F-35

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Washington Post....

The Air Force is close to declaring the controversial F-35 ready for combat

By CHRISTIAN DAVENPORT | 3:42PM EDT - Thursday, July 28, 2016


In this 2009 photo, an F-35 Lightning II flies overhead for the first time at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
— Photograph: Senior Airman Julianne Showalter/U.S. Air Force/Associated Press.

THE Air Force is close to certifying that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is ready for combat, a declaration that would become one of the most significant milestones in the long and tortured history of the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program ever.

After years of delays, cost overruns and controversy, top Pentagon officials could make the decision as early as next week, some 15 years after the program began.

In an interview, General Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, the head of the Air Force's Air Combat Command, said the jet fighter would likely be declared combat ready “at the leading edge” of a time frame that begins on August 1st. Once that happens, he said “they are ready to go.” Still, he said the program remains in its developmental stages, and that officials have continued to find and fix problems. The plane still still due for upgrades in its software in addition to other changes.

“I'm very, very confident it is going to continue to exceed our expectations,” he said. Declaring the plane's “initial combat capability is just the beginning. We still have work to do on the airplane, and it will continue to get better.”

For years, the $400 billion program suffered a series of problems, and the F-35 was derided as “the plane that ate the Pentagon.” In 2014, the engine of one of the jets caught fire as it was preparing to take off, forcing the Pentagon to temporarily ground the entire fleet.

But in more recent years the program has gotten back on track, Pentagon officials said. Production has begun to climb. Prices have come down. And it has hit a series of milestones, including its international debut at an airshow this summer in the United Kingdom.

Approximately 180 of the aircraft have been delivered by Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor. And the Pentagon plans to buy a total of 2,443 — though some in Congress, including Senator John McCain (Republican-Arizona), the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, has said there is no way the military will be able to afford that many.

Still, military officials say the so-called fifth-generation fighter is a significant step up from its predecessors, allowing pilots to maneuver undetected through enemy territory. The plane, which relies on so many lines of code it's often referred to as a “flying computer,” has also been heralded for its ability to give pilots unparalleled situational awareness.

As the Air Force transitions from F-16s to the F-35, Lieutenant Colonel George Watkins, the commander of the 34th Fighter Squadron, said he has “been amazed at what we can do when going up against fourth-generation fighters” in training.

“They have no idea where we're at,” he said in a call with reporters. “And that's a pretty awesome feeling to know your pilots are in a unfair fight. That's what we're looking for.”

The jet comes in three variants. The Marine Corps' can land vertically and take off on a short runway. The Navy version is capable of landing on aircraft carriers, while the Air Force's is a more conventional fighter jet.

Last year, the Marine Corps declared that its variant was ready for combat. But the declaration from the Air Force would be much more significant because the service plans on buying 1,763 of the jets, more than any other of the services.

“It's an endorsement that the program is back on track, and it really needs that,” said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst at the Teal Group, a Virginia-based consulting firm.

He also noted that the Air Force's version, the F-35A, is the version of the jet that many foreign governments have chosen as well. “They are taking a lot of heat because of the problems with the program,” he said. “And this gives them political cover: ‘Hey it's entered service in the U.S.’”

In recent testimony before Congress, Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan, the program's executive director, said the fighter is “at a pivot point” as production is about to ramp up. He said while 45 aircraft were manufactured in 2015, that number should grow to more than 100 in 2018 and up to 145 by 2020.

Richard Meyer, the Air Force's deputy chief of the F-35 System Management Office Division, said the aircraft that's being certified will be able to perform many basic functions but will continue to evolve as time goes on.

“There are more improvements that are going to continue to modernize the airplane,” he said. “We'll be able to get better weapons and better avionics, and make it better against an evolving threat. The enemy isn't standing still.”

Contract negotiations between Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon on the next two batches of aircraft, a total of 147 jets, have dragged out for months. And during a recent earnings call, Bruce Tanner, Lockheed's chief financial officer, said the company has had to spend nearly $1 billion of its own money to keep the line going.

“We will not be able to continue and have that level of cash outflow as a corporation. We simply don't have that capacity,” he said. “The Pentagon clearly knows that situation, and I'm optimistic that we are going to get cash soon.”

• Christian Davenport covers the defense and space industries for The Washington Post's Financial desk. He joined The Post in 2000 and has served as an editor on the Metro desk and as a reporter covering military affairs. He is the author of “As You Were: To War and Back with the Black Hawk Battalion of the Virginia National Guard”.

__________________________________________________________________________

Read more on this topic:

• The F-35 vs. the A-10 Warthog, head-to-head in close-air support. It's on.

• Marines overhauling air-to-air combat tactics while integrating F-35 fighter jet

• Meet the most fascinating part of the F-35: The $400,000 helmet

www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/07/28/the-air-force-is-close-to-declaring-the-controversial-f-35-ready-for-combat

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from the Los Angeles Times....

Trump tweet slams cost of F-35 fighter, and Lockheed Martin stock tumbles

By SAMANTHA MASUNAGA | 10:25AM PST - Monday, December 12, 2016


Known as the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35 is the most expensive weapons program ever, and is intended to replace four aircraft.

DONALD TRUMP criticized the F-35 fighter jet program in a tweet on Monday morning, sending shares of prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corporation and other defense stocks tumbling.

“The F-35 program and cost is out of control,” Trump tweeted on Monday morning. “Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th.”

Lockheed Martin stock was down $11.81, or 4.6%, to $247.72 in Monday morning trading on Wall Street. So far, Lockheed Martin has lost more than $3 billion in market value.

Shares of Northrop Grumman, a big subcontractor on the F-35, fell $10.16, or 4.3%, to $228.27. Boeing, whose stock price got hammered briefly last week when Trump tweeted critically about its Air Force One contract, dropped slightly on Monday morning, by 61 cents, or 0.4%, to $155.88.

Known as the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35 is a fifth-generation fighter jet that is designed to be largely invisible to radar, fly faster than the speed of sound and incorporate advanced sensors, linking data with ships, planes and drones. Its helmet displays feeds from video cameras embedded in the plane so a pilot can look “through” the jet to see targets.

The new fighter would replace four aircraft, with three design variations to meet the unique requirements of the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy. The F-35B for the Marines has short takeoff and vertical landing capabilities, and the F-35C for the Navy can be launched via catapult from conventional aircraft carriers.

The program has been repeatedly criticized over the years for cost overruns and lengthy delays, though its cost has been declining recently.

Originally set to enter full-scale production in 2008, the most expensive weapons program ever is now gearing up for 2019. With a total estimated cost of $379 billion, it is considered the most expensive weapons program ever.

Eventually, more than 3,000 planes will be built for the U.S. and 11 other countries.

Partnering with other nations to help produce and buy the plane was seen as a way to help spread the program's costs. In April, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said that estimated acquisitions costs for the program had decreased since 2014, though it still said the program faced “significant affordability challenges.”

“There is no arguing with the point that it's had its growing pains and some of the growing pains were severe,” said Mark Gunzinger, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a defense research institute. “But at this point, frankly, it's not experiencing the kinds of problems it was experiencing even three to four years ago.”

Jeff Babione, executive vice president and general manager of the F-35 program at Lockheed Martin, said on Monday that the company and its partners “understand the importance of affordability for the F-35 program.”

“We welcome the opportunity to address any questions the president-elect has about the program,” he said during remarks at Nevatim Air Base in Israel before an F-35 delivery ceremony there.

Last week, Trump took aim at Boeing, criticizing the cost of new Air Force One planes to transport the President, saying “Cancel order!” The aerospace giant's stock initially dropped in early trading after Trump’s tweet, but later recovered.

www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-trump-tweets-stocks-lockheed-20161212-story.html

[isc]

Photo of Israel's first F-35 in todays Christchurch "Press". isc

[Deleted]

I look forward to seeing and hearing one in person. It's a neat piece of kit.

[shorty]

Here are two neat videos showing the F-35B during recent sea trials. Enjoy!



vimeo.com/lmaeronautics/review/192051768/0ea002a16d


vimeo.com/lmaeronautics/review/193242010/1658a45132

[planecrazy]

Great couple of clips there, they do look unusual taking off with that front scoop
open and then full down elevator with the rear jet nozzle pointing down as well!

[johnnyfalcon]

Cool plane IMHO

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Washington Post....

Trump suggests he would ditch F-35 in favor of alternate plane

Trump said that cost overruns in Lockheed Martin's $400 billion program to
develop the stealth aircraft had prompted him to ask Boeing, another major
defense manufacturer, to “price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet.”

By MISSY RYAN | 6:33PM EST - Thursday, December 22, 2016


President-elect Donald Trump speaks in Grand Rapids, Michigan on December 9th, 2016.
— Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Associated Press.

PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald J. Trump piled on fresh criticism of the Pentagon's most sophisticated aircraft on Thursday, suggesting that he might abandon the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in favor of an alternate plane due to high costs.

In a message on Twitter, Trump said that cost overruns in Lockheed Martin’s $400 billion program to develop the stealth aircraft had prompted him to ask Boeing, another major defense manufacturer, to “price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet.”



Trump has blasted the F-35 before, saying the cost is “out of control” and promising that his administration would find savings in military hardware purchases. His criticism of Bethesda-based Lockheed and another major aircraft firm has roiled the defense industry and laid a marker for a hard line from the White House in dealings with major players doing business with the government.

Even before Trump launched his public assault, the F-35, the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program, has come in for widespread criticism for design flaws and spiraling costs.

This fall, Pentagon and officials from the Lockheed failed to agree on a mutually acceptably price for the latest batch of planes. And last month, Canada said it might buy F/A-18 Super Hornets until it decides whether to go ahead with planned F-35 purchases. A number of U.S. allies, including Israel, have agreed to buy F-35s.

Trump has also assailed Boeing, another major aircraft manufacturer, over the high cost of a new Air Force One plane. Its chief executive later met with the president-elect and promised to give the U.S. government a break on the aircraft.

• Carol Morello and Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.

• Missy Ryan writes about the Pentagon, military issues, and national security for The Washington Post.

__________________________________________________________________________

Read more on this topic:

• VIDEO: Israel receives first U.S.-made F-35 stealth jets

• Trump wants to ‘greatly’ expand nuclear capability, a radical break from U.S. foreign policy

• After meeting with Trump, Boeing CEO relents on cost of Air Force One

• Trump takes aim at Pentagon's ‘revolving door’ and Lockheed Martin's $400 billion F-35 program

• Citing high cost, Trump says Boeing's contract to build Air Force One should be canceled

• If Trump wants to find a troubled Pentagon program, some think he should look at this nearly $500 million ship

www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/12/22/trump-suggests-he-would-ditch-f-35-in-favor-of-alternate-plane

[flyinkiwi]

Dec 20, 2016 5:42:07 GMT 12 planecrazy said:

Great couple of clips there, they do look unusual taking off with that front scoop
open and then full down elevator with the rear jet nozzle pointing down as well!

That lift fan produces a large amount of lift forward of the CofG so you get a pitch up moment that must be countered, hence the need to use down elevator in addition to the jet nozzle as it is not facing directly downwards while transitioning to wing-borne flight. I'd love to know what the max airspeed is with the lid up, those hinges must take a lot of strain.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Washington Post....

Defense Department to spend $5.6 billion on 74 more F-35 fighter planes

The Pentagon is moving forward with the 11th lot of Joint Strike Fighters.

By AARON GREGG | 4:55PM EDT - Monday, July 10, 2017


The Defense Department is paying an additional $5.57 billion to expand the U.S. military’s arsenal of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters by 74.
— Photograph: Christophe Archambault/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images.

THE Defense Department has announced that it is paying $5.57 billion to expand the U.S. military's arsenal of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters by 74 planes.

The contract action is seen as an early stamp of progress for the next “lot” of planes, which the Defense Department Joint Program Office and Bethesda-based defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin are negotiating. Joint Program Office spokesman Joe DellaVedova said that the round of planes is set to include 50 planes sold to foreign governments, bringing the total to 141 planes in this sales lot.

“We appreciate the actions taken by the JPO to ensure delivery of F-35s to our warfighter customers,” Lockheed Martin said in a statement.

What remains to be determined is the unit cost of the plane. Price disputes have derailed the program in the past, such as when the F-35 Joint Program Office unilaterally imposed its own pricing for the ninth lot of planes after more than a year of negotiations.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is designed to be the next-generation fighter jet that will replace the F-16 as the most advanced air asset of the United States and its allies. It can take off and land vertically and can carry munitions inside the body of the plane. Its $400,000-a-pop helmet has an augmented reality display that gives the pilot a view through the bottom of the plane.

It is also the single most expensive military program in the history of the Pentagon, accounting for about a quarter of Lockheed Martin’s annual revenue and considered critical to its status as a top-tier defense contractor. A spate of program delays and ballooning development costs have made “the plane that ate the Pentagon” into something of a poster child for bureaucratic waste, drawing criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike.

Then President-elect Donald Trump joined that debate before he was sworn into office, suggesting in a tweet that the plane should be replaced with Boeing’s cheaper F-18 Super Hornet. The Pentagon subsequently ordered a review to weigh the two planes' competing advantages.

The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin subsequently agreed to sell the 10th lot of 90 planes at about $85 million per plane, a price that was roughly in line with what the Pentagon had planned before Trump took office. A Joint Program Office statement said the unit price for lot 11 is expected to be less than that.

Advocates of the program described the new contract order as a sign that the program is moving past its history of delays and false starts. Industry experts have generally credited the Trump administration with speeding along negotiations.

“The program certainly seems to be moving faster than it did during the Obama years,” said Loren Thompson, a defense consultant with the Lexington Institute, which receives funding from defense firms, including Lockheed Martin.

• Aaron Gregg covers the Washington-area economy and defense contractors for Capital Business, The Washington Post's local business section. He studied music (Jazz guitar) and political science at Emory University in Atlanta, and has a graduate degree in public policy from Georgetown.

www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/defense-department-to-spend-additional-56-billion-on-f-35-fighter-planes/2017/07/10/37b7e278-6585-11e7-8eb5-cbccc2e7bfbf_story.html