F-35 Lightning ll JSF - Europe.

[Tally-ho]

First flight in Italy scheduled for October.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defens ... /71037536/

Hmm ....

Is the following worth anything?

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor but the UK is the only Level 1 partner with the US. http://www.raf.mod.uk/equipment/f35join ... ighter.cfm

Another year goes by where the "only Level 1 partner" does not get the "Level 1" treatment? Did someone say "Special relationship"?

A whiff of horse manure dare I say?!

[T_J]

First flight in Italy scheduled for October.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defens ... /71037536/

Hmm ....

Is the following worth anything?

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor but the UK is the only Level 1 partner with the US. http://www.raf.mod.uk/equipment/f35join ... ighter.cfm

Another year goes by where the "only Level 1 partner" does not get the "Level 1" treatment? Did someone say "Special relationship"?

A whiff of horse manure dare I say?!

Did you read the article? Italy doesn't even have F-35 trained pilots yet. Italian F-35 pilots will start training in September in the US. The F-35A (AL-1) flight in Italy will be by USAF test pilots before the aircraft is flown to the US. Compare that to the current UK F-35 pilot status and aircraft already in the hands of the UK?

[Tally-ho]

Italy doesn't even have F-35 trained pilots yet. Italian F-35 pilots will start training in September in the US. The F-35A (AL-1) flight in Italy will be by USAF test pilots before the aircraft is flown to the US. Compare that to the current UK F-35 pilot status and aircraft already in the hands of the UK?

That is precisely part of this farce. It beggars belief - pardon the repetition - that the taxpayer in the UK has seen nothing of this "Level 1 partnership" Billion Pound investment. To further emphasize this paltry state of affairs, FLIGHTGLOBAL, a well respected industry media source reports from the Paris Air Show:-

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is noticeably absent at the Paris air show after the F-35B failed to arrive at Farnborough in 2014. But Pratt & Whitney and Lockheed Martin have spared no opportunity at Paris to talk up the fifth-generation fighter programme’s maturity and the prospects of additional aircraft sales.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... 35-413696/

Pratt & Whitney (P&W) President Paul Adams in Paris then sanctimoniously goes on about "the more dangerous the world that we live in ...."

Mr Adams should be mindful of schmaltzy talk in Europe. The good naturedly mind-set of most of us in the old-world is wearing a tad thin at this brand of Americanism. Although I have been, and at a push still am excited about the F-35, I must also be candid and say that some of the gloss has faded.

Could there be a miracle at RIAT in a month's time?

[RubyRoo]

The UK taxpayer may have seen nothing of the physical aircraft so far, but in terms of how far the UK is along with flying training and operability, it's miles ahead of every other partner nation other than the USA.

Italy are only going to see the F-35 fly over there imminently purely because of the maintenance hub that has now been constructed there.

Patience.

[paddyboy]

Could there be a miracle at RIAT in a month's time?

[Jazz]

A nasty case of LADS - Lightning Airshow Deprivation Syndrome

[Vulcanone]

TJ

I suspect its someone else with yet another axe to grind..... History is littered with aircraft that started life as troublesome but they turned out fine in the end....

Heck even the Tornado F.3 came good in the last 15 years of its life....

Thankfully some of us accept this

TS

[paddyboy]

I took, and posted, my first shots of the 'EFA' at Farnboro' 1988, so, given the gestation period for the Typhoon, perhaps I am being a Luddite, so apologies proffered

However, I am sure that I am just one of many Brits who, given the amazing alacrity with which the Harrier was 'dumped', now seem to be getting more than a tad fed up with the seemingly never-ending list of problems and delays with the 'flying advent calendar'

Very best regards and sorry if I have upset anyone

Paddyboy

[Vulcanone]

I doubt that you have ever upset anyone Paddyboy.

Remember the F-14, and how long it was in service with all the known issues with the TF30 engine, before they finally got round to re-building F-14A+ and the F-14D. And I seem to recall even the Saudis were a tad unhappy with engines in F-15S a few years back and replaced all of them.


Tim

[Tally-ho]

Somewhat of a cloak and dagger story from the Paris Air Show.

From the website “Breaking Defense” dated 18 June 2015 : http://breakingdefense.com/2015/06/ge-sets-aetd-record/

The head of Pratt & Whitney (P&W) F-35 JSF engine program told reporters at the Paris Air Show the company didn’t want to release cost information because the new Adaptive Engine Technology Development (AETD) program’s engines were being tested for dimensions that matched those of the F-35. The more fuel-efficient AETD engine could overcome one of the longstanding concerns about the F-35, its range.

Then General Electric (GE) put out a press release about testing its Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (ADVENT) project, which achieved the highest combined compressor and turbine temperature operation “in the history of jet engine propulsion”. That release included this sentence: “It is now being applied to the next step, an engine that could fit an F-35-like aircraft”.

You could almost hear the pin drop in the briefing, the report goes on to say.

It looks as if GE may be poised to come back with what could be either a second engine for the F-35, a replacement for Pratt’s F135, or the next-generation power plant. As more details emerge it will be fascinating to hear how senior Pentagon officials and the USAF view this GE engine: as a technology marvel, the beginnings of the next generation in F-35 power, or as a “second engine”.

No boredom in this ongoing saga of the F-35 JSF.

[Pete_uk]

Get a Rolls in there

[TankBuster]

The next generation of F-35 power?.. It will probably come along with the next generation of engineers!.. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gahUbXoUhEc

TankBuster

[Vulcanone]

We are buying it because its a first strike Stealth aircraft. Aside from that its the only thing left we will be building a bit of once Typhoon production is finished.

And also so we have a shiny new toy to put on the really expensive flat tops we have built. So the Navy can sail off and do power projection, and it gives the Navy something to fly, and probably keeps them happy.

As for what replaces Typhoon and then F-35.....Well who knows

T

[Sparts99]

Blow the dust off the Sandys report ?

[Tally-ho]

From BAE Systems, dated 19 June 2015:-

Our Test Pilot Pete ‘Wizzer’ Wilson has become the first pilot to launch the F-35B Short Take Off and Vertical Landing variant from a ski-jump.

Watch on YouTube:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5LdkPaERhI

Full article and related news:-
http://www.baesystems.com/news-&-featur ... kez9j0xo_4

[MRay]

We are buying it because its a first strike Stealth aircraft.

Only with a fully internal weapon fit and since the RAF is planning to hang fuel tanks and ordnance off the wings, it kinda defeats that whole argument....

However Tornado is getting long in the tooth and using up it FI with all these conflicts we have been involved in so needs a replacement. The Harrier also had its share of fatigue worries (new rear end programme) so would have needed a replacement at some point.

Whether the F35B is the right platform to replace them, time will tell, personally I think its an over complicated, expensive, way of delivering battlefield support, especially as the VSTOL aspect has less relevance now than when the Harrier was first conceived.

[Trenchard]

So the Navy can sail off and do power projection

Steady on old man, that power projection might interfere with the Senior Services Caribbean cocktail party plans

[TankBuster]

Another article on the F-35, this time about its inability to dogfight...
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/test-p ... db9d11a875

TankBuster

[paddyboy]

I told you so

Cheers

An old Luddite

[AIRheadsFLY]

And Lockheed's reply is here: https://www.f35.com/news/detail/joint-p ... 10503378=1