ehusmann wrote:Or Wikipedia is not entirely correct
Either way, restrictions by now at least are no longer in place, so will not influence decision for new fighter.
Erwin
Indeed, that is what counts
Just for the background: the treaty was unilaterally abandoned by Finland in 1990. The F-18 designation had more to do with the (then) popular strict self defence policy apparently (new for me as well...).
The treaty was indeed abandoned in 1990. But still the Finish Hornets were - as far as my knowledge goes - not equipped with the software to perform attack missions. So they were indeed pure air defence assets back than. In the mid 2010's these Hornets all received upgrades including the necessary software to perform attack missions. So therefore returning to a multifunctional platform able to perform all kind of missions.
F-35 Lightning II Program Status and Fast Facts 22oct2015
Highlights of the Last Three Months
• Hill AFB celebrates its first operational F-35As with an Arrival Ceremony. (Oct. 14)
• The F-35C completes the second ship trials (DT-2) aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), completing 66 catapults and arrestments four days early. (Oct. 10)
• Norway’s first F-35A completes first flight. (Oct. 6)
• The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) completes the first fuel transfer from a RAAF KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) to an F-35A at Edwards AFB. (Sept. 28)
• The Air Force’s first two combat coded F-35As fly their first missions at Hill AFB. (Sept. 26)
• Norway receives its first F-35A at roll out ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas. (Sept. 22)
• AL-1, Italy’s first F-35A produced at Cameri, Italy FACO, completes its first flight and is the first F-35 to fly in international airspace. (Sept. 7)
• Hill AFB receives its first two operational F-35As. (Sept. 2)
• The U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James visits the Fort Worth production facility. (Aug. 26)
• The Italian Air Force completes the first fuel transfer from a KC-767A to an F-35A at Edwards AFB. (Aug. 6)
• 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 to receive its first F-35A. (July 17)
• F-35s have flown more than 42,000 cumulative flight hours since Dec. 2006.
F-35 Delivery Status
162 F-35s have been delivered to the Department of Defense as of Oct. 20:
• 142 Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Aircraft
o 81 F-35As (including four international aircraft) o 43 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 Oct. 17:
o F-35A Flight Science aircraft have flown 183 times
o F-35B Flight Science aircraft have completed 263 flights o F-35C Flight Science aircraft have flown 225 times
o The Mission Systems Test Aircraft have flown 419 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 10 (94 aircraft)
• Long-lead funding LRIP lot 9 (57 aircraft)
• Full funding approved for LRIP lot 8 (43 aircraft)
• Full funding approved for LRIP lots 7 (35 aircraft)
• Full funding approved for LRIP lots 6 (36 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 known as Blueprint for Affordability in July 2014, aimed at reducing the price of an F-35 to the equivalent of today's 4th generation fighters by the end of the decade.
• The U.S. government stated the projected cost of an F-35 purchased in 2018 will be $85 million. That’s the equivalent of $75 million in FY 2012 dollars.
• In 2014 the DOD announced a 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
From earlier reports I saw 4 Japanese F-35A's in LRIP 9, all to be produced in Japan. I am missing the first South Korean ones (2 planned in LRIP 9). These might be the 2 tallied as 'Japanese' above. Would be consistent with leaving out the 2 Italian ones.
Worldnis wrote:From earlier reports I saw 4 Japanese F-35A's in LRIP 9, all to be produced in Japan. I am missing the first South Korean ones (2 planned in LRIP 9). These might be the 2 tallied as 'Japanese' above. Would be consistent with leaving out the 2 Italian ones.
Your info is not correct. The first (2?) Korean AF F-35A will be produced in LRIP-10. And the plan was for Japan 4 Lirp-8, 2 Lrip-9 (those 2 will be the first producted in Japan), 4 in LRIP-10, 6 in LRIP-11.
UK to buy 138 F-35B in total, accelerates purchases the next few years (39 jets to be able to field a 24 aircraft squadron on board the carriers) to be ready when the Carriers are becoming operational.
FYI: UK originally had 138 aircraft in the long term plans, but committed just to 48 till now (with 18 firm orders till now). This will end speculation about slashed orders and is a big boost for the F-35 program. Mor details later today and on Wednesday.
BK-4, ZM138 first flight Wednesday, Dec 2.
AF-83, 13-5077/HL delivered to Hill AFB, Thursday, Dec 3.
BF-46, 169166/VK-02 delivered to Yuma MCAS, Thursday, Dec 3.
The final budget for LRIP-10 (FY16) has been ratified, increasing the requested number of 57 F-35s to 68 for the US DoD. In total 3 extra F-35As (from 44 to 47), 6 extra F-35Bs from 9 to 15) and 2 extra F-35Cs are funded (from 4 to 6).
LRIP-11 Long lead contract awarded to LM (at the moment 80 F-35A, 7 F-35B, 4 F-35C, but most likely this number will be higher):
Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) has won a contract worth $1.17 billion to buy titanium and other materials needed to build an 11th batch of F-35 fighter jets, the Pentagon said on Monday.
The contract covers 80 F-35A aircraft to be built for the U.S. military and key allies, 7 F-35 B-model jets to be built for the U.S. Marine Corps and Britain, and 4 F-35 carrier-variant jets for the U.S. Navy, the Defense Department said in its daily digest of major arms contracts.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Chris Reese)
Coati wrote:LRIP-11 Long lead contract awarded to LM (at the moment 80 F-35A, 7 F-35B, 4 F-35C, but most likely this number will be higher):
Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) has won a contract worth $1.17 billion to buy titanium and other materials needed to build an 11th batch of F-35 fighter jets, the Pentagon said on Monday.
The contract covers 80 F-35A aircraft to be built for the U.S. military and key allies, 7 F-35 B-model jets to be built for the U.S. Marine Corps and Britain, and 4 F-35 carrier-variant jets for the U.S. Navy, the Defense Department said in its daily digest of major arms contracts.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Chris Reese)
"The advance acquisition effort includes 80 F-35A aircraft (28 for the U.S. Air Force; 6 for the government of Norway; 4 for the government of Turkey; 8 for the government of the Netherlands; 8 for the government of Australia; 10 for the government of Israel; 6 for the government of Japan; and 10 for the government of South Korea); 7 F-35B aircraft (6 for the U.S. Marine Corps; and 1 for the United Kingdom); and 4 F-35C aircraft for the U.S. Navy. This contract also includes an undefinitized contract action for production of 2 F-35A aircraft for the U.S. Air Force and F-35C aircraft for the U.S. Navy."
