F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

[lambu]

US says joint strike fighter is unaffordable

By Jeremy Thompson

The Federal Government has denied a blowout in costs for the US-built F-35 joint strike fighter will affect Australia's mass purchase of the warplane.

The Government has placed a tentative order for 100 of the stealth aircraft to replace its ageing fleet of less capable F/A-18 Hornets and the now retired F-111 fighter-bomber.

But overnight a US senate committee heard the latest cost estimate - which has nearly doubled from initial targets - would make the fleet of warplanes unaffordable.

The Pentagon's top weapons buyer, acquisition chief Ashton Carter, said the program currently has "an unacceptably high acquisition bill".

The cost of each aircraft in the US has ballooned from US$69 million ($64.7 million) to US$103 million, and the project has been dogged by ongoing design and development flaws.

A spokesman for Defence Minister Stephen Smith says the US senate review is "standard stuff" and the cost per unit will be lower as the program goes on.

But he said the cost of the initial 14 planes, at a cost of $3.2 billion or $228 million per aircraft, was a necessary cost to buy early-build units so pilots could be trained on the advanced fighter-bomber.

He said the balance of the order would be from aircraft made later in the production cycle when prices would be lower.

However a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute says delays in the F-35 are a bigger concern than the cost.

The defence and security think tank says the RAAF may have to wait a further seven years before the joint strike fighter enters service - six years after delivery was originally scheduled.

The Defence Minister's spokesman conceded most of the aircraft should arrive "in 2018 and 2019".

The Howard government ordered 24 off-the-shelf F/A-18F Super Hornets to serve as an interim multi-role fighter pending the arrival of the F-35 - a purchase at the time opposed by the RAAF.

To hedge against the prospect of further delays to the JSF program, the Gillard Government should buy more Super Hornets, the report said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/20/3222259.htm?section=justin

 

[Parthy]

Senators Ask For JSF Alternatives

After more than a decade of pursuing the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee are indicating that the Pentagon's biggest weapon program might need an understudy.

"It seems to me [prudent that] we at least begin considering alternatives," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said during a hearing May 19, after hearing that current estimates show the program's development and sustainment are unaffordable.

That idea does not sit well with the Pentagon's top acquisition official, Ashton Carter, who says the Pentagon has no good alternative to the next-generation stealthy fighter, even though the cost to sustain the program into the future is an eye-popping $1 trillion, adjusted for inflation over its lifespan. That is less than the cost to sustain the F-22, about the same as the F-15, and more than either the F-16 or the F-18.

Carter is pledging the amount will be brought down during a "should-cost" review of the program that he will finish in the next couple of months.

Not all members of the Senate committee that sets policy for the Defense Department agree with McCain that it is time to begin looking at other options.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), from the home state of the program's Ft. Worth production facilities, says that the Pentagon needs to do all it can to protect the JSF. "If you're going to put all your eggs in one basket, you ought to protect that basket." Cornyn says.

Others picked up on McCain's comment, however, including Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), who pressed Carter on exactly how much cost the Pentagon would like to see removed from the sustainment estimate.

Carter says he is aiming to reduce costs by 20% to 50%. "It's not a small amount," Carter says.

But Christine Fox, the director of the Pentagon's cost assessment and program evaluation office, casts doubt on that goal, saying that even if the program can speed software development to reduce costs, operation and sustainment (O&S) reductions are another matter.

"O&S is hard," Fox says, adding that the cost of fuel, for example, will not be easy to reduce. "Whether we can get it all the way down to legacy [O&S cost levels] is something that I in my office doubt."

Asked about the costs, Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin's general manager for F-35 program integration, says that the next-generation fighter's sustainment costs cannot be fairly compared to older aircraft.

He says JSF sustainment was developed on a performance-based logistics plan different than legacy sustainment processes. The JSF's O&S estimates also go out to 2065 and are susceptible to ground rules that legacy aircraft are not bound to, he adds.

Nonetheless, committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) wants Carter to report back within a week on what the Pentagon sees as an alternative to JSF if the Pentagon's goals are not met.

"We need to know what the driver is, to succeed here," Levin says. "Part of the driver is to have a backup plan."



Senators Ask For JSF Alternatives | AVIATION WEEK

 

[Parthy]

More trouble coming in for F35

Japan May Drop F-35 From Shortlist

Japan may drop the F-35 stealth fighter from a shortlist for the country's next generation fighter due to a sharp delay in the plane's development plan, the Kyodo agency reported on Friday citing diplomatic and defense sources.

The operational test of the radar-evading F-35—being developed by Lockheed Martin and Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway—is not expected to begin until 2017 and this would not satisfy Japan's desire to receive delivery of the next fighter by March that year, Kyodo said.

The development of the multi-role F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, due to replace various aircraft in the military fleets of both the United States and its partners, has been hampered by delays and ballooning costs.

If Japan were to drop the F-35, its shortlist will be narrowed down to Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon. Eurofighter is a four-nation consortium of EADS, representing Germany and Spain, Britain's BAE Systems and Italy's Finmeccanica .

The Eurofighter Typhoon, used by NATO nations and Saudi Arabia, would be Japan's first European fighter jet.

But the sources reckon that Japan, which has emphasized coordination with U.S. forces, could pick the F/A-18, Kyodo said.

Japan is looking to make the selection at the end of the year. The new fighter will replace Japan's aging F-4 Phantoms.



Japan May Drop F-35 From Shortlist | AVIATION WEEK

 

[SpArK]

F-35C Fly Over at the Andrews AFB Joint Service Open House

The second Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II production aircraft flies above the compass rose of Rogers Dry Lakebed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., May 13.

The second F-35C Lightning II carrier variant arrives at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Md. May 17, 2011

 

[Someoneforyou]

Joint Strike Fighter Makes First Air Show Appearance
UNITED STATES - 21 MAY 2011

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. -- The F-35C Joint Strike Fighter made its first public appearance at an air show May 21.

Piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Eric "Magic" Buus, the F-35C made a single pass down the show line at the Joint Service Open House at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.

The flight commemorated 100 years of naval aviation by highlighting the future of tactical air power for the U.S. Navy. The F-35C variant of the joint strike fighter is distinct from the F-35A and F-35B versions with its larger wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear for greater control in the demanding carrier take-off and landing environment.

The flyover originated from the F-35C's primary test site at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. and was executed in the same manner as any controlled test sortie. The aircraft, CF-2, flew within its approved flight envelope and was accompanied by an F-18 Hornet flying chase.

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program is in the system development and demonstration phase, focusing on delivering three different and new aircraft variants to the U.S. Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force. All three variants integrate advanced low observable stealth into a supersonic, multi-role fighter.

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. (May 21, 2011) An aircraft carrier variant of the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter flies over Andrews Air Force Base, Md., during the Joint Service Open House. This is the first public appearance of a joint strike fighter aircraft at an air show. Lt. Cmdr. Eric "Magic" Buus piloted the aircraft. The F-35C is a fifth generation strike fighter with stealth capability and has larger wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear for the demanding carrier environment. The aircraft is undergoing test and evaluation at Naval Air Station Patuxent River.

 

[Someoneforyou]

Third F-35 Carrier Variant Aircraft Completes First Flight
UNITED STATES - 23 MAY 2011

FORT WORTH, Texas, May 23rd, 2011 -- The third F-35 Lightning II carrier variant flight test aircraft, designated CF-3, launches from Naval Air Station (NAS) Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base on May 21 on the way to completing its first test flight. CF-3 continues its flight testing in Fort Worth, preparing to fly to NAS Patuxent River, Md., later this year. Once there, it will join two other carrier variant aircraft and four short takeoff/vertical landing aircraft as part of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps flight test program.

Source: Lockheed Martin

 

[lambu]

No defence for poor JSF planning


No defence for poor JSF planning | Robert Gottliebsen | Commentary | Business Spectator

 

[StealthSniper]

The F-35 is getting too complex for it's own good now. Initially it seemed to be a good strike alternative to the heavyweight F-22, but now it's just plagued with to many systems and is way to expensive to justify the stealth aspect of the plane. Honestly if the Eurofighter and Rafale are only 60% as good as the F-35, then I would say the IAF will be very happy with what they are getting for the money, not to mention the TOT we get and no strings attached.

 

[Neil]

Israeli official: Problems with F-35 'much worse than we had been told'

TEL AVIV — Less than a year after it signed an agreement for procurement of the F-35, Israel fears that it would be left without an advanced U.S. fighter-jet.

Officials said the Israel Air Force and Defense Ministry have been scrambling to determine the future of the Joint Strike Fighter amid threats from Congress. They said a high-level Israeli defense delegation would travel to Washington to examine the JSF project and a delivery schedule.

"We knew there were problems with the airplane, but things are much worse than we had been told," an official said.

In August 2010, the Israeli Defense Ministry signed a Letter of Order and Acceptance for the procurement of 20 F-35s from Lockheed Martin. At the time, officials said the deal, reported at $2.7 billion, stipulated initial delivery by 2016, Middle East Newsline reported.
But technical delays could block the development of an operational JSF. Officials cited a series of problems, including avionics, engine and integration.

"The F-35 is vital to our existence and will provide a dramatic leap in capabilities," Israel Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan said.

Since then, however, Israel has remained the only foreign country to have ordered JSF. JSF partners such as Britain, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey have been dismayed by the performance of the F-35 as well as cost overruns and the U.S. refusal to release source codes.

Israeli officials now acknowledge that the delivery schedule could be delayed by several years and spark a crisis within the air force. They said the air force has urged the Defense Ministry to begin negotiations to lease surplus F-15 fighter-jets from the United States.

"I imagine a dialogue will start with the Americans over a new schedule and changes," Defense Ministry director-general Udi Shani said.

Shani told the Israeli daily Haaretz that an Israeli delegation would hold talks with the U.S. Defense Department over JSF. He said the delegation would also discuss such issues as technology transfer and the installation of Israeli systems on the F-35, something long opposed by Washington.

At this point, the Israel Air Force continues to project optimism. On May 25, Nehushtan told the Fischer Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies that he still believes in the JSF program despite expected delays and wants air training to begin in 2016.

"The forecasted delays in the delivery of the F-35 to [Israel] is less dramatic than what's being said," Nehushtan said.

For its part, however, Congress has placed the administration of President Barack Obama on notice that the $1 trillion JSF program could be canceled. In late May, the Senate Armed Services Committee asked the Pentagon to draft alternatives to the F-35, the cost of which has risen by more than 50 percent.

"We cannot sacrifice other important acquisitions in the Department of Defense investment portfolio to pay for this capability," Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin said.

 

[Neil]

/QUOTE]

which is the huge aircraft in the background with 2 ways of opening...??

 

[chex3009]

Its a C-17 Globemaster.

 

[Razor]

nope. I think its the c-5 galaxy (which is the largest cargo that the US has).
I cud be wrong though.

 

[Someoneforyou]

Third F-35 Carrier Variant Flies to NAS Patuxent River
UNITED STATES - 3 JUNE 2011

FORT WORTH, Texas, June 3rd, 2011 -- Lockheed Martin delivered its third F-35 Lightning II carrier variant aircraft, known as CF-3, to its primary test site at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Md., yesterday. Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan "Dog" Canin piloted the aircraft during its 3.3-hour flight from NAS Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base. CF-3, the 8th aircraft delivered in 2011, joins the current fleet of F-35 test aircraft, focusing on mission systems, weapons integration, survivability and carrier suitability testing.

Source: Lockheed Martin

 

[Godless-Kafir]

Why are they not inducting the JSF? Apart from the fact the bulk head cracked what other valid reason do they have? China would have inducted it by now.

Also they should have built it around an proven platform like the harrier rather than go in for an all new design with ducted fan which even the Russian failed with.

 

[Neil]

nope. I think its the c-5 galaxy (which is the largest cargo that the US has).
I cud be wrong though.

hey bro....you are right....its a c-5

 

[lambu]

F-35 strikes trillion-dollar mark for maintenance bills

(Flight Global) : Perhaps the most alarming figure yet associated with the Lockheed Martin F-35 programme is in the last line of a 53-page cost estimate prepared in late 2010 by the US Department of Defense.
The figure on the page reads: "1005342.0". Given the million-dollar unit, this translates in rounded figures to $1.01 trillion, and represents what the DoD expects to pay in inflation-adjusted dollars to operate and sustain 2,443 F-35s over a planned 50-year service life.
It is a figure that even Vice Adm David Venlet, F-35 programme chief, has described as rendering his customers in three US armed services "weak in the knees".
And the trillion-dollar-busting estimate for operations and sustainment costs comes on top of another inflation-adjusted cost projection - $379.4 billion, to develop and produce all 2,443 F-35s - that Venlet's boss, undersecretary of defence Ashton Carter, has described under oath as simply "unaffordable".
Addressing a 19 May hearing by the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carter noted that, in general, operating and sustaining a weapon system consumes 70% of all lifecycle costs, with the remainder spent on research, development, testing and procurement.
"Seventy cents of the cost of every programme is having it, 30¢ is getting it," said Carter. By that reckoning, the $1 trillion figure for F-35's operation and support costs suggests that the DoD is getting a bargain.
With a $379 billion total acquisition cost, the projected bill for operations and support represents a comparatively inexpensive 62% of lifecycle costs. For the F-35 programme to correspond with Carter's rule of thumb for weapons systems, the operations and support bill for the F-35 would have to rise to nearly $1.3 trillion over a half-century of service.

The cost figures are so eye-popping that Carter was forced to take the awkward position of disavowing estimates generated by his own staff as part of a congressionally mandated reporting requirement. "You shouldn't believe [the estimates]," Carter told the Senate panel, "because we haven't really begun to manage them yet. They are parametric forecasts. Nobody's going to pay that bill."

Carter noted that he had made the same argument at a meeting in April of the leaders of the eight F-35 partner countries: "I said, 'If you thought that was really going to be the bill for sustaining the airplane, we might as well all get up and go out and leave now.'"

RISING COST TREND
But the rising cost trend cannot be disregarded. The DoD's estimates show operations and support costs have risen dramatically higher than procurement costs over the past decade. While projected acquisition costs have soared 55% in constant dollar terms, the operations and sustainment estimates have jumped by nearly 178% compared with the original DoD forecast of December 2001.

Lockheed Martin chief executive Robert Stevens is careful not to offer excuses, but he has pointed out that one explanation for the soaring operations and support cost growth is partly explained by a change in how the DoD's predictions are calculated. The original model in 2001 was based on a 30-year lifecycle cost. The DoD policy changed in 2006 to calculate costs over a 50-year lifespan, Stevens said.

"Now I don't know about a lot of things in economics," said Stevens, formerly Lockheed's chief financial officer, "but I know when we're talking about total costs if you move from 30 years to more than 50 years that cost is going to go up, and it could go up even when the unit costs are getting much more efficient around that jet."

Operations and sustainment costs could change if programme officials carefully inspected the "ingredients" that the model was based on, Stevens suggested: "When you develop a model that big there are sufficient opportunities to reduce that number by making streamlining decisions along the way."

F-35 flight costs per flying hour

That idea has become the US government's major goal as Vice Adm David Venlet enters his second year as F-35 programme executive officer. In his first year, the focus was on analysing the true costs of the development and early procurement phases. That process - which added $4.6 billion to the development price tag and delayed in-service date by at least two years - is nearly complete.
"We have some choices about how we sustain and support this aircraft," Venlet said. "We need to illuminate the consequences of those choices principally in cost - and it's not just the US." The cost estimates are based a wide range of assumptions. In a briefing on 21 April, Venlet focused on one particular input: basing. He suggested that if the three US armed services buying different variants of F-35 co-located, that could reduce the number of simulators required, which is one of the major drivers of costs. And he indicated that Lockheed's grip on the performance-based logistics deal for the F-35 could be re-evaluated. "We will let 'actuals' from fleet experience teach us the right way to incentivise industry and how we contract with them," he said. "We do believe there is a balance. There's a balance of organic support in US depots with industry support."

Lockheed's Steve O'Bryan, vice-president of F-35 business development, notes that the performance-based logistics contract facilitates such a re-evaluation, as it "allows you to examine those costs. If the [manufacturer] repair is best value, that is the logical place to do the repair. If the depot is best value, you can move that work. You can compete it."

The F-35 is still expected to cost significantly more to operate than the aircraft it replaces. "Sustainment seems like years away," Carter said, "but now is the time to face that bill and begin to get that under control."

Defenseblog-njs.blogspot.com

 

[Neil]

Lockheed Martin: willing to outsource F-35 production to Japan

Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) is willing to outsource some production of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to Japanese firms if the country's government decides to buy them as its next mainstay fighter aircraft, an executive at the U.S. company said on Friday.

Lockheed Martin is also confident it can complete operational tests by 2016 and meet delivery and technical requirements set by Japan's Ministry of Defense, said John Balderston, who heads Lockheed's F-35 campaign in Japan.

"We fully understand the importance of the Japanese defense industry as part of national security posture and we will work with Japanese industry to produce its next generation airplane," Balderston told Reuters in an interview in Tokyo.

"We are confident that we can fully meet the MOD's delivery and other requirements."

Japan has yet to decide how it will replace its current fleet of aging F-4 Phantom fighters, whose design dates back to the 1960s and which have become increasingly difficult to maintain. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.T) is also set to end production of its F-2 aircraft in 2011, raising concerns over the future of Japan's fighter-jet industry.

Along with the F-35, Boeing Co's (BA.N) F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon have been short-listed for the final fighter jet selection, which Japan aims to make this year.

Japan, which plans to order 40 to 50 new fighter jets, wants delivery by March 2017, according to local media reports. The country has come under pressure to make a selection as the decision has already been delayed by at least three years.

BALLOONING COSTS

The development of the stealth, supersonic F-35, due to replace various aircraft in the military fleets of both the United States and its partners, has been hampered by delays and ballooning costs.

The fighters is the Pentagon's costliest arms purchase, most recently projected to total more than $380 billion over the coming two decades. U.S. lawmakers last month urged the Pentagon to think of alternatives to the F-35 program if costs cannot be brought down.

Balderston said, however, that the company would resolve development issues and that new F-35 testing programs are ahead of schedule.

The F-35 is expected to account for more than 20 percent of Lockheed's global sales when it enters full production.



Lockheed Martin: willing to outsource F-35 production to Japan | idrw.org

 

[Someoneforyou]

Northrop Grumman Completes Successful Joint Strike Fighter Sensor Testing at Northern Edge 2011 Joint Exercise
UNITED STATES - 21 JUNE 2011

Northrop Grumman Corporation has successfully participated in the 2011 Northern Edge joint military exercise by demonstrating key F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) sensor capabilities in a demanding operational environment.

The AN/APG-81 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System (DAS) were mounted aboard Northrop Grumman's BAC1-11 test aircraft during the exercise. The radar was tested featuring Block 3 and developmental software, and the DAS was tested with JSF Block 2 delivery software.

"The rigorous testing of both sensors during this exercise serves as a significant risk reduction step for the JSF program," said Commander Erik Etz, Deputy Mission Systems Integrated Product Team lead for the JSF Program Office. "By putting our systems in this operationally rigorous environment, we have demonstrated key warfighting capabilities well in advance of its scheduled operational testing."

Participating in the Northern Edge exercise for the second time, the AN/APG-81 radar demonstrated robust electronic protection, electronic attack, passive, maritime and experimental modes, and data-linked air and surface tracks to improve legacy fighter situational awareness. The AN/AAQ-37 DAS displayed its spherical situational awareness and target tracking capabilities during its operational environment debut at Northern Edge this year.

"The ability that DAS provides to track multiple aircraft in every direction simultaneously is something that has never been seen in an air combat environment before," said Chuck Brinkman, sector vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman's Targeting Systems Division.

The United States Pacific Command, the Alaskan Command and the Joint Electromagnetic Preparedness for Advanced Combat organizations supervised the biennial exercise, which involved over 6,000 airmen, sailors and Marines. As the United States' largest and most complex airborne electronic warfare environment, this exercise encompasses mass air combat scenarios conducted across diverse platforms to test their effectiveness within challenging environments.

Source: Northrop Grumman Corporation

 

[lambu]

Norway approves funding of Lockheed Martin F-35 Training Jets

Norway approves funding of Lockheed Martin F-35 Training Jets

 

[Someoneforyou]

F-35C Starts Carrier Suitability Testing
UNITED STATES - 28 JUNE 2011

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. --- Flown by test pilot Lt. Cmdr. Eric "Magic" Buus, F-35C test aircraft CF-2 lands at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey June 25.

CF-2 and the F-35 integrated test team from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. are at the NAVAIR facility in Lakehurst for the first jet blast deflector (JBD) testing, in preparation for carrier shipboard testing in 2013.

The team is at the JBD test facility to evaluate deck heating, JBD panel cooling, and vibro-acoustic, thermal, and hot-gas ingestion environments.

The F-35C is the carrier variant of the three-service Joint Strike Fighter, and has larger wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear to perform in the demanding carrier environment.

The F-35C and F-35B are undergoing test and evaluation at NAS Patuxent River prior to eventual delivery to the fleet.

Source: U.S. Naval Air Systems Command