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Apparently Turkey is confident in the program again after postponing this order last year. Turkey already ordered two F-35As earlier and is supposed to order up to 100 aircraft./boeing.gif)
May 6th.wweasel wrote:d/d date AF-25?
F-35B performs first vertical take-off
By: DAVE MAJUMDAR WASHINGTON DC 8 hours ago Source:
Sources say that test pilots at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, performed the first Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighter vertical take-off on 10 May.
The US Marine Corps' short take-off and vertical landing variant had a requirement to perform vertical take-offs right from the outset of the JSF programme. However, the capability is not emphasised because the F-35B would not be able to carry a tactically significant payload in that configuration.
Operationally, the USMC envisions its F-35Bs performing short rolling take-offs carrying a full load of ordnance and fuel, and then performing a vertical landing once the aircraft returns to the amphibious assault ship or expeditionary airfield.
The concept of operations is similar to that currently flown by the USMC's Boeing AV-8B Harrier II squadrons. Although the Harrier is often touted as a vertical take-off and landing machine, it flies a similar short take-off and vertical landing profile for the overwhelming majority of its missions.
The original X-35B prototype demonstrated the ability to take off vertically in 2001.
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EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., May 16, 2013 – The latest in a series of Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35A high angle of attack (AOA) testing was recently completed.
The testing accomplished high AOA beyond both the positive and negative maximum command limits, including intentionally putting the aircraft out of control in several configurations.
I have it on 06mar13Starfighter_F-104G wrote:any first flight date for 168724/VK-06 know?
warbird_nl wrote:I have it on 06mar13Starfighter_F-104G wrote:any first flight date for 168724/VK-06 know?
Sander
U.S. Navy Details Amphibious Ship Mods Required For F-35
By Michael Fabey, Bill Sweetman
Source: Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
May 29, 2013
The U.S. Navy has identified “several specific initiatives on the flight deck” of landing helicopter dock (LHD) amphibious assault ships the service says the vessels will need to accommodate the F-35.
Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, acknowledged Wasp-class ship modifications have been designed for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) vertical lift-and-takeoff variants.
“We did some mods on the Wasp,” Greenert said at a media briefing during the International Maritime and Defense Exhibition (Imdex) Asia 2013 in Singapore.
Navy officials say the modifications “are intended to offset the increased stresses associated with JSF exhaust. The exhaust patterns and flight characteristics of the F-35 required the shielding, relocation and removal of vulnerable systems that could sustain damage during flight operations, such as antennas, life rafts, life rails, safety nets and JP-5 fuel stations.”
Additionally, the Navy says, “The unique heat signature of the F-35 has required reinforcement of the flight deck to alleviate stresses from the heat of the jet, as well as modifying the flight deck coating to reduce erosion caused by jet exhaust associated with increased thrust. Specific system modifications that are unique to F-35 will also require the installation of new voltage regulators and rectifiers. Expanded mission capabilities of the F-35 have also required enhanced munitions throughput and systems capabilities to facilitate increased ordnance delivery and aircraft associated support equipment.”
Some of the detailed modifications include relocating or shielding features such as the Phalanx close-in-weapon system and Rolling Airframe Missile and NATO Sea Sparrow missile launchers, and protecting fueling stations.
The WSC-8 satcoms antenna will also be moved, and the aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) system is being expanded.
The changes confirm that Lockheed Martin and the Marine Corps issued erroneous statements in early 2010 regarding the environmental effects of the F-35B’s exhaust. At that time, a company spokesman said that “extensive tests” had shown that “the difference between F-35B main-engine exhaust temperature and that of the AV-8B is very small, and is not anticipated to require any significant CONOPS changes for F-35B.”
The Navy has not disclosed how long it will take to implement the modifications across the LHD/LHA fleet. The F-35 program schedule calls for the first Marine F-35B unit, VMFA-121, to be ready for a “contingency deployment” by late 2015. However, there is no firm date for a second squadron.
The mission for VFA-121 and other early F-35B units is uncertain. Out of the weapons cleared in the Block2B/3I software standard, only the laser-guided bomb is considered useful for close air support (CAS), which is the primary mission of embarked AV-8Bs, and none of the 2B weapons are suitable for use against quickly moving targets or for a situation in which the risk of collateral damage is high. (The centerline gun pod is not included in 2B/3I.)
The F-35B lacks the Rover (remote video receiver) technology, developed since the requirement for the aircraft was written. Rover has been defined as minimum essential equipment for CAS in some theaters; according to some military sources, the Marines have explored the idea of adding a Rover-equipped external targeting pod to the F-35B until an internal solution is available.
At the same time, the Navy has slowed its planned F-35B/C production rate by 20%, according to the latest Pentagon Selected Acquisition Report, resulting in a longer planned lifetime for the AV-8B. According to a Boeing briefing last week, “a majority” of the 134-strong Marine Corps Harrier force will be in service in 2027, and the type will not be retired before 2030. Radar and other upgrades are being studied to keep the aircraft combat-worthy and avoid obsolescence.
Italy’s ruling party divided over order for F-35 combat jets
STEVE SCHERER AND ROBERTO LANDUCCI
ROME — Reuters
Published Thursday, May. 30 2013, 3:55 PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, May. 30 2013, 4:19 PM EDT
Italian opposition parties and some lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party called on the government on Thursday to abandon its plans to buy 90 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets.
Italy’s total planned investment in the new Lightning II Joint Strike fighters (JSF) exceeds €10-billion ($13-billion) even though it cut its order last year to 90 aircraft from the 131 it had originally pencilled in to buy more than a decade ago, a move it said would save €5-billion.
The opposition Five-Star Movement, the Left Ecology Liberty (SEL) and 13 members of Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s Democratic Party (PD), one of two main components of the right-left coalition, now want to scrap the order completely.
“We can easily do without the F-35,” said Giulio Marcon, an SEL lawmaker. “The government should make a responsible gesture and use these resources to increase welfare spending and create jobs.”
With Italy mired in recession and struggling with public finances, the money saved by eliminating a single F-35 could be used to build 387 daycare centres or renovate 258 schools, according to a motion signed by 158 parliamentarians in the lower house Chamber of Deputies.
The PD said it wanted to cut spending on the program during the campaign for national elections last February, but has since formed a government with Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PDL) party, which supports the F-35.
The F-35 investment “should be revised, just as we all said in the election campaign,” Giuseppe Civati, one of 13 PD members who signed the motion, told Reuters.
Mr. Civati, a frequent critic of his own party, accused the PD and former prime minister Mario Monti’s Civic Choice party of reneging on campaign promises to cut spending on the jet.
Defence Minister Mario Mauro, a member of Mr. Monti’s party, said last week the month-old government wanted to go ahead with the purchase, saying, “we need defence tools to guarantee peace.”
The deal includes a provision to give maintenance contracts to state-controlled defence group Finmeccanica as Italy’s aerospace industry is a development and production partner in the F-35 project and Italy has already invested about €2-billion in it.
However, the project is seven years behind schedule and 70-per-cent over initial cost estimates. Other countries have also cut their provisional orders for the plane because of the economic crisis that has shrunk defence budgets worldwide.
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