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F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sharpey
  • Start date Start date
I have commented on this before.

Despite the "erosion" of camouflage paint - things can be detected via radar or IR cameras - we still paint vehicles, aircraft, and faces with paint that blends in with the background.

The chief media-pushed complaint about "stealth" is that developments in AD radar systems is reducing its effectiveness. Even a reduced effectiveness gives an advantage, just as camouflage paint still gives an advantage. Fighters also carry radar. I've not seen any discussion that these are, or are likely to be in the near future, any better at detecting "stealthy" aircraft. Of course, I may have missed something there, as that is not a primary area of personal interest.

Were I a bomber pilot - and the thought makes me shudder, while simultaneously being thankful that the wings on my green machines have always rotated as is right, proper, and natural - I'd want that extra bit of protection.
 
Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, the commander of the 56th Fighter Wing (see post above) was on local TV yesterday (Phoenix, AZ) and stated all F-35 training will be conducted at the local Luke AFB. He then listed some of the countries including specifically Canada.
 
Balancing:

Exclusive: U.S. Navy wish list has 12 Boeing jets, eight F-35s - sources
...
The total value of the additional 12 Boeing jets is around $1 billion, while the eight extra Lockheed jets would be just over $1 billion, the sources said.

A decision by Congress to fund the extra Boeing jets as part of the Navy's fiscal 2016 budget would help the company extend its St. Louis production line beyond the end of 2017, although it was not immediately clear for how long.

Company officials have said they must decide this summer whether to start shutting down the line or bet their own money to buy titanium and other supplies that take a long time to deliver, before Congress finalize the 2016 budget.

There is great uncertainty about fiscal 2016 funding levels - and any programs on the "unfunded" list - since Congress remains deadlocked over whether to lift budget caps that would cut $35 billion from the Pentagon's base budget plan...

Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert told Congress the Navy faces a possible shortfall of two to three squadrons of F/A-18 strike fighters, or up to 36 aircraft, given delays in extending the life of older model F/A-18 aircraft, also called legacy Hornets.

Ordering Super Hornets now would also preserve the option of ordering additional EA-18G electronic attack aircraft, or Growlers, which are built at the same facility, if needed by other military services [emphasis added]...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/20/us-usa-navy-fighters-idUSKBN0MG29P20150320

Mark
Ottawa
 
A pair of articles on the F35..

The video, though some of the discussion on acquisition and price are debateable, is interesting in that it discusses the deficiencies of the F35 from a design perspective.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/03/the_disappointment_that_is_the_f35.html

http://digg.com/video/the-designer-of-the-f-15-explains-just-how-inanely-stupid-the-f-35-is
 
More bother:

US Marines stick to F-35B dates despite new problems
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/us-marines-stick-to-f-35b-dates-despite-new-problems-410518/

F-35B on track for operational readiness despite software challenges
http://www.janes.com/article/50173/f-35b-on-track-for-operational-readiness-despite-software-challenges

Lockheed likely to lose some incentive over F-35 software delay [Reuters]
http://dunyanews.tv/index.php/en/Technology/269684-Lockheed-likely-to-lose-some-incentive-over-F35-s

Mark
Ottawa
 
Lots more on current F-35B limitations here, note AMRAAM:

...new Russian and Chinese jammers are able to jam the AIM-120’s radar, and service officials expect that it will take many more missiles to hit a target than they had expected. “Even with my six AIM-120’s in the F-22 [Raptor, the stealth fighter now in service], sometimes it is not enough,” said a senior Air Force official...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/25/stealth-jet-s-slow-half-blind-debut.html

Mark
Ottawa

 
Major article at Defense Industry Daily:

Lightning Rod: F-35 Fighter Family Capabilities and Controversies
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/lightning-rod-f-35-fighter-family-capabilities-and-controversies-021922/

Mark
Ottawa
 
Two at AvWeek:

F-35 Flies Against F-16 In Basic Fighter Maneuvers
http://aviationweek.com/defense/f-35-flies-against-f-16-basic-fighter-maneuvers

Netherlands Looks At Alternative F-35 Flight Training Options
http://aviationweek.com/defense/netherlands-looks-alternative-f-35-flight-training-options

Mark
Ottawa
 
Very interesting video at link explaining the helmet

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/04/01/meet-the-most-fascinating-part-of-the-f-35-the-400000-helmet/?tid=sm_fb

Meet the most fascinating part of the F-35: The $400,000 helmet

The Washington Post - Christian Davenport - April 1

The F-35 Lightning II is one of the most complicated weapons systems ever developed, a sleek and stealthy fighter jet years in the making that is often called a flying computer because of its more than 8 million lines of code. The Joint Strike Fighter comes in three versions, including one that is designed to take off and land on an aircraft carrier and another that lands vertically, as if it were a helicopter.

But to truly understand the most expensive weapons program in the history of the Pentagon, forget the plane for a minute. Consider the helmet.

It’s designed to protect the pilot’s head, of course. But compared to everything the helmet does, protection becomes something of an afterthought.

The helmet sees through the plane. Or rather it helps the pilot see through the plane. When the pilots look down, they don’t see the floor of the plane; they see the world below them. If the pilots look back, they see the sky behind them. Embedded in the skin of the aircraft are six cameras, and when the pilots move their heads to look in a particular direction, they are actually seeing through the corresponding camera, which sends an image to projectors inside the helmet that beam an image of the outside world on the helmet’s visor.

Which makes the visor not really a visor. It’s a screen that posts information the way some cars are now posting fuel and gas mileage on the windshield in what’s called a heads-up display. But beyond speed and altitude, F-35 pilots would see things such as the location of enemy aircraft or weapons on the ground.

“When the helmet’s tuned correctly to the pilot’s eyes, you almost step into this other world where all this information comes in,” said Al Norman, an F-35 test pilot for Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor. “You can look through the jet’s eyeballs to see the world as the jet sees the world.”

Source: Lockheed Martin

Like the plane, the helmet is enormously expensive. The cost of each custom-made helmet is more than $400,000. And like the plane, which is years behind schedule and millions over its original budget, the helmet has encountered problems.

Earlier versions were jittery when the plane hit turbulence. There was a latency in the video, which caused pilots motion sickness. The night vision technology didn’t work as well as it should have. There was a “green glow” that obscured the pilots’ view. Things got so bad that in 2011 the Pentagon hired BAE Systems to build a back-up helmet in case the one in development couldn’t be rescued.

Two years later, it decided to go with the one being built by Rockwell Collins, saying that the competition helped get the program back on track and solve the problems. The program’s executive officer, Air Force Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, recently told reporters that the helmet, once a concern, was no longer “on my top 10 worry list.”

Pilots have recently started flying tests with the third iteration of the helmet, which has a new night vision camera and software improvements. But there have also been problems with the software that gathers information and then shares it among the F-35s flying together in formation, Bogdan said.

If one or two jets are flying together, they have been able to share information seamlessly, he said. But when there are four jets, communication problems emerge, which can “create an inaccurate picture for the pilot,” he said.

The issue won’t affect the jet’s delivery date or combat readiness, he said, and should be fixed shortly. But it will cost prime contractor Lockheed Martin a portion of its $300 million incentive fee.

Recent flights have shown that progress on the helmet is continuing as well, Norman said. Many of the previous issues have been resolved, but there are still issues with the green glow, and the way the pilots see the images projected on the visor.

“There’s still a little bit of tweaking we might want to do with how we stitch together the imagery,” he said. “Testing is an ongoing process. And if you find problems we try to fix them and look ahead.”



This post is part of the The Arsenal, an ongoing series examining the weapons and defense systems purchased by the U.S. government. For previous entries, read about the Pentagon’s electromagnetic rail gun, and the laser weapon that deployed aboard a Navy ship in the Persian Gulf.

 
Cool helmet. I hope it doesn't weigh too much. That was an issue with early whiz-bang NVG/comms/do-everything helmets for aircrew -- they worked, but resulted in too much strain on the neck and upper back, sometimes, causing shortened careers due to injury.
 
Thought this was interesting. On a city truck. Luke AFB is in Glendale. AZ and the city of El Mirage butts Glendale. All part of one big city of Phoenix. NW corner of Phoenix.
 
Interesting article on the A 10 vs F35 in the CAS role:

https://medium.com/@Doctrine_Man/smoke-and-mirrors-7cf5a753af6e

 
Engine progress:

F135 Fix Nears Completion As Production Ramps Up
http://aviationweek.com/defense/f135-fix-nears-completion-production-ramps

Mark
Ottawa
 
USMC and USN:

U.S. Marines vow tough review of F-35 combat readiness
http://www.globalpost.com/article/6509720/2015/04/08/us-marines-vow-tough-review-f-35-combat-readiness

Navy Prepares Amphibs for F-35B’s First Deployment in 2018
http://www.dodbuzz.com/2015/04/08/navy-prepares-amphibs-for-f-35bs-first-deployment-in-2018/

Mark
Ottawa
 
This problem continues:

Lockheed Risks Losing $40 Million Over F-35 Software That’s Late
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-09/lockheed-risks-losing-40-million-over-f-35-software-that-s-late

Mark
Ottawa
 
So, Lockheed might lose a $40M incentive on a $391B program.  That's about .01% of the gross revenues.  Not quite a make or break proposition.
 
dapaterson said:
So, Lockheed might lose a $40M incentive on a $391B program.  That's about .01% of the gross revenues.  Not quite a make or break proposition.

now make it $40 million per day or week and then it might hurt them
 
More USMC:

Despite IOC, Questions Remain For F-35B Integration
Operational tests leading to F-35B’s summer debut may not feature all hardware

http://aviationweek.com/defense/despite-ioc-questions-remain-f-35b-integration

Mark
Ottawa
 
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