Australian lawmakers confident in F-35's future

[spazsinbad]

Thanks. At the DEATHjeff posted this pic: https://scontent.fsyd8-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=5E855661

Ha - real name: JEFF DE ATH (I kiddeth thee nowt)
"7 new F-35A Lightning II arrived at Williamtown this afternoon with an impressive 7 Ship fly in at RAAF Base Williamtown."

[spazsinbad]

Extract of recent Auditor report about the F-35A for Oz says:

"AIR 6000 Phase 2A/2B - Joint Strike Fighter
Aircraft 17 and 18 were delivered in the United States of America during October 2019 and will be ferried to Australia in December 2019." https://www.anao.gov.au/sites/default/f ... 9_19_0.pdf (7.5Mb)

22 page F-35A relevant pages attached below from: The Auditor-General - Auditor-General Report No.19 2019–20
2018–19 Major Projects Report - Department of Defence - Australian National Audit Office - ANAO [eye-glazing stuff innit]

[spazsinbad]

Two more F-35A aircraft delivered to RAAF Base Williamtown
13 Sep 2019 Australianaviation

"The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 3 Squadron based at RAAF Base Williamtown has received two more Lockheed Martin F-35As to bring the total number of the fleet to six. The two aircraft – A35-015 and A35-016 – were ferried from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona and arrived on September 10.

This latest delivery takes 3SQN’s Williamtown-based fleet to six, with the previous four aircraft being delivered in two waves last December and in April 2019. The new additions will join 3 Squadron’s validation and verification (V&V) effort, an Australian-specific operational evaluation of how the F-35A integrates with the RAAF’s basing infrastructure, networks and other capabilities, and force multipliers. A successful V&V is a key requirement in order for the RAAF to declare an initial operational capability (IOC) of the F-35A, currently scheduled for late 2020.

Four more F-35As were expected to be delivered by the end of calendar 2019.

The RAAF was expected to continue to maintain 10 F-35As embedded with the United States Air Force’s (USAF) 61st Fighter Squadron (FS) at the international training centre at Luke AFB until at least the end of 2021...."

https://australianaviation.com.au/2019/ ... lliamtown/

Oz RAAF F-35A Fast Facts Oct 2019
"...Aircraft were ferried to Australia in pairs in December 2018, April 2019 and September 2019. The fleet of six F-35A aircraft are being operated by No. 3 Squadron at RAAF Base Williamtown. Through the JPO, Australia has contracted for an additional two Lot 11 aircraft for delivery in 2019...." https://www.defence.gov.au/casg/Multime ... 0Facts.pdf (attached below)

[spazsinbad]

Royal Australian Air Force completes training mission, departs from Luke
15 Jan 2020 Airman 1st Class Leala Marquez, 56th Fighter Wing

"LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- After achieving all training milestones, the Royal Australian Air Force began returning its F-35A Lightning II pilots, maintainers and aircraft to Australia from Luke Air Force Base in December 2019.

The RAAF began training at Luke AFB with the 61st Fighter Squadron and Aircraft Maintenance Unit in December 2014 with two F-35s. Since then, 34 Australian pilots and 16 instructor pilots have earned their certification, and as of January 2020, the RAAF owns 20 F-35s....

...In the future, Australian pilots and maintainers will train in Australia; however, they will remain regular visitors to Luke. “Luke AFB is the RAAF’s F-35A delivery point, and Australian pilots will return several times a year to ferry the country’s new fifth generation fighters to Australia,” said Wing Commander Jordon Sander, 61st Fighter Squadron Australian Senior National Representative and new commander of RAAF No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit (No. 2 OCU). The ferrying missions will continue until the RAAF receives its last F-35A in 2023....

...“Both the RAAF and U.S. Air Force approach fighter flying and pilot training from different cultural perspectives,” said Sander. “Working alongside each other has seen the USAF challenge some of our ideas and vice versa. The relationship has helped us look inwards and ask ourselves why we do things the way we do.”

The RAAF plans to transition one of its existing units into an operational F-35 fighter wing within the next three years, said Van Haren. On Dec. 16, the No. 2 OCU, located at RAAF Base Williamtown, Australia, ceased training F/A-18 Hornet pilots and transitioned into an F-35A training squadron, said Sander. No. 2 OCU will train all future RAAF F-35A pilots and maintainers...."

Photo: "Lt. Col. [WING COMMANDER RAAF] Jordon Sander, 61st Fighter Squadron Australian Senior National Representative and new commander of the Royal Australian Air Force No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit (No. 2 OCU), is sprayed with water following his final flight at Luke Air Force Base Nov. 22, 2019, at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. RAAF pilots and pilot instructors are returning to No. 2 OCU located at RAAF Base Williamtown, Australia, to begin the base’s transition to an operational F-35A Lightning II fighter wing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Leala Marquez)" https://media.defense.gov/2020/Jan/15/2 ... 0-0039.JPG (0.9Mb)

Source: https://www.aetc.af.mil/News/Article/20 ... from-luke/

[/quote]

[spazsinbad]

RAAF shifts F-35A training focus to Williamtown
29 Jan 2020 Greg Waldron

"...The focus of RAAF F-35 training has been moved to RAAF Williamtown, where work has been undertaken to develop a full training ecosystem under the country’s Air 6000 2A/B New Air Combat Capability Facilities Project.

“All facilities required to support training at RAAF Williamtown have been completed,” says Australia’s Department of Defence (DoD). ”This includes the installation of maintenance training devices, and the full suite of maintenance training is now undertaken in the new facilities.”

Four full mission simulators have been installed and commissioned. The base has provision for two additional simulators....

...In addition the Williamtown training centre, five RAAF F-35As will remain at Luke AFB in Arizona. “These aircraft will continue to undertake pilot training, including Australian pilots,” says the DoD. “Australia plans to undertake all pilot training in Australia from January 2021.”..."

Source: https://www.flightglobal.com/raaf-shift ... 17.article

[optimist]

I thought we were leaving 2 aircraft to the pool. 5 is a significant number.

[spazsinbad]

Becuz there is a lot of GROWLER growls on this thread I thought to replicate below the original post by 'hythelday' here:

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=20468&p=434207&hilit=trimble#p434207

Boeing and U.S. Navy Successfully Link Piloted, Unmanned Growlers
04 Feb 2020 Steve Trimble @TheDEWLine

"Test[s] show ability of F/A-18 Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler pilots to remotely control fighter and attack platforms from the cockpit

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 4, 2020 - Boeing and the U.S. Navy successfully flew two autonomously controlled EA-18G Growlers at Naval Air Station Patuxent River as unmanned air systems using a third Growler as a mission controller for the other two.

The flights, conducted during the Navy Warfare Development Command's annual fleet experiment (FLEX) exercises, proved the effectiveness of technology allowing F/A-18 Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers to perform combat missions with unmanned systems.

"This demonstration allows Boeing and the Navy the opportunity to analyze the data collected and decide where to make investments in future technologies; said Tom Brandt, Boeing Manned-UnManned Teaming demonstration lead. "It could provide synergy with other U.S. Navy unmanned systems in development across the spectrum and in other services."

Over the course of four flights, 21 demonstration missions were completed.

"This technology allows the Navy to extend the reach of sensors while keeping manned aircraft out of harm's way," Brandt said. "It's a force multiplier that enables a single aircrew to control multiple aircraft without greatly increasing workload. It has the potential to increase survivability as well as situational awareness.""

Source: https://mobile.twitter.com/TheDEWLine/s ... 7479322624

[spazsinbad]

First posted by 'neptune' here but only the URL: viewtopic.php?f=61&t=56617&p=434224&hilit=agin#p434224

US Navy and Boeing use manned jet to control drone Growlers
04 Feb 2020 David B. Larter

"...The Navy will increasingly rely on networked weapons and drones commanded by manned aircraft operating forward as part of an effort to extend the service’s fighting range and sharpen the teeth of its air wing. It’s a concept of operations that was detailed in a recent study by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. In the study, senior fellow Bryan Clark called for an unmanned combat air vehicle, or UCAV, with a range of up to 3,000 nautical miles without refueling and the ability to perform missions from anti-submarine and electronic warfare to anti-surface and strike.

But the study also called for retaining a manned fighter for command-and-control capabilities in environments where communications are jammed or nonexistent. “There is still going to be a need for manned fighters to do close-air support, but mostly to do command and control of other platforms that are perhaps unmanned inside a comms-denied environment,” Clark said. “So if you send some loitering missiles or you send UCAVs up forward, you would expect them to be managed by someone who is able to maintain comms with them. That would be a human in a fighter that is able to remain close enough to them to stay in comms.”

For that, Clark points to a retooled F-35 fighter jet, one that switches out internal payload space for fuel.

“The F-35 folks, when you talk to them about what it would take to make it a longer-range command-and-control aircraft, they’re pretty optimistic because most of the challenge in doing these kinds of changes is in the software,” Clark said. “And the software isn’t dramatically different because it’s really just changing how it manages the fuel, not any of the other functions.”

The experiment seems to indicate that it isn’t just the F-35′s fancy communications suite that is up the task. The test demonstrates the ability to increase the pilot’s situational awareness with multiple aircraft, said Brandt.

“This technology allows the Navy to extend the reach of sensors while keeping manned aircraft out of harm’s way,” Brandt said. “It’s a force multiplier that enables a single aircrew to control multiple aircraft without greatly increasing workload. It has the potential to increase survivability as well as situational awareness.”"

Source: https://www.c4isrnet.com/naval/2020/02/ ... anned-jet/

[steve2267]

So if a stubby was controlling, say, three UCAVs, which shot down five enema aircraft... would said Lightning Rider be an ace?

Or, if a stubby fourship was dragging their net across the sky in a fighter sweep, and UCAV Alpha-2 detected the enema, but Delta-3 was the one that launched the CUDA that took out the J-31... who gets the kill? Lightning Rider Charlie because it was her UCAV that launched? Or does Charlie share the kill with Alpha? What if Lightning Rider Bravo first noticed the enema detected by Alpha-2 and that Delta-3 was in best position to prosecute and it was Bravo that hit the commit switch first? Does Bravo get the kill, Alpha and Charlie split half? Or Bravo half, Alpha&Charlie a quarter kill? So confusin' and brain hurtin'!

[botsing]

Its either the network as a whole that gets the kill, or the node that performed the last action that gets it.

The last action can be anything like shooting the missile or giving the last course correction to that missile.

[outlaw162]

Haha. I assume the intel folks will just download the intel debrief on some app....save the pilot some time getting to the bar.

"How many kills did you get today, Sheila?"

"I have no idea."

[steve2267]

Maybe it should be...

"Siri, how many kills did I get today? Barkeep!"

OR,

"Alexxa, how many kills did you get today?"

[optimist]

I'm sure the Minister of Defence and the Prime Minister would claim the victory. ADF may get a line down the page of the official release. If they mentioned a squadron, it would be the wrong one. I doubt it would go further than that, back to the bar.

[spazsinbad]

Many thanks to 'Gums' for bringing this story to my attention. I found the news page very problematic so the entire story is below for EASY READING. Note the reference to the RECALCITRANT Canadian Government reluctance OR NOT <sigh> .

United Kingdom, Australia open F-35 lab at Eglin AFB
24 Feb 2020 Jim Thompson

"The Australia Canada United Kingdom Reprogramming Laboratory (ACURL), like the United States Reprogramming Laboratory immediately next door, and the nearby Norway Italy Reprogramming Laboratory, will be involved in the ongoing development of “mission data files” for the F-35.

EGLIN AFB — Representatives of the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force held a ribbon-cutting Monday for a laboratory on Eglin Air Force Base that optimizes the performance of their F-35 stealth fighter jets.

The Australia Canada United Kingdom Reprogramming Laboratory (ACURL), like the United States Reprogramming Laboratory immediately next door, and the nearby Norway Italy Reprogramming Laboratory, will be involved in the ongoing development of “mission data files” for the F-35.

Since the partnership was formed, Canada has backed away from purchasing the F-35, but the laboratory will retain that country’s name. According to media reports, and information from Monday’s ribbon-cutting, there are indications Canada may wind up acquiring the F-35, and becoming part of the laboratory.

Briefly, the mission data files assist the F-35′s massive array of optical, electromagnetic and other sensors in identifying threats. That gives pilots the ability “to (execute) the mission with the jet doing a lot of the work,” according Royal Australian Air Force Wing Commander Joseph Bennett, ACURL’s commanding officer for engineering.

Because threats will be evolving during the F-35′s service life, the ACURL, along with the two other reprogramming laboratories, will be long-term fixtures on Eglin AFB as data files are updated. “We’ve got at least a 40-year footprint,” at the base, Bennett said.

The ACURL comprises more than 100 Royal Navy, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Air Force, Lockheed Martin and other contractor and civilian personnel. Many of those personnel lined the walkways leading to the ACURL on Monday morning as the national anthems of the two nations were played and their flags unfurled in the morning breeze.

Among those on hand for Monday’s ribbon-cutting was Royal Air Force Wing Commander Gerry McCormack, who has overall command of the ACURL. “We’re really keen that we work alongside our Australian colleagues,” he said. That collaboration, with the U.S. reprogramming laboratory also in the mix, “makes us all stronger,” McCormack said."

Source: https://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/20200 ... -eglin-afb

[spazsinbad]

And the ANTI-F-35Bs on our LHDs complain about cost of 'upgrading' LHDs for F-35B use, even only from other countries.

$1.6 billion to upgrade RAAF Base Tindal to protect Australians and create jobs
21 Feb 2020 MinDef Industry

"The Morrison [current PM but maybe not for long ] Government is investing $1.6 billion to ensure the Australian Defence Force (ADF) can continue to deliver a potent air combat capability from the Northern Territory. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government had approved a further $1.1 billion program of works at the RAAF Base Tindal, on top of the $495 million already invested in New Air Combat Capability infrastructure....

...“It will be integral to our Alliance with the United States, and increase the reach of Air Force capabilities in the Indo-Pacific. “As part of these upgrades, RAAF Base Tindal will be able to deliver enhanced air-to-air refuelling and air support capabilities, ensuring we can support critical ADF operations – everything from air combat missions through to responding to natural disasters both at home and throughout our region.”

Under the redevelopment projects, $737 million will go towards upgrading the airfield including extending the runway, building a new air movements terminal, parking apron and extra fuel storage facilities. An additional $437 million will provide critical base infrastructure upgrades, particularly engineering services on the base including power, water and sewage, as well as 108 new live-in units for Australian Defence Force personnel....

...Subject to Parliamentary approval, construction is expected to commence from mid-2020, with completion expected by the end of 2027.

The Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Industry will open the recently completed $495 million New Air Combat Capability facility. The completion of this facility will support the arrival of Australia’s cutting-edge F-35A Joint Strike Fighter aircraft at RAAF Base Tindal in the years ahead...."

Further detail on the proposed works can be found at https://www.defence.gov.au/id/RAAF-Tindal/Default.asp
&

https://www.defence.gov.au/id/RAAF-Tind ... SFPI.asp#1
United States Force Posture Initiative Airfield Works Project Elements
Project Element C2-1: Airfield Works
"The primary airfield upgrades involve extending the runway by 2,000 feet to 11,000 feet (3,353 metres); widening runway shoulders from 3 metres to 10.5 metres; and re-aligning, extending and widening the parallel taxiway for heavy aircraft movements. Works also include constructing two new operational readiness platforms at each end of the runway, upgrading an existing secondary taxiway to accommodate larger aircraft and upgrading the airfield stormwater drainage system. The existing aeronautical ground lighting system will be re-configured to complement the proposed airfield layout, and the existing navigation aids will be re-configured or replaced. Attachment 4 provides a plan of the proposed airfield works...."
Graphic: https://www.defence.gov.au/id/RAAF-Tind ... SFPI-1.png

Source: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/16-billion- ... reate-jobs