UK MOD in a muddle over F-35C

Flight with Tornado.

Imagine the transition from a Tornado to the F-35. You wouldn't know what to do with it; like going from a farm tractor to a Ferrari and vice versa.

Imagine the transition from a Tornado to the F-35. You wouldn't know what to do with it; like going from a farm tractor to a Ferrari and vice versa.

What a former Tornado jock thinks of the F-35.

https://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=t&sour ... 3qopVryPje

One PDF page of article attached below:

Early arrivals thrust UK back into STOVL operators club, as industry ups the pace
Craig Hoyle

"...ADVANCED CAPABILITY
Hailing the type as “the most advanced and dynamic fighter jet in our history”, chief of the air staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier notes: “If you can’t see us coming, you won’t be able to stop us, so with its stealth and other world-beating technologies, the F-35 Lightning takes the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy to a whole new level of capability.”... [Typical example of CRAB contempt for the RN FAA to not put the RN first - this is a very long standing convention - the April Fool Day founding of the RAF was very apropo]

...In UK service the F-35 is named Lightning, rather than following the US military’s preference for Lightning II. This, the RAF says, is because it is the third of its aircraft to use the name – following Lockheed’s P-38 and the 1950s era product from English Electric.

Staffed by RAF and RN personnel, with a 58% to 42% split, 617 Sqn is on track to reach initial operational capability in December 2018 for land-based operations. Other future milestones will include the arrival at RAF Marham in mid-2019 of the 207 Sqn operational conversion unit, and a second frontline squadron – 809 NAS – during 2023.

Meanwhile, the UK will regain its carrier strike credentials in 2020, pairing its F-35Bs with the RN’s new Queen Elizabeth-class vessels...."

Source: Flight International | 10-16 July 2018 Magazine

First trials of F-35 aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth begin this autumn
09 Jul 2018 SaveTheRoyalNavy

"In late August HMS Queen Elizabeth will leave Portsmouth for her Westlant 18 trip. The ship will be away for around four months and, although not an operational deployment, this will be her longest and most demanding period at sea so far. The centrepiece of the deployment will be the fixed-wing First of Class Trials (FOCT) with F-35Bs touching down on her deck for the first time. In this article we look at the preparation and plans for the flying trials....

…Preparing for carrier aviation without carriers
Despite the loss of the RN’s aircraft carriers in 2010, unique carrier aviation and combat flying skills have been successfully kept alive by a careful strategy developed by the Fleet Air Arm. Adding to the legacy experience flying the Sea Harrier and Harrier GR7/9, selected RN pilots have served in the US Marine Corps flying the AV-8B Harrier and in the US Navy flying F/A-18 Super Hornet. This means today there are about 60 qualified RN fast jet pilots, with about 20 other pilots at various stages in the training pipeline. The RN currently has 8 fully trained F-35 pilots and the RAF will have 18 by the end of this year. Although based at RAF Marham and 617 being an RAF-badged squadron, the UK Lightning Force is a truly joint effort. An RN pilot slated to become CO of 617 shortly which will have a total strength of 14 pilots. Of these, 2 RN and 2 RAF pilots are ab initio, the F-35 is the first frontline aircraft they have trained on....

…Land-based development testing
The first fixed-wing aircraft to land on HMS Queen Elizabeth will be from the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Integrated Test Force (ITF) based at the US Navy’s Paxutent River flight test centre in Maryland. Development of the Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STVOL) aspects of the F-35B has utilised the specialised Centerfield STOVL facility at Pax River which includes a Ski Jump, a grated Hover Pit and an AM-2 Expeditionary Airfield (used by the USMC to create austere landing strips). Three British pilots are assigned to the ITF and have been preparing for the QEC FOCT for the last four years. A programme of successful ski-ramp launches has been conducted, including in substantial crosswinds and carrying full asymmetric loads. Results from the land-based test programme have reduced the risks and will speed up the ship-board testing process....

…Big decks, fast jets (at last)
The first jets to land on the ship will be conducting Development Testing in two 3-4 week phases (DT-1 and DT-2), with a break from the intense flying schedule in the middle. Four pilots will be assigned to fly two “orange-wired” F-35B ITF aircraft for the FOCT programme. These test aircraft are technically US-owned jets but the pilots will be British. During the trials, both aircraft will send data for analysis to QE which will be temporarily fitted with a telemetry system. Initial flying will be conducted in very benign conditions but as the trials progress, the ship can seek more challenging weather as she cruises up or down the Eastern seaboard of the US. Simulator models can only be trusted to a point so the programme must proceed with caution, starting at the safest centre of the flight envelope and moving outward. There are multiple test points to be worked through with variables such as wind conditions, sea state and aircraft loading.

DT-1 will involve the pilots getting acquainted with the ship and carrier qualified. Initially daytime, dry deck vertical landings and ski-jump take-offs will be tested, then moving on to night flying and wet deck conditions. For vertical landings, the pilots are assisted by advice from the LSO and visual cues from the Glideslope and long-range line-up indicator system (GILS) [GLIS] viewtopic.php?f=22&t=12631&p=187611&hilit=GLIS#p187611 . Two Advanced Stabilised Glide Slope Indicators (ASGSI) project a vertically colour-coded beam which can be seen between 2 – 5nm away by the pilot, depending on conditions. There are also mountings for the Hihat [Hi Hat] system on the port quarter of the forward island designed to help the pilot gauge height over the deck when in the hover. However perhaps due to the inherent automation of the F-35, it appears that the Hihat lighting system will not now be fitted to the QEC….

...Assuming the first phase goes well, DT-2 will involve more challenging sea states and the aircraft carrying dummy stores in various configurations. The Shipborne Rolling Vertical Landing (SRVL) technique will also be tried for the first time. This allows the aircraft to return to the ship at heavier weights carrying unused munitions or fuel. SRVL also reduces wear on the lift fan and heat impacts on the flight deck compared with vertical landing. SRVL requires flying a very precise approach profile with the aircraft touching down with around 60 Knots of forward speed so the wings are still generating part of the lift....

...This year’s FOCT programme will define the safe operating clearances for the F-35 but a third development testing period (DT-3) is planned for mid-2019, as HMS Queen Elizabeth moves closer towards her first operational deployment in 2021...."

Photo: "The ASGSI installed on the port catwalk of QE (shielded to protect it from the effects of jet blast). It projects a beam of light, with coloured sectors, stabilised to remove the effects of the ship’s roll and pitch, indicating to the pilot if his approach is above, below or on the correct glide path." https://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/wp-con ... 7/AGSI.jpg
&
"The F-35B cockpit simulator at Warton, part of the most sophisticated flight simulator BAES has ever built. [BEDFORD ARRAY Lights Visible] (Photo: BAE Systems)" https://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/wp-con ... ulator.jpg

Source: https://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/first- ... is-autumn/

VIDEO above gets interesting when the HUNTER takes off and the F-35Bs do a series of late wave offs (I guess to preserve their tyres from wear and tear rather than touch down). Then some slow STOVL approaches with final landings.

https://youtu.be/3YBact8JAhk?t=1212

AND... further to the LIGHTING for the LIGHTNING is an EnLIGHTENing NOT for the Lightning PDF about NVG CVS lighting:

https://www.consolite.co.uk/Technology/ ... R%20DH.pdf (0.3Mb)

OT - Strictly speaking of a QE-type of flattop in a ferry role, would something like the F-35C be able to take off from a QE type of deck? Without proper arrestor cables and deck accommodations, the discussion of a recovery would be moot. But the F-35C with it's big wings and similar power and weight ratio would seem capable of such a feat.

You would have to be more specific. Does this 'out of nowhere' 'ferry type flat deck similar in size to CVF' have a ski jump?

Probably computer modelling (without the ski jump perhaps) could say whether the deck is long enough for a free takeoff.

Then the fuel load, WOD could be more specific & then the ship built & then a requirement to do such a thing emerges.

Why would F-35Cs be ferried? Can they not fly to a destination? Too many questions for you to provide answers I guess.

Crabs getting stinky at 100 years: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DhxjVQzWAAAF6fq.jpg

Three F-35Bs are Second FLYBY….

Britain Considering F-35 Road Map
15 Jul 2018 Tony Osborne

"...The F-35’s planned in-service life should see them still in service close to its 150th anniversary.

“The reality is that the U.S. Air Force is currently planning to fly this aircraft until 2068 and probably beyond,” said Air Marshal Julian Young, chief of materiel for aviation at the UK’s defense procurement organization Defense Equipment & Support, speaking at the Institution of Engineering and Technology in London on June 11. “What we are seeing is the vast majority of the next century of the Royal Air Force…so we know quite a lot about the future,” he added....

...Current UK plans will see the UK operating 48 F-35Bs by the early 2020s, all of which, say ministers, are fully funded. But questions are now emerging about the road map for Britain’s future F-35 plans, and particularly if they will include other variants, although noises from within the defense ministry sound increasingly promising. The defense ministry says it is committed to buying 138 aircraft through the lifetime of the program, but is yet to commit on when a decision on alternative models could emerge.

Questions also remain about the aircraft’s affordability. The defense committee has already expressed frustration about the apparent lack of transparency in the through-life cost of the fleet: add to that the cost of retrofits and modifications that result from upgrade work. The query as to where that work will be carried also gets multiple answers: in the U.S., Italy or the UK.

All the UK aircraft are Block 3F standard aircraft, which can use the U.S. weaponry such as the Amraam missile, as well as two British weapons including the Raytheon Paveway IV precision-guided bomb and the MBDA Asraam short-range air-to-air missile. The ASsraam will be externally mounted like the AIM-9X Sidewinder. Britain is still yet to sign up to use the externally mounted gun pod that has been developed for the F-35B, and no decision has been taken on whether it will.

As part of the Joint Program Office’s Continuous Capability Development and Delivery program, previously known as Block 4, the UK also plans to integrate the MBDA Meteor air-breathing beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile and the Spear 3 network-enabled air-to-ground missile. The two weapons are expected to be enabled on the F-35 during the early 2020s. Britain will be expected to pay around 4.5% of the total costs for the upgrade program, according to the defense ministry. Industry officials have told Aviation Week that Italy will likely pay for the integration of the Meteor on the F-35A, but that this will be a delta integration based on the work done for the UK on the F-35B."

Source: http://aviationweek.com/farnborough-air ... 5-road-map

USAF, RAF Look to Keep Communication Lines Open as They Bring on F-35s
14 Jul 2018 AMY MCCULLOUGH​

"...British F-35Bs are assigned to RAF Marham, which is less than 20 nautical miles from RAF Lakenheath, where the US Air Force will beddown its own F-35As beginning in 2021. Marham is expected to declare initial operational capability with its F-35s in December.

The goal is to ensure both USAF and RAF aircrew and aircraft are able to operate seamlessly together on Day One, said Wolters, which is why joint planning has been underway for the last three years. There are regular “group meetings” at the major and lieutenant colonel level, as well as at the one-star and three-star levels, to discuss the capabilities of both systems.

“We want to make sure the lines of communication—from actual execution to simulator training—are protected between Marham and Lakenheath,” said Wolters. Though he wouldn’t provide an exact timeline, he said “very, very” soon you will find USAF F-35A pilots flying in simulators at Lakenheath, at the same time that RAF F-35B pilots are flying in a sim at Marham, and both pilots will be talking to each other as they train. “We’re working many contracts to make sure it’s a successful transition,” said Wolters."

Source: http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pag ... F-35s.aspx

Rockwell Collins, DRS to Collaborate on Secure Air Combat Training Solution for the UK MoD
16 Jul 2018 SEAPOWER

"CEDAR RAPID, Iowa — Rockwell Collins and DRS have announced plans to work together to bring their state-of-the-art Joint Secure Air Combat Training System (JSAS) to the prime contractor teams’ bidding for the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) Air Support to Defence Operational Training (ASDOT) program and for the Future Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation System (FACMIS) requirement, Rockwell Collins said in a July 16 release.

JSAS is the next-generation ACMI solution that brings proven security, advanced networking, and growth into live, virtual, constructive capabilities.

Through this collaborative effort, JSAS can interoperate with the P5 waveform enabling communications between JSAS, the F-35 and existing P5 training pods. With superior networking features, JSAS lays the foundation for future connectivity to the MoD’s Defence Operational Training Capability (Air) program to help deliver the balance of live and synthetic training the MoD seeks to achieve.

“This collaboration brings a host of key capabilities to the MoD, including the multi-enclave security and interoperability needed for fifth-generation fighters,” said Sarah Minett, managing director, United Kingdom, for Rockwell Collins. “Working with DRS, this proven solution will meet the current and future needs of these programs.”

Rockwell Collins and DRS have just successfully completed the preliminary design review for their contracted delivery of the Tactical Combat Training System Increment II program for the U.S. Navy, which includes similar requirements to the U.K. MoD’s ASDOT and FACMIS programs."

Source: http://seapowermagazine.org/stories/20180716-jsas.html

QEC ship-air certification [LOTS of Verbiage to justify the bureaucrats in this paperwork maze I guess]
17 Jul 2018 Military Aviation Authority

"This article explains the certification process of Ship-Air System Integration and how it has applied to the UK's newest Aircraft Carrier.

It has been widely publicised that HMS Queen Elizabeth has recently completed her First of Class, Rotary Wing Flying Trials, the first major milestone in the integration of the Ship and the Aircraft that will operate from her. She is now in the process of preparing to embark the first Lightning II (F-35) for Fixed Wing Trials in the staged progression towards achieving her full operating capability. This article aims to explain the certification process of Ship-Air System Integration and how it has applied to the UK’s newest Aircraft Carrier....

...For HMS Queen Elizabeth the process of achieving a CS-A and a Ship-Air Release has been a considered, incremental approach; ensuring that, at each stage of Ship-Air Integration, any associated hazards are identified and risks appropriately owned and controlled. To date HMS Queen Elizabeth, as the first in Class, has undergone certification for First of Class Flying Trials with Merlin HM Mk2 and Chinook HC Mk5. The incremental release of Conditions of Certifications and Mandatory Requirements has been achieved in tandem with Navy Command HQ assurance of aviation Harbor and Sea Acceptance Trials. At each stage of assurance, evidence to bolster the safety statements contained in the Safety Case Report has been generated, allowing a steady easing of limitations; either through amendment of the extant CS-A, or subsequent requests for certification. In this manner, the ship has been progressed from constrained aviation on a single spot and with limited Ships Helicopter Operating Limits (SHOLs), to multi-spot operations including use of the ships lifts and hangar facilities.

With the present CS-A limited to Rotary Wing Aircraft, HMS Queen Elizabeth is currently under-going its first Capability Insertion Package. This package sees the installation of those dedicated systems necessary to facilitate Fixed Wing Operations with the F-35. This includes additions to the Air Traffic Management and Landing Signal Officer equipment to include management and control the F-35 during Vertical or Ship-borne Rolling Vertical Landings. The newly developed rolling vertical landing procedure allows the recovery of an F-35 while still carrying a full payload. To date these landings have not been conducted on a maritime platform, making the Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers the first class of ship to recover an F-35 in this manner. There will also be alterations to the Thermal Metallic Spray which protects the deck from aircraft efflux during take-off and landing, as well as navigational interfaces for the ship and the aircraft.

Due to the nature of these ship systems, and how they interface with the aircraft, the Ship will require a further period of assurance activity, conducted by Navy Command HQ, prior to commencing Fixed Wing Flying Trials. This assurance will feed the next stage of certification, along with the release of the 2nd generation in-service Safety Case Report by the Queen Elizabeth Class - Strategic Class Authority. Combined with the results of Rotary Wing aircraft flying trials it is expected that subsequent certification will see a de-restriction of Rotary Wing operations and the inclusion of both Apache and Wildcat helicopters, whilst maintaining the staged and controlled incorporation of Fixed Wing capabilities, again feeding the Ship-Air Release for the Queen Elizabeth Class and F-35...."

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/qec- ... tification