F-35 Lightning II developments

[Coati]

The 6 additional F-35B for the USMC was known in the plans, but apparently the House as added an additional 4 F-35A for the USAF as well! It seems that the bill now passed the House, clearing the way to boost LRIP-10 from 57 to 67 aircraft for the US only.

House, Senate panel approve defense bills that add F-35s

In the Senate, the Appropriations Committee approved a $576 billion defense bill that also boosts spending on the F-35 program and adds funds to speed replacement of a Russian-made engine used to launch U.S. satellites.

The Senate bill would increase the number of F-35s made by Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth to 67 from the 57 requested in fiscal 2016. It would shift $730.3 million to buy six additional Marine models of the F-35 and add $97.6 million that, when combined with other previously approved but unspent funds, would buy four additional Air Force models, according to the bill report.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/busin ... rylink=cpy

Edit: House version has 65 aircraft for the US (so 48 A, 15 B, 2 C), while the Senate version has 67 (4 instead of 2 C)

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/busin ... 98233.html

Anyway: good news for the program.

[Coati]

And we have a new active USAF F-35A squadron: 62 FS stand up on June 5 as the second 56 FW squadron next to 61 FS, and will accept its first aircraft in July. Also the Norwegians and Italians will be part of this new Luke AFB squadron.

2nd F-35 squadron stands up

Posted 6/16/2015
by Senior Airman Grace Lee
56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

6/16/2015 - LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, ARIZONA -- Lt. Col. Gregory Frana assumed command of the 62nd Fighter Squadron during an assumption of command ceremony June 5 at Luke Air Force Base.

Frana previously served as the first F-35A Director of Operations for the 61st FS at Luke.
Col. William Bailey, 56th Operations Group commander, presided over the ceremony.
The 62nd FS is scheduled to begin accepting jets in July and will be joined by two partner nations, including Norway and Italy. A Norway pilot is scheduled to begin class in September.

http://www.luke.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123450999

[Coati]

Some new construction numbers are known:

Israeli F-35A are numbered AS-1, AS-2 etc
Japanese F-35A are numbered AX-1, AX-2 etc

[Starman]

Further to Coati's post, fresh.co.il report the following:

AS-1 & 2 will be from LRIP-8 in "late 2016" - 2 a/c "delivered" in 2016 was "promised" recently
AS-3 - 9 LRIP-9 also 2016
AS-10 - 19 LRIP-10 in 2017
AS-20 - 26 LRIP-11 in 2018
AS-27 - 33 FRP-1 in 2019

There seem to be 17 "options" to follow.

[Coati]

Israel will most probably get another (3rd) squadron of F-35A fighters:

http://www.rt.com/usa/310049-us-military-aid-israel/

US ‘to boost’ military aid to Israel after Iran nuclear deal

The US has offered to increase military aid to Israel by another $1.5 billion per year to ease tensions over the nuclear deal with Iran, media has reported. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is expected to make the offer during next week’s visit to Tel Aviv.

The proposed increase would see Israel getting an additional squadron of F-35 fighter jets, funding for research and development of missile defense systems, and ammunition to replenish the stocks used in last year’s bombing of Gaza, Israeli sources told Jerusalem Post.

PS: I'd say this would probably mean exercising the option on 17 aircraft. Israel has a firm order for 33 aircraft in two batches already.

Joost

[Melchior Timmers]

1st F-35 for Hill had its first flight in July.
13-5072/HL

[Starfighter_F-104G]

13-5072 f.f. 23.07.2015

[Piet Luijken]

USAF's first two combat-coded F-35s take flight
12 August 2015

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Air Force’s first two combat-coded Lockheed Martin F-35s have come off the assembly line at Fort Worth in Texas, with the second aircraft completing its first flight last week.

Those aircraft, AF-77 and AF-78, are being prepped for delivery to Hill AFB in Utah where they will be operated by the 34th Fighter Squadron, the Air Force’s first operational F-35 group.

The former F-16 squadron known as the “Rude Rams” reactivated in July and aims to declare initial operational capability with at least 12 A-model F-35s in August 2016.

In a statement on its social media account, the squadron’s parent unit, the 388th Fighter Wing, said the second aircraft conducted its first production flight test at Fort Worth on 4 August.

“Very soon both AF-77 and AF-78, our first two combat-coded F-35s, will be taking off from the runway at Hill AFB,” the wing says, adding in an earlier post that Lockheed Martin has already begun delivering spare parts and supplies to the base for maintenance of the first few aircraft.

The base is already well-versed in F-35 maintenance and sustainment, since its Ogden Air Logistics Center is the primary location for F-35A depot maintenance.

The first batch of combat F-35s are due to arrive at the base in September, which will mark the start of the squadron’s relatively quick journey toward IOC. The U.S. Marine Corps’ first operational F-35 squadron – the “Green Knights” of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona – declared IOC with the B-model last month.

As of July 20, Lockheed Martin had delivered 69 F-35As including four for to international customers. The Air Force’s programme of record calls for production of 1763 jets.

[Piet Luijken]

Marine Corps Lays Out Future F-35 Transition Schedule
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
ARLINGTON, Va. — With initial operational capability (IOC) declared for its first F-35 Lighting II squadron, the Marine Corps has announced the schedule for the next four squadrons to make the transition.
Marine Fighter-Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121), based at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Ariz., achieved IOC on July 31. The squadron is scheduled to be forward-deployed to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, by 2017.
Marine Attack Squadron 211, an AV-8B Harrier II squadron also based at Yuma, will receive its first F-35Bs on 2016 and be redesignated VMFA-211. It will be followed by two F/A-18 Hornet squadrons, VMFA-122 in 2018 and VMFA-115 in 2020, both based at MCAS Beaufort, S.C. VMA-311, a Harrier squadron at Yuma, also will begin transition in 2020 and be redesignated VMFA-311.

[Piet Luijken]

HILL AIR FORCE BASE — They’re off the assembly line and they’ve been in the air — now final flight tests are the only hurdle to clear before the Air Force’s first two combat F-35s arrive in Utah. The second of the two jets took it’s first flight last week at manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas aeronautics plant, following the first jet, which took to the skies days earlier. Before they’re handed over to the government, Lockheed Martin pilots run the planes through a gamut of tests.

Nathan Simmons, 388th Fighter Wing spokesman, said that process is nearing completion and the jets’ wheels will soon be hitting the pavement on Hill’s runway. “They have to go through a whole checklist of tests,” Simmons said. “And theoretically, any one of those could delay (the Hill arrival), but right now, all indications are things are going as planned.”

The pair of jets, tail numbered 5071 and 5072, represent the culmination of a nearly six year process that will make Hill Air Force Base home to the Air Force’s first operational F-35 wing. Hill was selected for the post in December 2013 after a four year environmental process. Since then, the base has been preparing to house what will eventually be 72 Lightning IIs.

Sept. 11 is the Air Force’s target date for the arrival, but less than a month away, that date still isn’t a definite. ”It could be after that date or even before,” said Ryan Breitkruetz, F-35 Senior Site Manager at Hill. ”It’s a very fluid moving target. Something as simple as the weather could impact the delivery.“ When they do arrive, the two new jets will be operated by Hill’s recently un-retired 34th Fighter Squadron. The squadron was shut down in 2010 as part of an Air Force cost savings measure that included retiring more than 130 F16s, but it’s being brought back to support the F-35.

After September, the rest of Hill’s fleet of 72 will come in on a staggered basis spread out through 2019. During the same time frame, Hill’s full lineup of 48 F-16s will phase out of the base. The F-35 will eventually replace all of Department of Defense’s F-16 and A-10 fleets, serving as the department’s premier fighter plane through at least the first half of the 21st Century.

After the arrival of the first jets, the F-35s will be delivered to Hill at a rate of just more than one per month until August 2019. Breitkruetz said the fighter squadron should reach “Initial Operational Capability,” which means it meets the minimum capabilities to use the jet for normal combat operations, between August and December of 2016.

Maintainers who will work on the new plane have been at Hill for nearly three months, completing mostly administrative work like creating maintenance and flying-hours programs. Pilots are in training and the wing hopes to have 10 qualified to fly the F-35 by January.

[EOR1]

WA 13-5067 was delivered to Nellis today

[Piet Luijken]

F-35 Lightning II Program Status and Fast Facts
3Q 2015

Highlights of the Last Two Months
• USMC declares F-35B Initial Operational Capability with 10 jets at MCAS Yuma. (July 31)
• F-35B completes Operational Readiness Inspection at MCAS Yuma. (July 20)
• Hill AFB reactivates the 34th Fighter Squadron in preparation of receiving their first F-35A. (July 17)
• MCAS Yuma F-35 squadron conducts the first operational ordnance expenditures releasing a total of 30 weapons both live and inert. (June 22-26)
• F-35 performs Close Air Support mission unscathed while taking part in Green Flag exercise. (June 22)
• F-35 participates in an ongoing air combat training exercise over the Army Combat Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. (June 3)
• The F-35B completes OT-1 aboard the USS Wasp including 100 sorties, 4 night takeoff/landings and 30 maintenance demonstrations. (May 29)
• The first F-35A wing-set produced by Italy’s Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi enters the F-35 production line in Fort Worth. (May 26)
• Luke Air Force Base's 56th Fighter Wing officially changes its mission to include the F-35. (May 21)
• F-35s have flown more than 36,000 cumulative flight hours since December 2006.

F-35 Delivery Status
148 F-35s have been delivered to the Department of Defense as of July 20:
• 128 Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Aircraft
o 69 F-35As (including four international aircraft)
o 41 F-35Bs (including three international aircraft)
o 18 F-35Cs
• 20 System Development and Demonstration (SDD) aircraft complete the test and development fleet:
o Edwards AFB, Calif. - four F-35As.
o PAX River NAS, Md. - five F-35Bs and four F-35Cs.
o This count includes six static aircraft and AA-1 stationed around the world.
Program Status
• 2015 SDD flight test activity totals through July 27:
o F-35A Flight Science aircraft have flown 120 times
o F-35B Flight Science aircraft have completed 177 flights
o F-35C Flight Science aircraft have flown 136 times
o The Mission Systems Test Aircraft have flown 277 times

Planned Quantities
USAF 1,763 F-35As
DoN (USN/USMC) 680 F-35B/Cs
U.K. RAF/RN 138 F-35Bs
Italy 60 F-35As/30 F-35Bs
Netherlands 37 F-35As
Turkey 100 F-35As
Australia 100 F-35As
Norway 52 F-35As
Denmark 30 F-35As
Canada 65 F-35As
Israel 33 F-35As
S. Korea 40 F-35As
Japan 42 F-35As

Funding
• Long-lead funding LRIP lot 9 (57 aircraft)
• Full funding approved for LRIP lot 8 (43 aircraft)
• Full funding approved for LRIP lots 6&7 (71 aircraft)
• Full funding approved for LRIP lot 5 (32 aircraft)
• Full funding approved for LRIP lot 4 (32 aircraft)
• Full funding approved for LRIP lot 3 (17 aircraft)
• Full funding approved for LRIP lot 2 (12 aircraft)
• Full funding approved for LRIP lot 1 (2 aircraft)

Cost
• The U.S. DOD announced an agreement aimed at reducing the price of an F-35 to the equivalent of today's 4th generation fighters by the end of the decade known as Blueprint for Affordability in 2014.
• The U.S. government has stated the projected cost of an F-35 purchased in 2018 will be $85 million. That’s the equivalent of $75 million today.
• More than $500 million reduction in concurrency costs over the first five production lot contracts.
• The LRIP 8 contract reflects an average airframe unit cost approximately 3.5 percent lower than the LRIP 7 contract signed in 2013 and a 57 percent reduction since LRIP 1.
• LRIP 6 Aircraft Costs (not including engine):
o 23 F-35As CTOL - $103 million/jet
o 6 F-35B STOVL - $109 million/jet
o 7 F-35C CV - $120 million/jet
• LRIP 7 Aircraft Costs (not including engine):
o 24 F-35As CTOL - $98 million/jet
o 7 F-35B STOVL - $104 million/jet
o 4 F-35C CV - $116 million/jet
• LRIP 8 Aircraft Costs (not including engine):
o 19 F-35As CTOL-$94.8 million/jet
o 6 F-35B STOVL - $102.0 million/jet
o 4 F-35C CV - $115.7 million/jet

F-35 Quantities by Variant and Country for LRIP 1 − 8
LRIP 1 (2 Total) - 2 U.S. / 0 International
United States
o 2 F-35A CTOL for the U.S. Air Force
LRIP 2 (12 Total) - 12 U.S. / 0 International
United States
o 6 F-35A CTOL for the U.S. Air Force
o 6 F-35B STOVL for the U.S. Marine Corps
LRIP 3 (17 Total) - 14 U.S. / 3 International
United States
o 7 F-35A CTOL for the U.S. Air Force
o 7 F-35B STOVL for the U.S. Marine Corps
International
o 1 F-35A CTOL for the Netherlands
o 2 F-35B STOVL for UK
LRIP 4 (32 Total) - 30 U.S. / 2 International
United States
o 10 F-35A CTOL for the U.S. Air Force
o 16 F-35B STOVL for the U.S. Marine Corps
o 4 F-35C CV for the U.S. Navy
International
o 1 F-35A CTOL for the Netherlands
o 1 F-35B STOVL for the UK
LRIP 5 (32 Total) - 32 U.S. / 0 International
United States
o 22 F-35A CTOL for the U.S. Air Force
o 3 F-35B STOVL for the U.S. Marine Corps
o 7 F-35C CV for the U.S. Navy
LRIP 6 (36 Total) - 31 U.S. / 5 International
United States
o 18 F-35A CTOL for the U.S. Air Force
o 6 F-35B STOVL for the U.S. Marine Corps
o 7 F-35C CV for the U.S. Navy
International
o 3 F-35A CTOL for Italy
o 2 F-35A CTOL for Australia
LRIP 7 (35 Total) - 29 U.S. / 6 International
United States
o 19 F-35A CTOL for the U.S. Air Force
o 6 F-35B STOVL for the U.S. Marine Corps
o 4 F-35C CV for the U.S. Navy
International
o 3 F-35A CTOL for Italy
o 2 F-35A CTOL for Norway
o 1 F-35B STOVL for the UK
LRIP 8 (43 Total) - 29 U.S. / 14 International (4 UK, 2 Norway, 2 Italy, 4 Japan, 2 Israel)
United States
o 19 F-35A CTOL for the USAF
o 6 F-35B for the U.S. Marine Corps
o 4 F-35C for the U.S. Navy
International
o 4 F-35B STOV for UK
o 2 F-35A CTOL for Norway
o 2 F-35A CTOL for Italy
o 4 F-35A CTOL for Japan
o 2 F-35A CTOL for Israel

[Coati]

BL-01 is part of LRIP-9, delivery in 2017 (LRIP-9 consists of 63 aircraft). I thought the first B was for the MMI, not the AMI btw.


BAE builds first F-35 STOVL variant aft fuselage for Italian Air Force

BAE Systems has completed the construction of the first short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant aft fuselage of F-35 Lightning II for the Italian Air Force.
The manufacturing of F-35B aft fuselage, designated as BL01, was carried out its Military Air and Information site at Samlesbury, Lancashire.
BL01 will now be transported to the final assembly and check out (FACO) facility at the Cameri Air Base in northern Italy.

http://www.airforce-technology.com/news ... ce-4649402

[Piet Luijken]

The first Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II for Norway, known as AM-1, transferred out of the F-35 main production facility Aug. 19, marking a key milestone for the Norwegian F-35 program. (62FS)

This move from the production facility is one of the final steps in the process leading to the jet’s eventual assignment to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, later this year. Once at Luke, it becomes part of the U.S. Air Force’s pilot training program for both the USAF and international countries.

AM-1 is currently in the Aircraft Final Finishes (AFF) facility where it receives low observable coatings. From there it undergoes a series of functional fuel system checks and then transports to the flight line for operational ground checks and its first flight.

AM-1 is the first of four Norwegian F-35s currently in production at the Fort Worth plant. Norway’s second F-35 known as AM-2 recently jointed its sister aircraft in the AFF while AM-3 and AM-4 are both in work at the wing systems and forward fuselage areas. Both of these aircraft will take shape for the first time in late September, when their major components are joined together.

[Piet Luijken]

Vanavond:

Vandaag kopen we een vliegtuig(2015)

31 augustus 2015, 20:25 - 21:25 uur
NPO 2
REPORTAGE
Het ontwikkelen van de Joint Strike Fighter is het grootste en kostbaarste internationale defensieproject aller tijden dat al meer dan 20 jaar voortduurt. Filmmaker Robert Oey geeft een onthullend overzicht van de bizarre gebeurtenissen rond de aanschaf van het JSF-gevechtsvliegtuig.
Regisseur: Robert Oey
Bijzonderheden: Teletekst ondertiteld

In ieder geval getuigt de aanhef van weinig journalistieke objectiviteit.