F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)

[Colin Parkinson]

Anything on the front cover of popular science almost never went into production

 

[CougarKing]

2 press releases:

"The right track?"
Or so they say! "154 aircraft built and none combat-ready yet" the F-35 haters on various defence blogs would rant endlessly... :

Hill Top Times

F-35 program on the right track
U.S. Air Force An F-22 and an F-35 fly over the Utah Test and Training Range during a functional check flight approximately 75 miles west of Hill Air Force Base.
By Mitch Shaw
Hilltop Times Correspondent
January 7, 2016

HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Lockheed-Martin and the Pentagon’s F-35 Program Office say they’ve finished delivering jets for 2015, increasing their yield from last year by 25 percent.

Joe DellaVedova, a spokesman with the F-35 Joint Program Office at the Pentagon, said 45 F-35’s were delivered, which met Lockheed and the program office’s delivery goal for the year and exceeded last year’s deliveries by nine jets.

Hitting those marks represents a turn around of sorts for a program that has been plagued in the past by rising costs, software problems and performance delays.

(...SNIPPED)

Defense News

F-35 Ejection Seat Fix Delayed to 2018; Pilot Restrictions Continue
By Lara Seligman 5:15 p.m. EST January 8, 2016

WASHINGTON — The US Air Force won’t lift weight restrictions on F-35 pilots until 2018 — at the earliest — as more testing needs to be done to address safety issues with the jet’s ejection seat, Defense News has learned.

This news is another blow to the Pentagon’s Joint Strike Fighter, which is fast approaching a critical deadline this year to declare the Air Force F-35A variant operational. The pressure is also on for the fighter jet to make its expected European debut at the Farnborough Air Show in the UK this summer. In an embarrassment for a program with years of cost overruns and schedule delays already under its belt, the plane was forced to skip Farnborough in 2014 after an engine fire grounded the fleet.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I think the "vital ground" in that campaign pledge was that the CF-18 replacement would be selected by a competition.  That much has not changed.

"Sajjan signals F-35 won't be excluded from fighter replacement competition"
http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/sajjan-signals-f-35-won-t-be-excluded-from-fighter-replacement-competition-1.2709293

Here is the problem for the Liberals
1.If they include the F-35 and it wins, they just proved the Conservatives right and they just wasted money and time to get back to the same place as before the election.
2.If they exclude it, they risk lawsuits, loss of contracts and a replacement fighter with costs that might match those of the F-35, leading people to ask why did we bother?
3. If they include it and write the spec to exclude it on technicalities, then a lawsuit and accusations of politicizing a competition that excludes a good aircraft that will haunt them at the next election.
I suggest to Lockheed in the event of #3 that they enter anyways to show what it can do and say to the Media "we know they won't pick our aircraft, but we came to show the Canadian people what they are going to be missing. 

 

[Kirkhill]

Here is the problem for the Liberals
1.If they include the F-35 and it wins, they just proved the Conservatives right and they just wasted money and time to get back to the same place as before the election.
2.If they exclude it, they risk lawsuits, loss of contracts and a replacement fighter with costs that might match those of the F-35, leading people to ask why did we bother?
3. If they include it and write the spec to exclude it on technicalities, then a lawsuit and accusations of politicizing a competition that excludes a good aircraft that will haunt them at the next election.
I suggest to Lockheed in the event of #3 that they enter anyways to show what it can do and say to the Media "we know they won't pick our aircraft, but we came to show the Canadian people what they are going to be missing.

4. Punt.

 

[a_majoor]

Just a look at what other people are doing with the program, the Kheil HaAvir not only is buying F-35s, but also making their own modifications to them. The key reason is to be able to operate in a hostile environment, particularly against Russian GBAD systems (as deployed in Syria and potentiually in Iran). It would not be surprising to see them pick up the option for 75 additional aircraft.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2016/01/israel-will-be-getting-first-modified-f.html

Israel will be getting first modified F-35 stealth jet fighters late in 2016 and will use them to maintain beat Iran's Russian S-300 anti-air missiles

The Israeli version of the F-35 stealth fighter is being manufactured by Lockheed Martin according to Israeli specifications. The Isreali F-35 is called Adir (Awesome). The first two Adirs will be delivered to the Israel Air Force (IAF) in December 2016. Israel has publicly announced the efforts of its air force to double the flight range of the F-35 Stealth strike fighters, the fifth generation of the air force’s planes.

An Israeli air force officer told Defense News when asked how the F-35 would maintain superiority over advanced anti-air systems, like the Russian S-300, slated for delivery to Iran. “Your options for attacking the enemy with the stealth fighters are much more numerous and practical. The things that we could do before will entail much less risk, and the things we might not have been able to do before will be rendered doable.”

Lockheed Martin is now working with Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. to adapt Israeli-made air-to-ground weaponry to the plane. At the same time, Lockheed Martin is considering Israeli ideas for (probably detachable) external fuel tanks on the plane’s wings in order to extend their range.

Israel has received an exemption from the protocol requirements of the F-35 program requiring foreign air forces to do most of the maintenance work on the planes in Lockheed Martin’s logistics centers. The Israel air force will be able to do most of the maintenance work in Israel, except for heavy maintenance, due to concern that a war could break out exactly when some the planes are outside Israel. A logistics center for maintenance of the Adir planes is now being built at the Nevatim base for this purpose. This center will have direct access to Lockheed Martin’s information system.

Israel has an option to purchase 75 more Adirs. As of now, Israel has signed contracts to buy 33 of them: 19 under a contract signed in 2010 and 14 more in a contract signed in February 2015.

Israel has recently held talks with the US over the possible purchase of F-35B short take off and vertical landing variants, which would enable the IAF to use airbases even if their runways are damaged by enemy rocket or missile fire.

Israel has ordered 33 of the fighter jets from the US at a total cost of $4.75 billion, which includes the building of infrastructure from which the aircraft can operate as well as making changes specified by the IAF. The first order of 33 will arrive from 2016 to 2021. Israel also has the option to purchase an additional 17 of the fighter jets, which it is expected to take and even increase. The F-35 is the first jet that the IAF will use which has been built in order to evade radars, and will have Israeli security systems installed.

 

[dimsum]

Just a look at what other people are doing with the program, the Kheil HaAvir not only is buying F-35s, but also making their own modifications to them. The key reason is to be able to operate in a hostile environment, particularly against Russian GBAD systems (as deployed in Syria and potentiually in Iran). It would not be surprising to see them pick up the option for 75 additional aircraft.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2016/01/israel-will-be-getting-first-modified-f.html

I chuckled a little at the name of the Israeli version - Adir (or "Awesome").  As if fighter jocks need any more ego-stroking    >

 

[The Bread Guy]

The latest tea leaves to read ...

The requirements for Canada’s next fleet of fighter jets are being redrawn as part of a thorough defence review ordered by the new Liberal defence minister.

Harjit Sajjan said his department is looking at the procurement of military equipment, the size of the Canadian Forces and the theatres where they operate.

“We will consult with the public, through MPs, committees, stakeholders and think-tanks, so that we have a vision in line with our foreign policy objectives,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

Part of that process will be determining what will replace the CF-18 fighter jets. The Conservatives had committed to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 joint strike fighter but the project was heavily criticized for rigging the requirements so that only the F-35 could qualify. Defence officials had written the requirements to call for a plane with stealth capability, advanced radar and integrated avionics.

During the election, the Liberals said they would not choose the F-35, and re-invest any savings in the navy.

Mr. Sajjan has since said he will launch an open process to replace the CF-18s.

“The requirements we create will be those that are needed for Canada’s role,” he said.

He would not say whether Lockheed Martin would be barred from the bidding process, or whether the requirements might now be written to ensure the F-35 did not win ...

 

[Journeyman]

I chuckled a little at the name of the Israeli version - Adir (or "Awesome").  As if fighter jocks need any more ego-stroking    >

Ah, but the cognitive dissonance -- "I'm so awesome... no, the plane is 'awesome'... but I'm  the awesome one....." -- it could actually distract from the mission. 

 

[MarkOttawa]

Slowly, slowly:

Combat-coded F-35A to begin dropping bombs

In February or early March, a combat-coded F-35A from the 34th Fighter Squadron at Hill AFB will release an inert, laser-guided bomb at the nearby Utah Test and Training Range.

What will seem ordinary and routine to the pilot will actually be a “monumental achievement” for the multinational F-35 programme, which has been building to this moment since Lockheed Martin won the Joint Strike Fighter contract in 2001.

A stealthy, jet-powered combat aircraft is nothing if it cannot put weapons on a target, and this GBU-12 Paveway II release will be a moment of truth for the conventional A-model, which until now only released weapons in development and operational testing.

The air force’s Block 3i aircraft will first operate with basic laser and GPS-guided weapons, as well as beyond-visual-range AIM-120 air-to-air missiles. It will also have advanced targeting, surveillance and radar-jamming equipment.

The full complement of weapons will not arrive until Block 3F in late 2017, but the armaments the F-35 does have in Block 2B and 3i can accomplish basic close air support, air interdiction and suppression or destruction of enemy air defence missions, according to the air force...
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/combat-coded-f-35a-to-begin-dropping-bombs-420924/

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

"Cognitive EW":

This Is The Most Important Technology On the F-35

Cognitive EW, today in its infancy, may one day justify the Joint Strike Fighter’s enormous cost.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most expensive weapons program ever, won’t justify its price tag by outmaneuvering other jets (it can’t), flying particularly fast, or even by carrying munitions in a stealthy bomb bay. Instead, the U.S. military is banking on an emerging technology called cognitive electronic warfare to give the jet an almost-living ability to sniff out new hard-to-detect air defenses and invent ways to foil them on the fly.

While the specifics of the jet’s electronic warfare, or EW, package remain opaque, scientists, program watchers and military leaders close to the program say it will be key to the jet’s evolution and its survival against the future’s most advanced airplane-killing technology. In short, cognitive EW is the most important feature on the world’s most sophisticated warplane.

“There are small elements of cognitive EW right now on the F-35, but what we are really looking toward is the future,” Lee Venturino, president and CEO of First Principles, a company that is analyzing the F-35 for the Pentagon, said at a recent Association of Old Crows event in Washington, D.C.“Think of it as a stair-stepper approach. The first step is probably along the ESM [electronic support measures] side. How do I just identify the signals I’ve never seen before?”..
http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2016/01/most-important-technology-f-35/125228/

Mark
Ottawa

 

[CougarKing]

DUH!  Should we be surprised, considering that China's J31 stealth fighter prototype looks EXACTLY like the F35?

Canadian Global Affairs Institute

Mark Collins – Chinese Cyberspooks Stealing F-35 (and other) Secrets via Canada
January 19, 2016 Global Affairs Staff

Further to this July 2014 post,

    The Dragon’s Espionage Vacuum: China unInc. (with Canada)

we know learn of a PLA angle:

    Chinese soldiers implicated in U.S. military hacking case

    Colin Freeze

    Two Chinese government soldiers were part of a hacking conspiracy allegedly carried out by a Chinese resident of Canada to steal secrets relating to components of F-35s and other American warplanes, according to court-filed documents.


(...SNIPPED)

 

[Colin Parkinson]

SOFEP on their FB was talking about Chinese honeypots trolling SHOT show

 

[MarkOttawa]

Norwegian cash crunch to affect numbers?

Oil price, weak currency challenge Norwegian F-35 buy

The low price of oil and a weak currency have led to speculation Norway is questioning its purchase of the costly Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the first example of which was handed over to Oslo in September 2015.

A 52-aircraft requirement for the type, to replace the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s 56 Lockheed F-16A/Bs was seemingly a done deal for Norway last October, as defence chief Adm Haakon Bruun-Hanssen revealed a strategic defence review that committed to the full acquisition. This was followed by a proposed 9.8% real-term defence budget increase for 2016, which would see a near doubling of funding for the conventional take-off and landing F-35A, plus an authorisation request for six more.

But local news sources are now claiming the continued low selling price of oil – a significant income for Norway – has laid pressure on spending, and a weak Krone versus the US dollar has made the price of the already expensive aircraft seem even higher.

The current exchange rate is only $0.15 to every NKr1. Lockheed says the cost of the aircraft is being driven down, with an F-35A purchased in 2018 – that today costs $98 million – and delivered in 2020 costing $85 million, which is the equivalent of $75 million today. This is excluding the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine, which for the Lot 8 buy of the type costs $22 million each, according to figures revealed this month...
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/oil-price-weak-currency-challenge-norwegian-f-35-bu-421084/

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

Still slowly, slowly:

Testing Chief Warns Of JSF Software Delays
Bill Sweetman

Development of the Block 3F version of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) cannot be completed on the current schedule—by July 31, 2017—without shortcuts that risk failure in the initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) program, according to Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon’s director of OT&E (DOT&E). Block 3F is the culmination of the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase and conforms to the requirements set at the start of the program.

A Dec. 11 memorandum from Gilmore to Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and Gen. Paul Selva, vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also warns that the program is risking trouble by attempting to define Block 4, the first post-service-entry upgrade, early this year, when Block 3F and its predecessor, Block 3i, are still “problematic” and performing poorly in testing.

Also, the program office has yet to order essential equipment for specialized software laboratories that are needed to support operational testing and initial operational capability (IOC), with the result that there will not be enough capacity when it is required.

The JSF Program Office (JPO) acknowledges it has pulled tests out of the program and that each of the software blocks—including Block 3F-—will enter service with deficiencies. In the case of Block 3F, these will have to be remedied as part of Block 4, JPO says, and it will be up to customers to decide whether all the deficiencies need to be fixed and when...
http://aviationweek.com/defense/testing-chief-warns-jsf-software-delays

Lots more.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

Danish money woes--sound familiar?

Replacing Denmark's Aging F-16s Could Place Strain on Defense Budget

The significant investment planned by Denmark to replace the Danish Air Force’s (DAF) ageing F-16s is raising concerns both domestically and within NATO that the capital-heavy program may place a major drain on the military’s future core budgets.

Based on current estimates, the fighter replacement program is likely to cost Denmark between US $3 billion and US $4.5 billion, depending on the number of aircraft eventually purchased.

Moreover, the Danish government will need to budget for additional associated expenditures of between $10 billion to $13 billion to cover operational and maintenance costs over the aircraft’s intended 30-40 year lifespan.

Denmark sought bids on 24, 30 and 36 aircraft. These numbers are substantially lower than Denmark’s initial ambition to acquire up to 48 aircraft at the outset of the acquisition program in 2005. The DAF’s front-line fighter fleet currently has 30 operational F-16s...

Denmark’s New Fighter Program Office (NFPO), which operates under the MoD, is expected to complete all components in its final evaluation of candidate aircraft by the end of January 2016.

The MoD is set to present a recommendation, based on the NFPO’s candidate aircraft evaluation report, to the Cabinet by the end of the first half of 2016. This could potentially happen as soon as March or April.

The aircraft recommendation stage will be followed by a public debate, which will also trigger political cross-party discussions around the aircraft selection and the government’s project financing plan.

The FRP has experienced five separate delays under five difference defense ministers since the project was launched in August 2005. The short list of candidate aircraft in the competition includes the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Boeing F-18F Super Hornet and the F-35A Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter).
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/2016/01/22/replacing-denmarks-aging-f-16s-could-place-strain-defense-budget/79169716/

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

Then there are the Belgians (note they and Dutch plan for some 71 new fighters between them--our plan was for 65--and note Belgian NATO nuke role):

Belgium Outlines Defense Shopping List For The 2030

...Belgium has set itself a challenge. In recent years, the country has done little to modernize its armed forces and purchase new equipment. Now is its laying out a shopping list of what officials call “concrete investments,” including 34 new fighter aircraft to replace the aging fleet of 56 F-16 Fighting Falcons...

Defense officials are surveying current Western-made fighter options, following a request for information issued in 2014 for the Lockheed Martin F-35, Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet, Dassault’s Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Saab Gripen. A request for proposals is expected in the coming weeks.

This is expected to lead into a governmental approval process during mid-2016 and the beginning of the procurement phase, which should last into mid-2018 when the next government should approve the procurement.

Belgium wants to start replacing its F-16s in 2023 and to achieve full operational capability in 2029.

The plans would give Belgium a smaller fighter fleet than its neighbor, the Netherlands, which currently plans to purchase 37 F-35As [down from the originally planned 85]. Dutch officials have recently said they hope Brussels will follow and also acquire the F-35 so that both can benefit from closer cooperation.

A plan for joint air policing of the two nations’ airspace is likely to be enacted toward the end of 2016...

A thorn in Belgium’s fighter selection process will be the country’s status in NATO’s nuclear-weapon-sharing agreements. Under a dual-key arrangement, a number of U.S.-owned B61 nuclear bombs are housed at Kleine Brogel air base and would be flown underneath Belgian aircraft in the event of a conflict.

However, nuclear capability will not be included in the fighter RFP, Belgian officials said at the International Fighter Conference in London last November.

The Belgian government is reportedly eager to maintain the nuclear capability, a move which would generally point toward selection of a U.S.-built aircraft fitted with the necessary systems to operate the weapon, such as the F-35...
http://aviationweek.com/defense/belgium-outlines-defense-shopping-list-2030s

Meanwhile we've got our loonie problems:

Sinking Canadian dollar producing big headaches for federal government on defence projects
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/sinking-canadian-dollar-producing-big-headaches-for-federal-government-on-defence-projects

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Jason Fekete's article fails to note, however, that Dassault has indicated a willingness to build any Rafale ordered entirely in Canada and with 100% technology transfer (Yes, for those who don't like it: In Quebec, which has 60% of Canada's total aerospace industry and 90% of all the airplane beginning-to-end construction industry).

This, if effected, would give both Canada and Dassault serious economic advantages: For Canada, the manpower and a lot of the parts would be built here, and therefore payable in Canadian dollars outside the vagaries of the dollar on the market. For Dassault, the coup of selling Rafales to another Western power would be a great marketing tool and, being able to build them in Canada would mean they could greatly reduce their cost per plane as compared to those assembled in France, a second bonus of international sales. 

 

[Kirkhill]

Jason Fekete's article fails to note, however, that Dassault has indicated a willingness to build any Rafale ordered entirely in Canada and with 100% technology transfer (Yes, for those who don't like it: In Quebec, which has 60% of Canada's total aerospace industry and 90% of all the airplane beginning-to-end construction industry).....

Here's a deal for you.

You let our oil through to New Brunswick and we'll consider letting you build aircraft for Canada.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Here's a deal for you.

You let our oil through to New Brunswick and we'll consider letting you build aircraft for Canada.

QFTFT.

 

[PuckChaser]

Here's a deal for you.

You let our oil through to New Brunswick and we'll consider letting you build aircraft for Canada.

Great point. Quebec loves equalization, and jobs handed to them by pork-barreling Federal projects, its time for them to pay up.