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Maybe til 2028-30. Then the international customers will be going it alone...
Retired AF Guy said:Yes, the part that the Super Hornet will be going out of production pretty soon (2017?).
MarkOttawa said:Well:
Mark
Ottawa
Kirkhill said:And what is the probability of an Air to Air kill on an AS-15? Any platform - any weapon.
.[NavAir will support Super Hornet] Maybe til 2028-30. Then the international customers will be going it alone..
Navy Leans Toward Building More Super Hornets After F-35C Delays
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The Navy had been planning for the Super Hornets to serve well into the 2030s, but now service leaders say that timeline will need to extend into the 2040s [emphasis added]...
http://defensetech.org/2015/04/22/navy-leans-toward-building-more-super-hornets-after-f-35c-delays/
Dunford Says F-35 Fleet Size Under Review; Supports F-35 Buy
The presumptive Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, has told the Senate Armed Services Committee...the Pentagon is looking hard at just how many F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to buy.
Breaking Defense obtained a copy of the 75-page set of Dunford’s answers to questions posed by the SASC...
How Many F-35s?
You can almost hear Sen. John McCain thundering when the questions get to the F-35.
“The program has not yet completed the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase, and is not due to enter full rate production until 2019, 17 years after its inception,” the committee’s question starts. “Do you believe the nation can afford to procure these aircraft at a cost of $12B to $15B per year for nearly the next 20 years for an aircraft design that will be 30 years old at the completion of the program procurement phase?” Then the committee asks Dunford if he supports the requirement for 2,443 Joint Strike Fighters.
The prospective chairman calls the F-35 a “vital component of our effort to ensure the Joint Force maintains dominance in the air.” But there is a big but. He discloses that the requirement for the size of the fleet is being reviewed: “Given the evolving defense strategy and the latest Defense Planning Guidance, we are presently taking the newest strategic foundation and analyzing whether 2,443 aircraft is the correct number. Until the analysis is complete, we need to pursue the current scheduled quantity buy to preclude creating an overall near-term tactical fighter shortfall.”
(A source close to the program was comfortable with the need for review and said nothing has changed strategically enough to change the need for 2,443 planes.)
Dunford ends by arguing the Pentagon “has been working diligently to make the overall cost per F-35 more affordable. Additionally, there will continue to be critical updates throughout the life cycle of the F-35 that will ensure the platform maintains a tactical advantage.”..
http://breakingdefense.com/2015/07/dunford-says-f-35-fleet-requirement-under-review-supports-f-35-buy/
HB_Pencil said:The question is whether you can find it. Your best chance of doing that is with a fleet of networked F-35s, as you have the most advanced sensor platform (with EOTS and APG-81), as well as sensor fusion. The latter is critical. Current generation of systems basically transfers plots and tracks between aircraft: so its down to an individual sensor to identify a target. The F-35's avionics through the Multifunction Advanced Data Link shares raw data: so aircraft can compare data from different platforms in order to develop a target solution. That provides it with a much greater resolution than current generation systems. Its basically the most valuable part of the F-35's development, and when considering continental defence requirements, was one of the main reasons behind the original project office's recommendation to select the fighter.
MarkOttawa said:More from AvWeek's critical Bill Sweetman (further links at original):
So if RCAF F-35s were doing NORAD air defence would they hang Sidewinders or other missiles externally?
Mark
Ottawa
Does the F-35 really suck in air combat?
TIM ROBINSON puts virtual F-35s into perhaps the most accurate non-classified high-fidelity simulation of a future air combat clash. Who comes out on top?..
http://aerosociety.com/News/Insight-Blog/3272/Does-the-F35-really-suck-in-air-combat
Marines drop first bombs from F-35B in test runs
Marine pilots recently dropped dozens of live bombs from the F-35B joint strike fighter for the first time, bringing the aircraft a step closer to its long-anticipated rollout.
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 dropped 30 bombs over five days without a hitch in late June near Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona. It was a first for the squadron testing the aircraft's capabilities, and Marines said they can hit targets in little- to no-visibility.
That showed that the F-35B is ready and able to conduct direct strikes in a battlefield environment, , said Maj. Christopher Trent, VMFA-121's pilot training officer and one of 14 pilots who flew several of the test sorties...
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story/military/tech/2015/07/11/marine-pilots-complete-f-35b-first-operational-bomb-runs/29926301/
estoguy said:Going back to the article I posted...
Kirkhill said:The F16 alone virtually killed the non-US aerospace industry. The F35 will nail that lid shut.