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This article here because it concentrates on da gun - it is a long article so some bits can go elsewhere....
Weapons Tester Cites Further F-35 Challenges
23 Aug 2016 Lara Seligman
"The Pentagon’s top weapons tester is once again sounding the alarm over the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), warning that significant deficiencies with the aircraft’s gun, challenges integrating the short-range AIM-9X missile and unresolved software bugs could delay fielding of the fighter’s full capability.
On the heels of the U.S. Air Force’s milestone decision to declare the F-35A ready for war, the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation (DOT&E) is raising new concerns about Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation fighter. In an internal memo to Defense Department leadership last week, DOT&E warned that the jet still has a long way to go before full combat capability and may run out of funds to fix significant performance problems on time if late discoveries delay the end of the program’s development phase.
Before kicking off a final test period that will put the F-35 in its final warfighting configuration through its paces, known as initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E), the Joint Program Office (JPO) still has a significant amount of development testing to complete and a number of problems to fix, DOT&E tells Aviation Week.
Still, the JPO is confident it will complete the F-35 program on time and budget, JPO Chief Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan tells Aviation Week.
“There were absolutely no surprises in the recent memo from the OSD Director of Operational Test and Evaluation,” Bogdan says. “Specific to the memo, the JPO has been and is currently acting on all the recommendations.”
At the top of DOT&E’s list of concerns is the Air Force F-35A’s 25mm Gatling gun, which will be the jet’s primary means of delivering close-air support to soldiers on the battlefield. [FUD & rong] Most recently, May testing revealed the small door that opens when the gun is fired induces yaw, or sideslip, resulting in aiming errors, according to DOT&E spokesman Maj. Roger Cabiness. Software changes may be necessary to fix the problem, he says. [doh]
This news comes late in the game for the gun system, which is scheduled to begin accuracy testing later this year to prepare it for fielding in 2018. These modifications and subsequent testing to ensure the fixes work, as well as additional changes to correct deficiencies found during early tests in 2015, could delay the start of accuracy testing, DOT&E warns. The U.S. Marine Corps F-35B and U.S. Navy F-35C gun pods are even further behind in testing, so new discoveries that could require late fixes are also possible.
Given the ongoing challenges and risk to the start of accuracy testing, the F-35 may not be able to field its gun on time, DOT&E concludes.
Weapons integration, including the main gun pod, is central to the final Block 3F software load, which is meant to give the F-35 its full warfighting capability. Block 3F also will incorporate external weapons like the precision-guided Small Diameter Bomb (SDB 1) and the short-range air-to-air AIM-9X Sidewinder missile.
But the program is discovering integration problems with both SDB 1 and AIM-9X. DOT&E is particularly concerned with December testing of the AIM-9X, which revealed “load exceedances,” or excess stress, on the Navy F-35C variant’s wing structure during landings and certain maneuvers. This will either limit the F-35C’s ability to carry AIM-9X or require a redesign and testing of the supporting wing structure, DOT&E says.
“Planned weapons testing is behind schedule for SDD [the System Development and Demonstration period] due to software and structural discoveries that delayed testing,” Cabiness warns. “Weapons testing is one of several risk areas affecting completion of flight testing and the start of IOT&E.”...
...The JPO is aware of the limitations of 3i, according to a spokesman. Still, Bogdan has lauded the Air Force’s decision to declare IOC on Aug. 2.
“The U.S. Air Force decision to make the 15 F-35As at Hill Air Force Base combat ready sends a simple and powerful message to America’s friends and foes alike—the F-35 can do its mission,” Bogdan said in an Aug. 2 statement...."
Source: http://aviationweek.com/defense/weapons ... challenges
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