Forum: F-35 Lightning II

The New Sheriff Is In Town
Posted by Bill Sweetman@Ares; 2/16/2011 4:49 AM CST

JSF briefings in the past were often a bit like listening to Hollywood publicists. After missing all the milestones they'd talked about a year before, the briefers would assure us that everything was in good shape, that they were on track to complete development and that by golly, Charlie was serious about rehab this time.

If only for the absence of that sort of thing, Tuesday's long awaited appearance of VAdm Dave Venlet, at a National Aeronautics Association lunch in Washington, was refreshing. It was also the first public appearance of anyone from the JSF Program Office anywhere, since the Defence IQ Fighter Conference Athens in October 2009.

Venlet opened by comparing the situation of the JSF to a pilot with the fire warning lights going off: "What you do is aviate, navigate, communicate." In program management terms, Venlet outlined three principles: "commitment to fundamentals" in terms of systems engineering, the "need to keep a firm grasp on realism" and the need for "transparency and communication". With that, he said, "we can build a record of performance, and build and sustain trust."

There were a few news points as Venlet outlined details of a plan that, he says, measures up to the commission that he has been given by Secretary Gates: "To come up with a plan that will not continue to disappoint."

One goal to watch will be whether the program can make 20 deliveries this year against a revised schedule adopted in September (four SDD aircraft, one already delivered, and 16 LRIP jets). STOVL sea trials are still planned for this year, as are the first landbased ship suitability tests for the F-35C. So far, Venlet says, the program "has not lost a day", despite spotty parts deliveries and engine delays, because it has management reserves built in.

The helmet mounted display is clearly an issue - the Defense Acquisition Board, in its review of the program in November, concluded that the technology readiness level of the wide-field-of-view, binocular display was not yet adequate. Problems include jitter and image clarity.

"We don't want to give up the requirement" for panoramic night vision on the pilot's visor, "but we're not going to drive the program into the ditch because of it," Venlet says. A review in the next couple of weeks is going to look at whether the program needs to look at an alternate display system, possibly moving imagery to the fixed flat-panel display.

Also due in the next few weeks is the resolution of a long-standing issue within the Navy: the division of the 680 Navy Department F-35s between B and C models. Roughly speaking, it has always been accepted that about one-third will be Bs and one-third Cs, but the middle third has been in dispute. The Navy would prefer them to be Marine-badged F-35Cs but the Marines have aspired to as many as 420 Bs - but that would imply flying Bs off carriers, an idea that has met resistance from the big-deck Navy.

Finally, another issue under study is whether initial operational test and evaluation can partially overlap with the final stages of development testing. DT for the F-35A and F-35C flight sciences program, and for the Block 3 mission systems, is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2016 (with the B following in the last quarter). Normally a nine-month IOT&E phase would follow that, putting initial operational capability (IOC) out in 2017, but the JPO is looking at ways to compress the gap.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/de ... d=blogDest

I've lost count of the SDD & LRIPs. What is the breakdown of LRIP-2? LRIP-1 is AF-6&7. Twenty planes delivered this year will be good but how did we get to 20 with only BF-5, CF-2&3 and AF-6&7 remaining for SDD? Question

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