The F-35 No Holds Barred topic

[GTX]

I hope that GE/RR continues to work on the 2nd engine using thier own money.

At the last Paris Airshow, I actually asked Jean Lydon-Rogers, (then President of the GE/R-R Fighter Engine Team) if they would do that. She said she doubted they would. It would be a significant investment with the risk they wouldn't have a customer.

I am meeting with Fighter Engine Team again shortly and will be asking them again - expect the answer will be the same.

Regards,

Greg

 

[GTX]

What's the range on the AN/APG-81?

Classified ;D

 

[sferrin]

I hope that GE/RR continues to work on the 2nd engine using thier own money.

At the last Paris Airshow, I actually asked Jean Lydon-Rogers, (then President of the GE/R-R Fighter Engine Team) if they would do that. She said she doubted they would. It would be a significant investment with the risk they wouldn't have a customer.

I am meeting with Fighter Engine Team again shortly and will be asking them again - expect the answer will be the same.

Regards,

Greg

Lucky SOB.

 

[F-14D]

I hope that GE/RR continues to work on the 2nd engine using thier own money.

At the last Paris Airshow, I actually asked Jean Lydon-Rogers, (then President of the GE/R-R Fighter Engine Team) if they would do that. She said she doubted they would. It would be a significant investment with the risk they wouldn't have a customer.

I am meeting with Fighter Engine Team again shortly and will be asking them again - expect the answer will be the same.

Regards,

Greg

Sadly, unless you're doing something for the USMC who said they're interested, spending your own money to develop something major for DoD no longer pays off, and in many cases just makes them angry. This would definitely be the case here, and since the F136 design was optimized for the F-35, who else in the near term has a need for such an engine?

Maybe the Chinese for the J-20?

 

[bobbymike]

Air Force Research Laboratory poster at the Air Warfare Symposium - from the Dew Line Blog

http://apture.s3.amazonaws.com/0000012e36d577ab66c47f49007f000000000001.DSC01398.JPG

It appears that an F-35 while flying escort for a next generation bomber shoots down a J-20, impressive.

 

[RSF]

Air Force Research Laboratory poster at the Air Warfare Symposium - from the Dew Line Blog

http://apture.s3.amazonaws.com/0000012e36d577ab66c47f49007f000000000001.DSC01398.JPG

It appears that an F-35 while flying escort for a next generation bomber shoots down a J-20, impressive.

The most interesting thing in this poster is the depiction of the next generation bomber which is quite interesting!

The F-35 shooting down the J-20 can be considered more of the same marketing nonsense that's been pushed by Lockmart to date.

 

[sferrin]

Air Force Research Laboratory poster at the Air Warfare Symposium - from the Dew Line Blog

http://apture.s3.amazonaws.com/0000012e36d577ab66c47f49007f000000000001.DSC01398.JPG

It appears that an F-35 while flying escort for a next generation bomber shoots down a J-20, impressive.

The most interesting thing in this poster is the depiction of the next generation bomber which is quite interesting!

The F-35 shooting down the J-20 can be considered more of the same marketing nonsense that's been pushed by Lockmart to date.

There are pictures of that design on this site somewhere. It's a supersonic design so of course it will never be considered let alone built.

 

[Deino]

Hey ... no one posted it ? ???

http://defense-update.com/wp/20110226_f35a.html/

The first production model of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II made its inaugural flight February 25, 2011, in preparation for delivery to the U.S. Air Force this spring. The F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant – designed to meet U.S. Air Force requirements – is also the primary export version of the Lightning II. The air forces of Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway and Israel will employ the F-35A.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDlCTH723AE&feature=player_embedded

 

[fightingirish]

My current desktop background! B)
http://www.codeonemagazine.com/images/news/2011_AF6_FF_10386PR_1269967624_2170.jpg

Photo by David Drais
The first production model of the F-35 Lightning II, F-35A AF-6, completed its inaugural flight on 25 February 2011 from NAS Fort Worth JRB with Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti at the controls. During the one-hour flight, the aircraft underwent basic flight maneuvering and engine tests. AF-6 will continue flight tests in Fort Worth for about a month before it is accepted by the Air Force. The jet will Then head to Edwards AFB, California, to support developmental testing shortly after the Air Force takes delivery.

 

[RSF]

Air Force Research Laboratory poster at the Air Warfare Symposium - from the Dew Line Blog

http://apture.s3.amazonaws.com/0000012e36d577ab66c47f49007f000000000001.DSC01398.JPG

It appears that an F-35 while flying escort for a next generation bomber shoots down a J-20, impressive.

The most interesting thing in this poster is the depiction of the next generation bomber which is quite interesting!

The F-35 shooting down the J-20 can be considered more of the same marketing nonsense that's been pushed by Lockmart to date.

There are pictures of that design on this site somewhere. It's a supersonic design so of course it will never be considered let alone built.

Yes, I've seen the design before in other places, and your quite right, it will never be built!

 

[Steve Pace]

I asked about AF-05 ---

Steve, about five years ago AF-5 was removed from the production plan as the result of a joint government/contractor mid-course review for F-35 System Development and Demonstration.



Thanks,



John R. Kent

Lockheed Martin F-35 Media Relations

1 Lockheed Blvd.

Fort Worth, Texas 76108
+817-763-3980

+817-308-5567 (cell)







From: Steve Pace [mailto:stevepace43@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 9:45 AM
To: Kent, John R
Subject: EXTERNAL: AF-05



Hi John,



Can you please tell me what became of SDD F-35A number five (AF-05). I’ve been told that it was cancelled. Can you verify this?



Thanks so much,



Steve Pace

 

[fightingirish]

F-35A AF-7 First Flight on on 4 March 2011.

The second production model of the F-35 Lightning II, F-35A AF-7, completed its inaugural flight on 4 March 2011 from NAS Fort Worth JRB with Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti at the controls. During the flight, the aircraft underwent basic flight maneuvering and engine tests.

Picture 1: http://www.codeonemagazine.com/images/news/2011_AF07_FF_Richards_1269967624_9223.jpg
Picture 2: http://www.codeonemagazine.com/images/news/2011_AF7_FF_11863PR_1269967624_3502.jpg
[See next post]
Source: http://www.codeonemagazine.com/news_item.html?item_id=267 [03-06-11]

 

[Steve Pace]

AF-7 has flown. -SP

 

[InvisibleDefender]

Recent F-35B/C OPS at NAS Pax River

ENJOY!

CF-01 images taken last Friday (18MAR)
BF-02 and BF-03 formation flight last Thursday (17MAR)
BF-01 Flight #100 from 07MAR

 

[InvisibleDefender]

and some newer stuff from Edwards

 

[sferrin]

Any idea where we can find some higher res versions of these pix?

 

[flateric]

thanks for these!

 

[Stargazer]

Fantabulous set of pics!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[flateric]

another rare shot of three BFs in a row

 

[bobbymike]

LM Delivers 1st USAF Production F-35 Lightning II

Fort Worth, Texas - The U.S. Air Force has accepted into its fleet the first of a planned 1,763 production-model Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters. The signing of formal acceptance documents for the jet, known as AF-7, took place at Lockheed Martin's F-35 final assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, May 5. The jet flew to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Friday to begin its flight testing program.

"This first aircraft is the beginning of the modernization of U.S. Air Force, Marine and Naval Air power and for our coalition partners around the world," said Larry Lawson, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and F-35 program general manager. "The F-35 family of aircraft will bring an incredible increase in capability that our men and women defending us deserve. Today we begin to fulfill the vision of our government and international customers." F-35s have completed more than 865 flights since flight-testing began in late 2006. In addition to AF-7, eight more production-model F-35s have rolled out and are being prepared for delivery.

The F-35 Lightning II is the most advanced multirole fighter in the world, combining Very Low Observable stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and reduced sustainment costs. The Lightning II's sensor suite is the most powerful and comprehensive of any fighter in history, and will merge with an unprecedented networking capability to give unmatched situational awareness. Supersonic launch of internal weapons, including maximum-speed (Mach 1.6) launch of internal air-to-air missiles, is a feature of all F-35s. Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least nine other countries. Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.

Source : Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT)

 

[mboeller]

I just saw this on The DEW line:

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2011/05/breaking-f-35as-legs-too-short.html

Also here is a PDF about the F-35 (link from the DEW-line):

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2011/05/f-35_sar.html
http://www.fas.org/man/eprint/F-35-SAR.pdf

 

[Grey Havoc]

I saw it too. This does not bode well, especially for the A and C models.

 

[Abraham Gubler]

I saw it too. This does not bode well, especially for the A and C models.

It has a 1.1% reduction on radius from the KPP. 1%... think about it... that's 12 NM (22 km) of still air flight out of 1,180 NM (2,150km). With standard reserve loadings its even less than 1% of total flight endurance. Its a long way from breaking the bank.

 

[Sundog]

The F-35 has F/A-18 like performance.

 

[bobbymike]

Another F-35A Production Aircraft at Edwards:

AF-6, the second F-35A production aircraft accepted into the Air Force's inventory, has arrived at Edwards AFB, Calif., to take part in F-35 flight test activities, announced prime contractor Lockheed Martin. It joins AF-7, the first production F-35A to enter the force, that arrived one week prior at the California base. Both airplanes flew in from Lockheed's assembly plant in Fort Worth, Tex., to bolster the fleet of four F-35A test aircraft already at Edwards. Once their role in testing is complete, AF-6 and AF-7 will be part of the joint F-35 schoolhouse at Eglin AFB, Fla. The Air Force intends to buy 1,763 F-35As to replace legacy F-16s and A-10s. AF-8, the first F-35A production aircraft that will go directly to the schoolhouse, made its maiden flight on May 6 in Fort Worth.

 

[Grey Havoc]

From JAPAN SECURITY WATCH

F-35 May Be Dropped From F-X Program Short List

BY Kyle Mizokami– May 20, 2011
Posted in: ASDF, Eurofighter Typhoon, F-35, F-X, fighters, Super Hornet, Uncategorized


Kyodo news agency reports that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter may be dropped from the F-X fighter procurement program. The revised F-35 program schedule, which pushes operational testing flights to 2017 (or beyond) means the F-35 wouldn’t be delivered soon enough. The F-X is meant to replace the 40+ year old F-4 Phantom, which is already being withdrawn from Air Self Defense Force service.

Michael Gilmore, director of operational test and evaluation at the U.S. Department of Defense, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that operational testing of the F-35 will begin in spring 2017.

That’s far outside Japan’s goal for taking delivery of its next mainstay fighter by March 2017, which means the F-35 faces being dropped.

Japan has expressed serious interest in the F-35, F/A-18 and the European-designed Eurofighter Typhoon.

The Defense Ministry and Self-Defense Forces, which place importance on coordination with U.S. forces, could pick the F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighter, the sources said. (Link)

Timing has been a problem with procuring the F-35 for some time now. Unlike countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy and Australia, Japan was not one of the original backers of the F-35 program. Those that contributed money to the program get their planes first. Japan would be in the back of the line. A possible alternative would be that Japan take the place of a country that might drop out out of the F-35 program, but now with the revised schedule even that option is likely out the window.

If the F-35 is dropped, the two remaining fighters in the competition are the F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

http://newpacificinstitute.org/jsw/?p=6216

Link mentioned above:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110521a2.html

 

[InvisibleDefender]

The first *official* flyby of an F-35 at an airshow occurred over the weekend. On Sat, 21 May, 2011, an F-35C (CF-02) flew past the Joint Service Open House at Andrews Air Force Base, MD. The jet was flown by Lt. Cmdr. Eric "Magic" Buus as part of the centennial commemoration marking 100 years of naval aviation. It was CF-02s 7th flight,

Last year, a CTOL F-35 test aircraft (can't remember which) made several fly-bys during the Fort Worth air show, but it wasn't part of the schedule, the airshow was sharing the runway with Lockheed's as the F-35 was performing test points.

You can see the DC skyline in the background of the 1st photo.

 

[Grey Havoc]

Via JAPAN SECURITY WATCH

Jane’s: Lockheed Martin will build a plant in Japan if MoD selects F-35

BY James Simpson– June 10, 2011
Posted in: aircraft, ASDF, F-35, F-X, featured, hardware, Japan Self-Defense Force, Japanese defense industry, MoD, News, traditional press, U.S.-Japan


Lockheed Martin is currently competing against Boeing and the Eurofighter Consortium to get the Japanese Ministry of Defense to choose the F-35 over the FA-18 Super Hornet and Typhoon, despite countless setbacks. One of the main issues concerning the Japanese stems from the Ministry’s need to keep Japan’s main fighter manufacturers tooled up for future fighters so they want to have the fighters built for the most part within Japan, although cost is also against Lockheed’s bid. Tonight, a tweet by @samlagrone mentioned that Jane’s Industry Desk is reporting “Lockheed Martin will build a plant in Japan if their MoD selects the F-35 for F-X”. Without a several hundred dollar membership fee, I cannot confirm the article or link, but this seems like something that was discussed back in 2009. Just in case, here are some extracts from a FlightGlobal article from back in July 2009:

Sources close to Lockheed and the Japanese government say the proposal is similar to the final assembly and check out facility offered to Italy, and would fulfil Tokyo’s wish to have a domestic production capability to support its indigenous industry as part of a next-generation F-X fighter procurement.

[...]

The primary contractor in Japan is likely to be Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which already works with Lockheed on the F-2 fighter. It is not certain if Japan would want its companies to manufacture parts for domestic F-35s, but industry sources say this is likely to be a more contentious issue among other JSF partners.

Alenia Aeronautica will operate Italy’s F-35 final assembly facility at Cameri air base under Lockheed’s control, with the site likely to be capable of completing two aircraft per month.

Major sections of the airframe, systems and avionics will arrive from partner companies, with Alenia producing the wings. Italian personnel will also apply low radar cross-section coatings at Cameri and conduct flight-test and delivery activities.

Production will run until around 2022, with the Netherlands’ F-35s also likely to be assembled in Italy. The facility is also planned to become a long-term maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade facility for European operators of the JSF, and a similar model could apply to the Japanese factory, the sources say.

Read the full article at FlightGlobal, and if anyone comes across a release from Lockheed regarding Jane’s report, let us know.


http://newpacificinstitute.org/jsw/?p=6652

 

[seruriermarshal]

F-35As

;D

 

[Dragon029]

Now those images are the kind I want to see more of.
Change that background to Amberley or Williamtown and I'll love 'em even more.

 

[seruriermarshal]

More

 

[Dragon029]

I went ahead and expanded one of the photos to make it fit a higher resolution desktop for use as wallpaper.

 

[flateric]

one of those rarely seen hi-res photos of AN/APG-81



DAS sensor mockup



JSF DAS elements being tested onboard F-16 external tank

 

[Triton]

Test pilots discuss Lockheed Martin F-35:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5fcsjczkLI

 

[Triton]

F-35 program briefing by Maj. General C.D. Moore, F-35 Deputy Program Executive Officer, at Paris Air Show 2011:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b4FNNgDC1o&feature=related

 

[Triton]

Lockheed Martin F-35 flight test update - June 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvH7n7pUSbg

 

[InvisibleDefender]

First photo of all 3 variants together in Ft. Worth.
F-35A family photo at Edwards
various AF and BF photos
and some shots of CF-02 at Lakehurst for JBD testing.
enjoy!

 

[Machdiamond]

The sixth aircraft and first Air Force serial number is AF07 0744.
Per conventions, it means a 2007 delivery with production serial number 744. So it means something else here. Anybody knows?
--Luc

 

[Stargazer]

The sixth aircraft and first Air Force serial number is AF07 0744.
Per conventions, it means a 2007 delivery with production serial number 744. So it means something else here. Anybody knows?
--Luc

I think this is AF-07 (the sixth production F-35A, as there never was a #6 I think) and 0744 corresponds to 10-744, in other words, the 744th aircraft procured in 2010.

 

[InvisibleDefender]

AF-09 has arrived at Eglin AFB