F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)

[jmt18325]

It's about vindictive politics, not capabilities.

This could have been the best operational aircraft in the world and the Americans could have given it to us for free, but he would have decided to cancel it anyways as it would be seen as accepting one of Harper's decisions.

On the flip side of that, the Conservatives could have just bought it - they did have a majority in both houses after all, and complete control of the executive.

 

[MarkOttawa]

Money for Block 4?

Billions In F-35 Upgrades Debated; Canada Election Fallout
http://breakingdefense.com/2015/10/billions-in-f-35-mods-debated-canada-election-fallout/

Mark Collins

 

[CougarKing]

Meanwhile, in Washington...

Defense News

McCain: 'Have To' Reduce F-35 Total Buy
By Aaron Mehta and Joe Gould 5:06 p.m. EDT October 21, 2015

WASHINGTON — The powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain, R-Ariz., said Tuesday the US will have to cut the numbers of F-35 fighter jets it will purchase.

In a brief comment to reporters, McCain seemed to signal that the total projected buy for the Pentagon's most costly and ambitious program — 2,443 in total, spread across three models for the Air Force, Marines and Navy — is out of whack with budget realities. He said that cost growth in the program will mean fewer jets overall.

"We're going to have to reduce the buy," he said. "The number they are now quoting — there's just not going to be that many."

(...SNIPPED)

 

[jmt18325]

Meanwhile, in Washington...

Defense News

I wonder if Orin Hatch thinks McCain is stupid?

 

[CougarKing]

I seem to recall one of the posters at this thread- perhaps SupersonicMax- who once stated that our acquiring the Super Hornet would actually COST more in the long run than the F-35, though I can't recall the reason why.

Globe and Mail

Scrapping F-35 fighter jets may not lead to big savings, experts say
Steven Chase

OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail

Published Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 2:00AM EDT

Last updated Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 2:00AM EDT


Defence experts are skeptical that Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government will reap any significant windfall from buying a warplane that is cheaper than the controversial F-35 fighter.

The Liberals promised during the election campaign to look elsewhere for a plane and plow the savings into more ships for the Royal Canadian Navy. But military experts say different aircraft might not be a bargain when the costs of buying, operating and maintaining them over 20 to 30 years are tallied up.

“I don’t think it will produce the magnitude of savings that they think will fund the shipbuilding program,” said George Petrolekas, a retired colonel with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

“I don’t think there will be a significant savings in acquisition and I suspect there probably won’t be a significant savings in operating costs either,” Mr. Petrolekas said, referring to expenses such as fuel and staffing.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[Good2Golf]

I seem to recall one of the posters at this thread- perhaps SupersonicMax- who once stated that our acquiring the Super Hornet would actually COST more in the long run than the F-35, though I can't recall the reason why.

Globe and Mail

It could be that "go it alone" (in practical terms, not being part of a joint users group of 3000+ aircraft sharing costs) paying for your own niche In-Service Support costs could be higher, even though the initial capital acquisition costs were lower.  RCAF/CAF/DND is seeing benefit on C-17 and C-130J from being members of Joint User Groups of those two aircraft fleets respectively.  Pooled parts across nations, etc... make for reduced ISS costs in the future, relative to a country-unique ISS program.

Not anything to be certain about until the ISS details of any proposal were made known.

:2c:

Cheers
G2G

 

[The Bread Guy]

Program approaching flat line?

With the incoming Liberal government poised to put to rest any possibility of Canada acquiring a fleet of F-35 stealth fighter jets at a 2014 estimated lifetime cost of $45.7-billion, the Public Works Department says there are “no plans” to provide Parliament with the latest projected costs the Department of National Defence prepared for 2015.

In response to questions The Hill Times first asked of the Department of National Defence during the campaign for the federal general election, the Public Works communications branch also suggested Wednesday that a special oversight secretariat the Conservative government for the new fighter jet program is being wound down, or has been already.

The development means the new Parliament that will convene following the Oct. 19 general election might not be able to review the latest projected costs for an F-35 fleet, despite conflicting expert views about the effect Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau’s (Papineau, Que.) promise that his government will drop the Conservative plans to acquire the F-35 and instead invite open the acquisition up to competitive bids from other jet fighter manufacturers.

“The production of annual updates was a commitment under the seven-point plan and these reports are available on the website,” the department media branch said.

“As the Secretariat’s work under the plan has now been completed, there are currently no plans to produce and table a 2015 annual update,” department spokesperson Jessica Kingsbury said in an email Wednesday evening ....

 

[CougarKing]

The hairpiece has spoken!!!!!!  ;D

Air Force Times

Trump wants to 'fire' F-35
By Phillip Swarts, Staff writer 3:04 p.m. EDT October 29, 2015
Donald Trump wants to tell the F-35 that it’s fired.

The businessman and Republican presidential candidate questioned the wisdom of purchasing the joint strike fighter during an appearance on a conservative radio talk show Oct. 22.

“When they say that this cannot perform as well as the planes we already have, what are [we] doing, and spending so much more money?” Trump said during an appearance on the Hugh Hewitt radio show.

The host asked Trump his thoughts on the fifth generation fighter and the fact that it’s $160 billion over budget. Trump responded that he didn’t like what he had been hearing in security briefings.

(...SNIPpED)

 

[The Bread Guy]

Program approaching flat line?

And pretty well vital signs absent ....

The Conservative government quietly disbanded a high-level and key Public Works department secretariat in charge of reviewing the proposed $45.8-billion plan for Canada to acquire a fleet of 65 F-35 stealth warplanes, The Hill Times has learned.

The decision earlier this winter to wind down the secretariat, which the government established in 2012 to implement a multi-faceted “action plan” in response to a raging controversy over a report to Parliament from Auditor General Michael Ferguson on the F-35 acquisition, means the government had by then decided it would go ahead with a plan first announced in 2010 to acquire the U.S. Lockheed Martin fighter jets, says an expert on the F-35 project who was head of procurement at the Department of National Defence during Canada’s initial involvement in development of the aircraft in the late 1990s.

(....)

“The secretariat was formed to implement government’s seven-point [action] plan. As the secretariat’s work under the plan has now been completed, there are currently no plans to produce and table a 2015 annual update [on the cost of acquiring and operating a fleet of F-35s over each plane’s 30-year lifecycle],”Pierre-AlainBujold, a spokesperson with the department’s media relations branch, told The Hill Times last Thursday, Oct. 29.

Asked whether the National Fighter Procurement Secretariat still exists, Mr. Bujold provided more information the following day, in the late afternoon.

“The Secretariat was formed to implement government’s seven point plan. As that work has been completed, it was disbanded in Winter 2015,” Mr. Bujold said in his follow-up email. “PWGSC continues to support all defence procurement by providing expert negotiation and contracting services to ensure best value for Canadians.”

(....)

 

[CougarKing]

While Israel mulls Silent Eagles, as discussed in another thread, they're also staying the course on the F35 Adir variant:

Globes

Israel to double attack range of F-35 Stealth fighter

The first two Lockheed-Martin F-35's, called Adir (Awesome) in Hebrew, will be delivered to the IAF in December 2016,

Shortly before the US Congress votes on the nuclear agreement with Iran, Israel has publicly announced the efforts of its air force to double the flight range of the F-35 Stealth strike fighters, the fifth generation of the air force's planes.

The Israeli version of the plane, manufactured by Lockheed Martin according to Israeli specifications, is called Adir (Awesome). The first two Adirs will be delivered to the Israel Air Force (IAF) in December 2016,  and will join the Golden Eagle squadron at Nevatim Air Base in the Negev.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[a_majoor]

Makes perfectr sense. The F-35s provide the electronic screen for detection and targeting (sort of like a distributed AWACS) while the Eagles are the long range bomb trucks which also happen to be fighters. When it is time to roll in with the bombs, the F-35s are there for top cover.

 

[MarkOttawa]

Norwegian Kongsberg anti-ship, land-attack missile--from F-16 eventually for F-35:

JSM carries out airborne launch test
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/jsm-carries-out-airborne-launch-test-418913/

Big skin in game for Norway.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

How many for USAF?

...[the USAF] had originally planned to procure 1,763 but Congress has since asked the Air Force to reexamine that number. The service is currently working on a report, which it owes to Congress 180 days after the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act is enacted, he [ACC Commander Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle] said.

"We're going to look at wargaming, what kind of capacity we need, what combination of fourth- and fifth-generation capability [we need], what long-range strike bomber does with respect to the ground attack or the precision attack capability — we're looking at all of those things," Carlisle said.

"As we look to the future and what we're going to do, I think there is a decision to be made on how many F-35s we are going to buy." However, "it's way too early to make that decision."

Carlisle said that a more natural time frame to determine whether or not to reduce that number is when the F-35 is fully operational and capable. The service is planning to declare initial operating capability in 2016 between August and December, and will have its first Block 4 aircraft in about 2021.
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=2013

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Rifleman62]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/glendale/2015/11/10/luke-air-force-base-expands-international-f-35-training-norwegian-jets-arrive/75483088/

Luke expands international F-35 training as Norwegian jets arrive at air base

Paul Giblin, The Republic | azcentral.com November 10, 2015

Two new Norwegian Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jets touched down at Luke Air Force Base Tuesday, marking the second allied country to commit F-35s to the base's international pilot training program.

The twin-tailed, matte gray planes flew in from Fort Worth, Texas, where they were manufactured, and were joined mid-flight by two other F-35s assigned to the base in Glendale.

Norwegian Maj. Gen. Morten Klever, the head of his country's F-35 program, officially accepted the jets.

"It's a major milestone for the Norwegian armed forces," Klever said. "This will be the backbone of the Norwegian armed forces for the next 40 years, so starting training here at Luke is very essential to us."

Every Norwegian F-35 pilot for the next generation is expected to train at the base, Klever said. The first Norwegian F-35 pilot-in-training made his inaugural flight in an F-35 later Tuesday.

Australia already has two F-35s at Luke.

Pilots from eight countries will train alongside U.S. pilots on F-35s in international squadrons, according to the U.S. Air Force. The other countries: Turkey, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Korea and Israel.

They fly each others' planes, which are identical except for their tail markings.

The two new arrivals bring the total number of F-35A Lightning II jets at Luke to 32. By 2024, the base is scheduled to have 144 F-35s, making it the largest F-35 base worldwide.

Norway is projected to have as many as seven F-35s at Luke. Then starting in 2024, Norway will leave four F-35s at Luke and transfer the others to Norway, Klever said.

Photos and video at link.

Photo: The first two Norwegian Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jets arrive Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015, at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale.  David Kadlubowski/The Republic

 

[CougarKing]

Good news for those also looking at the Joint Strike Missile mentioned in another thread:

Diplomat

F-35’s Joint Strike Missile Successfully Completes Flight Test in US

The test was hailed as a ‘milestone’ by the missile’s developers.
L1001025
By Franz-Stefan Gady
November 13, 2015

A missile specifically designed for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was successfully tested last week at the Utah Test and Training Range in Utah’s West Desert in the Western United States.

According to a press release by Norwegian defense contractor Kongsberg, which is jointly developing the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) with Raytheon, the missile was launched from a F-16 at 22,000 feet and performed “a number of challenging flight maneuvers.”

The JSM–designed to fit inside the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter’s missile bay in order to maintain the stealth capabilities of the aircraft– is a fifth-generation, long-range, precision-guided, stand-off missile system and can be deployed in anti-surface warfare and naval fire support missions.

The recent test showed the technological maturity of the missile including its software, Kongsberg underlines. “This is a major accomplishment for the JSM program, and in addition several critical capabilities beyond the scope of the test were verified. The test demonstrates that we are on track with the qualification of JSM, which brings critical capability to F-35 and the warfighter,” says Harald Ånnestad, the president of Kongsberg Defense Systems.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[MarkOttawa]

Bigger wing than A or B:

Wing spar cracks found on USN F-35 variant

Key Points

    *Pentagon testers have discovered cracks in a main structural element of the F-35C's wing
    *Government and prime contractor engineering teams are formulating a solution, and retrofits are planned on existing aircraft

Pentagon testers have discovered cracks in a main structural element of the wing on the C-model of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, a spokesman for the Pentagon's F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) confirmed on 13 November.

During a late October inspection of the F-35C durability testing ground article, a crack was found in one of its 13 wing spars, Joe DellaVedova told IHS Jane's . Government and prime contractor engineering teams are formulating a solution, he added...
http://www.janes.com/article/55987/wing-spar-cracks-found-on-usn-f-35-variant

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Rifleman62]

The Ottawa Citizen report that Ms. Paula Folkes-Dallaire, a Fisheries Dept senior public servant will start Monday as senior director to oversee the Future Fighter Capability purchase project at the newly created office in Public Services and Procurement Canada.

A fishing expedition? ;D

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Considering how badly DFO treats it employees and that almost every vessel they designed in the last 20 years is top heavy, I don't have high hopes.

 

[MarkOttawa]

Danes look like staying with JSF:

Milestones Close For Denmark And Belgium Fighter Contests

Denmark’s government is expected to recommend the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in December as the replacement for the F-16, according to industry executives attending the Defense IQ International Fighter Conference.

Also, Belgium is likely to release a request for proposals (RFP) in January and February for its own F-16 replacement...
http://aviationweek.com/defense/milestones-close-denmark-and-belgium-fighter-contests

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GR66]

From all I've read about the F-35 the two main advantages it has over other (4th Gen) aircraft are its stealth and its sensor fusion.  I found a very informative article on sensor fusion on the "Second Line of Defence" website (http://www.sldinfo.com/whitepapers/the-f-35-and-advanced-sensor-fusion/).  It truly sounds impressive and it's a real shame that it looks like the F-35 is off the table for Canada.

What seems strange to me though is why the US didn't separate the Sensor Fusion part of the F-35 project from the actual airframe portion of the project.  To me it appears obvious that the ultimate goal of "Node" based warfare would be to have every platform share its sensor information with every other platform.  You hear a lot about F-35s sharing info with other F-35s but I haven't heard much about F-35s sharing info with other platforms.  Is the F-35s Sensor Fusion system being integrated and coordinated with the sensor packages on the USN's LCS and Zumwalt-Class projects?  With Northrop Grumman on the LRS-B project?  With General Atomics on their Predator platforms? 

Could/will Sensor Fusion and data sharing with F-35s be part of the CSC project?  Is there any technical reason that a new Stealth Eagle for example couldn't make use of the same software and helmet display to "fuse" the data on its sensors and communicate and share info with F-35s?  Obviously the US might have issues with making this technology available to foreign aircraft/ship manufacturers, but wouldn't they want all US arms manufactures to be making use of this technology?