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

[sferrin]

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/%E2%80%9Cits-fighting-mr-invisible%E2%80%9D-how-i-went-war-against-stealth-f-20426

 

[fredymac]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNJ4W6Y6CL8

 

[blackkite]

Hi!
http://friendship-day.net/ja/
Unfortunately no B-35B flight demonstration. Soldier said wait until next year.
I saw follwing flight demonstration.
MV-22(twice), F-16C(twice), AV-8B, Mitsubishi F-2, KC-130, F/A-18E Super Hornet , Kawasaki T-4 Blue Impulse, Kawanishi US-2, Acrobatic flight, parachute dive,etc....
I also board MV-22 cabin.
Ground exhibit.
F-35B, F-15C, F/A-18D and E, F-16C and B, B767 tanker, E-2D, C-47, P-3C, A-10, US-1, US-2...Unfortunately no C-2 and P-1 exhibition.

 

[Jeb]

F-35s in the Mach Loop in Wales

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvbUyc49MWY

 

[sferrin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txooHvssic4

 

[Dragon029]

First F-35B variant rolls out of the Cameri (Italian) FACO:

https://www.f35.com/news/detail/first-italian-built-f-35b-rolls-out-of-cameri-production-facility

 

[bobbymike]

http://www.businessinsider.com/psychological-effect-f-35-stealth-legacy-fighter-2017-5

 

[bring_it_on]

Future Integrated Modular Avionics For Jet Fighter Mission Computers - Brian Sutterfield, John A. Hoschette, Paul Anton Lockheed Martin MS2 Tactical Systems Eagan, Minnesota


Fiber Optic Communication Within the F-35 Mission Systems - Jeff Levis, Brian Sutterfield, Rick Stevens Lockheed Martin MS2 Tactical Systems Eagan, Minnesota

 

[blackkite]

Hi!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL7kLhfhMjo

 

[Dragon029]

Future Integrated Modular Avionics For Jet Fighter Mission Computers - Brian Sutterfield, John A. Hoschette, Paul Anton Lockheed Martin MS2 Tactical Systems Eagan, Minnesota


Fiber Optic Communication Within the F-35 Mission Systems - Jeff Levis, Brian Sutterfield, Rick Stevens Lockheed Martin MS2 Tactical Systems Eagan, Minnesota

Links were broken, they should now work ^

 

[SpudmanWP]

Air Force to Release F-35 Weight Restrictions

this is the safest ejection seat I've ever flown,” said Brig. Gen. Scott L. Pleus, the F-35 Integration Office director.

http://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1182874/air-force-to-release-f-35-weight-restrictions/

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Air Force leaders recently removed the restriction that kept pilots weighing less than 136 pounds from flying the F-35A. The restriction was imposed in 2015 due to concerns about the risk during ejections in a portion of the flight envelope.

After rigorous testing to ensure the escape system works reliably and safely in all planned conditions and across all pilot weights, three distinct modifications were implemented. A switch was installed on the seat that slightly delays parachute deployment at high speeds and decreases parachute opening forces for lightweight pilots. Additionally, a head support panel has been mounted on the rear risers of the parachute to prevent the pilot’s head from moving backwards during an ejection. Finally, the overall helmet weight has been reduced through both the reduction of internal strapping material and the removal of an additional external visor, which decreases injury risk during parachute opening.

“I have personally briefed every single F-35 pilot in the United States Air Force about these changes to their ejection seat, and I’m confident our pilots are no longer concerned with the safety of the F-35 ejection system. I've flown in this seat myself and believe, with these modifications, this is the safest ejection seat I've ever flown,” said Brig. Gen. Scott L. Pleus, the F-35 Integration Office director.

In July 2015, during the manufacturer’s ongoing testing, analysis identified an unacceptable risk of neck injury during parachute deployment/opening for pilots weighing less than 136 pounds. The requirement is for the seat to be certified for any pilot weighing between 103 and 245 pounds.

Air Force headquarters and wing leadership took immediate action to ensure pilot safety and work with the manufacturer to meet requirements for the seat. The F-35 Joint Program Office has been working in concert with contractors to develop options to reconfigure the ejection system.

The new ejection seats are already being retrofitted into the existing fleet, and the lightweight helmets are available in pre-production now, while full production starts later this year. The Air Force has received more than 100 F-35As to date, trained more than 400 pilots and accumulated more than 40,000 flight hours.

 

[Dragon029]

Courtesy of marauder2048 on F-16.net - redacted nations are expected to be SCP / FMS customers Israel, Japan & South Korea and possibly someone else.

 

[marauder2048]

Given the formal structure of most of the JSF documents (US first, then partner nations, then FMS nations, then SCP nations)
my guess was that Canada was the fully redacted lines between the RAAF and the RDAF.

 

[fredymac]

First external gun pod in-flight firing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HKp62Ze5lY

 

[seruriermarshal]

why so many black square in documents ?

 

[NeilChapman]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lockheed-fighter-germany-idUKKCN18D14F

Not sure the significance considering how few fighters the German's actually field.

 

[Thorvic]

why so many black square in documents ?

Because they relate to Foreign Military Sales and are not part of the JSF programme directly. So its either politically or commercially sensitive, despite the fact we know Israel, Japan and South Korea are all buying them. Some partners may feel their own aircraft may be pushed down the programme to fulfil the export orders at the expense of their own, or they will not feel the benefit of those exports as the parts they contribute to the aircraft may be replaced by locally manufactured parts in the export country.

 

[bring_it_on]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=343WvMpJXs4

 

[kitnut617]

why so many black square in documents ?

Because they relate to Foreign Military Sales and are not part of the JSF programme directly. So its either politically or commercially sensitive, despite the fact we know Israel, Japan and South Korea are all buying them. Some partners may feel their own aircraft may be pushed down the programme to fulfil the export orders at the expense of their own, or they will not feel the benefit of those exports as the parts they contribute to the aircraft may be replaced by locally manufactured parts in the export country.

So could the locally manufactured parts in the export country actually enhance the F-35 Geoff ?

 

[Thorvic]

why so many black square in documents ?

Because they relate to Foreign Military Sales and are not part of the JSF programme directly. So its either politically or commercially sensitive, despite the fact we know Israel, Japan and South Korea are all buying them. Some partners may feel their own aircraft may be pushed down the programme to fulfil the export orders at the expense of their own, or they will not feel the benefit of those exports as the parts they contribute to the aircraft may be replaced by locally manufactured parts in the export country.

So could the locally manufactured parts in the export country actually enhance the F-35 Geoff ?

I was talking about airframe components and structures rather than systems Rob. No idea about avionics ?

 

[bobbymike]

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2017/5/19/aiming-high-f-35-exports-set-to-climb

 

[Dragon029]

Bogdan reflects on his time in the program:
http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2017/May%202017/Turning-Points-Convinced-Bogdan-F-35-Would-Succeed.aspx
One very interesting excerpt:

Perhaps most compelling to Bogdan has been success in fixing the 3i and 3F versions of the F-35’s software. With the 3i version—which now equips USAF’s first operational squadron at Hill AFB, Utah—“the stability … was really bad,” he acknowledged. “We were getting radars turned off, we were getting sensors shutting down, we were getting timeouts on the ground, guys were having to ‘cold iron’ the airplane,” meaning that the whole jet—all systems, including engines had to be shut down—“kind of like … pulling the plug on your computer” to reboot the software. This might have to be done “two or three times to get it airborne.”

As a result, Bogdan decided to halt testing on 3F, the ultimate baseline software build. He said “we need to focus every effort, every person who has a role in mission systems software—the BAEs, the Lockheed guys, the radar guys, the sensor guys—forget 3F for now, we’ve got to fix 3i. Because if you don’t get 3i right, you don’t get 3F.” There was “lot of pushback from industry,” Bogdan said, because “they were worried about timelines and completing the program, and costs.” But if 3i went bad, Bogdan was convinced, “the program would flounder forever.”

A Red Team was brought in, and experts from other services and even some competitors, “believe it or not, with a non-disclosure agreement, and showed them some things. Some of the things they already knew.” Bogdan said, “Credit to Lockheed Martin that they were willing and open to bring in experts from outside [the company] to help look at this.”

Collectively, “we got the stability of the software much, much better. And we put a disciplined process in place to ensure that everything we learned on 3i was going to transfer to 3F … We weren’t going to walk down a path where we were going to add a capability to the software at the expense of stability.”

That, Bogdan said, “was a turning point,” because “once we got that fixed, I knew that 3F was going to be okay,” and therefore, “I knew we could get through the end of SDD [System Design and Development].”

http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2017/May%202017/F-35-Price-Will-Start-Rising-Again-in-About-2022.aspx

The price of the F-35A—the Air Force version—will drop below $79 million within the next three years, but just a few years later, it will start going up again, outgoing program director Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said in an exit interview with Air Force Magazine.

The price of the F-35 has come down, lot after lot, for five years. The $79 million price—in 2020 dollars—includes an engine and program fee, he said, and is for the “baseline” jet equipped with the 3F software, sensor, and weapons suite. However, “there’s a caveat” with that number, Bogdan noted. That price is “based on a particular ramp rate and quantity profile,” and if the production rate of the F-35 is slowed, the $79 million figure will “take longer” to get to.

“Every time you take airplanes out,” it will delay the most efficient rate, he said. Looking ahead, though, as a series of substantive upgrades begin to appear in production, “they’re going to cause the airplane to cost more,” he acknowledged.

They also talk more about Block 4 - as I read / understood it, Bogdan is giving a "guarantee" that an F135 or adaptive cycle engine will be part of the tail end of Block 4. He also suggests that adaptive EW (where software analyses previously unseen waveforms and creates a counter on the fly) might be part of Block 4 as well.

Edit:

Another of Bogdan talking about trust issues between the JPO / Pentagon and industry:
http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2017/May%202017/Five-Years-Later,-F-35-Relationship-Better,-But-Trust-Still-Elusive.aspx

So has the relationship improved, five years on? It’s “better, but not good enough,” Bogdan asserted. “I think there’s still a trust deficit, on both sides,” he noted. “We communicate better,” and he believes industry “recognizes that communicating in a very clear, transparent way, even though it’s sometimes painful, gets you to solutions faster, and gets you to the root causes [of problems] and moves the program along better.” But there’s still that suspicion, he said.

“On the government side, we’re still skeptical in some instances that industry would put the warfighter first, over anything else.” On the industry side, “I think they don’t trust government,” and fear “we’re going to take business away from them, in the long term.”

 

[Flyaway]

Israeli Air Force to receive unique test F-35

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/israeli-air-force-to-receive-unique-test-f-35-437569/

 

[Flyaway]

Proposed F-35 engine upgrade validates performance promises

Pratt & Whitney has verified that an unfunded upgrade for the 40,000lb-thrust-class F135 engine could increase the thrust of the Lockheed Martin F-35 by 6-10% and reduce fuel consumption by 5-6%, the company announces on 31 May.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/proposed-f-35-engine-upgrade-validates-performance-p-437803/

 

[Flyaway]

U-2 Links F-35, Legacy Aircraft Using Secretive ‘Einstein Box’

Lockheed Martin’s U-2 spy plane made its debut at the Northern Edge joint training exercise last month, demonstrating a new capability nicknamed the “Einstein Box” that, among other things, enables crucial battlefield communications between new stealth fighters and legacy ...

http://m.aviationweek.com/defense/u-2-links-f-35-legacy-aircraft-using-secretive-einstein-box

 

[Dragon029]

Last week they began testing the drag chute / brake chute pod for Norway's icy runway requirement:

http://nettsteder.regjeringen.no/kampfly/2017/06/07/tre-tester-av-bremseskjerm/

Google translated: https://translate.google.com/translate?ie=UTF-8&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnettsteder.regjeringen.no%2Fkampfly%2F2017%2F06%2F07%2Ftre-tester-av-bremseskjerm%2F

Also, the Japanese Nagoya FACO just rolled out its first F-35A:

https://www.f35.com/news/detail/first-japanese-built-f-35a-officially-unveiled-at-nagoya-facility

 

[Airplane]

I am curious, would it have made sense for Norway to choose the 35B with its short field capability? Being a self defense force do they need the longer ranged A?

 

[SpudmanWP]

IIRC the JSM missile is too big for the F-35B's bay.

 

[bring_it_on]

The F-35A is longer ranged, faster, more maneuverable, and can carry larger weapons than the F-35B. Plus its cheaper both to buy and sustain. Its a no brainer when it comes to Norway choosing an F-16 replacement.

 

[bobbymike]

http://breakingdefense.com/2017/06/marine-airpowers-future-networking-f-35s-v-22s-mux-drones/

“The sensors in the F-35, the radar, are really, really strong. It’s exceptional, there’s nothing like it in the world,” Davis enthused. “It’s the smartest kid in class.” In one F-35 flight out of Yuma, he said, “they asked us to look at a missile launch from Vandenberg and we tracked it all the way to space with the F-35.”

“It’s a King Kong killing machine,” Davis said. “It sees stuff and it’s able to kill stuff, very, very effectively. It sees through the weather, air to air targets, air to ground targets.…. Now we’re trying to push the information from that airplane, offboard that” to the rest of the force.

 

[GTX]

Israel Completes Acquisition of F-35s from United States
(Source: i24NEWS; posted June 8, 2017)
Israel's Ministry of Defense recently sent a letter to the US Department of Defense to complete the purchase of 17 F-35 jets, Israel's Walla News reported on Thursday. Each plane costs approximately US$100 million.

The acquisition was first announced in November 2016, and brings the total number of F-35s purchased by Israel to 50.

Israel is the only country in the Middle East to have the jet, which was not included in the recent arms deal signed between the US and Saudi Arabia. The plane has a range of 1,300 miles and can carry up to 8,200 kg of weapons.

The Israeli version of the F-35, the "Adir", had its first test flight at the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas in July 2016. Five of the planes are currently in operation out of southern Israel's Nevatim air base, with two more due to arrive in August, a further two in September, and nine additional planes in 2018.

Israel is also expected to receive a test plane for experimenting with new technologies.

The plane, built by Lockheed Martin, is the most expensive in history. Proponents tout its radar-dodging stealth technology, supersonic speeds, close air-support capabilities, airborne agility and a massive array of sensors giving pilots unparalleled access to information.

-ends-

 

[FighterJock]

The F-35A is grounded at an USAF base in Arizona (anyone with more info) due to an oxygen problem. That is from Reuters.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lockheed-airforce-idUSKBN1902QU

 

[fredymac]

This seems to be an issue on other aircraft as well. It will be interesting to see from where the root cause is coming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0YmTDn0siE

 

[FighterJock]

The F-35A wing that is grounded due to oxygen problems is the 59th Fighter Wing based at Luke Air Force Base, the F-35A's based there will be flying again on Saturday (today?).

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/09/politics/f-35-grounded-oxygen-problems/index.html

 

[FighterJock]

Looks like the oxygen problem that is affecting the F-35A's at Luke Air Force Base is much more serious than originally thought as the USAF have now grounded the F-35's affected indefinitely, according to the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40255544

 

[Dragon029]

http://www.defensenews.com/articles/luke-air-force-base-extends-cancellation-of-f-35-flight-operations

Interestingly:

At this point, little is known about the incidents themselves, including whether the On-Board Oxygen Generating System failed in any of the cases. All five events occurred with different jets from multiple squadrons and production batches, Heyse confirmed. However, because only pilots from Luke AFB have developed hypoxia-like symptoms, the service continues to believe it remains a localized problem.

While nothing can truly be ruled out at this point, it seems to me that it's unlikely that it's pilot error, or that it's a supplier quality control issue, at least for any major long-life components, or a real design flaw.

Given that Luke AFB is the hub for all F-35A training, my first guess is that it's maintenance error (either due to negligence or incorrect training). Alternatively, it might be another supplier quality control issue, this time for something like a gasket or hose, maybe with spares produced and distributed as part of LRIP 9 or perhaps a subset of a previous LRIP.

 

[sublight_]

http://www.defensenews.com/articles/luke-air-force-base-extends-cancellation-of-f-35-flight-operations

Interestingly:

At this point, little is known about the incidents themselves, including whether the On-Board Oxygen Generating System failed in any of the cases. All five events occurred with different jets from multiple squadrons and production batches, Heyse confirmed. However, because only pilots from Luke AFB have developed hypoxia-like symptoms, the service continues to believe it remains a localized problem.

While nothing can truly be ruled out at this point, it seems to me that it's unlikely that it's pilot error, or that it's a supplier quality control issue, at least for any major long-life components, or a real design flaw.

Given that Luke AFB is the hub for all F-35A training, my first guess is that it's maintenance error (either due to negligence or incorrect training). Alternatively, it might be another supplier quality control issue, this time for something like a gasket or hose, maybe with spares produced and distributed as part of LRIP 9 or perhaps a subset of a previous LRIP.

It's worth noting that the F22 OBOGS problems were not fixed either. They just retrofitted automatic O2 dispensers and a warning system. Maybe its time to call in some physicists and figure out what it is they don't know about the OBOGS system.

 

[Dragon029]

Was that the case? From what I've read I thought the issues were caused by 2 things:

1. The anti-G suit inflating at start-up and causing excessive chest compression, which combined with the intentionally high oxygen saturation, caused (I always have to Google this term absorption atelectasis, where nitrogen is purged from the lung and causes them to start to collapse.

2. The contaminant filter on the OBOGS was redundant and slowing flow, meaning that any lung impairment wasn't being (at least partially) offset by a sufficient flow of oxygen.

They've since fixed the bladder inflation schedule, removed that contaminants filter and put in the emergency BOS / monitoring as you mentioned. I wouldn't be surprised if there's still some hypoxia issues (I've heard unofficially that the USAF is having issues (at least with legacy fighters) not unlike the USN at the moment, but with just a lot less reporting going on), but it certainly seems like it's not really a problem any more.

 

[GTX]

Maybe its time to call in some physicists and figure out what it is they don't know about the OBOGS system.

There is a lot of research etc already underway.

People should also remember that this is an issue affecting multiple aircraft types - for example, the F/A-18s are being affected as well. Mind you, the naysayers and opportunistic journalists don't recognise or mention that...

 

[Colonial-Marine]

When was OBOGS first introduced, sometime in the 1990s right? It seems like only in the past 10 years or so that this issue has appeared.