoc]

What does this have to do with CAS?

SFW is an Anti-tank round.

Close Air Support covers a range of sins, such as those unfortunate occasions where enemy tanks and/or other armor are right on top of your positions.

I also seem to remember that proponents of the F-35 claimed that, in addition to it allowing it to replace the A-10, the SFW would make the F-35A a viable DEAD (Destruction of Enemy Air Defences) platform vis a vis mobile AA systems.

 

[SpudmanWP]

Add the fact that the SFW would be used in such a small subset of CAS to the fact that SFW is being shutdown due to lack of need... I find it difficult to quantify these two facts against your statement of

This could prove to be very bad news for the F-35 program, especially with regards as to any remaining pretensions about CAS capability and the like

Considering that the SDB2 is specifically designed to take out tanks, it's likely one of the reasons that SFW is falling out of favor, ie it only has one target set (tank formations).

 

[Airplane]

Add the fact that the SFW would be used in such a small subset of CAS to the fact that SFW is being shutdown due to lack of need... I find it difficult to quantify these two facts against your statement of

This could prove to be very bad news for the F-35 program, especially with regards as to any remaining pretensions about CAS capability and the like

Considering that the SDB2 is specifically designed to take out tanks, it's likely one of the reasons that SFW is falling out of favor, ie it only has one target set (tank formations).

There will still be wars with fronts, troop and equipment concentrations/formations, and SDBs can't target each vehicle and enemy combatant. Just because right now we're in a fight where it's something like "Oh shit ISIS has a couple armored pieces on the move let's drone 'em with hellfires," doesn't preclude all future battles being like that. The SFW is the type of weapon that stops wars from even beginning.

 

[SpudmanWP]

I did not say there would be no effect, just not "very bad news for the F-35 program" as this news would affect ANY plane that is designed to use it.

 

[fredymac]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORFHYAALEvc

 

[phil gollin]

.

For a weight critical aircraft why have a built in set of steps complete with stealth shaped cover - they are WEIGHT.

I know the pilot has to get in and be strapped in and things checked, but a ladder on wheels would be cheaper (and make the aircraft lighter). This aircraft is not going to be "forward based" like the Harrier and wheeled ladders are cheap and could be put in every US and allied base in the world for the cost of the design required for those steps alone.

 

[sferrin]

.

For a weight critical aircraft why have a built in set of steps complete with stealth shaped cover - they are WEIGHT.

I know the pilot has to get in and be strapped in and things checked, but a ladder on wheels would be cheaper (and make the aircraft lighter). This aircraft is not going to be "forward based" like the Harrier and wheeled ladders are cheap and could be put in every US and allied base in the world for the cost of the design required for those steps alone.

The Tomcat, Hornet, and probably others have them too. Better on a carrier to have built-in stairs than to have to be running ladders all over the deck I imagine.

 

[Dragon029]

This aircraft is not going to be "forward based" like the Harrier

According to the USMC's CONOPS it is.

Besides that though, you don't want rolling ladders on the deck of a carrier; that's a fair bit of wasted volume in the hangars and deckspace and a considerable risk on the deck during heavy gusts or heavier sea states.

As sferrin mentions, other naval jets have built-in steps; in the Hornet the stairs use a parallelogram mechanism and fold up sideways into the portside LEX.