F-35 Lightning II developments

[Melchior Timmers]

Thanks Joost!

[Coati]

And another first flight (credit Code one magazine):

F-35B BF-30 First Flight
Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti was at the controls for the first flight of F-35B BF-30 (US Navy Bureau Number 168728). The flight occurred on 18 September 2013 with takeoff and landing at NAS Fort Worth JRB, Texas.
http://www.codeonemagazine.com/news_ite ... em_id=1164

Which was the last LRIP-4 aircraft yet to fly if I have it correctly.

3 LRIP-5 F-35As already had made their first flights

[Starfighter_F-104G]

I haven't f/f for BF31 , any date?

MTIA

[Coati]

Me neither, but is was reported as delivered to Yuma on 31-July.

[raameagle]

I have 3 July 2013 as the FF date for BF-31.

Regards

Mark

[Coati]

South Korea dumps Boeing fighter jet tender, Lockheed soars back
Tue, 24th September 2013 - 10:41
By Joyce Lee and Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's government bowed to public pressure on Tuesday and voted down a bid by Boeing to supply 60 warplanes, saying it would restart the multi-billion tender process to get a more advanced fighter.

Lockheed Martin's F-35A, previously considered too expensive, has shot to the front of the line in the race for the contract after the defence ministry singled out a fifth-generation fighter as the preferred option.

The fifth generation F-35A, complete with its hi-tech stealth capability, has already been ordered by seven countries, including Japan and Israel.

Boeing's F-15 Silent Eagle had been in the box seat to win the 8.3 trillion won ($7.7 billion) tender - as the only bid to fall within budget - but former military top brass and even the ruling party's lawmakers had criticised the plane as it lacked crucial stealth capabilities.

"Our air force thinks that we need combat capabilities in response to the latest trend of aerospace technology development centred around the fifth generation fighter jets and to provocations from North Korea," defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters.

A third bid by the Eurofighter consortium's Typhoon was also ruled out for going over the finance ministry's budget. Under South Korean law, only bids under budget are eligible to win defence contracts.

A deal with Boeing or Lockheed Martin was seen as the most likely by experts because of South Korea's close military alliance with the United States against the belligerent North.

The South Korean government and air force will map out a fresh tender process and consider a new budget. The defence ministry said it could take around one year to complete the new tender round.

"DAPA...will swiftly pursue the programme again in order to minimise the vacuum in combat capabilities," South Korea's Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), which led the assessment of the fighters, said in a statement.

FRESH START FOR LOCKHEED

The collapse of the deal, however, means a fresh start to Lockheed Martin, which has recently taken a new order from the Netherlands for the F-35. Britain, Australia, Italy, Norway, Israel and Japan have also placed orders.

Increased production of the aircraft will potentially allow Lockheed to lower its tender bid. Earlier this month, a U.S. Air Force general said he was committed to continue lowering its F-35 programme cost.

"We will continue to support the U.S. government in its offer of the F-35A to Korea," Lockheed Martin's South Korean representative said after the decision.

U.S. military officials say the biggest strength of the F-35 is its ability to fuse data from other aircraft and sensors, allowing it to help identify targets for other fighters, and essentially command the battlefield.

South Korea's decision marked a defeat for Boeing, which has spent significant amounts of its own money developing the Silent Eagle variant of the F-15.

Last month, 15 South Korean former air force chiefs signed a petition opposing the selection of F-15, saying it lacked the stealth capabilities of more modern aircraft.

Boeing said in a statement it was deeply disappointed by Tuesday's decision, saying it had rigorously followed the DAPA's instructions throughout the entire process.

"We await details from DAPA on its basis for the delay while evaluating our next options," Boeing said.

A DAPA official said South Korea had followed the rules in the bidding process, but declined to comment on possible legal action by Boeing.

A local representative of the Eurofighter consortium said it would participate when the project restarted.

The DAPA had earlier estimated that any delay in the tender process could leave the South Korean air force 100 fighters short of the 430 jets deemed necessary by 2019.

Given delays that pushed back first delivery by three years to 2017, and a total budget fixed without wriggle room, top decision-makers had been keen to buy jets as soon as possible to partially replace ageing F-4 and F-5 fighters and maintain combat capabilities.

($1 = 1073.9500 Korean won)

(Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa in Washington; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

http://www.iii.co.uk/news-opinion/reuters/news/117200

[Coati]

Lockheed eyes dozens of orders for F-35 jets in coming months

Reuters - UK Focus

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp , nearing completion of its 100th F-35 fighter jet, anticipates dozens of international orders or commitments for the new radar-evading warplane in coming months, according to U.S. government officials and industry executives.

The F-35 program got a boost on Tuesday when the South Korean government rejected a bid by Boeing Co (NYSE: BA - news) to build 60 F-15 warplanes, saying it needed a more advanced "fifth-generation" fighter.

It could take up to a year before South Korea completes the next round of its fighter competition, but Lockheed has set its sights on additional orders from Norway, Britain and Turkey before year's end. Experts said the phrasing of South Korea's statement indicated Boeing had a slim chance of landing a deal.

And Singapore may announce an initial order of one dozen F-35 jets or more at the Singapore air show in February.

Military officials from the United States and eight other countries that helped fund development of the F-35 will meet in Istanbul this week to review progress on the fighter jet that will replace the popular F-16 and a dozen other warplanes now in use around the world, according to a Pentagon spokeswoman.

Moves by Russia and China to develop their own stealthy "fifth-generation" fighter jets have accelerated in recent years, underpinning demand for the F-35. The Pentagon's chief arms buyer this month described the F-35 as the top U.S. conventional weapons program.

Military experts use the term "fifth-generation" to refer to airplanes that have stealthy coatings and other features that make them largely invisible to enemy radars.

Lockheed is building three variants of the F-35 for the U.S. military, and the eight partner countries: Britain, Canada, Australia, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy, Turkey and Denmark. Israel (Other OTC: IRLCF - news) and Japan have also placed orders.

The company will complete building its 100th F-35 fighter plane next week.

The $392 billion F-35 program, the Pentagon's most expensive, has had a number of positive developments over the past year. The F-35 has traveled a long, rocky road that had triggered concerns it could suffer the same "death spiral" that ultimately slashed orders for Lockheed's F-22 fighter from 750 to 187.

Last week, the U.S. Air Force general who runs the F-35 program, said he no longer feared that outcome, given the strong commitment of the U.S. military services and foreign countries.

Air Force Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan said the F-35 was making slow but steady progress on lowering production costs, completing flight tests and resolving technical problems.


FOREIGN ORDERS FIRMING UP

After years of political wrangling, the Netherlands last week became the seventh foreign country to make a firm commitment to buy F-35s, joining Britain, Australia, Italy, Norway, Israel and Japan.

Norway is expected to order six more jets in December, its fourth order for the new warplane, according to one source familiar with the F-35 program.

Britain, which has spent $2 billion to help develop the F-35, will decide next month whether to proceed with the purchase of 14 additional B-model F-35s, which can take off from shorter runways and land like a helicopter.

The UK deal alone would be worth about $1.5 billion, according to a source familiar with the UK program.

The U.S. Marine Corps plans to start using the F-35B version of the new jet, the same one Britain plans to buy, in combat starting in mid-2015, while the U.S. Air Force has moved up plans to start using the conventional takeoff A-model to 2016.

In December or January, Turkey's Defense Industry Executive Committee is expected to approve an initial order of two jets out of the 100 F-35s it plans to buy over time to replace its aging fleet of F-4 Phantoms and early F-16s, according to a second source close to the program.

Japan, which is building a $1 billion final assembly and checkout facility for the F-35, plans to order four more F-35s in the fiscal year starting April 2014 as part of its overall order of 42 F-35 fighter jets to replace its F-4 fighters, according to budget documents.

Japan's Defence Ministry has requested 162.7 billion yen ($1.65 billion) to pay for four F-35s, provide aid to domestic manufacturers building F-35-related production lines, and related training equipment.

Japanese military officials were also considering moves to replace their older F-15 fighter jets, which would likely translate into significant additional F-35 orders in coming years, according to one source who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Meanwhile, Singapore was moving closer to formalizing plans for an initial order of F-35s, according to U.S. and industry officials, who say an announcement about a dozen or more jets could come at the Singapore air show in February.

Belgium, one of the original NATO partners to buy the F-16, is also considering buying the F-35, Reuters reported last week. although no decision was expected until late 2014 or early 2015.

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/lockhe ... 27603.html

[marcelburger]

Norway signed the contract for the first two Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighter aircraft on Friday September 27, 2013. Oslo pays USD 98 million per plane. Meanwhile Oslo is looking for ways to find another 2 billion dollar to beef up the order to the 52 F-35s the Royal Norwegian Air Force is planned to field. So far the Norwegian parliament already agreed to purchase the first six F-35s. When the JSF comes, it will mean changes in the main operating bases of Norway. Read more: http://airheadsfly.com/2013/09/29/norwa ... -fighters/

[wamovements]

11-5026 was noted last week making its f/f. No code yet

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Melchior Timmers]

F-35C 168841/NJ-100 was noted at Fort-Worth.
I think this is the first LRIP 5 F-35C, CF-10

[Piet Luijken]

NAVY STANDS UP F-35C SQUADRON AT EGLIN

FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 2, 2013 – Tuesday, the U.S. Navy and the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla., officially reconstituted the highly decorated VFA-101 Grim Reapers Squadron during ceremonies held on the Emerald Coast.

VFA-101 will fly the Navy’s newest aircraft, the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35C Lightning II carrier variant, to perform the mission of training pilots and sailors to fly and service the aircraft fleet. The speakers challenged the Grim Reapers to prepare sailors to fly and maintain the F-35C safely at sea, where its stealth, sensors and communication systems will make the entire carrier strike group more effective. The U.S. Navy’s F-35C Initial Operating Capability is scheduled for 2019.

[Melchior Timmers]

F-35C 168841/NJ-100 was noted at Fort-Worth.
I think this is the first LRIP 5 F-35C, CF-10

And CF-10 confirmed by (and credits to) codeonemagazine:

Lockheed Martin test pilot Paul Hattendorf was at the controls for the first flight of F-35C CF-10 (US Navy Bureau Number 168841). The flight occurred on 26 September 2013 with takeoff and landing at NAS Fort Worth JRB, Texas.



Photo by Carl Richards

[Coati]

Plus another Eglin trainer:

AF-34 11-5023/EG first flight 1 October.

F-35A AF-34 First Flight

Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti was at the controls for the first flight of F-35A AF-34 (US Air Force serial number 11-5023). The flight occurred on 1 October 2013 with takeoff and landing at NAS Fort Worth JRB, Texas.

http://www.codeonemagazine.com/news_ite ... em_id=1173

[Coati]

F-35A AF-35 First Flight

Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti was at the controls for the first flight of F-35A AF-35 (US Air Force serial number 11-5024). The flight occurred on 7 October 2013 with takeoff and landing at NAS Fort Worth JRB, Texas.


http://www.codeonemagazine.com/f35_news ... em_id=1174

Aircraft has EG code and so destined for Eglin AFB.

[evhest]

Dutch pilots to fly F-35 by december, as announced today in parliament by secretary of Defence Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert. Also here.