F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)

[dapaterson]

... seeing as most of the R&D has already been completed and paid for thanks to Tier 1 partners in the program ...

Not at all the case.  The system software is running significantly behind schedule, according to the GAO.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=5978504

 

[Haletown]

Not at all the case.  The system software is running significantly behind schedule, according to the GAO.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=5978504

The system software is essentially done - what is late is the missions specific software.

No worries . . .  they are getting there.  Good things take time.  Great things take more time.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

then the US Navy fleet which contains about 150 Hornets and 142 Harriers could be ...

Just a small point of information: The US Navy operates no Harriers at all. The US Marines do. In turn, the whole fleet is Navy - the Marines do not operate any ships. They are both (US Navy and Marines Corps) part of the Department of the Navy, with a single Secretary of the Navy over them - but are in fact separate services.

 

[aesop081]

Just a small point of information: The US Navy operates no Harriers at all. The US Marines do. In turn, the whole fleet is Navy - the Marines do not operate any ships. They are both (US Navy and Marines Corps) part of the Department of the Navy, with a single Secretary of the Navy over them - but are in fact separate services.

What was the old saying, "The Marines are a projectile fired by the Navy" ?

 

[CougarKing]

link

F-35s Grounded After Power Package Fails

By DAVE MAJUMDAR
Published: 3 Aug 2011 16:19      All 20 U.S. F-35 Lightning IIs have been grounded following a failure of the aircraft's integrated power package (IPP).

The incident took place at about 8:30 a.m. Aug. 2 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., during a ground maintenance run of aircraft AF-4, the fourth conventional takeoff and landing version of the triservice Joint Strike Fighter. Following the failure of the IPP - which combines the functions performed by an auxiliary power unit, emergency power system and environmental controls - the crew shut down the aircraft as per standard operating procedures, according to a press release by the JSF program office.

Government and contractor teams are reviewing the incident to find out what caused the IPP to fail. The program office suspended flight operations as "the prudent action to take at this time until the F-35 engineering, technical and system safety teams fully understand the cause of the incident," according to the statement.

This is the second time the F-35 has been grounded this year due to electrical problems. In March, the F-35 fleet was briefly grounded after the same aircraft experienced a dual generator failure that was traced to faulty maintenance procedures.

The Navy's F-35C was also grounded for six days in June due to a software problem with the wing-fold mechanism that might have caused the flight control surfaces to freeze in flight. The aircraft returned to flight June 23.

 

[The Bread Guy]

What was the old saying, "The Marines are a projectile fired by the Navy" ?

Or in the words of Lt. Kendrick, "Every time (we Marines have) gotta go someplace and fight, you fellas always give us a ride."

 

[The Bread Guy]

Cold feet south o' the equator?

Australia will decide in 2012 whether to continue with a $16.8 billion purchase of 100 of Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters or seek an alternative amid continuing delivery delays and cost overruns, the government said on Wednesday.

Repeated delays and ballooning costs in the F-35 programme were bumping against delivery and cost limits set by the government and military planners, Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith told parliament.

"I will not allow and the government will not allow a gap in the capability of our air combat capability," Smith said, pointing to 2013 as the last possible decision deadline given a looming air combat gap in the country's military.

"I'm not proposing to wait until the last minute," he said. "I'm proposing to recommend to the government that we make that decision next year."

Australia, which is helping develop the F-35, has committed to buying 14 of the stealth aircraft and had initially planned for first deliveries in 2011. That has now been pushed back to 2014 and even that date may be in jeopardy ....

Source:  Reuters, 17 Aug 11

 

[RDBZ]

Cold feet south o' the equator?Source:  Reuters, 17 Aug 11

On one hand the ADF and government here is concerned about the implications of further delays in the F-35.  The F-18A/B fleet is rapidly running out of airframe hours.

But this is also part political.  The current Labor-Green government badly needs to demonstrate that it is serious about, and can effectively deal with issues that are close to the heart of middle Australia.  One of those issues is defence.  If it can't do this, it will in all likelihood face a landslide loss at the next election.

I suspect the only real variable is whether another batch of F-18Fs will be purchased or leased to deal with delays in F-35 deliveries.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

The Aussies decision to go with a dual fleet of Super Hornets and F-35's is starting to look like a much better idea. Also they won't be caught out completely if one fleet gets grounded for technical reasons that take a significant fix.

 

[WingsofFury]

All F-35s cleared for flying

dd 25 Aug 2011

"The Pentagon's F-35 Joint Program Office today cleared the remain eight F-35 jets to resume testing and training flights in the wake of the grounding of all 20 jets three weeks ago following the failure of the integrated power package (IPP) on one of the test jets at Edwards Air Force Base.

The 12 developmental test jets were allowed to resume flights last week since they are heavily intstrumented and the conditions of the IPPs could be monitored. The other eight aircraft, all from the first two lots of low-rate initial production planes (LRIP 1 and 2, 14 planes total) remained grounded until Thursday's release.

Lockheed issued the following statement:

'The JPO has authorized F-35 production jets to fly again. They are now flying the same profiles they were prior to the precautionary suspension of operations. This includes acceptance flights at Ft Worth and ferry flights to Eglin. Government and contractor engineering teams determined the program could resume production flight operations while the IPP investigation continues. This assessment was made after reviewing data from ground and flight tests. This data showed, with revised emergency procedures governing IPP failures in place, the aircraft can be flown safely.'

For those who might be following the program very closely, Lockheed provided the following details on what jets are where:

- Six planes are at Edwards: Developmental test jets AF-1 through AF-4 and production jets AF-6 and AF-7, which are being used in developmental testing.

- Eight developmental test planes are at Patuxent River: Marine short-takeoff-vertical-landing models BF-1 through BF-5 and carrier variants CF-1 through CF-3.

- Two low-rate production planes, AF-8 and AF-9, are now at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida preparing for pilot training.

- Four additional A models, AF-10 through AF-13, are in Fort Worth and have all been flown but have not yet been turned over to the military, although two have been formally "delivered."

http://blogs.star-telegram.com/sky_talk/2011/08/all-f-35s-cleared-for-flying.html

 

[WingsofFury]

The Aussies decision to go with a dual fleet of Super Hornets and F-35's is starting to look like a much better idea. Also they won't be caught out completely if one fleet gets grounded for technical reasons that take a significant fix.

Shhhh...hehe

Some would like a split fleet (myself included) but it would cost a crapload more money in support and logistics amongst other things...

 

[kj_gully]

does anyone else think it might not be a great idea to fly single engine plane near migratory bird nesting area (arctic)? Sar Response is a long way from resolute....

 

[WingsofFury]

This is a guess regarding intercept flights, so take it for what it's worth.

From what I gather arctic flights are usually of the intercept variety and Bears really don't fly all that low, unless they're big, white, and not really cuddly.

You speak of migratory bird routes - as a grad of a school of environmental and natural resource sciences (Fleming College in Lindsay, ON) I can tell you that the birds which exist in Canada's arctic generally stay in the arctic all year long with a few exceptions which migrate down to the great lakes area of Ontario.  The largest migratory birds are snow geese, however, you are looking at those flying through SK/MB in August/September and they really don't pose a threat to a single engine aircraft stationed up in Cold Lake or Bagotville which deploy to FOB's further to the north.

Finally, any birds which actually nest in places north of Resolute Bay actually migrate south into Europe and spend their winters in Spain, Italy, Africa, et cetera - NOT in south America.

Cheers, and have a nice day.

 

[Haletown]

You speak of migratory bird routes - as a grad of a school of environmental and natural resource sciences (Fleming College in Lindsay, ON) I can tell you that the birds which exist in Canada's arctic generally stay in the arctic all year long with a few exceptions which migrate down to the great lakes area of Ontario. 

As someone who has lived in the Arctic for about five years and traveled all over it, it is a rare site to see birds in winter while the place is infested with migratory birds in summer.  Not sure who teaches what at Fleming College but I'd suggest they should go live there and test what they teach against reality.


Me: Will the Geese return soon?
Johnny May:  Imaha, imaha oupat, imaha oupasat.

Inuk humor is dry and witty  ;D

 

[WingsofFury]

As someone who has lived in the Arctic for about five years and traveled all over it, it is a rare site to see birds in winter while the place is infested with migratory birds in summer.  Not sure who teaches what at Fleming College but I'd suggest they should go live there and test what they teach against reality.


Me: Will the Geese return soon?
Johnny May:  Imaha, imaha oupat, imaha oupasat.

Inuk humor is dry and witty  ;D

I guess it really comes down to what we classify as Arctic...hehe  Smaller birds (shorebirds like red knots and other sandpiper types) start to migrate down from their nesting grounds as early as the end of July and into August.  Bigger birds (snowie owls, gyr and peregrine falcons, jaegers) migrate as far down as the great lakes on occasion however will often stay in relatively central Canadian regions in Manitoba, Alberta, et cetera.

Just wondering out loud if any of the fast movers on the board (or any other pilots with experience in the arctic) can advise how many bird strikes happen in a given year...something tells me the number is very, very low given the altitudes involved...

 

[lucciano-malke]

[size=14pt]Marines in SC getting ready for new F-35 jets[/size]

The Marine Corps broke ground Thursday on a $70 million first installment toward a new era of F-35 jets at the air station in Beaufort.

Maj. Gen. Jon Davis, the commanding general for the 2nd Marine Air Wing, and Col. Brian Murtha, the Beaufort base's commanding officer, helped local officials turn over the first shovels of dirt for the ceremony.

"We have to be prepared for the jets and for everyone to come by Jan. 1, 2014," said Marine Corps spokeswoman 1st Lt. Sharon Hyland. "We have a lot to do before they arrive and this is the first phase of that work."

The Navy announced late last year that it intended to place three new active duty F-35 squadrons and two pilot training squadrons at the air station for a total of 88 aircraft.

The stealthy aircraft are designed to be the next generation of fighters for the Marines, Navy and Air Force and will replace the F-18 Hornets flown out of Beaufort.

The Marine version will be able to take off and land vertically and the new construction at the base will include a vertical lift off pad for pilot training.

The work begun on Thursday includes a $37 million, 60,900-square-foot hangar.

It is designed for parking seven of the jets inside and 18 on a parking ramp under sunshades. The multi-story hangar includes a maintenance bay, shop and administrative offices, pilot briefing rooms and data network offices, Hyland said.

The $33 million pilot training and simulation center will support 78 pilots a year and includes classrooms, briefing rooms, flight simulators, equipment rooms and administrative offices. It is 101,000 square feet.

Construction will take about two years.

In all, there will be about $350 million in construction at the base as it prepares to house the new stealth fighters.

Hyland said security will have to be tighter for the stealth aircraft, which are designed to evade opponents' radars and electronic attacking devices.

Source: http://www.xairforces.net/newsd.asp?newsid=498&newst=8

 

[The Bread Guy]

lucciano-malke - interesting news, but blue text on green is kinda hard to read.

 

[observor 69]

lucciano-malke - interesting news, but blue text on green is kinda hard to read.

Gee it read just fine on air-force.ca.  ;D

 

[Edward Campbell]

[/color]

Gee it read just fine on air-force.ca.  ;D

I admit I had to laugh ... even as I cursed.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Apparently a wing spar problem has been identified that could shorten the wing life to 1800 hrs. Lockheed says they can fix it.