F-35 - News and Discussions | Page 2 | World Defense
Joined
Jan 9, 2015
Messages
184
Reactions
40 1 0
Country
Euro
Location
Euro
The F-35 is turning out to be a complete fiasko. It's horrible, so much money being thrown at it but very little progress to show for it.

As for the selection process... I think it's very different this time since the F-35 is more of a multinational program rather than a US military one. And that's where it all went wrong.
 

tournique

MEMBER
Joined
Jan 5, 2015
Messages
159
Reactions
20 0 0
Country
Romania
Location
Romania
Even if it it more costly it will net better results just to scratch the entire project and restart it. Currently it's a money drain and they can end up having a mediocre product.
 

Scorpion

THINK TANK: SENIOR
Joined
Nov 27, 2014
Messages
3,868
Reactions
3,197 56 0
Country
Saudi Arabia
Location
Saudi Arabia
F-35A testing took back seat to F-35B IOC preparation in 2014

1512909_-_main.jpg

The Pentagon's F-35 programme office provided ample testing resources to F-35B-specific needs in 2014 to prepare the jump jet for the USMC's July 2015 IOC. Source: Lockheed Martin​
Key Points
  • The latest Pentagon operational testing report on the F-35 shows a year of progress on F-35B IOC preparation
  • Flights sciences testing for the F-35A lagged behind 2014 goals, as test centres prioritised Block 2B mission systems
The Pentagon's Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter programme placed a heavy focus on completing outstanding work on 2B software in preparation for the US Marine Corps' (USMC's) plan to declare its jump-jet variant of the combat aircraft operationally deployable, according to the latest official report on operational testing progress for US Department of Defense weapon systems.

"Flights sciences testing for the F-35A lagged behind its test flight and test point goals for [calendar year 2014] CY14 as the test centres prioritised resources to focus on Block 2B mission systems testing," the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation (DOT&E) said in the report, which was published 20 January.

The USMC is planning to allow the stealthy aircraft to deploy with 2B software.

"The programme focused on completing F-35 Block 2B development and flight testing in an effort to provide limited combat capability to the fielded early production aircraft and to support the Marine Corps plans for declaring initial operational capability [IOC] in 2015," the report stated.

"In spite of the focused effort, the programme was not able to accomplish its goal of completing Block 2B flight testing by the end of October," the document continued. However, the F-35 programme office last week announced that all weapons tests needed for 2B software is complete and will be ready for IOC certification. Completion of 2B flight testing is expected within the next few months, the programme office told IHS Jane's at the time.

Still, the DOT&E noted a number of shortcomings in the test plan, including the need for adequate testing of software upgrades for the Autonomic Logistics Information System on operationally representative hardware prior to fielding to operational units, as well as ongoing problems with system reliability.

Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, the Pentagon's F-35 programme manager, said in a 20 January email statement to IHS Jane's that he saw "no surprises" in the report. "All of the issues mentioned were well known to us and our industry partners," he said, adding that he has already taken action most of the report's recommendations before the document had been drafted.

"Despite several setbacks and challenges in 2014, the F-35 test programme achieved significant progress and demonstrated substantial system maturity towards 2B fleet release and US Marine Corps initial operation capability," Lt Gen Bogdan added. He noted that the programme overcame a "catastrophic" engine fire July 2014 that grounded the fleet and "pressurised the completion of test points due to aircraft limitations and inspections".

Regarding reliability and maintainability rates faulted in the report, the general said the programme has been "trending in the right direction" for the past six months. "F-35 availability has been holding at 50% or above since October 2014," he said.

He also noted that the F-35 test programme has passed the halfway mark. "We're approximately 60% complete with the test programme, and there is still a lot of challenging work ahead of us," Lt Gen Bogdan said.

F-35A testing took back seat to F-35B IOC preparation in 2014 - IHS Jane's 360
 

rares209

MEMBER
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Messages
72
Reactions
6 0 0
Country
Romania
Location
Romania
Navy to Integrate F-35 With Beyond-the-Horizon Technology

The Navy and Lockheed Martin are planning to demonstrate a beyond-the-horizon anti-ship missile detection and defense technology using an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The system, referred to as Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air, or NIFC-CA, uses Aegis radar, and airborne sensor and SM-6 missile to find, track and destroy approaching threats such as cruise missiles at ranges well beyond the typical radar horizon, Navy officials said.

Alongside Aegis radar and an SM-6 missile, NIFC-CA uses an E-2D Hawkeyeaircraft as an airborne sensor to help relay threat information to the ship from beyond its normal radar range.


NIFC-CA is a technology which could alter the strategic calculus for both offensive and defensive warfighting scenarios; it is the kind of system which could have implications regarding what the Pentagon likes to call anti-access/area-denial or A2/AD – the strategy through which potential adversaries seek to use long-range weapons such as anti-ship guided missiles to deny U.S. forces the ability to operate in strategically important areas. For instance, long-range, land-launched cruise missiles could make it more difficult for Navy ships to approach certain coastal waterways.

Navy to Integrate F-35 With Beyond-the-Horizon Technology | Fox News
 

rares209

MEMBER
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Messages
72
Reactions
6 0 0
Country
Romania
Location
Romania
F-35 Tested in Extreme Weather Conditions

The Pentagon’s F-35 Lightning II has been test-flying in extreme heat, artic cold, rain, humidity, ice and desert winds in a specially engineered climactic laboratory hangar at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida — as a way to prepare and certify the new aircraft to fly into any corner of the world.


The ongoing tests are part of a six-month long assessment of the F-35’s ability to perform in wind, solar radiation, fog, humidity, rain, ice build-up, vortex icing and snow, officials said.

The testing includes flying the aircraft in extreme temperatures ranging from 120-degress Fahrenheit to minus-40 degrees Fahrenheit.

During the testing, the aircraft is basically flying in place, meaning it is tethered down but fully powered up, allowing testers to simulate meteorological conditions with an operational aircraft, DellaVedova explained.
Since December 2006, the F-35 Lightning II has surpassed 25,000 combined flight hours with 16,200 hours in the F-35 military fleet aircraft and 8,950 hours of system development and demonstration testing, F-35 officials said.

The F-35 has completed multiple weapons tests as well as F-35B and F-35C first-life durability testing. Additionally, the test fleet has conducted two F-35B sea trials aboard a large amphibious assault ship – the USS WASP (LHD 1), and last November the F-35C completed its first sea trial aboard an aircraft carrier – the USS Nimitz.

F-35 Tested in Extreme Weather Conditions | Fox News

 

UAE

SENIOR MEMBER
Joined
Nov 28, 2014
Messages
1,641
Reactions
929 11 0
Country
USA
Location
United Arab Emirates
F-35 maintenance diagnostic system needs software fix

1521942_-_main.jpg

F-35B operational trials are scheduled for May despite ongoing difficulties with the aircraft's automated logistics system. Source: US Navy
Key Points
  • ALIS is experiencing high "false positive" rates
  • Software upgrades will have to be introduced to fix the problems over time
The automated maintenance system under development for the Pentagon's Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is still experiencing high "false positive" rates when used to check the jets, programme officials told members of Congress during a 14 April hearing of the House Armed Services tactical air and land subcommittee.

The F-35's Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) is a computer diagnostic system that mechanics plug into the aircraft to simplify maintenance checks.

"The programme is improving, but it is not where it needs to be," said Sean Stackley, the assistant secretary of the US Navy (USN) for acquisition. "The issue of false positives is very real," Stackley added. "The concerns with regards to the reliability, responsiveness, the timeliness of ALIS informing the war fighter is at the top of our priority list." He said the programme office is testing software upgrades that will have to be inserted over time.

In addition to its high false positive rate, officials raised concerns that the system functions sluggishly. Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan, the F-35 programme executive officer, said ALIS has been treated as a separate effort rather than as part of the F-35 programme, but he has now "changed fundamentally how we develop ALIS" in hopes of developing solutions sooner. "It's a problem," Gen Bogdan said. "We know it is a problem, and we have to address it."

Physically, the system is a roomful of servers and is too large to deploy aboard ships. Its software includes some 5 million lines of code. The system is used to diagnose all three variants of the aircraft, including the US Marine Corps' (USMC's) short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant, which is set to become operationally deployable within months.

F-35 maintenance diagnostic system needs software fix - IHS Jane's 360
 

Rakan.SA

MEMBER
Joined
Apr 7, 2015
Messages
551
Reactions
591 1 0
Country
Saudi Arabia
Location
Saudi Arabia
First F-35 Jets Lack Ground-Combat Punch of 1970s-Era A-10s

1200x-1.jpg




The first F-35 jets ready for combat won’t be able to protect forces in ground combat as well as the nearly 40-year-old A-10s the Pentagon wants to retire, according to the Defense Department’s chief weapons tester.

Compared with the lumbering A-10, known as the Warthog, the initial F-35s made by Lockheed Martin Corp. will be handicapped by limits on how many weapons they can carry, flying at night and spotting targets as well as how long they can remain over them, Michael Gilmore, director of operational testing, said in a statement prepared for a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing.

The Marine Corps intends to declare the first of its F-35B planes ready for initial combat as soon as July. Gilmore underscored the limitations on those early fighters by comparing them to the A-10, which first flew in 1976 and continues to protect U.S. and allied ground forces. The Pentagon is trying for the second consecutive year to persuade Congress to permit the A-10’s retirement.

Gilmore said the initial F-35s will fall short because “of the combined effects of digital communications deficiencies, lack of infrared pointer capability” to distinguish friendly from hostile forces and an inability to confirm the Global Positioning Satellite ground coordinates programmed into its two air-to-ground bombs.

Cost Questioned
The Armed Services panel, conducting its annual review of the $391.1 billion F-35 program, the Pentagon’s costliest, also heard testimony from the plane’s program manager and the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, raised questions about the F-35’s affordability as production ramps up from 34 planes this year to a peak of 120 in 2021.

That will require spending an average of $12.7 billion a year for more than two decades, said Michael Sullivan, the GAO’s director for acquisition and sourcing management.

As the F-35 competes with other weapons programs for limited funding, “something has to give, and a lot of times it’s quantities,” Sullivan told the subcommittee.

Air Force Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan, who oversees the F-35 program for the Pentagon, defended its progress and said costs have stabilized.

“We’re making slow but steady progress on all fronts, and each day the program is improving,” Bogdan said.

Flawed Computers
One major problem yet to be solved is the plane’s computer information system that’s designed to alert pilots to logistical problems, he said, adding that he has a plan to improve it through a redesign.

The subcommittee chairman, Republican Representative Michael Turner of Ohio, said he was troubled to learn that 80 percent of that system’s alerts have been “false positives.”

Gilmore’s testimony about the F-35’s limitations in performing close-air support -- loitering at low altitudes to strike moving targets -- comes at an awkward time for the Air Force as it seeks to retire its top close-air support fighter, the A-10 Warthog, to save about $4 billion through 2020.

“The A-10 can take hits that an F-35 couldn’t take,” Gilmore said when asked about the new plane’s survivability. As a result, the F-35 would need to “stand off,” or keep a greater distance, from potential enemy fire, he said.

Representative Martha McSally of Arizona, a former A-10 pilot who’s trying to save it, said that may be dangerous.

“There will be times in the future when you must get down and dirty with the guys on the ground,” the Republican said. “You cannot stand off” in all cases.

Advanced Software
Gilmore acknowledged that close-air support is only one of the stealthy F-35’s missions, and that it will have much better capabilities later in this decade after more advanced software is installed.

In the meantime, the A-10 has been flying missions against Islamic State terrorists in the Middle East, and a dozen of them will be used for training in Romania in a signal of deterrence to Russia after its support for rebels in Ukraine. The A-10 was designed during the Cold War in part to kill Soviet tanks if they attacked U.S. and allied forces in Europe.

First F-35 Jets Lack Ground-Combat Punch of 1970s-Era A-10s - Bloomberg Business
 

KimberlyD

MEMBER
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
Messages
370
Reactions
47 0 0
Country
USA
Location
USA
i think you will end up needing an IT guy from india to fly this damn plane :xD:

Probably will :--)


This is probably a REALLY stupid question but why is there a string of different nations flags on the side of the jet?
 

Rakan.SA

MEMBER
Joined
Apr 7, 2015
Messages
551
Reactions
591 1 0
Country
Saudi Arabia
Location
Saudi Arabia
Probably will :--)


This is probably a REALLY stupid question but why is there a string of different nations flags on the side of the jet?
those are the nations that ate the bate and paid and invested in the plane.
391.1 billion dollar program is hard for one nation to swallow.
fighter jets are becoming expensive so its no longer a one nation program like it use to be. in the future nations will unite together to build planes or any huge military projects
 

Rakan.SA

MEMBER
Joined
Apr 7, 2015
Messages
551
Reactions
591 1 0
Country
Saudi Arabia
Location
Saudi Arabia
'F-35 designed to deal with threats like S-300,' Lockheed Martin official in Israel says

The F-35 fighter jet is designed to counter advanced threats just like the one posed by the Russian-made S-300 surface to air missile system, a senior Lockheed Martin executive who is visiting Israel said on Wednesday.

Lockheed’s fifth generation F-35 multi-role plane will begin arriving in Israel at the end of next year.

Steve Over, director of the F-35 International Business Development, spoke to journalists a day after Russia announced that it was lifting a ban on the sale of the air defense system to Iran.

Countries like Russia and China “have the capacity to sell advanced air defenses and planes, and will sell to any nation with the money to buy them,” Over said.

The F-35, he added, “has the capacity” to deal with advanced surface and airborne threats, as well as being able to deal with ground insurgencies.

Countries that own fourth generation fighter jets such as the F-16 can no longer invest in upgrades, as the platforms have reached their limit, and acquiring the F-35 is a leap forward in capabilities by some 15 years, Over said. In addition to its stealth functions and advanced maneuverability performance, the jet has advanced multi-spectral sensors that will provide the Israel Air Force with unprecedented situational awareness, he said.

“The pilot will know about his environment... It gives an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability that no nation has ever had,” Over said.

The F-35 flies faster and further, and has a greater “angle of attack” (making it more maneuverable) than the F-16, he said.

Israeli pilots who have begun training with the platform say it has caused them to think differently about combat flying, he added.

Unlike previous platforms, the F-35, due to its data links and sensors, can fly in formations in which planes are between 70 and 160 kilometers apart, and remain undetectable to enemy radars.

At Nevatim Air Base, southeast of Beersheba, the IAF unveiled a new F-35 demonstrator provided by Lockheed, which air force officials said will shorten the process of absorbing the new platform.

Although not a full flight simulator, the demonstrator allows pilots to become better acquainted with the plane, its software, targeting and avionics, said Brig.-Gen. Leehu Hacohen, commander of Nevatim Air Base.

Hacohen described the S-300 as a “challenge to the air force,” adding, “We are preparing for a range of scenarios. The air force knows how to deal with complex challenges.”

Alan Norman, Lockheed Martin’s chief test pilot, who provided reporters with explanations of the flight demonstrator, said that even if adversaries “catch a quick glimpse of the plane, there’s nothing they can do about it.”

A senior air force source added that the future squadron commander and five pilots are in the midst of training for the F-35.

“They will be the first pilots, and instructors,” the source said.


'F-35 designed to deal with threats like S-300,' Lockheed Martin official in Israel says - Israel News - Jerusalem Post

 

Lieutenant

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 25, 2014
Messages
1,885
Reactions
2,409 25 0
The S-300 or any version of it can easily be destroyed in the presence of modern electron warfare. If you can jam/shut the radar of the system you are good to go.
 

Rakan.SA

MEMBER
Joined
Apr 7, 2015
Messages
551
Reactions
591 1 0
Country
Saudi Arabia
Location
Saudi Arabia
The S-300 or any version of it can easily be destroyed in the presence of modern electron warfare. If you can jam/shut the radar of the system you are good to go.
i asked a US F-15 pilot if the new F-15SA will be able to deal with the s300. still waiting for his reply
 
Top