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

Aviation Week reports: F-35 Ops, Engine Under Scrutiny

Most of it has already been covered earlier. The item's last page caught my eye because it has some news - to me, anyway - on F-35 software:
Bogdan is encouraging the Air Force to consider declaring initial operational capability (IOC) for the aircraft with its rudimentary 2B software package, which lacks a wider set of weapons capabilities that will come in the 3F software release.
The service risks having a growing fleet of aircraft unsuitable for operations if it does not consider this option before the 3F release is out. Last month, Field, said Air Combat Command is open to allowing for operational capability with the 2B, but an official ruling has not been made.
“Given that we're producing airplanes today—[and] the U.S. Air Force is going to take delivery of a lot of airplanes between now and 2015, 2016, 2017—if I can give them invasive war-fighting capability that at least allows them to do some missions, and they have enough airplanes out there, then I think that's a decision they need to look at,” Bogdan said. “If they don't declare IOC, then fundamentally those airplanes are going to be used for training and operational exercises.”
The U.S. Marine Corps is expected to declare IOC with the 2B software, owing to an urgency to retire its inferior and costly AV-8B Harrier aircraft. The 2B is equivalent to what foreign customers are also expecting at first to accept, though it includes a hardware update, called 3I. The final software standard, 3F, will allow the F-35 to launch up to 15 types of weapons from internal and external stations, Bogdan said. It is due to be completed with the rest of the development program on Oct. 31, 2017.
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2nd Dutch F-35 Leaves Plant
(Source: Netherlands Ministry of Defence; issued March 6, 2013)
(Issued in Dutch only; unofficial translation by defense-aerospace.com)

The 2nd Dutch F-35 Lightning II, which is to participate in the operational test phase, this week rolled off the production line at Fort Worth, Texas, where the factory of manufacturer Lockheed Martin is located.

This test aircraft, AN-2, will now begin a large number of factory tests. All systems that are needed to fly the aircraft and to control it on the ground will be tested, as will the fuel system. A new coat of paint will be applied once these tests are completed, probably by summer.

According to current plans, the F-35 will then be transferred to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida where the Royal Netherlands Air Force unit in charge of operational testing and training of pilots and maintenance personnel.
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Found at POGO: F-35A Joint Strike Fighter: DOT&E's Readiness for Training Operational Utility Evaluation of February 15
http://pogoarchives.org/straus/ote-info-memo-20130215.pdf

Executive Summary

This document reports on the F-35A Ready For Training Operational Utility Evaluation(OUE) conducted at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, from September 10 through November 14, 2012. This assessment is based primarily on data collected during the evaluation by the Joint Strike Fighter Operational Test Team (JOTT), but is augmented by data collected for suitability analyses on F-35A aircraft at Eglin and at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California. The OUE evaluated both the capability of the F-35A air vehicle and the training system to train an experienced initial cadre of pilots in the equivalent of the familiarization phase of a fighter aircraft transition syllabus. It also evaluated the ability of theF-35A maintenance and Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) to sustain a sortie generation rate for the Block 1A syllabus.

In mid-2010, the Joint Strike Fighter Program Executive Officer (JSF PEO) requested an assessment of the readiness to begin F-35A pilot training, which, at that time, was planned to begin in August 2011. In early 2011, the JSF Program Office (JPO), JOTT, and the Air Force Air Education Training Command (AETC) began coordinating plans for the assessment, which became the F-35A Ready For Training OUE. Throughout 2011 and part of 2012, the JPO and the Air Force worked to achieve a flight clearance that would allow pilot training to begin. The JOTT completed a test plan using AETC-developed evaluation criteria in mid-2011. The JSF PEO certified the system ready for test following an Operational Test Readiness Review in July 2012, leading to the start of the OUE in September.

The JOTT, JPO, and AETC designed the Ready for Training OUE to assess whether the F-35A aircraft and the training system are ready to begin transition training of pilots in the Block 1A syllabus. Transition training is for experienced pilots who have flown in other fighter aircraft and are transitioning to the F-35. The Block 1A syllabus includes basic aircraft systems training, emergency operating procedures, simulated instrument flying procedures, ground operations (taxi), and six flights in the F-35A, the last of which is a qualification and instrument procedures check ride.

The Block 1A training syllabus used during the OUE was limited by the current restrictions of the aircraft. Aircraft operating limitations prohibit flying the aircraft at night or in instrument meteorological conditions, hence pilots must avoid clouds and other weather. However, the student pilots are able to simulate instrument flight in visual meterological conditions to practice basic instrument procedures. These restrictions are in place because testing has not been completed to certify the aircraft for night and instrument flight.

The aircraft also is currently prohibited from flying close formation, aerobatics, and stalls, all of which would normally be in the familiarization phase of transition training, which typically is an introduction to aircraft systems, handling characteristics throughout the aircraft envelope, and qualification to operate/land in visual and instrument meteorological conditions. This familiarization phase is about one-fourth of the training in a typical fighter aircraft transition or requalification course. In a mature fighter aircraft, the familiarization phase is followed by several combat-oriented phases, such as air combat, surface attack, and night tactical operations. The F-35A does not yet have the capability to train in these phases, nor any actual combat capability, because it is still early in system development.

Sustainment of the six Block 1A F-35A aircraft was sufficient to meet the student training sortie requirements of the syllabus, but with substantial resources and workarounds in place. Some aircraft subsystems, such as the radar, did not function properly during the OUE, although they were not required for accomplishing the syllabus events. Had the syllabus been more expansive, where these subsystems were required to complete training, these subsystem problems would have hampered the completion of the OUE. Three additional F-35A aircraft in the Block 1B configuration were also flown during the OUE, by the instructor pilots, to meet sortie requirements.

The limitations, workarounds, and restrictions in place in an air system this early in development limit the utility of training. Also, little can be learned from evaluating training in a system this immature. However, the evaluation indicates areas where the program needs to focus attention and make improvements. The radar, the pilot’s helmet-mounted display (HMD), and the cockpit interfaces for controlling the radios and navigational functions should be improved. Discrepancies between the courseware and the flight manuals were frequently observed, and the timelines to fix or update courseware should be shortened. The training management system lags in development compared to the rest of the Integrated Training Center and does not yet have all planned functionality.
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More at the links.
 
Did a quick scan.
From the accompanying memo to the report:
• Sustainment of the six Block lA F-35A aircraft was sufficient to meet the relatively low student training sortie demand of the syllabus, but only with substantial resources (aircraft and manpower) and workarounds to the intended sustainment system in place.
• The demonstrated reliability of the F-35A is significantly below the program office's projected targets for the reliability it expected the aircraft to achieve at the 2,500 flight hours the F-35A fleet has now accumulated.
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From the report itself:
The helmet-mounted display (HMD) system presented problems for pilots.

While the helmet-mounted display (HMD) functioned more or less adequately for the purposes of the OUE (even though it could not be used as a primary flight reference), the system presented frequent problems for the pilots. All four student pilots and one of the five instructor pilots identified a problem with the HMD on at least one of their training flights. Problems cited in the survey comments included misalignment of the virtual horizon display with the actual horizon, inoperative or flickering displays, and focal problems – where the pilot would have either blurry or “double vision” in the display. The pilots also mentioned problems with stability, jitter, latency, and brightness of the presentation in the helmet display; all of which are problems being worked by the program in developmental testing. Pilots also commented on the usability of the HMD, comparing it to the heads-up display in other aircraft; one citing that the HMD is too large of a presentation causing the heading display is to be overlaid on the canopy bow [and hence hard to see], and another citing the lack of HMD data when looking off to the side of the aircraft, such as during traffic pattern operations.

Due to the very limited scope of the Block 1A syllabus, none of the HMD issues cited by the pilots had any significant adverse impacts on the execution of the OUE itself. Based on pilot survey comments, however, it is clear that some of these issues have the potential to significantly hamper more advanced combat training and operational capability in the future if not rectified.

Due to design, the pilot-vehicle interface causes increased workload.

Deficiencies in the design of the pilot’s communication and navigation controls causes increased workload. Cited by one of the instructor pilots during the OUE and by test pilots in other venues, the touch screen used to control the radios is not readily accessible, requires more channelized attention, has no tactile feedback, and is error prone – particularly during demanding phases of flight or under turbulent flight conditions. This pilot was the only one, instructor or student, to explicitly call out an issue on controls and displays other than the HMD issues discussed previously in his OUE survey responses. Because this issue was not addressed in the end-of-course interviews with each of the primary student pilots, it is unknown whether or not, or to what extent, the other pilots may have shared his concerns. In any case, as a member of the instructor cadre, and having had enough hours to have developed a level of familiarity with the controls and displays and the mechanization of their different functions, his criticisms cannot be dismissed as being due to lack of experience. This shortfall of touch screens is well documented in the Human Systems Integration (HSI) literature, where there is not a performance problem in low-workload/low-stress situations, but can be the cause of significant failures in high stress or high workload conditions. The program should implement pilot-vehicle interface improvements.

The out-of-cockpit visibility in the F-35 is less than other Air Force fighter aircraft.

All four student pilots commented on the out-of-cockpit visibility of the F-35, an issue which not only adversely affects training, but safety and survivability as well. One rated the degree to which the visibility deficiencies impeded or degraded training effectiveness as “Moderate;” the other three rated it as “High” or “Very High.” The majority of responses cited poor visibility; the ejection seat headrest and the canopy bow were identified as causal factors. “High glare shield” and the HMD cable were also cited as sources of the problem. Of these, only the HMD cable has the potential to be readily redesigned.
In three cases, student pilots explicitly cited visibility-related impacts that could be directly applicable to the Block 1A syllabus (a largely benign visual search environment); several other implicitly did so. One student pilot commented, “Difficult to see [other aircraft in the visual traffic] pattern due to canopy bow.” Another stated, “Staying visual with wingman during tactical formation maneuvering a little tougher than legacy due to reduced rearward visibility from cockpit.”

Three student pilot comments predicted severe impacts of the visibility shortfalls in combat or in training of a more tactical nature. One said, “A pilot will find it nearly impossible to check [their six o’clock position] under g.” Another commented, “The head rest is too large and will impede aft visibility and survivability during surface and air engagements,” and, “Aft visibility will get the pilot gunned every time,” referring to close-range visual combat.

Aft visibility could turn out to be a significant problem for all F-35 pilots in the future, especially in more tactical phases of combat training than were conducted in the OUE, such as basic fighter maneuvering (BFM) and air combat maneuvering (ACM), and possibly in tactical formation as well. It remains to be seen whether or not, in these more advanced aspects of training, the visibility issues will rise to the level of safety issues, or if, instead, the visibility limitations are something that pilots adapt to over time and with more experience. Unlike legacy aircraft such as the F-15, F-16, and F/A-18, enhanced cockpit visibility was not designed into the F-35. There is no simple relief to limitations of the F-35 cockpit visibility. In all likelihood, it is partially a result of designing a common pilot escape system for all three variants to the requirements of the short-take-off and vertical landing environment.
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First Official F-35A Pilots Fly
(Source: 33d Fighter Wing, Eglin AFB; issued March 6, 2013)

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --– Some of the students of the first official class of U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II pilots are scheduled to make their first flights here today.

The students recently completed the academic portion of the F-35 pilot training course, which includes the kinetically-based Full Mission Simulator at the Defense Department’s world-class F-35 Academic Training Center. The ATC features advanced courseware and technology.

The combined in-class and air-time is approximately three months to grow up an F-35 pilot. While at Eglin, pilot and aircraft maintainer students are immersed in a joint and coalition environment.

This year the F-35 ATC plans to train about 72 pilots and 711 maintainers, preparing them for the challenges of working on the 21st century battlefield.

Media can expect flightline access and planeside interviews for morning or afternoon flying. Telephone interviews are also possible. Interested media are encouraged to contact the 33d Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office.
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Joint Program Office DOT&E OUE Response
(Source: F-35 Joint Program Office; issued March 6, 2013)

The U.S. Air Force conducted the Operational Utility Evaluation for its F-35As and determined its training systems were ready-for-training. F-35 operational and maintenance procedures will continue to mature as the training tempo accelerates.

The DOT&E report is based upon the Joint Strike Fighter Operational Test Team report which found no effectiveness, suitability or safety response that would prohibit continuation of transitioning experienced pilots in the F-35A Block 1A.1 transition and instructor pilot syllabus.

There are no issues identified in the DOT&E report that the Air Force and the F-35 Joint Program Office didn't already know about, and are working to resolve.

There is a deliberate process in place to validate the training system's effectiveness through advancing training blocks as they are made available to the warfighter.

-ends-
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Canadians and Norwegians may find this of interest.

DOT&E report: F-35 270 Volt Battery Charger Control has a problem with temperatures below 590 Fahrenheit/ 150 Celsius.
Overnight temperatures below 59 degrees Fahrenheit, the design minimum temperature for the 270 Volt Battery Charger Control Unit (BCCU), resulted in four ground aborts and the loss of two student sorties, an unacceptable condition for combat aircraft. To mitigate this problem, maintenance crews put jets in heated hangars overnight. Moving jets in and out of a hangar to keep them warm involves five personnel for three to four hours per shift. The parking of flyable jets in a hangar also interfered with maintenance because these flyable jets occupied space that would otherwise be used for jets requiring repair. In this case, the availability of an unused weapons hangar permitted maintainers to conduct low-observable and other maintenance activities despite the non-availability of the primary hangar.
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Also susceptible to low temperature: curing stealth coatings.
The cure times for low-observable maintenance increased as temperatures cooled and caused pilots to fly some sorties using spare aircraft. As noted earlier, one aircraft was not flyable because seals around a wingtip light were still curing, but it was available for a taxi event.
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Via Navy Matters.
Somebody has put a figure on how much concurrency in F-35 development and production is costing the US Navy.
From: FY 2013 Department of the Navy (DON) President’s Budget Summary http://www.finance.hq.navy.mil/FMB/13pres/FY_2013_PB_Overview.pdf
FY2013 Budget Highlights
[...]
• 765 new aircraft over the FYDP (down from 842)
o JSF reduced by 69 airframes over the FYDP to pay for concurrency and reduce need for future modifications.
[...]
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69 aircraft, to be precise, over the five year period 2013-2017 inclusive.
 
Engine crack that grounded F-35 traced to thermal creep

By: ZACH ROSENBERG WASHINGTON DC
06:52 6 Mar 2013
Source

Bennett Croswell, president of Pratt & Whitney's military engine division, says a problem with an F135 engine that grounded the Lockheed Martin F-35 is due to thermal creep, and is unlikely to affect the aircraft further as it returns to flight.

The issue was a crack in a third-stage turbine blade on a single engine. As a precaution, the US military grounded all F-35 aircraft until a cause was discovered.

"During [an] inspection we found about 1/6-inch (4.2mm) crack on the turbine blade," says Croswell. "We felt we could continue to fly, and we took that recommendation to the [joint programme office], but on consultation with them we both came to the conclusion it was safer to suspend operations."

Thermal creep from high-temperature, high-intensity testing was found to be the cause of the crack. The engine, the tenth built, powers the second F-35A, was tested extensively at supersonic speeds and at low altitudes, generating significantly more heat than expected, says Croswell.

"It was operating at levels four times higher than an operational mission, and four times greater than the levels we had qualified the engine for," says Croswell. "That was very good news, you don't want something like high-cycle fatigue or low-cycle fatigue." The issue is not expected to impact operational aircraft for months or years, depending on how the aircraft are flown, he says.

Fatigue leading to turbine blade cracks has twice grounded the F-35 in recent years.

Pratt & Whitney has lately come under criticism from the US military's programme office for its attitude to the F-35 project.
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Via www.jsfnieuws.nl:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/10/uk-lockheed-fighter-cost-idUKBRE92900220130310
Retrofits to add $1.7 billion to cost of F-35: GAO report
By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON | Sun Mar 10, 2013 12:13am GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retrofits of F-35 fighter planes to fix problems found in flight testing will likely top $1.7 billion, a U.S. government watchdog said in the draft of a new report about the Pentagon's Joint Strike Fighter program.

Extensive restructuring efforts and progress on technical issues have put the Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-35 program on a more solid footing, but the plane's long-term affordability remains a big concern, the Government Accountability Office said in the draft, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
It said the F-35 program, which has been subject to massive delays and cost overruns and now has a price tag close to $400 billion, met most of its management objectives in 2012. But it still faced big costs because of earlier decisions to start building planes before development and testing were further along. A final report is due out next week.

The F-35 is an advanced "fifth generation" fighter meant to serve the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marines for decades to come. But the program's soaring costs and technical complications have now put it in a critical position, where any new setbacks or cuts in orders from the U.S. military and its allies would drive the cost-per-plane up still further.

The GAO draft report offers the agency's most positive outlook yet for the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program, which has seen a spate of negative news in recent weeks, including two engine-related groundings this year.
But it also underscores concerns about the long-term future of the program given budget reductions in the United States and other countries that plan to buy the radar-evading warplane.

"Overall, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is now moving in the right direction after a long, expensive and arduous learning process," GAO said. "Going forward, ensuring affordability - the ability to acquire aircraft in quantity and to sustain aircraft going over the life cycle - is of paramount concern."
No comment was immediately available from the Pentagon's F-35 program office or Lockheed.
The program faces substantial costs to retrofit planes to address problems discovered in flight testing, GAO said.
Such "rework" would add $900 million to the cost of the first four batches of jets build by Lockheed, GAO said, plus about $827 million over the next six batches for a total of $1.7 billion.

Last June, GAO had forecast rework costs of $373 million for the first four batches of jets, but gave no estimate for the remaining batches.
Lockheed agreed in its contract for a fifth batch of jets to pay for 55 percent of any cost overruns up to a certain ceiling, and all cost overruns beyond that. Retrofit costs are now shared equally by the Pentagon and the contractor.

COST OVERRUNS SEEN REACHING $1.2 BLN

GAO said cost overruns on 63 planes built by Lockheed in the first four production batches were now expected to reach $1.2 billion, of which the government will have to pay about $756 million. That marks an increase from GAO's last estimate in June 2012, which forecast a cost overrun of $1.04 billion.

Lockheed is building 58 planes for the U.S. military under those first four production contracts, plus five for international partners who helped fund the plane's development.

The report said cost overruns were declining as production costs were coming down, and Lockheed was delivering jets faster. Lockheed signed a contract with the Pentagon at the end of December for a fifth batch of planes, and both sides hope to reach a deal for the sixth and seventh batches this summer.
The GAO report reiterated the agency's concerns about the long-term procurement and sustainment cost of the F-35. It said current plans would require the Pentagon to spend $10.6 billion each year through 2037 on the program, putting "an unprecedented demand on the defence procurement budget."
It said the cost of each plane would rise if the Pentagon cut its plans to buy 2,443 F-35s or the eight foreign partners - Britain, Italy, Australia, Canada, Norway, Turkey, Denmark and the Netherlands - reduced their plans to buy 697 aircraft.

Industry executives and military officials say U.S. moves to defer orders for 410 aircraft in recent years have already jacked up the cost per plane, and costs will rise further unless Congress averts $500 billion in mandatory defence spending cuts slated to take effect over the next decade. Those cuts began to roll in last week.

GAO said the Pentagon's Cost Analysis and Program Evaluation office had calculated that the average cost of the plane, which has already nearly doubled to $137 million from $69 million originally estimated, would rise by 6 percent if all 697 foreign orders vanished.
The cost would rise by 9 percent if Washington only bought 1,500 jets and the partners stuck to their orders. But it would surge 19 percent if Washington bought 1,500 jets and the partners bought none, according to the GAO report.

(Editing by Martin Howell and Xavier Briand)
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USAF testers prepare for F-35 operational evaluation http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/usaf-testers-prepare-for-f-35-operational-evaluation-383309/

Interesting quote here:
...Having participated in the Raptor's operational test phase, Novonty hopes to incorporate lessons learnt from the F-22 programme into the F-35's forthcoming trials. "We made mistakes during the F-22 programme, as anybody does, and we've learned a lot of lessons," he says.

The pilots who evaluated the F-22 were all people who transitioned from fourth-generation fighters like the Boeing F-15 Eagle. Novotny says that one error those early testers made was that they flew the F-22 like a better performing F-15. "Initially that was ok, but then I think we realized we were holding ourselves back," Novotny says. "You really have to think about how you're going to use these jets because of the information provided to the pilot, because of the capabilities the airplane brings to the fight."

One way that Novotny hopes to avoid that trap is to recruit an operational test pilot who has flown the F-22 Raptor from the beginning of his or her career. Like the F-35, the Raptor has fused sensor systems and stealth, which require a similar mindset to operate. "We've got to get an F-22 fifth-gen baby into the F-35 programme," Novotny says...
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Caution Light causes a Cautionary landing in Lubbock Texas


http://news.yahoo.com/f-35-fighter-forced-land-texas-en-route-011439147.html


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One of two F-35 fighter jets headed to a Nevada air base made an unscheduled landing in Lubbock, Texas on Monday after a caution light came on in the cockpit, according to a Pentagon spokesman and the plane's manufacturer, Lockheed Martin Corp.


The next-generation stealth fighter was flying from the Lockheed plant in Fort Worth, Texas to Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas on Monday afternoon, when a caution warning light came on, requiring the pilot to land at the nearest airport, said Lockheed spokesman Michael Rein.


He said the pilot landed safely. The second plane landed as planned at the Nevada air base, joining two other aircraft that arrived there last week, where they will be used for operational testing and evaluation of the new warplane.


A team of Lockheed maintenance experts was en route to examine the single-engine plane at the Lubbock airport, which is about 300 miles from Fort Worth, Rein said. It was not yet clear what caused the caution light to come on, he said.
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More at the Jump
 
Singapore set to complete F-35 assessment
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/singapore-set-to-complete-f-35-assessment-383321/

By: GREG WALDRON
SINGAPORE
2 hours ago

Singapore is close to completing its evaluation of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), which it sees as a possible fit for its future requirements.

"Though the aircraft is still in development, we are nonetheless interested in the platform for our future needs," defence minister Ng Eng Hen said in a speech to parliament on 11 March.

"The F-35 will be the vanguard of next generation fighter aircraft when operational."

Ng added that the nation's force of Northrop F-5S fighters is at the end of its service life, and that its F-16C/Ds are at their "mid-way mark". According to Flightglobal's World Air Force's directory, Singapore operates 26 F-5s and 60 F-16s.

"For the longer term, the Republic of Singapore Air Force has identified the F-35 as a suitable aircraft to further modernise our fighter fleet," he added. "We are now in the final stages of evaluating the F-35."

Nonetheless, Ng stopped short of committing to the F-35. "[The Ministry of Defence] will have to be satisfied that this state-of-the-art multi-role fighter meets our long-term needs, is on track to be operationally capable and, most importantly, is a cost-effective platform," he said. "I've given many necessary caveats before we make a final decision, but we are evaluating the platform."

Singapore is a security cooperation participant in the F-35 programme, which provides access to programme data and allows it to request special studies. Ng gave no sense about whether Singapore will hold a tender for new fighters, the number of new aircraft that will be obtained, or the timeframe for a new aircraft acquisition.

One alternative to the F-35 could be additional F-15SG aircraft, of which Singapore operates 24. Another alternative could be an F-15 variant based on the F-15 Silent Eagle that Boeing has proposed in South Korea's F-X III competition.
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March 2013 GAO report out now:
http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/652948.pdf
 
First scan mostly confirms the findings of the Reuters item, but this caught my eye:

from pages 7, 8:
...[the F-35 program's] Earned Value Management System (EVMS) corrective action plan was not approved. EVMS compliance is a long-standing issue and concerns all Lockheed Martin aircraft produced for DOD, not just the F-35. In 2007, the Defense Contract Management Agency, the agency responsible for auditing defense contractors’ systems, found Lockheed Martin’s process did not meet 19 of 32 required guidelines and, in October 2010, withdrew the determination of compliance. While acknowledging that Lockheed Martin has made improvements, DCMA in 2012 found the company still deficient on 13 guidelines. EVMS is an important, established tool for tracking costs, controlling schedule, identifying problems early, and providing accurate product status reports. DOD requires its use by major defense suppliers to facilitate good insight and oversight of the expenditure of government dollars.
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Possibly related to that, from page 17:
Going forward, effective management of the global supply chain is vital to boost production rates to planned levels, to control costs, and maintain quality. The aircraft contractor is developing a global supply chain of more than 1,500 suppliers. Effective supplier management will be critical to efficient and quality manufacturing at higher annual rates. Currently, a relatively small number of suppliers provide most of the material, but that is expected to change in the future, especially as international firms get more of the business. Management of international supplier base presents unique challenges, including (1) differing U.S. and foreign government policies, (2) differences in business practices, and (3) foreign currency exchange rates. These can complicate relationships and hinder effective supply chain integration.
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F-35 & JSM do it Externally

aka JSM competes external fit-check on an F-35.

33723_img___1363095122.jpg


Development of the new Joint Strike Missile (JSM) continues, and 27 February was an important milestone when the aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin for the first time mounted one of the missiles on an F-35 at the factory in Ft Worth, Texas.

The assembly was part of a "fit check" by JSM on an external weapons station on the F-35. This is part of Phase 2 of the development of JSM, which was approved by Parliament in 2011 and confirms that missile is suitable for external weapons stations on the F-35. Later this year they will also test the missile fit in the internal weapons bay.

- Although we are still far far from operational use of the JSM this shows that development is on schedule. As part of Phase 2 of the development program Lockheed Martin have received a contract through the JSF program in the USA that includes conducting such tests on all variants of the F-35, as well as conducting tests in the internal weapons bay on the CTOL model as Norway plan to buy, explains program director Anders Melheim.

JSM is the only long-range anti-surface that is specially designed to fit the internal weapons bay on the F-35, and developed by Kongsberg in partnership with the Ministry of Defence. The missile adds key operational characteristics to the F-35, and enables it to fight the targets protected by advanced defense systems. This is vital in order to be able to perform all kinds of operations in the defense of Norway. JSM is scheduled to undergo a "Critical Design Review" in summer 2013, which will confirm that the design is mature enough to be able to continue the integration and that the missile will be a formal candidate for integration on the F-35.

- We will ensure that Norwegian F-35 get the operational capability we need, and therefore we believe that JSM is an important project. At the same time it provides great opportunities for Norwegian industry, and it is an important part of the industrial cooperation we are working to put in place in connection with the procurement of new combat aircraft, says Melheim.
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http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/fd/aktuelt/nyheter/2013/bilde-forste-jsm-pa-f-35.html?id=717070
 
On Defensenews, via www.jsfnieuws.nl
JPO chief Bogdan on reorganizing JPO, getting the price down, sequestration: U.S. F-35 Chief Reorganizing Program Office

Asked how much he plans to reorganize the program office, Bogdan said, “I plan on leaning out my program office at the same rate that I want to see Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney lean out their program offices.”
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The price tag of the F-35 continues to come down with each jet purchased, but there are many variables influencing the numbers.
For instance, when the Turkish government delayed buying two airplanes from the seventh production batch to the ninth, the price of the remaining F-35s in the seventh production lot went up $1 million each.
“In a lot of 36 airplanes, just moving two airplanes out created about a 1 [percent] to 1.5 percent increase from all the other airplanes in that lot regardless of the variant,” Bogdan said.
“What I tell my partners and I tell the services is, we’re all going to hang together or we’re all going to hang separately,” he said. “If we start moving airplanes out and each of us takes our own course in when we want airplanes, everyone else is going to pay a price for that.”
Bogdan said he believes the cost of the jet will continue to fall with each batch purchased.
“I believe that trend is going to continue on and on and on until we get to a point where the airplane is going to almost, in then-year dollars, cost what we thought it would cost in the early years of this program,” Bogdan said. “I think we can get there.”
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If the Pentagon has the authority to choose where it makes the cuts mandated by sequestration, program officials will have more flexibility in making F-35 program decisions.
“I can’t do anything that takes me off course to 2015 and 2017 in terms of development,” Bogdan said at the conference, referring to key battle-ready dates for the Marine Corps and Air Force, respectively. “The first dollar that comes out of the program will not, should not, come out of development.
“If I can’t get to 2015 and 2017 with the capabilities that the war fighter wants, why in heck would I continue building airplanes that come off the production line without the capability we want?” he said.
If money is taken from the F-35 program, Bogdan said it should be done in a balanced way. For instance, he said spare parts should not be sacrificed to save an aircraft.
“Don’t kill all of my spares to save a tail, because in two years when I have no spares, I’ll have airplanes out in the field, hundreds of them, that I can’t fly,” he said.
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Via www.jsfnieuws.nl:

Senator Leahy says F-35 is not what our troops need

This is a portion of a letter a friend just received from Senator Leahy:

"...I have heard from a number of Vermonters who have specifically questioned the value of the F-35. The F-35 program has been poorly managed and is a textbook example of how not to buy military equipment. The causes of the F-35 program's present difficulties are too numerous to detail in my response to your letter; however, I believe the F-35 program is approaching a point where the military services and a majority of Congress will recognize that the jet is just too costly to proceed with purchases at today's planned levels. That recognition may lead to a decision to diversify of our future fighter jet fleet, with the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps opting to modernize their current fleet of fighter jets and substantially reduce the total number of F-35s that they plan to buy. I do not believe, because of the huge sums taxpayers have already invested and because the F-35 is our only next-generation aircraft presently in development, that a majority of Congress or military leaders will support terminating the program entirely.

I have pushed and continue to push for a better approach to buying military equipment. I don't think "one size fits all," monolithic, ultra-expensive equipment is what our troops need, but enacting a change to the F-35 program at this stage will require the support of a majority of members of Congress. Please know that I am working to find savings in this program and elsewhere in the Pentagon budget to reinvest that money in other critical areas..."
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http://www.asdnews.com/news-48155/F-35_Production_on_Track,_Program_Chief_Says.htm
 
Story on what program delays are doing to Australian companies from Reuters:

Australian F-35 suppliers fret over potential order cutbacks
By Jane Wardell
AVALON, Australia | Fri Mar 1, 2013 3:13am EST

(Reuters) - Some Australian defense contractors say their involvement in building the Pentagon's F-35 warplane has turned into a nightmare because of its development setbacks, delays and now speculation that Canberra will cut orders for the jet.

Contracts could be worth $5.5 billion for the 18 Australian companies that are part of the F-35's global supply chain.

But among eight Australian contractors interviewed by Reuters at an airshow near Melbourne this week, most were critical of the $396 billion F-35 program.
"At this point, we'll be happy if we break even by the time the program is over," said one supplier, who declined to be identified.
The Pentagon program chief for the F-35 sought to convince Australian lawmakers and generals this week to stick to a plan to buy 100 of the jets, an exercise complicated by two groundings of the plane this year and looming U.S. defense cuts.

Contractors were not optimistic about the prospects for orders of the F-35, or Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), a futuristic radar-evading jet.
"It's been devastating," said a second Australian contractor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared losing business from the project.
"The JSF business is moving to the right and shrinking," he added, using industry jargon for when potential buyers shy away from making early orders and wait until production is fully ramped up in the hope the price will come down.

Big U.S. companies and the Australian government approached local defense contractors just over a decade ago to help build the world's most expensive combat aircraft.

Australia, a close American ally, is one of eight partner countries helping the United States fund development of the F-35.
It is also one of the largest foreign customers, with plans to buy up to 100 F-35s to replace its ageing fleet of Boeing Co F/A-18 Super Hornets and already retired F-111 strike bombers, at a cost of A$16 billion ($16.38 billion).

That status gave Australian companies a leg-up in the warplane's development program since contracts are linked to orders. The prime contractor is Lockheed Martin Corp with Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corp unit, building the engines.
But defense analysts predict Australia might end up buying only 50 to 70 of the fighters given Canberra is expected to decide in June to double its fleet of Super Hornets to prevent a frontline gap until the F-35 is delivered later in the decade.
The Australian companies are supplying parts ranging from wing components to cockpit technology. The eight contractors all said they did not know how many planes Canberra would order.

Steve O'Bryan, Lockheed Martin vice-president for F-35 business development and customer engagement, said Australian companies were entitled to $5.5 billion of work over the life of the program, based on current orders for the partner countries that include 2,443 aircraft for the United States.
O'Bryan said that could rise by another $2.5 billion based on recent and anticipated orders from Israel and Japan.
"Taken over the life of the program annually, that's around 13,000 direct and indirect jobs," O'Bryan told reporters at the airshow, where the F-35 and its problems were one of the hottest topics.

But the agreement with partner countries cuts both ways. If orders drop, so too does the business directed to each nation.
The cost of picking up the extra Super Hornets will almost certainly force Australia to cut its F-35 purchases, defense analysts say.
That would follow Canada's announcement in December that it could cut plans to buy 65 of the F-35s, a scaling-back of orders by Italy and a two-year delay in purchases by Turkey.

PROBLEM-PLAGUED PROJECT

The F-35 program has suffered a string of problems since Lockheed Martin was granted the development contract in 2001. Software glitches, engine problems and parts malfunctions are among the issues that have grounded test flights numerous times, most recently last week, and blown out both the project's cost and schedule.

An email from Air Vice-Marshal Kym Osley, program manager for new air combat capability for the Royal Australian Air Force, to Australian supply companies in late January acknowledged the many problems plaguing the program.
In the email, which was seen by Reuters, Osley wrote that media reports on a U.S. Defense Department assessment of the program had a "more negative tone" than the U.S. Joint Program Office in charge of the project would like, but acknowledged the reports were generally "in line" with reality.
Tensions between the Pentagon and its main contractors have also burst into the open.

At the airshow on Wednesday, the Pentagon program chief for the F-35, U.S. Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan, slammed Lockheed and Pratt & Whitney, accusing them of trying to "squeeze every nickel" out of the U.S. government and failing to see the long-term benefits of the project.

SOME SUPPLIERS IN LUCK

Some Australian suppliers said they could channel funds invested in planned production for the F-35 into other projects.
Chemring Australia, a unit of British-based Chemring Group Ltd, which is manufacturing air-launched expendable countermeasure flares for the F-35, has invested A$35 million in a facility outside Melbourne to produce the flares.

Production of the F-35 flares is not expected to begin until the last third of this decade while Chemring is still making flares for the F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Australian government's alternative purchase to the F-35.
"We are not seeing yet any adverse effect from the Australian position," said Giles Willoughby, business development manager at Chemring. "For us, it's the export opportunity we will lose."

Others remain confident in the program.

"I think the JSF will be very successful," said Ari Vihersaari, Vice-President of Global Business Development at Quickstep Holdings Ltd, which makes the composite used by BAE Systems to build the vertical tailing.
Quickstep has invested A$10-11 million so far in equipment linked to the JSF program, which it joined in 2008, around the time the program schedule was restructured to build in funds and time for further delays.
Quickstep expects the program to generate revenues of up to A$700 million over the next two decades.
"The offer was very tempting for us and well within our capability," Vihersaari said.
($1 = 0.9768 Australian dollars)

(Editing by Dean Yates)
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Singapore Expected To Order F-35s Soon: Source
http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_03_14_2013_p0-559083.xml
 
Edwards begins F-35 operational testing
http://www.edwards.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?id=123339856
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Edwards entered a new phase of testing on the F-35 Lightning II program with the arrival March 6 of the first two operational test aircraft.

Team members from Air Combat Command's 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron, a tenant unit here, will determine how to best tactically operate the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant of the fifth-generation fighter.

"As part of the Joint Operational Test Team, we take the aircraft hardware and software released from developmental test, our training from the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin [AFB, Fla.], the administrative and logistics support we get from the Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin, and we integrate all of these disparate elements with maintenance practices, tactics, techniques and procedures required to create an incredibly lethal weapon system that can go out and win the nation's wars," said Lt. Col. Steven J. Tittel, 31st TES commander.

"We've got a brand new tool with a whole new set of capabilities that has never been used by the combat air forces. We have to take that tool and find out the best way to utilize it, to go out and defeat an enemy on the battlefield," he continued.

With the F-35A slated to replace the A-10 and F-16, pilots selected for F-35 operational test and evaluation were hand-picked from among the best in the Air Force and bring a wide variety of expertise to the program.

"Basically, this jet is going to encompass all of our air-to-ground roles and including some of our air-to-air roles as well. What they wanted was expertise from all those different platforms that will eventually be replaced by the F-35," said Maj. Matthew L. Bell, 31st TES Operations Flight commander.

"The bottom line is we have all these jets with specialized capabilities and you want to make sure that if you're eventually going to replace these airframes with one jet, none of that corporate knowledge is lost," he added.

Bell, an A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot with more than 1,500 hours in the jet transitioned to the F-35 in December of 2012, bringing extensive knowledge of air-to-ground capabilities, close-air-support, and forward-air-control to the operational test and evaluation program.

Five additional pilots will be working alongside Bell with F-15E Strike Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon experience that adds a dimension of air-to-air expertise and an in-depth knowledge of deep strike capabilities.

"We did that intentionally. The F-35 is designed to replace different legacy aircraft throughout the fleet. So we pulled together as much experience from different mission sets as we possibly could so we have a good baseline for evaluating the aircraft across all the missions it will be expected to perform in the future," said Tittel.

Together, their corporate knowledge will help shape combat tactics of the F-35A.

"We're not necessarily trying to make this jet operate exactly like an F-15, F-16 or an A-10; we're trying to figure out how to make an F-35 operate tactically. We're trying to combine all that knowledge into a new set of tactics for the U.S.' newest fighter and make sure that those tactics all make sense," said Bell.

The Air Force also recruited top maintainers to support the F-35 operational test and evaluation efforts, who have been diligently preparing for the work ahead.

"We have a lot of top-notch maintenance troops out there that were highly sought after to come into this program. They have been going through a lot of training either across the ramp with the 461st Flight Test Squadron or down at Eglin AFB [Fla.], with a lot of hands-on academics," said Bell. "Maintenance is out there and they've been aching to get their hands on the jets for a long time."

In total for the 31st TES, there are approximately 150 personnel involved in operational test and evaluation for the F-35A. The 31st TES has grown over the past two years to include nearly 250 personnel; who can be found working in the combined test forces located throughout the base.

They also work on programs such as the B-1 Lancer, B-2 Spirit, RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-9 Reaper; in addition to the F-35 Lightning II.

While formalized testing is approximately a year and a half away, the necessary steps along the way will continue to benefit the F-35 operational test and evaluation program.

According to Bell, once the ground engine runs for maintenance are completed, he expects the flying to begin shortly thereafter. Initial flying operations will help pilots become familiar with their new airframe.

"Regardless of the experience we had before, this is still a new jet. In my mind, there is a large spin-up time to become experienced enough for the high-tempo scenarios we're going to be involved in," said Bell. "While actual formal testing will begin in about a year and a half, everything that we're going to be doing up to that point will benefit the program."

Formalized testing will evaluate the production-representative F-35A, as well as support equipment and the logistics supply system in an operationally representative environment; with the ultimate goal of determining whether or not the program is suitable and effective in a real-world combat environment.

It encompasses the aircraft's survivability, as well as the ability to support and execute flight operations and maintenance at home and in deployed locations.

"We are the Air Force element of the larger joint and international test effort that will occur here at Edwards to get the F-35 through its initial test and evaluation, both for the Block 2 and Block 3 software," said Tittel.

"We're very much tactics developers, but we're still evaluating the aircraft from an operational perspective; from the time we get it to the time we finally send it out as a completed product to the combat air forces," he continued.

The men and women of the 31st TES will not only shape the future of air combat tactics for the F-35A, but they will ensure that the program is effective, sustainable and efficient in the real-world combat environment - a top priority for the Air Force of tomorrow.

"The Joint Operational Test Team has moved into a new phase. What we do here over the next few years will absolutely play a large part in determining the jet's effectiveness in real-world operations for the next 30 to 40 years, at least," said Tittel. "It's a privilege to be on the leading edge of integrating new technologies into a combat airframe and then releasing it out to the combat air forces."
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Denmark Starts Over
http://www.fmn.dk/nyheder/Pages/Valgetafnytkampflystarterigen.aspx Sorry, source is in Danish.

In English: http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130314/DEFREG01/303140009/Denmark-Relaunches-Fighter-Jet-Competition?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
 
Northrop Grumman Delivers 500th Distributed Aperture System Sensor Component for the F-35 Lightning II
(Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.; issued March 14, 2013)

BALTIMORE --- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) has delivered its 500th AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System (DAS) sensor to Lockheed Martin for integration into the F-35 Lightning II aircraft.

The DAS is a multifunction infrared system that provides passive, spherical battlespace awareness for F-35 pilots by simultaneously detecting and tracking aircraft and missiles in every direction, as well as providing visual imagery for day/night navigation and targeting purposes. DAS imagery projected onto the pilot's helmet mounted display provides the capability to look at targets and terrain through the floor and wings of the aircraft. The DAS works in conjunction with the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-81 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and other onboard systems to give pilots an unprecedented degree of situational awareness.

"This production milestone is a testament to the maturity of the sensor design and our manufacturing processes," said Mark Rossi, Northrop Grumman's DAS business area director. "This revolutionary system is integral to the F-35's fifth-generation leap in technology and Northrop Grumman is ensuring that the sensor systems are ready to meet the warfighter's needs."

As a principal member of the Lockheed Martin-led F-35 industry team, Northrop Grumman performs a significant share of the work required to develop and produce the aircraft. In addition to producing the DAS and software modes, Northrop Grumman designed and produces the aircraft's AN/APG-81AESA radar and communications subsystems; produces the center fuselage; develops mission systems and mission-planning software; leads the team's development of pilot and maintenance training system courseware; and manages the team's use, support and maintenance of low-observable technologies.


Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cybersecurity, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide.

-ends-
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First F-35A Aircraft report to Nellis AFB for operational Testing

https://www.f35.com/the-f-35/f-35-bases/nellisafb.aspx

FORT WORTH, Texas, March 19, 2013 – Four Lockheed Martin F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) aircraft were officially welcomed by the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. during a commemorative ceremony today. The jets are assigned to the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron of the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group.
Click to expand...
 
RAF's first operational F-35 pilot flies first training sortie
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/rafs-first-operational-f-35-pilot-flies-first-training-sortie-383642/
 
Northrop Grumman Delivers 100th Center Fuselage For F-35 Lightning II
(Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.; issued March 19, 2013)

PALMDALE, Calif. --- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) marked the delivery of its 100th F-35 Lightning II center fuselage to Lockheed Martin during a ceremony at its manufacturing center on March 8.

"The F-35 team should be very proud of all its hard work in reaching this milestone," said Michelle Scarpella, vice president of the F-35 program for Northrop Grumman. "All employees, suppliers and teammates focused on executing their work, always with an eye on quality and affordability. It's the reason we're able to stand here today and say that we've delivered on schedule and on budget, and that we're operating as planned."

This center fuselage will be integrated into the 100th aircraft, a conventional takeoff and landing variant of the F-35, and will be designated AF-41. The jet will be delivered to the U.S. Air Force and is slated for pilot training at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.

Northrop Grumman began production on the AF-41 center fuselage in March 2012 and completed work on Feb. 26. It was shipped to Lockheed Martin on March 5. Northrop Grumman has been producing F-35 center fuselages since May 2004.

"In 2011, we celebrated the delivery of the 50th center fuselage," said Scarpella. "It took us a little over seven years to reach that milestone. Now, about a year and a half later, we're delivering our 100th. The speed at which we reached this milestone is a testament to the commitment of our team and the efficiencies of our Integrated Assembly Line [IAL]."

The IAL maximizes robotics and automation, providing additional capacity and assembly capability while meeting engineering tolerances that are not easily achieved using manual methods. The IAL is central in producing the F-35's center fuselage as well as increasing the program's affordability, quality and efficiency. The IAL design uses a system-engineering approach to integrate tooling and structure transport, system automation, automated drilling cells and tooling mechanization coordinated across multiple build centers.

The IAL was developed and designed with the help of the Detroit-based KUKA Robotics Aerospace Division, a commercial automation integrator, and was inspired by automation systems used by American automakers.

As a principal member of the Lockheed Martin-led F-35 industry team, Northrop Grumman performs a significant share of the work required to develop and produce the aircraft. In addition to producing the F-35 center fuselage, Northrop Grumman designed and produces the aircraft's radar and other key avionics including electro-optical and communications subsystems; develops mission systems and mission-planning software; leads the team's development of pilot and maintenance training system courseware; and manages the team's use, support and maintenance of low-observable technologies. In 2012, the company delivered 32 center fuselages and is on track to exceed 2012 delivery quantities in 2013.

Northrop Grumman's Palmdale site is a world-class facility that provides assembly, integration, testing and long-term maintenance capabilities for the F-35 and some of the world's other most advanced aircraft, including the B-2 Spirit and RQ-4 Global Hawk.


Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cybersecurity, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide.

-ends-
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Asia's F-35 Buyers Forced To Wait As China Seeks Edge
http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_03_21_2013_p0-561421.xml&p=1
 
w00t... STOVL ain't just for the test pilots anymore. ;D

VMFA-121 F-35B Lightning II short take off, and vertical landing

Read more: http://www.dvidshub.net/video/284788/vmfa-121-f-35b-lightning-ii-short-take-off-and-vertical-landing#.UUu65hzYggI#ixzz2OEL5RdX2
 
Dutch F-35 Orders Likely Scaled Back: Reuters
http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_03_22_2013_p0-561828.xml

...The Netherlands may cut 17 to 33 F-35s from its initial plans to buy 85 of the new warplanes, according to people close to the discussions who were not authorized to speak publicly since final decisions are not expected until later this year...
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F-35 Parts From Rolls-Royce 160 Days Late, Pentagon Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-25/f-35-parts-from-rolls-royce-160-days-late-pentagon-says.html
 
Published on Mar 21, 2013

Maj Richard Rusnok, first "operational" STOVL sortie at VMFA-121 squadron, MCAS Yuma, Arizona.

http://youtu.be/F-64-_DbMJo
 
Published on Mar 26, 2013

Interviews and highlights from the F-35 delivery ceremony at Nellis AFB, Nevada on March 19. 2013. The delivery of the first operational-coded 5th Generation F-35A CTOL fighters to Nellis AFB marks the beginning of operational testing and evaluation at the base.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAKn1UrQY2A&feature=share&list=UUJWcF0ex7_doPdIQGbVpDsQ
 

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