JSF F-35 Lightning II

Rappel du premier message :

Bonjour à tous,

Le F-35 est l'avenir de beaucoup de forces aériennes, il remplacera les F-16, A-10, Harrier et autres. Je propose que soient postées ici, si vous êtres d'accord, toutes les infos au sujet du F-35. Merci de m'avoir lu.

Article (en anglais) fort intéressant sur l'avion qui comprend un pdf avec les différents armements que pourra emporter le F-35, tant en soutes, que sous les ailes. Furtif, moins furtif...

http://www.codeonemagazine.com/archives/2007/articles/apr_07/lightningstrike/index.html

Dans cet autre article, une image montre qu'il serait aussi possible de rajouter de l'armement en bout d'aile, info, intox?

http://www.codeonemagazine.com/archives/2002/articles/arp_02/jsf/index.html

Rafi

Citation :

 Le F-35C entame ses essais d'armement  

Le 25/10/2013 à 11:10 | Par François Julian



Après le F-35A et le F-35B, c'est désormais au tour du F-35C de tester ses premiers armements. L'avion d'essais CF-2, deuxième exemplaire construit de la version embarquée du Joint Strike Fighter, a mené pour la première fois un essai de séparation d'une bombe guidée laser de 250 kg GBU-12 le 21 octobre, au dessus d'un polygone d'essais dans l'Atlantique.

Désormais, les trois versions du JSF ont montré des capacités offensives. Pour autant, la route est encore longue avant la mise en service opérationnelle du F-35C, qui n'est pas attendue avant 2018 ou 2019 dans l'US Navy, son unique client. Prochaine étape pour le F-35C, les premiers essais «  en mer  », qui auront lieu l'an prochain.

Selon un bilan arrêté à fin septembre, les trois versions du F-35 ont réalisé un total de 3585 vols d'essais, dont 1153 pour la seule année 2013. Cela représente un peu plus de 46 % de la campagne d'essais en vol qui doit se terminer en 2019.

Dans le courant du mois de septembre, la flotte de F-35 (ce qui inclut les avions livrés aux forces américaines et britanniques) a franchi la barre des 10 000 heures de vol.

A ce jour, 75 F-35 ont déjà pris l'air : 61 avions livrés aux forces américaines et britanniques, et 14 avions d'essais (dont un a été arrêté de vol). A ce bilan, il faut également ajouter les six cellules construites pour les essais statiques et de fatigue.
La mise en service opérationnelle initiale du F-35B est prévue en 2015. Celle du F-35A aura lieu en 2016.  

http://www.air-cosmos.com/defense/le-f-35c-entame-ses-essais-d-armement.html

Citation :

  Le F-35 démontre deux capacités offensives complètes  

Le 02/11/2013 à 13:33   | Par François Julian



Le F-35 est enfin en passe de gagner ses premiers galons de véritable avion de combat. Les 30 et 31 octobre derniers, il a démontré deux capacités offensives complètes avec deux essais d'armements faisant intervenir l'ensemble de son système de guidage.

Le 30 octobre, un F-35B a largué une bombe GBU-12 qui a ensuite été guidé jusqu'à son objectif (immobile) au moyen du système optronique EOTS (Electro-Optical Targeting System). Cet essai s'est déroulé dans le polygone de tir de la base d'Edwards. L'armement de 226 kg a été largué à l'altitude de 7600 m et a plané durant 35 secondes avant de frapper sa cible.




Ce n'est pas la première fois qu'un F-35 largue un armement de type GBU-12 depuis sa soute à munitions. C'est par contre la première fois qu'un tel armement est guidé jusqu'à l'impact par l'EOTS.  Ce dernier, mis au point par Lockheed Martin, est un capteur intégré à la cellule du F-35 (sous son nez) disposant notamment d'une caméra infrarouge et d'un IRST (capteur infrarouge de recherche et de poursuite). Combinant des fonctions air-air et air-sol, l'EOTS est censé présenter des performances comparables à la nacelle de désignation Sniper dans cette dernière mission.

Le lendemain, toujours dans la zone d'essais d'Edwards, c'est un F-35A qui a abattu une cible volante au moyen d'un AIM-120 AMRAAM. Selon Lockheed Martin, cet essai a démontré avec succès le fonctionnement de l'ensemble de la chaine de tir du F-35. Ce dernier a correctement détecté et fait l'acquisition de sa cible au moyen de son radar AN/APG-81. Le missile a ensuite été tiré et guidé jusqu'à mi-course en se fiant aux données transmises par l'avion. Une fois à portée, le système de guidage de l'AIM-120 a pu prendre le relais jusqu'à l'impact avec la cible.

Démarrés l'an dernier, l'ensemble des essais d'armements menés jusque-là n'avaient jamais comporté de phase de guidage avec impact sur cible.
 


http://www.air-cosmos.com/defense/le-f-35-demontre-deux-capacites-offensives-completes.html

Citation :

Quand le F-35 sera-t-il opérationnel ?  

Le 13/11/2013 à 18:07

C'est la question à un million de dollars : quand le F-35 de Lockheed Martin sera-t-il réellement opérationnel ? Les réponses varient souvent selon les interlocuteurs mais, au cours des années passées, les dates annoncées ont plutôt eu tendance à glisser vers la droite. S'exprimant ce matin dans la cadre de la conférence "International Fighter" organisée par IQPC, le Captain Paul Overstreet du bureau programme F-35 (JPO, Joint Program Office) a livré quelques éléments de réponse supplémentaires.

Premier client servi, l'US Marine Corps vise toujours une capacité opérationnelle initiale (IOC) à la fin de l'année 2015. A cette date, l'USMC devrait théoriquement pouvoir déployer un petit nombre de F-35B (variante à décollage court et atterrissage vertical) en opérations extérieures à bord d'un porte-aéronefs. A partir du troisième trimestre 2017, l'USMC envisage même un détachement permanent de F-35B en Asie-Pacifique, très probablement au Japon. La base de Yuma sur laquelle sont actuellement déployés les premiers F-35B des Marines sera complétée par celle de MCAS Beaufort, en Caroline du Sud.

L'US Air Force est la suivante sur la liste, avec un objectif d'IOC fixé à 2016. A cette date, rappelle-t-on au JPO, la nombre de F-35 livrés devrait dépasser les 200 unités, avions export compris. La base d'Eglin AFB, qui abrite aujourd'hui les premiers F-35A livrés en unité à l'USAF, sera rejointe par une deuxième plateforme avec la base de Luke AFB.

La version embarquée de l'appareil (F-35C) conçue pour les besoins de l'US Navy fait toutefois l'objet d'une plus grande circonspection. Officiellement, l'objectif reste de déclarer une IOC "en 2018 si tout se passe bien", souligne notre interlocuteur. Les premiers essais en mer du F-35C à bord d'un porte-avions devraient commencer à l'été prochain.

http://www.air-cosmos.com/defense/quand-le-f-35-sera-t-il-operationnel.html  

Citation :

F-35 on track to meet IOC targets, official says

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is on track to meet the US military’s planned initial operating capability (IOC) targets from late 2015, a senior programme official says.

With the 100th example having recently been rolled out from Lockheed Martin’s assembly line and contracts signed for the sixth and seventh lots of low-rate initial production, optimism is increasing, says F-35 weapons system programme manager Capt Paul Overstreet.

“The F-35 is finally on a realistic timeline, and there’s steady progress being made on all fronts,” he says. “Production is very stable, and the price is coming down, which is critical for the programme.”

Overstreet says development testing of the Block 2B software required for the USMC’s operational jets is running around one month behind schedule, having been affected by sequestration cuts and a brief, fleet-wide grounding order that affected the short take-off and vertical landing F-35B earlier this year. However, he notes: “We are very confident that the US Marine Corps will be able to declare IOC during 2015.”

Asset Image

Lockheed Martin

The USMC will be the first service to use the type operationally, with the US Air Force due to achieve the same milestone in 2016 and the US Navy two years later.

Speaking at IQPC’s International Fighter conference in London on 13 November, the Joint Program Office representative said flight testing involving a new tailhook design for the carrier variant F-35C should be completed at the US Navy’s Lakehurst site in New Jersey “next month”. The type should begin its first carrier-based trials “late next summer”, he adds, on the way to a first active duty deployment in the fourth quarter of 2018.

http://www.flightglobal.com

Citation :

Défense : la Corée du sud aurait décidé d’acheter 40 chasseurs F-35A

http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-secteurs/air-defense/actu/0203143652519-defense-la-coree-du-sud-aurait-decide-d-acheter-des-chasseurs-f35-631705.php

Citation :

Rolls-Royce receives $215 million contract for Liftsystem production, support for F-35B Lightning II


Rolls-Royce has been awarded a $215 million contract to produce and support LiftSystems™ for the F-35 Lightning II program, and F-35B jets continue to demonstrate success in operations, training and test.

The unique technology of the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem® provides F-35B aircraft with the capability to perform short take-offs and vertical landings (STOVL) and is currently in service with the US Marine Corps in Yuma, Arizona.

The new agreement with Pratt & Whitney for the sixth production lot includes six LiftSystems, plus sustainment, program management, engineering and field support.

Dave Gordon, Rolls-Royce, LiftSystem Program Director, said, "The innovative Rolls-Royce LiftSystem continues to demonstrate its effectiveness in field operation and in the recent F-35B shipboard trials on the USS Wasp. As we expand our field support, we remain focused on efficiency and further increasing the affordability of LiftSystems for the F-35B Lightning II."

Rolls-Royce has delivered 42 LiftSystems and has expanded field support to include five locations where F-35B aircraft are flown. Those include Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where a USMC pilot recently conducted the first short take-off and vertical landing of an F-35B at the base.

Additionally, the F-35B fleet continues to demonstrate success as it nears multiple major milestones. In over 450 flights of Mode 4 operation ("powered lift" mode) F-35B aircraft have completed over 1,000 short take-offs, 640 vertical landings (including over 150 aboard the USS Wasp), 550 slow landings and 250 hover test points.

In addition to supporting the recent Wasp ship trials, Rolls-Royce is working with the US Marine Corps to prepare for achieving Initial Operational Capability in 2015.

http://www.rolls-royce.com

TAI livrera demain son 1er fuselage central à LM & NG   

Source en Turque : http://www.aksam.com.tr/ekonomi/turk-havaciliginda-onemli-gun-f35in-govdesi-teslim-ediliyor/haber-267430

je me demande si la TAI a accès aux techno lié à la furtivité ...domaine hautement sensible ...

Du site de TAI :

https://www.tai.com.tr/en/project/jsf-f-35-program a écrit:

JSF/F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (Lightning II) is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters to perform ground attack, reconnaissance and air defense missions with stealth capability.

The JSF/F-35 has three main models; the F-35A is a conventional takeoff and landing variant, the F-35B is a short take off and vertical-landing variant and the F-35C is a carrier-based variant.

Industries of each participant countries have been contributing to the program. TAI – Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. has also undertaken important responsibilities.

One of the most complex structural section of the aircraft, "Center Fuselage" is produced by TAI.

Other work-packages are "Composite Components, Air Inlet Ducts and Air-to-Ground Alternate Mission Equipment Pylon Manufacturing".

Some of the Technological Capabilities gained in the program are as follows;

High Precision Advanced Technology Composite Part Production,
Composite And Metal Bonding Techniques By Using High Technology,
Fiber Placement Techniques With Automatic Machining For Sophisticated Structures,
Robotic Controlled Precise Coating And Painting Applications,
High Level Digital Integration Between Design And Production Period,
Robotic Controlled Drilling, Cutting and Integration Processes,
High Standard Quality Applications Required For 5th Generation Fighter Aircraft
On the other hand, TAI and Pratt & Whitney (USA) signed a "Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for F-135 Engine" powering the JSF/F-35 aircraft to assess the establishment of a partnership on the "F135 Engine Program".

The MOU addresses;

–     "FACO - Final Assembly and Check-Out" and,

–     "MRO - Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul" work

for the F135 engines in country.

Citation :

Lockheed Looks To Push F-35 Production Rate

Lockheed Martin is considering all options to continue increasing the production rate of the multinational F-35, though officials are not yet to the point where they must draw on company funds to forward finance the manufacturing line.

“Anything and everything has been looked at,” says Lorraine Martin, executive vice president of the company’s F-35 program. “If [the production rate] doesn’t increase, that is going to be difficult. We have been flat for four years.”

Still, company officials expect to overtake their so-called fourth-generation competitors – including Boeing’s Super Hornet – in cost as early as 2019.

The company delivered 13 of the single-engine, stealthy fighters in 2011, 30 in 2012 and 36 in 2013. Early in the program’s development phase, company officials hoped to increase the production rate by at least 50% year over year to gain enough volume to reduce the per-unit price. These hopes have dissipated, though, in the face of a string of program shifts culminating in 2010 with a major restructuring that slowed production until development gets closer to completion in 2016.

Now, the Pentagon – by far the largest F-35 customer – is facing major budget cuts that could force the production rate to stay lower than planned for the fighter. The Air Force is looking at cutting as many as 24 aircraft over the next five years due to budget pressure, and the Navy is looking at far more drastic scenarios.

Though companies have in the past financed portions of production as they anticipate forthcoming contracts – Boeing did this repeatedly with the C-17 production facility in Long Beach, Calif. – there is “no need to do that right now” for the F-35, said Orlando Carvalho, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin is “all in” on helping to reduce the aircraft’s per-unit price. CEOs from the top F-35 manufacturers have joined together in a council to tackle the problem; no specific initiatives have yet been identified by the council for cost reductions. But Martin says they are looking at options.

Martin says she expects the per-unit cost of the F-35A in 2019 – when full-rate production begins – to be $85 million in then-year dollars, or $75 million in current dollars. This includes an aircraft with the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine and all mission systems, she says.

Martin claims this pricing will be better than competitors at the time. Boeing said that in today’s money, an F/A-18E/F would cost $50 million. However, Boeing is facing a production rate reduction by as much as half from 48 annually.

http://www.aviationweek.com

Citation :

Lockheed-Martin célèbre le 100ème F-35 Lightning II

 30 décembre 2013 | Défense | Commenthttp://www.aerobuzz.fr/spip.php?article4480

Que dire des chinois alors...sûr et certain qu'ils ont reussi le coup à l'inverse de l'iran   

Citation :

Man Arrested for Attempted Transfer of F-35 Data to Iran


An F-35B test aircraft flies in short takeoff/vertical landing mode in November. A naturalized US citizen was arrested last week on charges of attempting to ship technical data on the plane to Iran.

WASHINGTON — A man was arrested on charges of attempting to ship technical data from the F-35 joint strike fighter to Iran, according to the US Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Mozaffar Khazaee was arrested Jan. 9 at Newark International Airport in New Jersey after the first leg of a trip to Tehran. Khazaee, who became a naturalized US citizen in 1991, was charged with “transporting, transmitting and transferring in interstate or foreign commerce goods obtained by theft, conversion, or fraud,” a crime that carries a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.
According to a US government affidavit, federal agents began investigating Khazaee in November, when he attempted to send a shipment from Connecticut to the Iranian city of Hamadan. When agents inspected the shipment, they found “numerous boxes of documents consisting of sensitive technical manuals, specification sheets, and other proprietary material for the F-35. Those documents came from a company that Khazaee had last worked at in August of 2013.
Overall, the shipment included thousands of pages of documents, including diagrams and blueprints of the high-tech fighter jet’s engine. Some of the information was marked as being ITAR- and export-controlled information.
The affidavit does not identify which company Khazaee was employed by, but said he worked on a team conducting strength and durability evaluations for components for military engines. However, Matthew Bates, a spokesman for engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, confirmed that Pratt is the company referred to as “Company A” in the affidavit.
“Pratt & Whitney has been cooperating fully with the government on this matter and will continue to do so,” Bates said. “Because the investigation is ongoing, any additional questions about the investigation are better suited for the government to address at the appropriate time.”
Property of two other unidentified companies was also included in the shipment. Rolls-Royce, a subcontractor on the engine program, is one possibility; the affidavit cites Khazaee as returning to Indiana, home of Rolls-Royce, after he left Connecticut.
A spokesman for Rolls confirmed that Khazaee is not a current employee, but deferred further comment to the Department of Justice.
A spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin, the lead contractor on the program, said the company is cooperating fully with the investigation but declined further comment “as the investigation is on-going.”
“The F-35 Joint Program Office has been alerted to the investigation, and will cooperate fully with legal authorities pursuing the case,” Joe DellaVedova, the program’s Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. “No additional comment will be made while the investigation is ongoing.”
In early 2013, government officials acknowledged that hackers, most likely Chinese in origin, had stolen information about the fifth-generation fighter, which is expected to be the backbone of American air superiority over the next several decades.


http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140113/DEFREG02/301130030/Man-Arrested-Attempted-Transfer-F-35-Data-Iran?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|World News|p

Citation :

Documents and plans relating to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter have been recovered from shipping containers destined for Iran



Undated file photo released by Lockheed Martin shows the X-35 (Experimental) Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in flight during te...

Undated file photo released by Lockheed Martin shows the X-35 (Experimental) Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in flight during testing. Source: AFP

THE secret plans for America's - and Australia's - next stealth fighter have been recovered from boxes labelled "household goods" on their way to Iran.

It's just the latest scare for the troubled multi-billion dollar Joint Strike Fighter F-35 Lightning II program.

It's turned out to be the most expensive defence program in history, costing about $400 billion so far. Tens of more billions are expected to be spent in ironing out the many problems with its ultra-advanced electronics.

Secret jet's plans 'o...

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Edwards air force Base, 461st FITS, JSF, AF-1 and AF-2 Arrival at Edwards air force Base in California. Source: Supplied



Mozaffar Khazaee was arrested last week as he attempted to board a flight to Germany which then went to Iran. The 44 boxes had been forwarded a week earlier via a shipping company.

The secret material found within included "sensitive technical manuals, specification sheets, and other proprietary material", according to a US Homeland Security affidavit.

The thousands of pages were bundled within dozens of manuals and binders. The packaging note described them as "books and college-related items".

Promotional data from the JSF program.

Promotional data from the JSF program. Source: Supplied

http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2014/01/15/1226802/341088-0ff94798-7d87-11e3-8cdb-58f79d3137a3.jpg

A spokesman for the fighter jet's engine manufacturer, Pratt & Whitney, told the US ABC News that Khazaee had been an employee of the company.

"( Pratt & Whitney) is fully cooperating with law enforcement and will support the government's investigation in any way necessary," he said.

Khazaee is accused of transportation of stolen property, and could pay a fine or spend up to 10 years in prison.

Australia had planned to buy up to 100 of the advanced multi-role fighters for $16 billion. But delays in the program have caused the interim purchase of F-18 "Super Hornets" to fill a strike "capability gap" left by the retirement of ageing F111s bombers.

Increases in cost are also likely to result in fewer aircraft being bought.


Promotional data from the JSF program.

Promotional data from the JSF program. Source: Supplied

If the final price is $75 million per aircraft, then Australia will be able to afford about 75 of the fifth-generation fighters.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be the mainstay of air combat for Australia, the US, Britain, Israel and several other countries for the next 40 years.

It is designed to be a low cost coalition aircraft and is being developed by the US with several partner nations including Australia.

The jet's key features are its low radar signature, making it very difficult to detect electronically, and its high speed, powerful electronic warfare kit and internal weapons storage.

Current generation fighters are vulnerable to long-rage radar detection and missile lock-on.

Once fully operational the JSF will be able to "kill" enemy aircraft and systems from far greater range while remaining undetected.

http://www.news.com.au

Citation :

  La bombe atomique sur F-35 ne fait pas l'unanimité  

Le 20/01/2014 à 14:43   | Par François Julian  

Selon le général Norton Schwartz, ancien chef d'état-major de l'US Air Force, le Pentagone devrait abandonner l'intégration d'un armement nucléaire sur le F-35, afin de consacrer un budget plus important au développement de cette même capacité sur le futur bombardier LRS-B (long-range strike bomber). Norton Schwartz s'est exprimé ainsi lors d'une conférence organisée par le « think tank » Stimson Center, le 16 janvier dernier à Washington DC.

L'intégration de la bombe tactique B61 sur l'avion de combat de Lockheed Martin doit essentiellement permettre de maintenir une capacité de frappe nucléaire sur le sol européen. Vestige de la Guerre Froide, l'US Air Force possède toujours un petit arsenal de bombes B61 sur des bases de l'Otan en Europe, qui peuvent être installées sur F-16 et F-15E.

Selon Norton Schwartz, en l'absence d'un soutien financier de la part des pays de l'Otan, la capacité nucléaire du F-35 devrait être abandonnée au profit de celle du futur bombardier de l'US Air Force.

Pour autant, cette capacité pourrait également intéresser certains clients export de l'avion : le parlement belge évoque ainsi la possibilité d'acquérir des F-35 pouvant éventuellement emporter cette bombe nucléaire. Cette capacité pourrait également intéresser la Turquie.

Selon un rapport du congrès américain, le cout du développement d'une capacité nucléaire sur le F-35 couterait au bas mot 350 M$, sans compter le prix de l'intégration de l'armement.

Quoiqu'il arrive, il faudra également ajouter à la facture le cout de le rénovation à mi-vie de la bombe B61 estimé à plusieurs milliards de dollars.

http://www.air-cosmos.com/defense/la-bombe-atomique-sur-f-35-ne-fait-pas-l-unanimite.html

Citation :

F-35 awaits capability boost from Block 4 software



Testing will soon begin on the next-generation Block 4 software expected to provide a significant capability boost to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

On 16 January, the US Navy announced – via a posting on the federal government's procurement website – that the F-35’s joint programme office intends to award multiple

contracts to Lockheed Martin to develop Block 4 software, with the first contract expected to be awarded in October 2014.

The contracts will include “assessments and evaluations” to ensure Block 4-equipped aircraft meet “future operational requirements”, it says.

When completed, Block 4 software will provide the F-35 with improved radar and electronic warfare systems, and allow the aircraft to carry additional weapons used by both

the US military and other F-35 customers.

A document posted on the website of the US Embassy in Norway – a customer for the conventional take-off and landing F-35A – provides more details, however.

This states that aircraft with the Block 4 software package will be able to carry joint stand-off cruise missiles – including Kongsberg's Joint Strike Missile – all variants of small-

diameter bombs and Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II air-to-air missiles.

Additionally, the iterative development will add an automated ground collision avoidance system, better protection from hacking and improvements to power and thermal

management, to avoid issues that have been raised over the JSF's integrated power package since at least 2007. These culminated in a grounding of the F-35 fleet in 2011.

Block 4 upgrades will also give F-35s the ability to carry speed-reducing drag chutes deployed at landing, which will allow the aircraft to land on icy runways – a critical

capability for F-35 partners like Norway.

It will also have streaming video from its electro-optical targeting system and an improved ability to identify targets, the document states.

The contracts are likely to call for development of a prototype to test systems, upgrades to hardware, engineering and design work and for the acquisition of technical,

administrative and financial data, the navy's notice says.

The F-35 programme office says Lockheed is likely to build prototypes of subsystems and components, but not a dedicated Block 4 test aircraft.

The Block 4 software has only received funding in the 2014 fiscal year. The US Department of Defense will spend $6 million on the project in this fiscal period, including $1.5

million from the USN, $3 million from the US Air Force and $1.5 million from the US Marine Corps, the programme office says

http://www.flightglobal.com

Citation :

Exclusive: Mitsubishi Heavy in talks to become F-35 supplier, seeks Japan subsidy: sources


(Reuters) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is in advanced talks to supply parts for the F-35 stealth fighter to Britain's BAE Systems, in what would be the first involvement of a Japanese manufacturer in a global weapons program, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

Any agreement on such a groundbreaking deal hinges in part on whether Tokyo will subsidize the manufacture of components for the rear fuselage of the fighter that Mitsubishi Heavy is seeking to supply as a subcontractor, the three sources said.

Mitsubishi Heavy, which made the famous Zero fighter in World War Two, has already won a contract worth more than $620 million for final assembly for the 42 F-35 jets now on order by Japan's military.

A deal to become a second-tier supplier for the Lockheed Martin F-35 would deepen Mitsubishi Heavy's ties to a project to deliver a fighter jet that the United States and allies plan to use for decades.

It would also mark a break with Japan's self-imposed curbs on military exports at a time when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing to bolster the self-reliance of Japan's military amid rising regional tensions with China.

Japan's defense ministry and Mitsubishi Heavy declined to comment. Mark Ritson, a spokesman for BAE, said the company had been involved in discussions about "potential subcontracting" opportunities for Mitsubishi Heavy with Lockheed Martin. He said those discussions were ongoing but declined to comment on details.

People with knowledge of the discussions said BAE and Mitsubishi Heavy had largely agreed terms on what work and technology would be transferred under the potential deal.

The remaining problems are economic. Without a subsidy, Mitsubishi Heavy would struggle to make components for BAE without incurring a loss, the sources said. Under its current contract, Mitsubishi Heavy plans to complete manufacture of the first F-35 for Japan's Self-Defence Forces in 2017.

BAE is responsible for manufacturing the fighter jet's rear fuselage, part of its design to make it harder to detect in flight, which accounts for 15 percent of its construction.

The fuselage construction is expected to be worth billions of dollars if global forecasts for F-35 sales hit projections.

The other countries in the nine-nation consortium building the plane are Italy, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands.

SEEKING A DEEPER ROLE

It was not clear whether the Abe administration will give Mitsubishi the subsidies it wants. Japan's government has been seeking a deeper role for its suppliers in the F-35 program since 2011, when the previous government announced it had selected the jet as its next-generation fighter.

The immediate priority for defence officials remains ensuring Mitsubishi's plans for a Nagoya-based plant to assemble the F-35's for use in Japan remain on track, one source said.

Any subsidies for Mitsubishi Heavy would have to come out of funding for Japan's Ministry of Defence. Lockheed Martin, BAE and other members of the F-35 consortium are enthusiastic about Mitsubishi Heavy's participation in the wider program, but not if it means relenting on tight controls on production costs, another of the sources with knowledge of the talks said.

So far, Japan's government has budgeted just over $620 million for Mitsubishi Heavy's F-35 assembly plant. IHI Corp has been allocated about $175 million to build engine parts for the jet while another roughly $55 million has been awarded to Mitsubishi Electric to build radar components.

In all three cases, those contracts relate to F-35s that will be flown by Japan's Self-Defence Forces rather than the wider F-35 program.

A deal for Mitsubishi Heavy to become a global supplier to Lockheed Martin could pave the way for the participation of other Japanese manufacturers in the wider F-35 program.

Japan so far plans to buy 42 F-35s, dubbed the Joint Strike Fighter. Analysts expect it to acquire as many as 100 more to replace older Boeing Co F-15s.

The Pentagon expects to spend $392 billion to develop and build 2,443 of the stealth aircraft. Orders for the F-35 from other countries could bring the total global fleet to more than 3,000 aircraft, although the program has been beset by delays and cost over-runs.

Although gradually eased over the past several years, successive Japanese governments have upheld a ban on military exports since the 1960s. Critics have said that means Japan's defence spending is hobbled by inefficiencies since it relies on domestic suppliers that lack the scale of competitors in the United States and Europe.

Abe has taken steps to bolster Japan's military and approved the biggest percentage increase in defence spending in almost two decades for the coming fiscal year.

In a break with precedent, the Abe administration is also pushing for sales of military aircraft overseas with possible low-interest state loans or even development aid to entice buyers.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries plans to market its new C-2 military cargo plane as a repurposed civilian transport aircraft, while Shinmaywa Industries' is in talks to sell the Indian government its US-2 amphibious aircraft.

($1 = 102.3550 Japanese yen)

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F-35 : une année de retard supplémentaire ?


Le F-35B, à décollage court et atterrissage vertical, est la première version du JSF à entrer en service.

L'agence de presse Reuters, citant un récent rapport du Pentagone, estime que le développement du F-35 pourrait durer encore une année de plus. La mise service opérationnelle du F-35B au sein du corps des Marines, qui était jusqu'alors prévue pour le courant du second semestre 2015, pourrait ainsi subir un nouveau retard de treize mois.

C'est du moins ce qu'affirme Michael Gilmore, patron du DOT&E (Operational Test & Evaluation Directorate), la direction en charge de l'évaluation et de la qualification des nouveaux matériels au Pentagone, dans un rapport qui incrimine la mise au point du logiciel avionique de l'avion.

L'agence Reuters a visiblement pu obtenir une copie de ce rapport, qui sera prochainement présenté devant le Congrès américain.

C'est tout particulièrement le standard avionique Block 2B qui poserait problème. Pour mémoire, c'est à ce standard que sera validé l'emploi des premiers armements et d'une partie des systèmes de mission. Ce standard reste néanmoins intermédiaire et ne devrait concerner que les premiers F-35B opérationnels des Marines. Les exemplaires suivants, ainsi que les F-35A opérationnels de l'US Air Force, doivent être livrés à un standard plus avancé baptisé Block 3I.

Le rapport du Pentagone fait également état de problèmes de fiabilité et de maintenance. Le MCO (maintien en condition opérationnelle) du F-35 est toujours entouré du plus grand flou.

De son coté, le général Chris Bogdan, patron du programme F-35, a estimé que ce rapport ne faisait pas suffisamment mention des nombreux efforts réalisés pour que le F-35 reste sur les rails en terme de calendrier.

En 2009, Lockheed Martin misait encore sur une mise en service opérationnelle du F-35B pour 2012. Depuis, cette date n'a fait que glisser vers la droite jusqu'à ce que le Pentagone repousse l'an dernier ce jalon symbolique à la mi-2015.

Lockheed Martin a déjà fabriqué plus de cent exemplaires de F-35. Le centième avion (un F-35A) a volé le 18 décembre dernier.


http://www.air-cosmos.com/defense/f-35-une-annee-de-retard-supplementaire.html

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Le F-35C prépare ses premiers appontages sur porte-avions



La nouvelle version du F-35C, troisième et dernière variante du Joint Strike Fighter destinée aux porte-avions américains, vient d’achever avec succès ses essais terrestres d’appontage sur la base aéronavale de Lakehurst. C’est le CF3, troisième prototype de l’appareil et premier à être doté de la nouvelle crosse d’appontage

M&M

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http://www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/FY2013/pdf/other/2013DOTEAnnualReport.pdf

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New Tests Find Significant Cracking In The F-35


The U.S. Defense Department’s newest and most advanced fighter jet has cracked during testing and isn’t yet reliable for combat operations, the Pentagon’s top weapons tester said in new report.

The entire F-35 fleet was grounded last February after a crack was discovered in a turbine blade of an F-35A. While the order was subsequently lifted, more cracks have been discovered in other areas and variants of the Lockheed Martin Corp.-made plane, according to the latest annual report by J. Michael Gilmore, director of Operational Test and Evaluation.

Durability testing of the F-35A, the Air Force’s version of the plane designed to take off and land on conventional runways, and the F-35B, the Marine Corps’ model that can take off like a plane and land like a helicopter, revealed “significant findings” of cracking in engine mounts, fuselage stiffeners, and bulkhead and wing flanges, according to the document. A bulkhead actually severed at one point, it states.

“All of these discoveries will require mitigation plans and may include redesigning parts and additional weight,” Gilmore wrote in the report.

The F-35C, the Navy’s version of the plane designed to take off and land on aircraft carriers, has also had cracks in the floor of the avionics bay and power distribution center and, like the F-35B, in the so-called jack point stiffener, according to the document.

The hardware problems, along with ongoing delays in software development, among other issues, led Gilmore to conclude that the fifth-generation fighter jet’s “overall suitability performance continues to be immature, and relies heavily on contractor support and workarounds unacceptable for combat operations.”

He added, “Aircraft availability and measures of reliability and maintainability are all below program target values for the current stage of development.”

The Joint Strike Fighter program is the Pentagon’s most expensive acquisition effort, estimated last year to cost $391 billion to develop and build 2,457 F-35 Lightning IIs. The single-engine jet is designed to replace such aircraft as the F-16, A-10, F/A-18 and AV-8B.

The Pentagon this year plans to spend $8.4 billion to buy 29 F-35s, including 19 for the Air Force, six for the Marine Corps, and four for the Navy. The funding includes $6.4 billion in procurement, $1.9 billion in research and development, and $187 million in spare parts. The department in fiscal 2015 wants to purchase 42 of the planes.

The Marine Corps had expected to begin operational flights of the aircraft in 2015, followed by the Air Force in 2016 and the Navy in 2019.

The Corps’ schedule depends on using a more limited version of the software, known as Block 2B, designed for use with such precision-guided weapons as the AIM-120C Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, GBU-32/31 Joint Direct Attack Munition and GBU-12 Paveway II bomb.

The first operational flights, however, will probably be delayed because the aircraft’s software won’t be ready in time due to ongoing glitches, according to the report.

“Initial results with the new increment of Block 2B software indicate deficiencies still exist in fusion, radar, electronic warfare, navigation, EOTS [Electro-Optical Targeting System], Distributed Aperture System (DAS), Helmet-Mounted Display System (HMDS), and datalink,” it states. “These deficiencies block the ability of the test team to complete baseline Block 2B test points, including weapons integration.”

Lockheed has reassigned more engineers to improve the software, and the Pentagon has assembled an outside team of experts to study the issue.

Even so, the report touches on other problem areas.

The aircraft remains vulnerable to “ballistically-induced propellant fire from all combat threats,” such as missile strikes, according to the document; its computer-based logistics system, the Autonomic Logistics Information System, or ALIS, was fielded with “significant deficiencies;” and the program has a “significant risk” of failing to mature modeling and simulation technology, known as the Verification System, or VSim, according to the document.

http://www.businessinsider.com

ils se sont bien fait arnaquer ceux qui le commandent   

Citation :

The U.S. Defense Department’s newest and most advanced fighter jet has cracked during testing and isn’t yet reliable for combat operations, the Pentagon’s top weapons tester said in new report.

Citation :

The hardware problems, along with ongoing delays in software development, among other issues, led Gilmore to conclude that the fifth-generation fighter jet’s “overall suitability performance continues to be immature, and relies heavily on contractor support and workarounds unacceptable for combat operations.”

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AIR FORCE: 'If We Don’t Keep The F-22 Raptor Viable, The F-35 Fleet Will Be Irrelevant'

In an interesting, open, and somehow surprising interview given to the Air Force Times, the Chief of the U.S. Air Force, Air Command Command Gen. Michael Hostage, explained the hard choices made by the Air Force as a consequence of budget cuts. He also highlighted the concerns for the future of the F-35.

...

But, the F-22 Raptor will have to support the F-35. And here comes another problem. When the Raptor was produced it was flying “with computers that were already so out of date you would not find them in a kid’s game console in somebody’s home gaming system.” Still, the U.S. Air Force was forced to use the stealth fighter plane as it was, because that was the way the specs were written. But now, the F-22 must be upgraded through a costly service life extension plan and modernisation program.

“If I do not keep that F-22 fleet viable, the F-35 fleet frankly will be irrelevant. The F-35 is not built as an air superiority platform. It needs the F-22,” Hostage told the Air Force Times.

No doubt the F-35 will be, when available, a very capable aircraft: Its stealth design, extended range, internal carriage of stores, and a variety of integrated sensors are the ingredients for success in modern air-to-ground operations.
....

 
http://www.businessinsider.com/david-cenciotti-the-f-35-fleet-will-be-irrelevant-2014-2

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Is troubled F-35 caught in a ‘death spiral’?

The controversial F-35 program took another blow last week when the Navy requested a break from producing F-35C, its variant of the problem-plagued and expensive Joint Strike Fighter.

Congressional sources said officials with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) worry the 3-year break will lead to a permanent end to the program, according to Politico. Critics have targeted the program in recent years because of high costs and technical problems during development and testing. Last month, a Pentagon report revealed “significant findings” of cracks developing in multiple locations on two of the test aircraft. Fixes may require redesigned parts, which could add additional weight—already a concern for the fighter jet. Also, the report said “measures of reliability and maintainability are all below program target values for the current stage of development.”

The F-35 program has cost nearly $400 billion since its inception in 1996. Estimates of the 55-year lifecycle cost for the entire F-35 fleet range from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion, making it the most expensive weapons program in history.
But how much does a fighter jet really cost? The recently passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorized the procurement of 19 F-35As (the Air Force variant and the least expensive) in fiscal year 2014 at a cost of $2.989 billion. That amounts to $157.3 million for each aircraft. But procurement is only one component of total lifecycle cost. The program has already spent millions of dollars on research, development, and testing. The bulk of the lifecycle budget will be spent on maintaining and operating the planes.

By comparison, the true cost of owning a $20,000 car for 10 years could be as high as $62,000 when taking into account fixed costs, fuel, and maintenance.

Fear of rising costs and concern over concurrent development, testing, and production has Pentagon officials recommending reducing the number of aircraft it plans to buy. But that can also increase the per-aircraft cost, leading to what The Economist warned could be a “death spiral” in which cuts in the number of aircraft ordered would lead to even further cost increases.

The F-35 program could learn some lessons from the F-16, according to Gordon England, a former deputy secretary of defense under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Both programs had similar objectives and both experienced their share of early development problems. However, England attributes much of the F-16 program’s success to its commitment to high rates of production, which drove down per-aircraft cost, as well as continuous upgrades during its production life. He argues that the Defense Department needs to change its F-35 management philosophy.

“Production capability has been proved by actual deliveries,” England said. “The F-35 is being artificially confined to low production rates at a point when the F-16 was already roaring ahead.”

http://www.worldmag.com