F-35s for Paris air show

[eagle driver]

Just when you thought you had seen the last of F-35,s for this year.
DOD changes its mind.


WASHINGTON — The Air Force’s F-35 will make an appearance at the Paris Air Show this summer despite weeks of statements from Defense Department officials to the contrary, the service announced on May 6.
The decision to showcase the F-35 at the Paris Air Show appears to be a last-minute one, perhaps inspired by the A-model’s first-ever training deployment to Europe this April.
A few weeks ago, officials from the F-35 joint program office stated that there were no plans to show the F-35 at Le Bourget Airport this year. Preparations to bring the Joint Strike Fighter to Farnborough International Airshow in 2016 — the aircraft’s first appearance at a major European air show — began about half a year in advance.
The Air Force said participation in the airshow would give the service yet another opportunity to demonstrate its combat airpower capability.
“The F-35A strengthens partnerships and improves regional stability,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said in a statement. “We welcome the opportunity to further demonstrate the revolutionary capabilities of this aircraft.”
Eight operational F-35As from Hill Air Force Base, Utah are currently in Europe for training and exercises with NATO partners. So far, the jets have conducted exercises with U.S. and U.K. aircraft at RAF Lakenheath in England, as well as making out-and-back trips to Estonia and Bulgaria. It was not immediately clear whether those F-35s will simply stay in Europe for the air show, or whether they will return back to the United States first.
The Air Force also hasn’t disclosed how many F-35s will show up at the event or whether the A-models will conduct a flying demonstration. However, the decision to show the aircraft is a publicity coup for manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Although France has no plans to buy the Joint Strike Fighter, the show provides another venue to drive interest in the aircraft and showcase its capability to other potential foreign customers.
It’s also a win for SIAE, the French aerospace organization that puts together the Paris Air Show, which has been campaigning hard to get the United States to bring the Joint Strike Fighter. The organization sent its first invitation to the U.S. government in September 2016, urging it to conduct an F-35 flight demo and it has raised the issue multiple times in meetings with U.S. officials, according to Christophe Robin, the communications director for GIFAS, the parent organization of SIAE.
The F-35’s exhibition will mark the first time a U.S. stealth aircraft has been showed at the event since the B-2 touched down in Paris for an appearance in 1995.
The Aerospace Industries Association celebrated the Air Force’s decision to send the F-35 to the event.
“International air shows provide the U.S. aerospace and defense industry with an important opportunity to showcase American manufacturing preeminence, bolstered by critical international partnerships, to create the unmatched technology of systems like the F-35,” the AIA statement read. “They are also critical events for high-level representatives from the U.S. government to interact with their peers around the world and maximize common security, foreign policy, and economic interests.”

[Unknown74]

I remember there was a mock up replica F-35 at Paris in 2009.

[paullangford]

...............Obviously written before they departed the UK

[Doughnut]

What is the current situation regarding Italian manufactured F-35A. Are any on test flight duties in Italy. Also did the Dutch not receive a couple of F-35A last year ?

[bizfreeq]

The Dutch ones returned to the States, and as was pointed out to me the other day, it does state that the USAF will be the ones showing it. (Nothing to stop them borrowing one I suppose!)

[Doughnut]

So how many Italian manufactured F-35 are flying in Europe ?

[Canberra TT.18]

As I understand about the Italian F-35A's
4 in USA for training
3 in Italy with 13 Gruppo ad Amandola

First F-35B rolled-out last week.

[jamesg23]

Just read on Facebook iys been announced it will be a flying demo at paris airshow.

[Supra]

Must be true then?

[jamesg23]

https://www.f35.com/news/detail/u.s.-ai ... onstration

[Supra]

[eagle driver]

Another press release from DOD
Details on F-35A trip to Paris Air Show begin to emerge
By: Valerie Insinna
Air Force Times
May 17, 2017
WASHINGTON — Two F-35As will go to the Paris Air Show this June, but they won’t be flown by U.S. Air Force pilots, a service official said Wednesday.
One F-35A from Hill Air Force Base, Utah and another from Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, are currently slated to conduct flying demonstrations at Paris Air Show, said Col. David Lyons, commander of the 388th Fighter Wing. Hill AFB’s 388th Fighter Wing is home to the first operational F-35A squadron, while Luke AFB is a major joint strike fighter training base.
Lyons added that the two jets will be flown by test pilots from F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin during their stint in Paris, but was not able to comment on why airmen would not be piloting the aircraft.
Plans for the F-35’s first appearance in Paris are finally coming together after a slow start. In April, officials from the F-35 joint program executive office said the aircraft would sit out from the show, held every other year at Le Bourget Airport in France, but on May 8, the Air Force reversed course, announcing its intention to send aircraft to the event.
The U.S. military has been hesitant to show its stealth aircraft in Paris since the early '90s, when the Pentagon grew worried about alleged espionage involving the F-117. Since then, the Air Force conducted a B-2 flyover in 1995, but otherwise has kept its stealth jets from appearing at the show. A scheduled F-22 visit was canceled in 2009.
An Air Force spokesman said there were no specific concerns about the aircraft flying in the show.
“We have processes, procedures and networks in place to ensure that we can fly where we want to fly and when we want to fly and we’re not concerned about it,” he said.
The Air Force does not always rely on pilots from its operational squadrons to conduct demos at air shows. For instance, its heritage flight team flew F-35s at the Royal International Air Tattoo in England last year.