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

Gémini a écrit:

Quel bordel ce programme..........  

Personnellement j'ai toujours était contre ce programme "casseur d'avions de chasse".

Cette avion me dégoute de l'aviation

Les Francais et Allemand ont compris qu'ils fallait se contenter de chasseur moderne et simple.

Le F35 et F22 qu'ils les gardent pour eux! 

Citation :

P&W to test remedy for F135 engine fault

Pratt & Whitney officials say they have identified a promising remedy for rubbing in the F135 engine that caused a catastrophic fire in June and destroyed a Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, limiting test flights of the developmental fleet.

Contrary to statements by Lt Gen Christopher Bogdan, chief of the US F-35 Joint Program Office, engine manufacturer P&W says seal plating within the third-stage fan overheated during a “relatively aggressive” training manoeuvre.

The engine flexed within the fuselage, causing a “hard incursion” of foam rubber that lines the internally bladed rotor, raising the material’s temperature to twice its intended threshold. The phenomenon causes micro-cracking in the titanium arm ringing the fan, says Bennett Croswell, president of Pratt & Whitney military engines.The heat caused the arm to come loose from both the second- and third-stage internally bladed rotor section of the turbine engine, and shattered and punctured a rear-aft fuel cell, causing the fire. Bogdan has repeatedly blamed the rotor fan for causing the failure.

All fighter engines experience similar rubbing, but the rate and depth to which that particular engine dug into the rubber stator lining was unexpected, Bogdan says. Both he and Croswell acknowledge that initial modelling of the engine’s function underestimated the extent to which the engine would need to be “burned in” before performing advanced manoeuvres.

Potential fixes include changes to the materials used to manufacture the fan blade and the rubber lining that caused the rubbing, and “pre-trenching” the rubber lining to allow the fans to glide freely without making contact. The service and P&W are also considering a set of low-stress flight profiles that would gradually burn-in engines already installed on operational aircraft.

Rub-rig testing to characterise a “good rub” versus a “bad rub” is ongoing. The engine failure was not the result of poor quality materials or manufacturing, Bogdan adds.

“This has to do with the material properties and it has to do with the model that Pratt & Whitney developed a long time ago that would have estimated how much rubbing took place, and quite frankly it was underestimated,” Bogdan says.

Until a fix is identified, the engines are not being mated with Lockheed airframes. All new aircraft, beginning with the programme's eighth lot of low-rate initial production, will receive engines that include the permanent fix, Bogdan adds. Because the engines are modular, new fan sections can be retrofitted to the 150 existing aircraft with the potentially defective engines, he says.

By the end of September, Croswell says the root cause of the engine failure will have been identified and the malfunction will be recreated in a test lab.

Bogdan plans to downselect from six possible fixes to the best one by the end of October. A prototype of a pre-trenched engine should be flight tested by 24 October, he adds. Croswell intends to begin retrofitting existing engines in November, with emphasis on the 21 system development and demonstration aircraft. Those aircraft at least should be flying at full envelope by the end of the year, Croswell adds.

Bogdan said just weeks ago that the US Marine Corps could miss its planned 1 July 2015 initial operating capability if the test fleet was not up and running at full bore by the end of September

http://www.flightglobal.com

f35 cockpitt

Citation :

DOD and Lockheed Martin Announce Principle Agreement on Purchase of F-35s

WASHINGTON D.C. – Oct. 27, 2014 - The U.S. Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin have reached an agreement in principle for the production of 43 F-35 Lightning II aircraft. Officials anticipate the Low-Rate Initial Production lot 8 (LRIP contract to be finalized in the coming weeks. The contract is for fiscal year 2014 with deliveries beginning in 2016.

Cost details will be released once the contract is finalized; however, in general, the average unit price for all three variants of the airframe in LRIP 8 is approximately 3.6 percent lower than the previous contract.

"Today's agreement is representative of the program's ongoing maturation," said F-35 Program Executive Officer, Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan. "Once production of LRIP 8 aircraft is completed, more than 200 F-35s will be in operation by eight nations. We are glad the Government and LM are completing a fair and reasonable contract for the 8th lot of aircraft."

The LRIP 8 contract procures 29 U.S. aircraft including 19 F-35As, six F-35Bs and four F-35Cs. It also provides for the production of the first two F-35As for Israel, the first four F-35As for Japan along with two F-35As for Norway and two F-35As for Italy. The United Kingdom will receive four F-35Bs. The contract also funds manufacturing-support equipment as well as ancillary mission equipment.

"Affordability is a key performance parameter in today's challenging acquisition environment." said Lockheed Martin F-35 Program General Manager Lorraine Martin. "Working together with our suppliers, we are making steady progress in reducing F-35 costs. While there will always be room for improvement, the results of the LRIP 8 negotiations and initiatives like the Blueprint for Affordability are indicative of our shared commitment to ensuring affordability."

Launched earlier this year, Blueprint for Affordability aims to reduce the price of an F-35 5th generation fighter to the equivalent of today's 4th generation fighters by the end of the decade. The initiative leverages upfront investments from key industry partners Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman to drive down production costs. Cost savings from this initiative will begin in LRIP 9.

The LRIP 8 aircraft join 166 F-35s contracted under LRIPs 1-7. As of October 24, 2014, 115 F-35s, including test aircraft, were delivered from Lockheed Martin's production facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The U.S., eight Partner nations, and Foreign Military Sales participants have announced plans to procure more than 3,100 F-35 aircraft over the life of the program

http://www.lockheedmartin.com

Citation :

F-35 engine inspection requirements eased to 13 hours -Pentagon

(Reuters) - Mandatory engine inspections are now required every 13 hours for Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jets, a significant easing of the three-hour requirement imposed after an engine failure in June temporarily grounded the entire fleet, a top Pentagon official said on Wednesday.

U.S. Rear Admiral Randy Mahr, the Pentagon's F-35 deputy program manager, said that all of the F-35 jets used for testing were now flying the required "full envelope" of speed and other flight maneuvers.

Separately, a spokesman for the F-35 jet program said certain restrictions remain in place for operational F-35s flown by the Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy, but those are not related to the June 23 engine incident and reflect the fact that the jets are still in developmental testing.

Mahr told reporters after a defense logistics conference that the F-35 jets were showing improved reliability, and said the program office expected a drop of about 15 percent in its estimate of the overall cost to operate and maintain the U.S. F-35 fleet over the next five decades.

The Pentagon in April forecast that it would cost $1.02 trillion to operate and maintain the U.S. F-35 fleet over the next 54 years, including inflation, a drop of 9 percent from a previous projection. At the time, the F-35 program office said it felt the cost was closer to $917 billion, given improving reliability.

Lorraine Martin, Lockheed's F-35 program manager, told reporters at the conference that her company was committed to lowering that so-called sustainment cost by 30 percent over that time period. As part of that drive, Lockheed has looked at every part that is proving less reliable than expected and is redesigning some, and changing processes in other cases.

Martin said there were now 120 F-35 jets flying at seven military bases, and the F-35 had logged more than 23,000 flying hours.

Bruce Tanner, Lockheed's chief financial officer, told an investor conference in New York hosted by Credit Suisse that the F-35 program was doing well, and production of the jets was expected to triple over the next four years.

He also said the Obama administration was widely expected to submit a fiscal 2016 budget request that exceeded the levels set in the Budget Control Act of 2011, but no details had yet been released.

Citation :

The F-35 Can't Run On Warm Gas From A Fuel Truck That Sat In The Sun

The F-35 program continues to work through a litany of problems, but this one is almost laughable. According to the USAF, the troubled fighter cannot use gas from standard green colored USAF fuel trucks if it has been sitting in the sun. Considering that these jets will most likely find themselves operating in the desert or in somewhere in the scorching Pacific, this is a big problem.

Sadly, the answer for the F-35's fuel finicky conundrum, one of many heat related issues with the jets since their testing began, is being addressed outside of the F-35 aircraft itself, in the form of repainting standard USAF fuel trucks with bright white solar reflective paint.

Clearly it is not tactical in any way to be driving a giant white potential fuel-bomb around a battle zone. This is especially true considering that the F-35B variant is supposed to operate 'forward' from austere fields. Still, the solar reflective paint job, that costs around four grand for each truck, seems to be less expensive than fixing the issue on the jet itself, as there is no word of that happening.

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-f-35-cant-run-on-warm-gas-from-a-fuel-truck-that-sa-1668120726

Citation :

Automated manufacturing could drive $125 million from cost of F-35 canopies

The US Office of Naval Research (ONR) recently received a national manufacturing award for developing a method to build canopies for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II that could save the military $125 million over the life of the programme.

ONR spearheaded the effort to automate a thermoforming process used to create the F-35 canopy – the transparent portion of the cockpit enclosure – that will be applied to at least 2,000 of the aircraft. The new process also makes the manufacturing work safer, ONR says.

Officials from ONR’s Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) program accepted the Department of Defense’s Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award at the Defense Manufacturing Conference in San Antonio.

“This award confirms our commitment to developing the most efficient and cost-effective ways to manufacture some of the most critical hardware our Sailors and Marines use,” John Carney, director of ONR’s ManTech programme, says in a prepared statement.

The existing canopy manufacturing process requires loading an acrylic shell into a forming tool, which then is slid into a 93.3°C (200°F) oven. The canopy forms within the mold over six days, during which “workers regularly enter the oven to makes observations and manually adjust positioning clamps to control the forming process”, ONR says.

ONR’s new method includes cameras and clamps that adjust automatically to maintain a uniform canopy shape, thus relieving workers from having to enter the oven. The process also takes only two to three days, ONR says.



Development of the automation process began in 2011 and cost $1.3 million, which ONR officials said was a worthy investment that would yield substantial savings. GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems plans to begin building canopies using the automated process in May.

“The potential cost savings represent a huge return on a relatively small initial investment by ONR,” says Neil Graf, programme officer for ONR ManTech.

Lockheed has launched a series of similar efforts to identify alternate materials and innovative manufacturing processes for F-35 components. It is seeking immediate investments it or suppliers can make that will yield massive savings over the construction of 3,000-plus aircraft.

Lockheed, and engine manufacturing partners Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce have committed to investing a combined $170 million over the next two years on these affordability initiatives, called the Blueprint to Affordability.

The company in September outlined several of a total 600 projects “across the entire supply base” that are in the works to streamline production and reduce manufacturing costs.

An example is the decision to use 3-D printing rather than forging to manufacture the bowframe that crosses the canopy. Switching methods could save $31.5 million over the programme of record at an investment of just $342,000, Lockheed says.

http://www.flightglobal.com

Citation :

Italy, Turkey will lead F-35 maintenance in Europe

The US Defense Department has chosen the European nations to which it will assign heavy airframe and engine maintenance for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.

By 2018 heavy airframe maintenance, overhaul, repair and upgrade (MORU) will be provided by Italy. The UK will pick up any additional work needed following a review that will take place about five years into the programme, says Lt. Gen Christopher Bogdan, head of the Pentagon’s F-35 joint programme office (JPO).

Turkey will take the lead on maintenance of the Pratt and Whitney F135 engine and establish the necessary infrastructure to perform tear-down, rebuild and test by 2018. Within two years of that deadline, Norway and the Netherlands are to have established the same capability.

“First was heavy airframe and heavy engine maintenance because infrastructure-wise and technology-wise, they take the longest to stand up,” Bogdan says.

Light and medium maintenance refers to work that has no impact on the structure of the aircraft, Bogdan says. Heavy maintenance entails repairing large structural components like bulkheads, spars and wings, which require more advanced facilities and technical acumen.

Beginning in 2015, component repair work and warehousing will be assigned to partner nations. The JPO also intends to base repair and maintenance of support equipment regionally but has not made decision on who will be responsible.

The UK will only take on airframe maintenance duties if demand outpaces Italy’s ability to handle it. However, the JPO knew off the bat engine maintenance would have to be split between several countries.

“The investment to build an engine test and maintenance facility was more than one partner could afford on their own,” Bogdan says. “When you tear down an engine at the heavy level and rebuild it, you have to then test it. No one partner was willing to invest in more than one test cell in their nation.”

The JPO figured the European region would need at least three F135 test facilities, which run in the tens of millions of dollars.



Geography played a larger role in choosing Italy as airframe maintainer than in choosing who would do engine work, Bogdan said.

“When you’re looking at heavy airframe maintenance, the fact that you have to move aircraft thousands of miles over oceans and continents played a factor in both regions,” he says. “It plays less of a factor when you look at engines because they can be broken down into modules and transported much easier.”

The JPO divided the globe into three regions where heavy depot level maintenance will take place, so that partner nations in the joint F-35 venture would not need to ferry their aircraft thousands of miles for upkeep.

Infrastructure for North American F-35s is already being put in place and will directly supervised by the US Air Force and Lockheed. The nations in the Asia-Pacific region that will receive assignments to perform F-35 maintenance will be announced next week, Bogdan says.

Partner nations were polled to see which desired to perform the work, which would require the nation to cover the entire initial investment to build facilities and buy the necessary equipment. The JPO has promised that nations investing in an F-35 industrial base would be guaranteed a certain amount of annual work based on the size of their fleets. Proposals by various nations were weighed and US government personnel visited each country that submitted a bid.

“Many of the partners put RFIs in for both engine and airframe in Europe,” Bogdan says. The JPO then evaluated whether “that partner build and grow the capability we need in the time for when we need it.”

Eligible proposals also had to demonstrate managerial and technical capability commensurate with the F-35 programme, Bogdan says. Italy already has spent $1 billion of its own money to build a final assembly and checkout facility (FACO) where the jets will eventually be built.

“That’s a cost that the rest of the enterprise does not have to bear now,” Bogdan says. “Italy is fully committed to this programme. They are a stable and very important partner for a very long time – you’ve earned the right to be assigned this capability.”

http://www.flightglobal.com

bien le F35.......bien........
http://www.opex360.com/2015/01/05/la-maintenance-de-37-avions-f-35a-va-couter-cher-aux-pays-bas/

Citation :

F-35 Systems Development and Demonstration Weapons Suite
An F-35A, at Edwards AFB, Calif., is pictured with its F-35 Systems Development and Demonstration Weapons Suite the aircraft is designed to carry.

Citation :

Abandon d'une partie des essais pour le F-35

Publié le 26/01/2015 à 13h00, par Antony Angrand


Afin d'éviter des retards supplémentaires, certains essais du F-35 seront soit abandonnés, soit reportés.
© Lockheed Martin

Le F-35 traverse à nouveau une mauvaise passe. Cette fois-ci, ce sont les essais dits OUE (Operationnal Utility Evaluation), planifiés pour avril 2014, qui vont être abandonnés afin d'éviter une cascade de retards. C'est ce que vient de révéler le DOT&E, soit le directeur de l'évaluation et des essais opérationnels, dans son dernier rapport. Ces essais visaient la configuration Block 2B du F-35 destiné aux Marines, version de l'appareil qui avait été déjà impactée par les restrictions de vol suite à l'accident moteur qui s'était déroulé en juin 2013, juste avant le salon de Farnborough. Les Marines visent justement la capacité opérationnelle initiale de l'appareil pour cet été... Soit sept ans après l'année initialement prévue. Il n'est donc pas question de cumuler des retards supplémentaires.

S'ils avaient été entrepris, ces tests auraient duré jusqu'en 2016, ce qui aurait inévitablement entraîné un retard sur le développement des logiciels destinés au Block 3F. Afin d'essayer de contourner les retards potentiels, le programme d'essais a été revu. Certains tests ont été abandonnés, ainsi le Block 2B ne verra que 243 essais effectués au lieu des 529 initialement prévus. Une certaine partie d'entre eux seront reportés sur le Block 3. Un autre problème logiciel a récemment nui au F-35 et plus précisément à son canon de 25 mm. D'après le démenti publié par le Pentagone, le Block 3F se verra équipé du GAU-22 et de son système de visée électro-optique en 2017.

http://www.air-cosmos.com/2015/01/26/28229-abandon-d-une-partie-des-essais-pour-le-f-35

Citation :

F-35 all-weather climatic testing

The F-35 Patuxent River Integrated Test Force in Maryland ferried aircraft BF-05 to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida to undergo climatic testing at the 96th Test Wing’s McKinley Climatic Laboratory. During the six-month test, the F-35s will be exposed to extreme wind, solar radiation, fog, humidity, rain intrusion/ingestion, freezing rain, icing cloud, icing build-up, vortex icing and snow.

Citation :

Le F-35 à l'épreuve du froid

Publié le 30/01/2015 à 12h39, par Duncan Macrae


Essai climatique du F-35 © US Navy

Tout comme les avions de ligne, les appareils militaires doivent, avant leur mise en service, démontrer leur capacité à résister aux conditions climatiques les plus extrêmes qu'ils sont susceptibles de rencontrer au cours de leur vie opérationnelle.

Ainsi un F-35B de la Patuxent River Integrated Test Force subit depuis quatre mois des essais au sein du laboratoire climatique du 96th Test Wing de l’US Air Force, sur la base d’Eglin en Floride. L’appareil en question est arrivé sur place au mois de septembre 2014 pour une campagne d’essais de six mois.

Ces tests ont pour but de vérifier l’aptitude de l’avion et de ses systèmes d’armes à répondre aux exigences militaires spécifiques. Ils permettent d'évaluer leurs performances sur une large gamme de températures (de + 50°C à – 40°C) et dans des conditions extrêmes de vent, radiations solaires, humidité et givrage.

Les installation d’essais permettent même de simuler des décollages conventionnels ou courts (STOVL), toujours dans des conditions climatiques extrêmes, avec les moteurs de l’avion poussés à pleine puissance.





http://www.air-cosmos.com/2015/01/30/28414-le-f-35-a-l-epreuve-du-froid

Citation :

F-35 programme begins developing cyber-attack capability

Marina Malenic, Washington, DC - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly

18 March 2015


An F-35A, at Edwards AFB, California, is pictured with the F-35 Systems Development and Demonstration Weapons Suite the aircraft is
designed to carry. The F-35 can carry more than 1,600 kg of ordnance in low observable mode and over 8,200 kg uncontested. The
programme is now preparing to add non-kinetic weapons such as an offensive cyber pod. Source: Edwards AFB

Key Points
•The F-35 programme is developing a pod-mounted cyber-attack system
•The offensive system is in the "prototyping phase", according to the deputy programme manager

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter programme is developing a pod-mounted cyber-attack system as it continues kinetic weapons integration, the deputy programme executive officer said on 17 March.

"Industry is developing a pod that would not degrade the signature of the airplane," said Rear Admiral Randy Mahr at the Precision Strike Association conference in Springfield, Virginia. He told IHS Jane's that the offensive system was in the "prototyping phase" and was not being designed by F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin, but declined to name the developer.

Meanwhile, Rear Adm Mahr said, the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) B-model of the aircraft would be able to accommodate the Raytheon GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb Increment II (SDB II).

Some media reports have suggested that the weapon cannot be carried in the weapons bay of the F-35B - the smallest of the three variants - because the aircraft body contains a liftfan.

"SDB II will fit in the F-35B," Rear Adm Mahr said. "We have to move one hydraulic line and one wire bundle about a half-inch each to make it fit".

He noted that SDB II was still in development and would not even be ready for integration until Block IV of the F-35 programme was complete.

http://www.janes.com/article/50036/f-35-programme-begins-developing-cyber-attack-capability    

Citation :

Selon le Pentagone, le coût de l’avion F-35 baisse mais les problèmes à régler restent nombreux


Posté dans Forces aériennes, Industrie par Laurent Lagneau Le 21-03-2015



Selon les dernières estimations du Pentagone, le coût de l’avion dit de 5e génération F-35 a baissé de 7,7 milliards de dollars pour les 2457 appareils commandés (soit -1,9%). En prenant en compte les frais de développement, le montant total de la facture est estimé à 391,1 milliards de dollars. Et cela grâce à une révision des processus industriels, à la restructuration du programme et à une inflation moindre que prévue.

À l’origine, l’objectif pour le Pentagone était de disposer de 2.852 F-35 pour 233 milliards de dollars. On est donc encore loin de la cible initiale…

Cet avion furtif, développé par Lockheed-Martin, est appelé à devenir l’épine dorsale de l’aviation américaine, avec trois versions destinées à entrer en service au sein de l’US Air Force (version A, dite classique), de l’US Marine Corp (version B, à décollage court et atterrissage vertical) et de l’US Navy (version C).

Dans le détail, le prix d’un F-35A est désormais évalué à 108 millions de dollars (-4 millions par rapport à la dernière estimation). Celui d’un F-35C serait maintenant de 129 millions (-1 million). Le F-35B, commandé notamment par le Royaume-Uni, reste le plus cher puisque son prix unitaire est de 134 millions, et cela malgré une baisse de 5 millions.

Cependant, le Government Accountability Office (GAO, l’équivalent américain de la Cour des comptes, pour simplifier) se dit beaucoup moins optimiste, notamment sur les coûts d’exploitation du F-35. En outre, il a mis en garde contre de nouveaux surcoûts liés à des problèmes qui n’ont pas encore été réglés.

Un récent rapport de l’Operational Testing and Evaluation office (DOT&E, Bureau des évaluations et des essais opérationnels du Pentagone) en a d’ailleurs donné le détail… Et ils sont nombreux [voir le compte-rendu du POGO, un centre de réflexion indépendant].

Parmi ces problèmes à régler, l’on peut notamment citer les retards dans la mise au point des logiciels indispensables pour faire voler le F-35 et en faire un système d’armes opérationnel.

Ainsi, l’Automatic Logistics Information System (ALIS), sorte de système d’exploitation de l’appareil qui compte plus de 30 millions de lignes de code est encore loin de donner pleinement satisfaction, avec la découverte régulière de défaillances. Or, ce logiciel est censé fournir des informations tant aux pilotes qu’au personnel au sol sur l’état de l’avion.

D’autres logiciels sont affectés par des soucis qui donne lieu notamment à des  d’inexactitudes concernant le système de navigation et à des échecs dans la fusion des données obtenues via les différents capteurs, ce qui provoque « de fausses alarmes et des erreurs de cibles ». En clair, le F-35 a des difficultés à « trouver des cibles, à détecter et à parer les défenses ennemies et à éviter les tirs fratricides ».

S’agissant du F-35B, des problèmes dans les commandes de vol ont été détectés, en particulier lors de manoeuvres à haute vitesse. L’appareil est en outre peu protégé en cas… d’orage : il est en effet vulnérable à la foudre (un comble pour un Lightning II) s’il est contraint de voler à deux reprises en l’espace de 12 heures, à moins que ses réservoirs de carburants aient été régulièrement purgés. En cause?  Leur système de régulation de la pression partielle d’oxygène. Ce problème avait toutefois déjà été identifié en 2013. Mais, visiblement, une solution n’est pas encore au point.

Enfin, autre souci parmi d’autres, des composants du F-35 manquent de fiabilité, ce qui augmente le temps de maintenance et donc les coûts. Sont notamment concernés l’avionique, le moteur, les pneus du train d’atterrissage, l’OBOGS (système générateur d’oxygène embarqué) ou encore le siège éjectable.


http://www.opex360.com/2015/03/21/selon-le-pentagone-le-cout-de-lavion-f-35-baisse-les-problemes-regler-restent-nombreux/

Citation :

F-135, en attendant la solution définitive


Publié le 09/04/2015 à 13h57, par Antony Angrand


Les turboréacteurs P&W F-135 du JSF font l'objet d'un retrofit temporaire qui pourrait potentiellement
devenir définitif. L'ensemble de la flotte se verra modifiée au premier trimestre 2016.
© Lockheed Martin  


Pratt & Whitney a adopté un retrofit temporaire sur les turboréacteurs F-135 dans le but de solutionner le problème qui entraîna un incendie moteur l'an dernier, sur un F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, empêchant l'appareil de faire son apparition au salon de Farnborough. Pratt & Whitney a pour objectif de terminer la modification de toute la flotte au premier trimestre 2016.

Le motoriste veut également trouver une solution pérenne, courant été 2015. La modification intérimaire permet d'éviter toute friction entre l'extremité des aubes de stator et le joint spécifique situé à l'avant du troisième étage du rotor IBR (Integrated Bladed Rotor), par augmentation du jeu entre les pièces concernées. Cette solution n'est à priori pas définitive, mais elle sera quoi qu'il en soit réévaluée en juin de cette année.

Différentes solutions à long terme sont envisagées, parmi lesquelles figurent la modification intérimaire qui pourrait être adoptée de manière définitive, ainsi qu'un traitement de surface destiné à augmenter la résistance aux microfissures qui sont à l'origine du détachement d'une aube de stator, laquelle avait entraîné l'incendie moteur.


http://www.air-cosmos.com/2015/04/09/32088-f-135-en-attendant-la-solution-definitive

Citation :

F-35: accord sur la production en Europe


Publié le 27/04/2015 à 11h48, par Jean-Pierre Husson


Les F-35 italiens et hollandais seront produits en italie © Lockheed Martin

Dans le cadre du programme F-35, la Direzione Nazionale degli Armamenti (DNA), équivalent italien de la DGA et les représentants des ministères italien et néerlandais de la Défense viennent de signer à Rome un accord de collaboration prévoyant la production des appareils néerlandais dans les établissements Faco (Final assembly and check out) de Cameri, le nouveau site industriel près de Novare, dans le Piémont, alors que, simultanément, le centre logistique de Woensdrecht, dans le Brabant-Septentrional, aux Pays-Bas, réalisera les activités d'entretien des moteurs des F-35 italiens.

Au total, vingt-sept F-35 destinés à l'armée de l'air néerlandaise seront produits à Cameri, après que les dix premiers (deux pour les tests et huit de pré-série) auront été réalisés à Fort Worth, au Texas, dans les usines Lockheed Martin. L'accord en question - ou Implementing Arrangement, qui vient compléter ainsi le Production and Sustainment Memorandum of Understanding signé par l'Italie et les Pays-Bas en 2006, constitue la première initiative du genre entre partenaires du programme F-35.


Outre les retombées évidentes en terme d'emplois et de savoir-faire, cet accord devrait ouvrir la route à d'autres initiatives identiques avec d'autres partenaires européens impliqués dans le programme F-35. La sortie d'usine du premier appareil destiné à l'Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI), le 12 mars dernier, et la livraison quasi simultanée de la première voilure destinée à un F-35A de l'US Air Force (USAF) témoignent des capacités de production du site de Cameri. C'est également à Cameri que seront effectuées les opérations de maintenance des F-35 en Europe, aussi bien ceux achetés par les pays européens, à l'exception des F-35 britanniques, que ceux qui seront déployés par l'USAF sur le Vieux continent.


http://www.air-cosmos.com/2015/04/27/33078-f-35-accord-sur-la-production-en-europe

Bon ,ben c'est toujours et encore des problèmes pour ce vilain petit canard....Américain...
http://www.opex360.com/2015/04/28/la-fiabilite-du-moteur-de-lavion-f-35-mis-en-cause/
Qu'elle daube cet avion........

Citation :

L'image : Premier vol à Eglin AFB pour la première femme pilote de F-35


Publié le 07/05/2015 à 09h28, par Cyrille Cosmao



Le Lt. Col. Christine Mau est la première femme pilote de F-35 © USAF


http://www.air-cosmos.com/2015/05/07/34205-l-image-premier-vol-a-eglin-afb-pour-la-premiere-femme-pilote-de-f-35

Citation :

The First-ever Female F-35 Pilot  

Ajoutée le 6 mai 2015

Lt. Col. Christine Mau completed her first training flight in the F-35 Lightning II at Eglin Air Force Base, making her
the first female F-35 pilot. Credit: Staff Sgt. Tarelle Walker, Staff Sgt. Marleah Robertson | Date: 05.05.2015

Citation :

F35 Lightning Launch

Ajoutée le 22 mai 2015

Royal Navy aircraft technicians working within the US Marine Corps maintenance team keep the F-35B Lightning
flying. Watch the aircraft launch from the USS WASP during the first operational testing of air/ship integration
at sea off the Eastern Seaboard of the USA.

The F-35 is the World’s largest single defence programme and the UK works closely with the United States; Royal
Navy and RAF personnel are fully embedded with their US colleagues, gaining experience that can be brought
home to benefit the UK’s future aircraft carrier operations. Filmed by US Marine Corps, May 2015.

Citation :

L'enquête sur l'accident du F-35 de juin 2014 est terminée


Publié le 08/06/2015 à 15h20, par Antony Angrand


L'orifice de sortie de la pièce de rotor, laquelle a sectionné des conduites de kérosène et traversé un réservoir interne. © DR


Les causes de l'accident du 23 juin 2014, ayant entraîné un incendie sur un F-35A et qui empêcha la venue de l'appareil au salon de Farnborough, viennent d'être rendues publiques, au travers d'un rapport de l'Air Education and Training Command de l'US Air Force.

La commission d'enquête est parvenue à déterminer l'origine même de cet accident, après un an d'enquête. C'est une défaillance à hauteur du troisième étage du rotor de compresseur qui est à l'origine de l'accident. Le F-35A, qui appartenait au 58th Fighter Squadron, 33rd FIghter Wing, basé à Eglin AFB en Floride, fut endommagé au cours de son décollage dans le cadre d'une mission d'entraînement. Le pilote parvint à interrompre sa séquence de décollage avant de quitter son appareil.

Des morceaux de l'élément du rotor concerné ont percé le carter moteur, la baie moteur, un réservoir interne et des conduites de kérosène, avant de passer au travers du fuselage, côté extrados. L'étendue des dommages a été évaluée à 50 millions de dollars. L'appareil, inutilisable, va être canibalisé au profit des autres F-35.

http://www.air-cosmos.com/2015/06/08/36621-l-enquete-sur-l-accident-du-f-35-de-juin-2014-est-terminee