F-35 Program Docs

you sure?

Yes.


It's a common manufacturing practice.

Just look at the annual Per-Plane estimates. Earlier planes are more expensive to update because there is a large number of fixes that need to be done post-production. Later planes are cheaper to update because most of the issues were done as a matter of updating the part during production.

F-35 Sustainment

Average AVA/ME rates for a year ending in March2017 per Lot




Who does what work on the F-35

GAO on F-35 repair times and parts shortages.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-23/f-35s-hobbled-by-parts-shortages-slow-repairs-audit-finds

The GAO report is just a draft audit so that news story is the information so far.

Just a reminder, this thread is for PDFs, DOCs, PPTs, etc that are released from official sources such as the DoD/JPO/GAO or from a contractor like LM, NG, BAE, etc.

If you would like to comment on what is posted, feel free to either start a new thread or add a post to an existing thread with an applicable subject.

It was created in order to have a central place to upload (rather than just link) files due to sites often breaking links when they reformat so that our post can link to internal documents without any issue.

Thank you for your understanding.

Apologies. Just provisioning a place for it when it's officially released.

This 6 page PDF extract about 'F-35 sustainment worldwide & ALIS' goes here - interview with F-35 Program Manager VADM Winter from AIR International Nov 2017.

F-35 Lightning II Starting Worldwide Sustainment
Nov 2017 David C Isby

"David C Isby spoke with Admiral Mat Winter, the new F-35 Program Executive Officer, about sustaining the fifth-generation fighter

Before his retirement last July after a gruelling five-year tour of duty as the F-35 Program Executive Officer (PEO) in charge of the Joint Program Office responsible for the development of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, US Air Force Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan issued a warning that the programme could still go “off the rails”. Bogdan identified the biggest single risk: “I am worried about our ability to sustain these airplanes globally, with the numbers and locations we’ll have in 10-15 years … there’s going to be an awful lot of airplanes in an awful lot of places in an awful lot of configurations.” Sustainment will account for most of the F-35’s costs – 66 to 75% of the total – over the life of the programme.

Speaking in Washington DC on September 6, Bogdan’s successor as F-35 PEO, Vice Admiral Mat Winter explained that to manage costs, the United States, international F-35 partners and Foreign Military Sales customers are linked in to a global sustainment enterprise that will grow to provide repair, sustainment and support capability for a global F-35 fleet that will eventually number over 3,000 aircraft. He said: “We are sustaining aircraft right now. F-35s will be operating from 13 new operating locations worldwide in the next four years, with aircraft numbers increasing to almost 1,000.” It will be, Winter said, “an exciting time to be the PEO”.

Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin’s Vice President of F-35 business development and strategic integration, Jack Crisler said: “By the end of the year F-35 flight operations would be under way in Italy, Israel and Norway, with the transition from CONUS-based [continental United States-based] sustainment to an international capability … An ADM [acquisition decision memoranda] signed last year describes how global sustainment is going to work.”...

...Speaking at the Air Force Association convention at National Harbor, Maryland on September 19, Lieutenant General Arnold Bunch, the Air Force’s top uniformed acquisition officer said: “For F-35 sustainment, we have put rules in place that everyone agreed to, so they can’t say there are problems. Our biggest focus is to drive down the F-35’s operating cost. We continue to work with Lockheed Martin and their partners to keep cost under control.”...

...Until 2017, F-35 operational logistics and sustainment experience had primarily been with the US armed services. US Marine Corps F-35Bs, participating in Exercise Red Flag this summer, were able to fly 67 of 70 scheduled sorties. US Navy F-35Cs completed 41 sorties in 19 days on board the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. In the final round of developmental testing sea trials in 2016, F-35Bs completed 60 sorties in 21 days on board the amphibious warfare ship USS America. Commenting on the at sea periods, Jack Crisler said: “Lockheed Martin worked with the Marine Corps on how the service can manage its own deployable spares during shipboard deployments.”..."

Source: AIR International Nov 2017 Vol.93 No.5

F-35 Aircraft Sustainment: DOD Needs to Address Challenges Affecting Readiness and Cost Transparency
26 Oct 2017 GAO

"What GAO Found
The Department of Defense (DOD) is sustaining over 250 F-35 aircraft (F-35) and plans to triple the fleet by the end of 2021, but is facing sustainment challenges that are affecting warfighter readiness (see table). These challenges are largely the result of sustainment plans that do not fully include key requirements or aligned (timely and sufficient) funding. DOD is taking steps to address some challenges, but without more comprehensive plans and aligned funding, DOD risks being unable to fully leverage the F-35's capabilities and sustain a rapidly expanding fleet."

FULL REPORT PDF: https://www.gao.gov/assets/690/687982.pdf (3.1Mb)

Source: https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-75

LM F-35 Fast Facts 01 Nov 2017 PDF attached. "110,000 flight hours - 250 F-35 aircraft delivered"

https://a855196877272cb14560-2a4fa819a6 ... v_2017.pdf (1.2Mb)

FACTS of much FASTNESS from LM PR dated 07 December 2017 PDF of two pages attached from:

https://a855196877272cb14560-2a4fa819a6 ... 2017_1.pdf

Am I missing something or did they reduce the range and thrust values? Didn't other SAR's put the A and C models range above what this says. And regarding thrust, perhaps LM just decided to round a lot?

By 'they' I'll presume LM PR? Go back in this thread to see old specification graphics from the same source. Notice changes?

Latest SAR is on previous page this thread & 'Dragon029': viewtopic.php?f=58&t=12237&p=353206&hilit=footprint#p353206

Given that Block 3F jets are being sent to operational units, when do you think they will update these specs with Block 3F data?

You could try e-mailing these contacts (at bottom of 2nd PDF page above):

"For additional questions and the latest data, please contact" Carolyn Nelson ( carolyn.nelson%40lmco.com?subject= ) or Mike Friedman ( Michael.1.friedman%40lmco.com?subject= )

Am I missing something or did they reduce the range and thrust values? Didn't other SAR's put the A and C models range above what this says. And regarding thrust, perhaps LM just decided to round a lot?

These are the standard "official" figures provided by LM since day 1. Its meant to be generic for general publication purposes. No one would bother to publish continual updates to change numbers everytime an engine churns out 200lbs more thrust due to a tweak. Range figures are also dependent on actual usage at differing heights etc. Its like a car whose fuel consumption that changes depending on how hard one presses the accelerator, the roads travelled and the loads carried.

I have the ol' brochures for the F-16 and boy are they different from the actuals today...