F-35 Lightning II developments

[Richard from Rotterdam]

Interesting read: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... shot-down/

The U.S. Air Force version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has shortcomings that will get pilots shot down in combat, according to a leaked Pentagon report evaluating combat testing of the plane.
“The out-of-cockpit visibility in the F-35A is less than other Air Force fighter aircraft,” states the report from the Defense Department's Directorate of Operational Test and Evaluation, referring to a pilot’s ability to see the sky around them.

Test pilots’ comments quoted in the report are more blunt.
“The head rest is too large and will impede aft [rear] visibility and survivability during surface and air engagements,” said one. “Aft visibility will get the pilot gunned [down] every time” in dogfights, opined another.

The report, known as an Operational Utility Evaluation, was posted online by spending watchdog the Project on Government Oversight.
A spokesman for Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin, the lead contractor on the $400 billion multi-service F-35 program, which is developing three different versions of the plane for the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, defended the aircraft’s performance.
The Air Force undertook its own Operational Utility Evaluation on the F-35A last year, said Lockheed Spokesman Michael J. Rein. The service’s Air Evaluation and Training Command found the plane “ready to conduct safe and effective flying training operations,” he said.

In addition to limited visibility, the aircraft’s much touted multi-million dollar electronic helmet mounted display — which is supposed to project important technical information onto the faceplate of the pilot’s helmet — “presented frequent problems for the pilots,” according to the report.
These 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 report states.
The report shows that the F-35A “is flawed beyond redemption,” commented POGO staffer and veteran defense spending analyst Winslow Wheeler.
The Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[Piet Luijken]

Public Affairs Release - 3/7/2013 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla.
Two officers from the operational test community are among the six pilots in the first F-35 Lightning II pilot training course after an Air Education and Training Command decision to start training here in January. Lt. Col. Benjamin Bishop, the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron director of operations, is one of the students who flew their first sortie in March. He will transition his F-15E Strike Eagle warfighting skills to the F-35 before he returns to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., next month. "It's exciting, an honor to be a part of the future of airpower," he said. "The aircraft performed as I expected. It's a different feel and a different aircraft to get used to but both are easy to fly. Like any new aircraft, it's a different system to learn and I'm getting used to the basic maneuvers."

According to Nellis, four F-35s will begin arriving soon. The 422nd TES will add the F-35A to its list of aircraft they execute command-directed operational test and evaluation for like the A/OA-10, F-15C, F-15E, F-16CM and F-22A hardware, software, and weapons upgrades prior to combat Air Force release. The squadron conducts tactics development, foreign materiel exploitation and special access programs to optimize system combat capability. "We will develop the tactics and technical procedures for the F-35 and how it fits in the bigger airpower picture for the U.S.," said Bishop about the work ahead of him after graduating here leading OT for the fifth generation aircraft.

Capt. Brad Matherne is the other 422nd TES student transitioning to the joint strike fighter and he will return to Nellis to lead the new F-35 division. The structure in their organization has a division for the five other aircraft. When both Lt.Col Bishop & Capt. Matherne return to Nellis, they will plan for their squadron to demonstrate the F-35's combat capabilities as software becomes available.

ACC's OT community has already paved the way for Bishop's team by standing up a unit at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., where developmental test of the aircraft continues concurrently in the joint strike fighter program. He was able to greet three pilots from that unit in the ATC halls as they arrived in March to be a part of the second class. This pace should continue for the 33rd FW throughout 2013 with an estimate of 36 pilots graduating the course by the end of year.

ACC was able to get in on the Air Force's acquisition life cycle early to build their expertise with the aircraft by sending operational test pilots through the first few courses at Eglin. As the Air Force's declaration authority for F-35A Initial Operational Capability, the command will make a decision based on achieving sufficient levels of readiness in both capability and capacity. Specific criteria established by the commander of ACC include the ability to conduct basic close air support, interdiction, and suppression/destruction of enemy air defense missions, with the targeting, payload, and other performance characteristics that entails.

There is currently no specific timeframe identified for anticipated IOC.

[Henk Voortwijs]

Test Pilots: Stealth Jet’s Blind Spot Will Get It ‘Gunned Every Time’

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the military’s expensive main warplane of the future, has a huge blind spot directly behind it. Pilots say that could get them shot down in close-quarters combat, where the flier with the better visibility has the killing advantage.

“Aft visibility could turn out to be a significant problem for all F-35 pilots in the future,” the Pentagon acknowledged in a report (.pdf) obtained by the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington, D.C. watchdog group.

That admission should not come as a surprise to observers of the Joint Strike Fighter program. Critics of the delayed, over-budget F-35 — which is built in three versions for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps — have been trying for years to draw attention to the plane’s blind spot, only to be dismissed by the government and Lockheed Martin, the Joint Strike Fighter’s primary builder.

The damning report, dated Feb. 15, summarized the experiences of four test pilots who flew the F-35A — the relatively lightweight Air Force version — during a September-to-November trial run of the Joint Strike Fighter’s planned training program at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The report mentions a number of shortfalls of the highly complex F-35, including sensors, communications and aerial refueling gear that aren’t yet fully designed or just don’t work right.

No aspect of the report is more damning than the pilots’ critiques of the F-35′s rearward visibility. “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,” the report states. The Joint Strike Fighter is a stealth plane designed to avoid detection by radar, but if it ends up in a short-range dogfight, a distinct possibility even in this high-tech age, it’s the pilot’s eyes that matter most.


Meant to replace almost all of the military’s jet fighters at an initial cost of more than $400 billion, the F-35 has a clamshell-style windshield with a good view to the front and sides. But it’s got no line of sight to the rear, which is blocked by the pilot’s seat and the plane’s upper fuselage spine. Today’s A-10s, F-15s, F-16s, F/A-18s and F-22s, by contrast, have so-called “bubble canopies” with good all-round vision.

The limitations of the F-35′s canopy are “partially a result of designing a common pilot escape system [a.k.a. ejection seat] for all three variants to the requirements of the short-take-off and vertical landing environment.” In other words, the Joint Strike Fighter’s windshield is constrained by the need to fit a standard ejection seat and the downward-facing engine of the Marine Corps variant, which allows that model to take off and land vertically and is located directly behind the cockpit.

The pilots, who formerly flew A-10s and F-16s, didn’t seem interested in excuses. Their comments, quoted in the report, are scathingly direct.

“Difficult to see [other aircraft in the visual traffic] pattern due to canopy bow,” one said.

“Staying visual with wingman during tactical formation maneuvering a little tougher than [older] legacy [jets] due to reduced rearward visibility from cockpit,” another added.

Said a third, “A pilot will find it nearly impossible to check [their six o'clock position] under G [force].”

“The head rest is too large and will impede aft visibility and survivability during surface and air engagements,” one pilot reported.

Most damningly: “Aft visibility will get the pilot gunned every time” during a dogfight.

The pilots’ sentiments echo warnings by Pierre Sprey, one of the original designers of the A-10 and F-16. Joined occasionally by former national security staffer Winslow Wheeler and ex-Pentagon test director Tom Christie, Sprey has repeatedly spoken out against the military’s tendency to downplay pilot visibility in recent warplane design efforts. At a presentation in Washington six years ago, Sprey told Danger Room that the F-22, also built by Lockheed Martin, featured a more limited view from the cockpit than the company’s older F-16 — and that the F-35, then still in early design and testing, would be far worse still.

Lockheed and the military’s response has been to tout the benefits of the Joint Strike Fighter’s sensors, which Lockheed vice president Steve O’Bryan last year characterized as “world-beating.” The F-35 has six wide-angle cameras installed along the fuselage that are supposed to stream a steady, 360-degree view directly to the pilot’s specially designed helmet display. In essence, the warplane should see for the pilot.

But the helmet display doesn’t work yet, another shortfall highlighted by the Pentagon report. For now — and perhaps forever if the display’s problems don’t get resolved — Joint Strike Fighter pilots rely solely on their eyes for their view outside the jet. And their vision is incomplete owing to the F-35′s design compromises.

“There is no simple relief to limitations of the F-35 cockpit visibility,” the report states. Instead, the Pentagon admits it is more or less hoping that the problem will somehow go away on its own. “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.”

But wishful thinking is no basis for warplane design. Especially when the plane in question is supposed to form the backbone of the entire U.S. air arsenal.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/03 ... lind-spot/

[Coati]

Three first flights with F-35Bs: BF-24 (early last week), and the obove mentioned BF-25 and BF-26 on March 6.

[stipjes]

This week we saw a few F-35's.
The 10-5009 and 10-5010 landed for delivery to the 422TES.


The 168718/VF16 is one of the three that are delivered to Yuma.

[tally]

10-5011/OT and 10-5012/OT are on their delivery flight as Strike 31/32 to Nellis at this time with LMTAS F-16 84-1234 as chase Strike 33 (Monday, Mar 11).

Tally.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[wamovements]

Only 5012 & the F16 made it to Nellis till now!

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[tally]

5011 had an IFE (In Flight Emergency) and landed in Lubbock, TX while on route.

I say IFE, however LMTAS might consider it more a precautionary landing rather then IFE.

Tally.

[Richard from Rotterdam]

Interesting read: http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.asp ... 558138.xml

Kendall: F-35 Production Ramp-Up Decision A Tough Call
By Amy Butler abutler@aviationweek.com
Source: AWIN First

Pentagon procurement chief Frank Kendall says he hopes to ramp up production of the single-engine, stealthy F-35, made by Lockheed Martin, but he will only do so if adequate progress is made in testing on the troubled program.

Production is slated to go as high as 44 aircraft in fiscal 2014 and then 66 aircraft in 2015 for the Pentagon — up from 29 — if all goes well. Testing thus far has been marred by propulsion problems, durability issues with some F-35 parts and faulty helmets. The tailhook for the F-35C carrier version is also a problem.

“The big decision for me on the F-35 will be the decision on the FY 15 budget: Do we ramp up or not?,” Kendall told reporters at a speech during the Credit Suisse/McAleese Defense Programs conference March 12. “I put two years of flat [production] into the budget last year and I did it as a compromise between stopping entirely and the current plan at the time. That had a big impact on Lockheed. A lot of business slid off on that. I don’t want to do that again. I want to get the rate up if I can.”

Lockheed Martin, however, must deliver on its flight testing and software programs.

“If they stay on track, then we are going to go head and ramp up. The fate of the program is in Lockheed’s hands.”

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the F-35 program executive officer, says the per-unit price is coming down with each progressive low-rate, initial production (LRIP) contract; the contractor is in LRIP 5. However, the aircraft in LRIP 4 is slated to cost about 7% more than those in the previous lot, Bogdan says.

Bogdan and Lockheed Martin expect to complete negotiations on LRIPs 6 and 7 this summer.

[Richard from Rotterdam]

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.asp ... 558076.xml

F-35 Chief Considers $80M-90M Unit Cost Possible
By Amy Butler abutler@aviationweek.com
Source: AWIN First


Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney are improving production processes for the F-35 to the extent that they could manage to sell the anticipated 3,000 of the tri-service, multinational fighters, says Program Executive Officer U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan.

“That number is starting to get back into the sweet spot on the curve,” he says of the contractors’ costs, adding that the per-unit price is heading to where the “partners want it to be,” in the range of $80 million to $90 million.

The production lines had been riddled with what officials call “traveling work,” meaning tasks that cannot be done in their designated work stations owing to parts or supply issues, forcing workers to delay them until later in the assembly process.

Now, however, the companies are “doing a very good job recently of taking problems and quirks out of the production line such that it is running smoother.”

However, cost is highly dependent on production numbers, which are soft at this point. Bogdan notes that when Turkey, a production partner, deferred its aircraft two years from low-rate-initial-production (LRIP) lot 7, the remaining aircraft grew in price by $1 million apiece.

“We are all going to hang together or we are all going to hang separately,” Bogdan told an audience at the Credit Suisse/McAleese Defense Programs Conference in Washington March 12.

Meanwhile, Bogdan plans in the “next year or so” to release a request for proposals for management of F-35 training centers. He says he thinks he can save up to one-third of the cost of managing these centers by introducing competition into the process. Lockheed Martin and its primary subcontractors are invited to compete. “I have their attention,” Bogdan says, in terms of the price and deal they are currently discussing with the government.

Prior to releasing the request for proposals, Bogdan says the Joint Program Office is working to ensure it has proper data rights to allow for a competition. The way forward will depend partly on how cooperative Lockheed and Pratt are, he says, adding that they “have lawyers” detailed to protect their businesses.

Likewise, Bogdan sees competition farther down the road for managing support equipment and the fighter’s global supply chain.

[Coati]

EDWARDS BEGINS F-35 OPERATIONAL TESTING
March 14, 2013

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., March 13 -- The U.S. Air Force Edwards Air Force Base issued the following press release:

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." For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com


Copyright 2013 HT Media Ltd.
All Rights Reserved

http://www.avionics-intelligence.com/ne ... sting.html

[tally]

CF-07 168734/NJ-102 slated for VFA-101 took to the skies over North Texas for the first time Thursday, Mar 14.

Tally.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Coati]

CF-07 took to the skies over North Texas for the first time Thursday, Mar 14.

Tally.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

Nice Tally! Code NJ-102? And BuNo 168734?

Two potential new F-35 customers (one competition and one final evaluation):

DENMARK
Denmark reopened the fighter competition which was frozen in 2010. Race between JAS-39 (NG?), F/A-18E/F, F-35A and EF2000 Eurofighter. Decision somewhere in 2015. Number of aircraft about 30 (originally 48).

http://www.defensenews.com/article/2013 ... /303140009

SINGAPORE
Singapore expected to order F-35 fighter jets soon - sources 14 Mar 2013 By John O'Callaghan

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/1 ... =worldNews

"(Reuters) - Singapore is in the "final stages of evaluating" the F-35 to upgrade its air force, a process U.S. sources say should turn quickly into orders for several dozen of the stealthy warplanes that have been beset by cost overruns and delivery delays.

Singapore, a major business and shipping hub with the best-equipped military in Southeast Asia, is expected to submit a "letter of request" soon for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, said two U.S. government officials who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter....

...Singapore became a minor partner in the programme in 2003, along with Israel, which has ordered 19 of the jets so far.

Singapore's F-35 order is expected to include the Marine Corps' B-model, which can take off from shorter runways and lands like a helicopter, said a source familiar with that variation of the plane.

Due to the city-state's small size and limited air space, its air force trains its fighter pilots in the United States and its helicopter pilots in Australia...."

[Coati]

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Na ... 63be15a62c

Here a picture of CF-07, indeed 168734/NJ-102

[tally]

BF-27 168725/VK-07 slated for VMFA-121 took to the skies over North Texas for the first time Monday, Mar 18.

Tally.