F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

[ninja85]

Avro arrow cheaper and better than F-35 - YouTube

Should the Avro Arrow be resurrected? - YouTube

 

[cobra commando]

GAO Draft Slams F-35 On ‘Unaffordable’ Costs: $8.8B Over Legacy Fighters « Breaking Defense - Defense industry news, analysis and commentary

 

[Zebra]

South Korea to sign deal this month to buy 40 F-35 jets for $7 billion: sources | Reuters

SEOUL, Wed Sep 24, 2014 5:10am EDT

(Reuters) - South Korea will sign a deal this month to buy 40 Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jets for about 7.34 trillion won ($7.06 billion) for delivery in 2018-2021, two people with knowledge of the transaction told Reuters on Wednesday.

South Korea in March became the 10th country to choose F-35 fighter jets, with which it will replace aging warplanes and strengthen its defense against restive neighbor North Korea....

 

[Zebra]

South Korea Orders 40 F-35 Fighter Jets

 

[Zebra]

More Israel F-35s on order soon, US says - IHS Jane's 360

Marina Malenic, Washington, DC - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
24 September 2014

The Pentagon's Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II programme office is close to signing a deal with Israel for more stealthy combat aircraft, the programme manager said on 25 September.

"We are in discussion with another one of our partners, Israel, to increase their buy and those discussions are going very, very well," said US Air Force Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan.....

 

[Zebra]

Is F-35 Heading For Global Fighter Aircraft Domination?

Source : Our Bureau ~ Dated : Thursday, September 25, 2014 @ 02:59 PM

The success of Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter in South Korea and its acceptance by several NATO partners could make it the world's dominant warplane in the coming years.

The fifth generation stealth warplane looks set to grab market share from rival 4.5 generation planes such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, Boeing F-15, F18, the Dassault Rafale and the SAAB Gripen.

Till date 12 countries have ordered an approximate 3300 units of the F-35. The customers include US, UK, Australia, Italy, Turkey, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Canada, South Korea, Japan and Israel.

After 2018, the F-35 is likely to capture over a 50 percent share of the global fighter jet market, says Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst for the Teal Group, in a February report. At about the same time, most U.S. and European fourth generation fighters are scheduled to end production, with many manufacturers exiting fighter jet production altogether. The F-35 is looking to have a very significant international presence that will probably suck up most of the orders from U.S. allies.

The United States is home to only two manufacturers of fighter jets — Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Under current plans, Lockheed's F-16 and Boeing's F-15 and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet will go out of production by 2020.

Boeing is considering closing down its stealth fighter program due to decline in military budgets, :shocked: cost reduction in the U.S and other European nations, Bidnessetc website reported earlier this month. Orders for F/A-18 jets are declining as most investments are concentrated in F-35 joint fighter striker. The F-35 is widely regarded as the future of fighter aircraft, with ten countries partnering up for research and development, component manufacturing, and expense contribution.

The situation is not much brighter for European manufacturers. The Eurofighter Typhoon designed by a consortium of U.K.-based BAE Systems, Italian aerospace company Alenia Aermacchi and the Franco-German Airbus Group — will leave the market by 2018 unless there are further orders.


If France's Dessault retains its order from India, it could produce the Rafale until about 2025. Both companies do not have any plans of developing fifth generation fighters.

Only Sweden's Saab appears likely to survive as a fighter manufacturer, thanks to its contract from Brazil to purchase 36 aircraft and earlier orders in Thailand and South Africa.

The impact of the joint strike fighter on the European defense industry could be enormous. If the F-35's price decreases to about $85 million per unit, the F-35 may do to Europe's defense industry what the F-16 almost did.

Boeing may find itself pushed out of the fighter business by the end of the decade. The F-15 is scheduled to end production after deliveries to Saudi Arabia in 2019. The line for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and its electronic warfare variant, the E/A-18G Growler, is scheduled to shut down in 2016, but US orders for additional Growlers in the fiscal year 2015 budget could extend the line.


Boeing is keeping busy with international campaigns for both platforms, says Steve Nordlund, the company's director of global strike business development was quoted as saying in a report by International Business Times. Boeing recently submitted a bid to replace Denmark's fighter fleet. Its Super Hornet will face off against the F-35 and Eurofighter Typhoon. The company would likely also offer the Super Hornet to Canada if it chooses to begin a fighter competition, he says.

The United Arab Emirates is considering buying the F-15, F/A-18E/F, Typhoon or Rafale to fill a requirement of 60 planes. However the country may just bide its time and buy the F-35 later on.

 

[Dhairya Yadav]

Is F-35 Heading For Global Fighter Aircraft Domination?

Source : Our Bureau ~ Dated : Thursday, September 25, 2014 @ 02:59 PM

looks like a biased article. I reckon it will be around 40%, but 80% of this will be going to USAF.

 

[Zebra]

First Australian F-35A completes maiden flight - IHS Jane's 360

Marina Malenic, Washington, DC - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
01 October 2014

Australia's first Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter completed its maiden flight on 29 September, the company announced.

Lockheed Martin F-35 Chief Test Pilot Alan Norman flew a two-hour sortie to perform a series of functional checks, the company said in a 1 October statement.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is scheduled to receive the aircraft, known as AU-1, later this year. It is expected to be assigned to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona so that Australia and partner countries can use it for pilot training.

The first two F-35As for the RAAF, AU-1 and AU-2, came off Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth, Texas, production line on 24 July. The aircraft were the first of 72 ordered by Australia. The first F-35s are expected to arrive in Australia in 2018, with initial operating capability slated for 2023.

Under the Project AIR 6000 procurement programme, Australia is expected to buy up to 100 conventional take-off and landing F-35A aircraft over three phases (2A/2B/2C). In November 2012 it was estimated that the total expected cost for these aircraft would be AUD17 billion (USD16 billion), with operational costs for a total fleet of about 100 aircraft over 30-years running to about AUD20 billion (based on the currently expected rate of effort and assuming the economies of scale of an eventual all JSF fleet). While AU-1 and AU-2 cost USD130 million each, the F-35A unit cost is billed to come down to USD80 million by 2018-19.

Australia is the fourth partner country to receive F-35 aircraft, after the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Canada, Denmark, Italy, Norway, and Turkey are also partner countries. Israel and Singapore are Security Cooperative Participants, while Japan and South Korea are the first two Foreign Military Sales customers.

 

[Zebra]

^^

Not that bad, out of AUD17 billion, nearly AUD10 billion are coming back to Australia as work share of entire JSF manufacturing network.

 

[cobra commando]

An F-35B Lightning II with Marine Operational and Test Evaluation Squadron (VMX) 22 prepares to touch down aboard Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Oct. 9. This is the squadron's first F-35 Lightning II.

A F-35B Lightning II with Marine Operational and Test Evaluation Squadron (VMX) 22 taxies under a canopy aboard Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Oct. 9. This is the squadron's first F-35 Lightning II.

A F-35B Lightning II with Marine Operational and Test Evaluation Squadron (VMX) 22 sits under a canopy while Marines conduct post flight checks aboard Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Oct. 9. The F-35 Lightning II is scheduled to replace several Marine aircraft in the future.

VMX-22 receives first F-35B Aircraft

 

[cobra commando]

DOD and Lockheed Martin Announce Principle Agreement on Purchase of F-35s � Lockheed Martin

 

[Zebra]

F-35 A Little Bit Cheaper - Business Insider

Brendan McGarry, Military.com
Oct. 28, 2014, 1:30 PM

The U.S. Defense Department has struck a deal with Lockheed Martin Corp. to buy another batch of F-35 stealth fighter jets, an agreement they say will reduce the aircraft's unit cost by almost 4 percent.

 

[Zebra]

First Japanese, Israeli aircraft included in latest F-35 deal - IHS Jane's 360

Marina Malenic, Washington, DC - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
27 October 2014

Japan and Israel are set to receive their first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter combat aircraft as part of the just-negotiated eighth low-rate initial production lot (LRIP 8) contract, the Pentagon announced on 27 October.

 

[cobra commando]

Israeli F-35 buy takes fleet to 44 - 10/29/2014 - Flight Global

 

[Pzkw3]

I think the F35C first sea trial with USS Nimitz(CVN-68) is this November.

 

[Zebra]

Pentagon to choose regional F-35 MROs this year - IHS Jane's 360

Marina Malenic, Washington, DC - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
02 November 2014

...The US Department of Defense (DoD) plans to choose and announce European and Asia-Pacific locations for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities for the F-35 the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter airframe and engine, the DoD's programme manager for the stealthy combat aircraft programme said on 30 October.

"Our promise to "¦ our partners was that by the end of this year DoD would make those decisions and announce them," Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan said at a press conference. "The good news is we're on track."

"So between now and the end of the year, we would expect the Department of Defense to tell our partners and [Foreign Military Sales] customers how we are assigning the capabilities for engine and air frame heavy maintenance for both Europe and the Pacific," he added.

The Pentagon plans to support an engine MRO and an airframe MRO in three regions-Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific.

In the Pacific, Australia and Japan have outlined plans for establishing such facilities. In July, Australian Defence Minister David Johnston stated his government's plan to set up a regional F-35 MRO centre will strengthen defence relations between Australia and the United States, enhance the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF's) capability to operate the F-35 and provide opportunities for Australia's aerospace and defence industrial base. A development partner in the F-35 programme, Australia is committed to purchasing 72 F-35 aircraft, after announcing a second tranche of 58 aircraft in April. All aircraft are expected to be operational by 2023.

Linked to Japan's plans to locally build F-35s under licence, the country also wants to set up a regional F-35 MRO depot. A spokesman from the Japanese Ministry of Defence told IHS Jane' s in April 2014 that it is drawing up a plan to support the development of a regional facility in collaboration with the US as well as regional procurers of the aircraft. Tokyo ordered four F-35s in 2011 and has plans to locally manufacture a further 38 aircraft.

In 2013, Lockheed Martin and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) signed a contract to build a final assembly and check-out (FACO) facility for Japan's F-35s. The Japanese FACO plant is being established at MHI's Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works Komaki Minami Plant in Aichi Prefecture, which was used to build F-2 multirole fighter aircraft, developed in the 1990s in conjunction with Lockheed Martin.

Other Asian F-35 operators will likely include South Korea, which agreed in March 2014 to purchase 40 F-35s, and Singapore, which is a security co-operation participant in the programme. The US military is also expected to deploy F-35 from US bases and ships based in the region.

In Europe, no F-35 customers have yet stepped forward to announce creation of MRO centres. However, Lockheed Martin and Alenia Aermacchi collaborated on the establishment of the other international FACO plant at the Cameri Air Base in Novara, northwest Italy, and last year a components factory for Pratt & Whitney (P&W) F135 power plants opened in Turkey.

The Italian FACO cost a reported USD1 billion to set up. Italy is expected to procure 90 F-35s.

Meanwhile, the Turkish facility - owned jointly by Turkey's Kale Group (51%) and United Technologies subsidiary P&W (49%) - is in the Izmir free trade zone in the west of Turkey. Turkey recommitted in May 2013 to the initial purchase of two F-35s, having previously postponed the order because of cost, time and technology transfer concerns. Turkey's requirement extends to 100 F-35A units valued at USD16 billion, with deliveries to take place from 2018. Turkish workshare in the F-35 programme (under a range of offset accords) has been valued at USD6 billion.

 

[asianobserve]

F-35C Successfully Completes First Arrested Landing on Aircraft Carrier


http://theaviationist.com/2014/11/03/f-35c-lands-on-uss-nimitz/

 

[cobra commando]

IAI opens F-35 wing production line - 11/4/2014 - Flight Global

 

[cobra commando]

F-35C Completes First Arrested Landing aboard Aircraft Carrier

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=STVAM85y3i0
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UlxxeogPBoE
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3BOt0a_tGRg
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aYFIdpeoFaY

 

[asianobserve]