F-35 Lightning II developments

[Melchior Timmers]

Also the last LRIP 6 F-35C has been flying for the first time, last week, being 169035/NJ-120 (CF-23)

[wamovements]

12-5055/WA was delivered to Nellis on 28-4.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Coati]

Six Lockheed F-35B jets land on ship for Marine Corps testing

May 18 Six U.S. F-35B fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp landed on the USS Wasp amphibious warship on Monday for two weeks of operational testing required before the Marine Corps can declare a first squadron of F-35s ready for combat use in July, according to a U.S. defense official.

The testing, taking place off the coast of Virginia, will involve the six F-35 B-model jets, the highest number of F-35s ever used on a Navy warship to date, as well as Marine Corps pilots, maintenance personnel, and logistics experts, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The tests will check the ability of the stealthy jets to integrate into flight and deck operations on board the ship. They will include operations and weapons loading at day and night, the jets' ability to coordinate digitally with an on-board logistics system call ALIS, and how well the crew can deal with scheduled and unexpected repairs at sea.


(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

More details at the link:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/ ... arketsNews

[Coati]

And some info about AF-73, which just rolled out of the LM factory on May 12th, with picture at the link: 13-5067/WA, this is already the 3rd USAF LRIP-7 aircraft.


Lockheed Martin (Fort Worth, TX, US) reported on May 12 that an F-35A Lightning II aircraft, known as AF-73, rolled out of Lockheed Martin’s Aircraft Final Finishes facility on April 29. The jet also has the distinction of possessing the first set of vertical tails manufactured by the Australian company Marand.

http://www.compositesworld.com/news/fir ... completion

The completion of the final finishes phase for AF-73 is an important production milestone for Marand, BAE Systems and Australia, demonstrating the significant industrial benefits the F-35 program brings to the growing Australian aerospace industry. The work on the F-35 vertical tails is contracted to Marand by BAE Systems. This is one of the largest manufacturing projects for the Australian F-35 program, with 722 ship sets planned.

AF-73 will undergo a series of tests and engine runs prior to its first flight scheduled for late May. The aircraft will join the F-35 fleet later this year at Nellis Air Force Base, NV, US. The F-35 Lightning II aircraft will provide the Royal Australian Air Force with a transformational 5th generation fighter capability and provides significant benefits to the Australian aerospace industry, with more than $413 million (USD) already contracted.

[Starfighter_F-104G]

12-5055/WA was delivered to Nellis on 28-4.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

I have 12-5056

[Coati]

and some info on the budget request. The House Armed Services Committee approved additional funding for 6 USMC F-35B, on top of the 9 already on order for LRIP-10. Total US purchase will be 63 F-35s for LRIP-10 (44 A, 15 B, 4 C).

HASC Approves Massive DoD Policy Bill

By John T. Bennett 4:37 p.m. EDT April 30, 2015
NDAA Proposes $496B in Base, $89B in War Funding

WASHINGTON — The House Armed Services Committee early Thursday voted to add billions to a list of Defense Department weapon programs from cuts, and signed off on a $495.9 billion base Pentagon budget and an $89.2 billion war account.

In a bipartisan 60-2 vote, the committee approved its version of the national defense authorization act (NDAA), which proposes keeping alive the Air Force's A-10 attack plane fleet and endorses extra funding for additional fighter jets for the Navy and Marine Corps.
The legislation, which must still pass the full House and be negotiated with Senate Armed Services Committee members, would the Navy to buy a dozen more F/A-18 Super Hornets, while also clearing the Marine Corps to purchase six F-35Bs above its request of nine.

The panel signed off on an additional $1.15 billion for the extra 12 Boeing-made F/A-18 Super Hornets and an additional $1 billion for the six extra Lockheed Martin-manufactured F-35Bs.

And the panel joined Thornberry in several actions that placed it in full support of the often-embattled F-35 program, which has been plagued by developmental and testing problems.

"The chairman also supports the budget request for 57 total F-35 aircraft, but recommends targeted adjustments based on contract savings and program oversight concerns," states the fact sheet.

During the marathon markup, the committee shot down an amendment offered by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., that would have cut the Air Force's 2016 F-35A buy from 44 to 38.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defens ... /26604205/

[Coati]

And here a document indicating the total planned production (US, partners and FMS) for LRIP-11, MY-1 and MY-2 (Lot 11, 12 and 13):

-----------F-35A-----F-35B------F-35C
Lot 11-----108--------17----------4
Lot 12-----138--------26----------8
Lot 13-----140--------26----------10

(mind you , that is 477 aircraft )

F-35 Lightning II Air Vehicle Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Lot 11
Solicitation Number: N00019-16-C-0033
Agency: Department of the Navy
Office: Naval Air Systems Command
Location: NAVAIR HQ

19-16-C-0033
Notice Type:
Presolicitation
Synopsis:
Added: Mar 25, 2015 4:26 pm
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office (JPO) intends to solicit and negotiate multiple contract actions with Lockheed Martin Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Fort Worth, TX for F-35 Lightning II lots 11, 12, and 13. The proposed contract actions will provide for one hundred and eight (108) F-35A aircraft, seventeen (17) F-35B aircraft, and four (4) F-35C aircraft in lot 11; one hundred and thirty-eight (138) F-35A aircraft, twenty-six (26) F-35B aircraft, and eight (8) F-35C aircraft in lot 12; and one hundred and forty (140) F-35A aircraft, twenty-six (26) F-35B aircraft, and ten (10) F-35C aircraft in lot 13 (or such other quantities as may be authorized and appropriated by the U.S. Congress or authorized by non-U.S. DoD Participants or Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers). Contract actions will provide for long lead time materials, parts, components, and effort; Ancillary Mission Equipment (AME); Production Non-Recurring (PNR) activities to support the F-35 production ramp rate including tooling, test equipment, production aids, production equipment, and support labor; technical, financial and administrative data; and proposal preparation.

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity ... e&_cview=1

[EOR1]

12-5055/WA was delivered to Nellis on 28-4.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

I have 12-5056

definitely 5055
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eor1/1757 ... ateposted/

[Piet Luijken]

Pentagon firming F-35 Block 4 configuration
By: JAMES DREWWASHINGTON DC Source: Flightglobal.com 10 hours ago
As the Pentagon decides what new combat capabilities to “bake” into the Block 4 configuration of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, there is concern about planned upgrades sliding beyond Block 3F, and about the overall price tag as those modifications are rolled out in the early 2020s.

“We’ve seen programmes where our appetite is more than we can afford,” Maj Gen Jeffrey Harrigian, who heads the US Air Force F-35 integration office, said at a recent Mitchell Institute event in Washington, DC.

The air force expects its first squadron of 12 to 14 A-model F-35s in the baseline Block 3i configuration to be ready for combat in a limited capacity by August 2016. But each aircraft will need to be modified to achieve “full warfighting capability” with the full suite of armaments and improvements provided in the subsequent Block 3F and Block 4 upgrades.

asset image
Harrigian says the F-35 joint programme office is currently defining exactly what will be included in Block 4 ahead of a Pentagon requirements review later this year. Once approved, the configuration will be the baseline for future Block 4 increments as they are rolled out every two years or so.

The general’s two main concerns are “sliding things from 3F into Block 4” and affordability. He says the air force is in discussions with the joint programme office and the F-35 industry team about how best to stage the delivery of new capabilities so they are inserted at the right time and at the right cost.

“We’re trying to be as clear-eyed on what we think we can afford to make sure as we go through [increments] 4.1 and 4.2 we’ve got our priorities straight,” he says.

The Marine Corps is in the final stages of F-35B operational testing aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp as it works to achieve initial operational capability in the Block 2B configuration in July. Those aircraft along with the early air force Block 3i jets will be capable of conducting limited air-interdiction and close-air-support operations with basic guided bombs and air-to-air missiles.

asset image
Block 3F adds all of the weapons qualified during the system development and demonstration phase including the Boeing Small Diameter Bomb I, Raytheon AIM-120D Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, AIM-9X Sidewinder and General Dynamics 25mm gun. Other weapons being considered for Block 4 include Raytheon’s Small Diameter Bomb II and Kongsberg’s Joint Strike Missile, among others. Block 4 might also include integration with the B61-12 guided nuclear bomb being developed by the US Air Force, National Nuclear Security Administration and Boeing.

The first air force squadron will stand up at Hill Air Force Base in Utah starting with the first aircraft delivery this September. That base is followed by Eielson AFB, Alaska, in July 2019 and then Burlington Air National Guard Base, Vermont, in July 2020, Harrigian says.

If all goes according to plan, Royal Air Force Lakenheath in the United Kingdom will receive its first US F-35s in 2021.

Production of the F-35 is expected to scale up significantly over the next five years, growing from 123 aircraft now to more than 650 operated by the US and six other international programme partners by 2020.

asset image
Harrigian says air force senior leaders “feel very comfortable” about achieving initial operational capability in 2016. However, he says some of the largest challenges the air force is working on right now include reducing the time it takes to populate the aircraft’s mission data file with operational information; ensuring an adequate amount of resources and aircraft are available for mission qualification training; and managing software glitches with the F-35 Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS), which tracks maintenance and repair work.

“The hardware for ALIS is going to come out later this fall,” Harrigian says. “What training do the maintainers need to manage that software once it’s received?”

The general says the head of the Air Combat Command will determine whether to certify the F-35 as combat-ready based on its performance conducting basic close air support, air interdiction and suppression and destruction of enemy air defences.

“This is just a pit-stop en route to the full warfighting capability that we’re going to bring,” he says.

[Coati]

First Italian made wings assembled on a F-35. The aircraft is AF-88, destined for Nellis AFB. Picture at link shows this second to last LRIP-7 F-35A aircraft is already on the assembly line.

https://www.f35.com/news/detail/f-35a-l ... embly-line

[Piet Luijken]

The Air Force has mapped out its operational F-35 base deployment plans through 2021, said Air Force F-35 integration director Maj. Gen. Jeff Harrigian, during a May 21 AFA Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event in Arlington, Va.

First up is Hill AFB, Utah, which gets its first operational jets in September of this year, leading to initial operational capability in August of 2016. Hill gets all its jets by 2019. Next will be Eielson AFB, Alaska — a "preferred" location — which may get deliveries from July 2019 through November 2020. Eielson would get two squadrons of F-35s.

Burlington, Vt., gets its jets from July 2020 through May 2021 and Lakenheath, England — the first U.S. overseas base — would get its aircraft from June 2021 through September 2022. Other bases yet to be identified will follow.

[Coati]

Lockheed Martin won a contract for long lead work for the next batch of F-35s, LRIP-10 (FY16). This batch will consist of at least 94 aircraft (probably +6 USMC Bees extra, then 100):

F-35A (78)
44 for USAF
8 for Australia
6 for Norway
2 for Turkey
10 for Israel
4 for Japan
2 for Italy (AMI)
2 for South Korea (?)

F-35B (14) plus maybe (6)
9 for USMC, plus probably 6 extra after House Arms committee
3 for RAF
2 for MMI (Italian Navy)

F-35C (2)
2 for USN and USMC

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/ ... KR20150604

[PilotoRico]

Does any one know the serial(s) of first batch of F-35's for Norway?

Cheers

[Coati]

sorry I mixed up the message. Aussies have 12-5060 and 61, the 3 first Italians would have 12-5062-64...

So the Norwegians are still unknown...

[PilotoRico]

Thanks Coati for fast reply.