Possibility small STOVL carrier USN/USMC

Hmmm, must be easy to transition to the F-35B then: (easy for the RAAF Hornet pilots to transition when required)

Gunboat Diplomacy, Royal Navy Task Force Sets Sail for the USA Thursday, 17 June 2010

http://www.the-daily-politics.com/news/ ... or-the-usa

"Interoperability between the United States Navy and the Royal Navy has been the 'buzz word' of the deployment....
HMS Ark Royal embarked 12 MAG -14 AV8B harriers from the USMC and, the Royal Navy will be sending twelve fixed wing pilots to the United States to be trained to fly the USN F-18 jets in preparation for the Joint Strike Fighter F35Bs, which will be embarked in the UK's new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers."

spazsinbad wrote:Hmmm, must be easy to transition to the F-35B then: (easy for the RAAF Hornet pilots to transition when required)

Gunboat Diplomacy, Royal Navy Task Force Sets Sail for the USA Thursday, 17 June 2010

http://www.the-daily-politics.com/news/ ... or-the-usa

"Interoperability between the United States Navy and the Royal Navy has been the 'buzz word' of the deployment....
HMS Ark Royal embarked 12 MAG -14 AV8B harriers from the USMC and, the Royal Navy will be sending twelve fixed wing pilots to the United States to be trained to fly the USN F-18 jets in preparation for the Joint Strike Fighter F35Bs, which will be embarked in the UK's new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers."

Makes a lot of sense. The SRVL is going to have a skill set similar to an arrested landing. Marine corps (as well as spanish and italian) harrier pilots already are already familiar since they have to carrier qualify in a t-45 to get their wings. All current RN and RAF pilots have only done vertical landings. Plus, if the F-35B gets cut, it doesn't leave the RN completely high and dry.

bjr1028, I don't believe the F-35B will be 'if... cut' as you put it, and RN/RAF Harrier pilots do carry out 'rolling landings' ashore, but they are a lot trickier than testing (VACC Harrier) and JSF-B SRVL simulation (with rolling landings ashore also) suggests so far will be the case for the JSF-B SRVL. I would speculate also that these RN Harrier pilots will learn to keep their Air to Air skills, rather than plod with the RAF with their 'AG only' skillset. Just sayin'. [JSF-B will have a 'Fleet Defence' role in RN on CVFs also.]

JSF carrier trial puts VAAC Harrier testbed on a roll DATE:17/04/07 SOURCE:Flight International

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... -roll.html

"Consideration of the aerodynamic performance of JSF together with the available deck area of CVF design has shown that significant benefits could be realised by extending the principles of land-based RVL to shipborne operations," says the Ministry of Defence, adding: "The UK is keen to exploit this opportunity."

Following initial UK studies, the US JSF programme office sponsored a more detailed analysis of the SRVL concept with Lockheed in 2004-5, culminating with a simulator trial at NASA's Ames Research Center in California in late 2005. The MoD says the "increasing maturity of this body of analysis and simulation indicates SRVL could be performed safely by JSF on CVF, although the effects of equipment failures and adverse conditions require further investigation".

The VAAC testbed will perform a series of flight trials, potentially using a large-deck aircraft carrier such as the French navy's FNS Charles de Gaulle, and concluding with a final evaluation of a preferred SRVL approach and landing using a "dummy deck" at Boscombe Down around November [2007]."

2. Lockheed Martin Continues Joint Strike Fighter Tests at SimLabs NASA SimLabs News January 2006 Newsletter Volume 6, Issue 1

http://www.simlabs.arc.nasa.gov/newslet ... 01_06.html

"Lockheed Martin continued evaluations of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft in SimLabs’ Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) by recently completing four weeks of simulation experiments. The unique motion & acceleration capabilities of the VMS are ideally suited to evaluate the handling qualities of several variants of the F-35....
The STOVL configuration was the primary variant studied. This configuration required high fidelity motion cues to evaluate tasks that included bolter and ski ramp take-off. A bolter is an aborted carrier touchdown that requires full thrust to take-off after the abort. The ski ramp take-off is a short deck take-off at full thrust using a ramp at the end of the deck. Both maneuvers require high vertical acceleration cues to simulate accurately....
As part of this study, representatives from the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense evaluated a Shipboard Rolling Vertical Landing (SRVL) procedure as one more determinant in their choice between the variants mentioned above. The procedure is tied to a new aircraft carrier design under consideration and will have significant cost ramifications on the carrier design. For the SRVL procedure, touchdown dispersion and ramp clearance under various shipboard and environmental conditions were evaluated. Several aircraft controls handling issues were identified that need further investigation giving designers the opportunity to improve the system while the vehicle is still under development."

FIRST SIMULATED LANDINGS ON NEW ROYAL NAVY CARRIERS 14 Jul 2008 | Ref. FI010/2008

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ ... tems05.htm

"...This work aims to develop the capability of the short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35 Lightning II, the UK replacement aircraft for the Harrier, and has been identified as a significant step forward to enhancing the capabilities of the UK armed forces in the future.

The SRVL manoeuvre is a development of a land based technique used currently by the Harrier aircraft and involves the aircraft landing on the carrier with a low-speed approach instead of vertically. This enables STOVL aircraft to land with heavier a payload. BAE Systems has successfully tested this technique at its dedicated flight simulation facility at Warton."

And now – new stealth jumpjet makes first hover landing Posted on March 19, 2010 by alan

http://www.ilkda.com/wordpress/2010/03/ ... r-landing/

"Following yesterday’s initial hover, the new F-35B Lightning II – world’s first supersonic stealth jumpjet – has now made a vertical landing. British test pilot Graham Tomlinson said the aircraft is much easier to set down than today’s Harrier.
“Today’s vertical landing onto a 95-foot square pad showed that we have the thrust and the control to maneuver accurately both in free air and in the descent through ground effect,” said Tomlinson, a former RAF Harrier jockey and now lead test pilot for the F-35B. The first three jumpjets are in flight tests at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.
The vertical landing was a venture into the unknown for the F-35B, as its design is radically different from the Harrier and it had not previously hovered low enough for surface effects to come into play.
Tomlinson has previously said that the F-35B is easier to handle in the hover than a Harrier: apart from more sophisticated control systems, he says that the forward lift fan, driven by a shaft from the engine and mounted in a vertical tunnel behind the cockpit*, blasts cool air downward as the swivelling jetpipe nozzle at the back of the plane blows fiercely hot jet exhaust.
In the Harrier, hot exhaust roiling up from the ground can get sucked into the jet’s engine intakes, causing unpredictable power blips, but Tomlinson has said that the F-35B’s fanshaft air acts as a “dam”, causing the hot exhaust to stay to the rear and letting the engine operate more consistently. He told reporters that the “cobblestones” felt during a hover landing were “very light” compared to his days flying Harriers.
“The low workload in the cockpit contrasted sharply with legacy short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) platforms,” he added.
Tomlinson also gave it as his assessment that data from the landing yesterday indicated the F-35B will be able to make vertical landings still carrying 5,000lb of fuel and weapons. This will mean that it can come in to a hover landing on ships at sea still armed with air-to-air missiles, a vital requirement if the plane is being used as a patrol fighter to protect a fleet.
The US Marines, the main planned buyer of the F-35, will be using it primarily as a strike plane – but the Royal Navy, which will have no other jets, will also use it as air cover for the fleet and will need it to get back on deck without dumping weapons. The Sea Harrier’s inability to do this in hot climates** was the reason the legendary fighter was taken out of service some years back, limiting the Royal Navy today to Harrier GR9s that have no fighter radar and carry only short-range Sidewinder missiles as opposed to the Sea Harrier’s arse-kicking beyond-visual-range AMRAAMs.
The Royal Navy have even gone so far as to develop a new landing profile for jumpjets which they call Shipboard Rolling Vertical Landing (SRVL), where a Harrier or F-35B can come down still going forward fast enough to use wing lift as well as engine/fan thrust – and yet slowly enough to halt before falling off the side of the ship, even without use of arrester wires.
Senior naval aviators have told The Reg that the Royal Navy will probably use SRVL regardless of the F-35B’s vertical landing performance, as it will allow still more load to be carried and will mean that engines don’t have to be run at maximum redline power in the hover so much.
That said, rolling SRVL landings will take up a lot more room on a carrier’s deck than hovering ones, and jumpjets have had to land on other ships than carriers in the past, so the RN may yet be glad to have the full vertical-landing option.
Despite yesterday’s success, however, serious question marks still hang over the F-35B and indeed over the whole F-35 programme (there are also A and C versions of the jet, intended for runway and catapult-carrier operations).
Today, though, worried Pentagon project bureaucrats and manufacturers in the US and UK*** will simply be happy to have some good news to tell us for once. ®
Bootnotes
*The big fliptop lid covers the top of the fan tunnel; the small dorsal doors behind it let extra air into the engine for high-thrust hover operations. There are more doors on the underside to let the jet exhaust twist downward and to cover the bottom of the fan tunnel when not in use.
**Jet engines lose thrust when sucking hotter air."

Does that 5000 pound of fuel and weapons include the internal fuel? If so, how could the F-35B possibly get in the air without a "less than short" take-of?

spazsinbad wrote:bjr1028, I don't believe the F-35B will be 'if... cut' as you put it, and RN/RAF Harrier pilots do carry out 'rolling landings' ashore, but they are a lot trickier than testing (VACC Harrier) and JSF-B SRVL simulation (with rolling landings ashore also) suggests so far will be the case for the JSF-B SRVL. I would speculate also that these RN Harrier pilots will learn to keep their Air to Air skills, rather than plod with the RAF with their 'AG only' skillset. Just sayin'. [JSF-B will have a 'Fleet Defence' role in RN on CVFs also.]

The shore doesn't, move, roll, or pitch.

bjr1028, Nor does it (the runway) turn into the wind and accelerate.

Navy: Price tag to alter ships for JSF at least $70 million apiece
Ship will be available in 2012 Inside the Navy June 14, 2010 Dan Taylor and Jason Sherman

http://www.mikemooney.com/uploads/DMR_6-16-10.pdf (274Kb)

"The Navy estimates it will cost at least $70 million to modify each large-deck amphibious ship to accommodate the Marine Corps’ F-35B variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, including infrastructure modifications and efforts to mitigate engine heat from the short-take-off, vertical-landing JSF variant, according to a senior Marine.

Required ship alterations are scheduled to be identified in order to support the first operational F-35B Marine Expeditionary Unit deployment in 2014, two years after the service’s goal to have its first JSF unit operational -- a previously unreported milestone. Lt. Gen. George Trautman, deputy commandant for aviation, detailed the schedule for JSF ship integration efforts in written responses delivered last month to the House Armed Services Committee following a March 24 hearing.

Should the Marine Corps’ first JSF unit need to deploy before being fully integrated with other elements of the MEU, an L-class ship modified for JSF operations will be be available beginning in 2012, according to Trautman.

Naval Sea Systems Command, according to the three-star general, has identified $27 million worth of “cornerstone” modifications necessary for the L-class ships to accommodate the F-35B, alterations that are funded in the fiscal year 2011 spending request or programmed in the Navy’s FY-11 to FY-15 investment plan, according to Trautman. Not yet funded, but estimated to require $43 million per hull, are additional alternations needed to account for external environmental impacts, according to Trautman.

The “cornerstone alts,” according to a source familiar with NAVSEA plans, include carving out new areas on the ship to accommodate a Special Access Program Facility space, the Autonomic Logistics Information System infrastructure and a mission rehearsal trainer. In addition, alternations are required to integrate the F-35C, the Navy JSF variant, into Nimitz- and Ford-class aircraft carriers. Changes would include aircraft electrical servicing station modifications, ready room and aircraft intermediate maintenance department upgrades, space for battery storage and more.

The other category of ship modifications concerns what the Navy and Marine Corps designate “external environmental impacts” caused by high temperatures from the F-35B’s engine exhaust plumes. These effects will be the focus of development testing set to begin this fall “to assist in defining shipboard mitigation required to meet” the Marine Corps’ goal of having its first JSF unit operational by 2012, “such as relocating systems, material changes and shielding,” according to Trautman.

This fall, the Navy will proceed with a $1.4 million project that would cover the amphibious ship Wasp (LHD-1) with hundreds of sensors to accurately measure the effects of the fierce downwash from the Marine Corps’ F-35B, according to the offices involved in the effort.

Crews will modify the Wasp from Sept. 30 through Feb. 3, 2011, by installing nearly 500 sensors to measure the thermal, pressure and acoustic environment on the flight deck caused by the JSF STOVL’s hot downwash, which some are concerned could warp the deck or damage essential equipment nearby, according to a June 8 statement issued in response to questions from Inside the Navy provided jointly by the Naval Sea Systems Command Surface Warfare Directorate and the JSF program office.

The JSF program will foot the bill for the instrumentation package, which will be installed in advance of at-sea developmental testing of the aircraft in mid-March of 2011, according to the statement.

“The testing is planned to be conducted with two aircraft, which will perform vertical landing operations to Spot 7 and 9, short take-off operations and work within NATOPS [Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization] operating procedures for establishing hovers and translations to the desired landing spots,” the statement reads. Spots 7 and 9 are the aft-most landing spots on the port side of LHD-class ships.

“The testing will be conducted in a build-up approach with pilot qualifications first and one aircraft in the pattern followed by two-aircraft operations, with most landings occurring at Spot 7, which is the primary landing spot,” the statement continues. “The aircraft operations will serve to expand the operating envelope of the F-35B for follow-on testing.”

The program tentatively plans to use test aircraft BF-1 and BF-4 for the testing. BF-1 flew for the first time while using full vertical lift earlier this year.

JSF Integrated Test Force at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD, is responsible for gathering the shipboard data, with NAVSEA in support.

Rear Adm. Mike Manazir, acting director of air warfare (N88), told reporters May 24 at the Pentagon that the service has already captured data at Pax River by blasting a square of ship deck-representative material and a bare metal piece with the downwash.

“We have sent that to NAVSEA right now,” he said. “They’re going through the actual specific analysis as to what the impingement does.”

Crews will place temporary coverings over vulnerable systems on board the Wasp while testing the heat and downwash effects of the JSF STOVL, Manazir said.

The Navy is also examining the effects of the F-35C carrier variant, which does not have a lift fan but uses the same engine as the STOVL plane, the rear admiral said. The service is testing the engine at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, and examining the data at Naval Air Warfare Center Lakehurst, NJ.

“Aboard the aircraft carrier, the F-35C exhaust impingement on the jet blast deflector has also been studied,” he said. “The aircraft obviously has a common engine, the F135, and so we took an airplane out at Eglin and did tests against just a flat plate. We’ve taken the data off of that and we’ve delivered it to Lakehurst.

“Lakehurst is going to take fleet representative JBDs [jet blast deflectors] and the cooling structure that’s associated with that,” he continued. “They’ll install it at Lakehurst, and we’re going to do tests against that jet blast deflector and those units will be able to be installed on a ship at a future date.”

Manazir said the problem is not the heat pattern on the JBD, but the fact that the F-35 and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets launch less than a minute apart and place a heat load on different places on the JBD.

“It means we have to have a slightly different cooling structure, which probably will involve extra piping in the JBD, but not that much of a change,” he said.

Trautman said that while alterations necessary to accommodate the JSF and its associated equipment are similar for L-class ships and aircraft carriers, the environmental effects of each F-35 variant pose different challenges.

“Environmental effects differ due to the unique take-off and landing characteristics of each variant,” according to Trautman. “The L-class F-35B integration challenges represent the most difficult situation for STOVL operations, when combined with the more robust CVN design and ship structure we anticipate less effort required for F-35B carrier operations.”

Italy To Get New Amphibious Ships Jun 25, 2010 By Andy Nativi Genoa

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/ ... line=Italy To Get New Amphibious Ships

"The Italian navy has received the go-ahead to procure two 20,000-ton amphibious assault ships (LHDs), with the possibility of a third ship, configured with extensive aviation facilities (LHA).

The preliminary LHD project is funded and will take 12 months for completion. It will be followed by a project definition phase requiring eight months and leading to a contract. Delivery of the first ship comes within 30 months after that. If everything goes to plan, the first LHD arrives in late 2014.

LHDs will replace two 8,000-ton San Giorgio-class LPDs, commissioned in 1987 and 1988. The LHA will eventually replace the carrier Garibaldi, which is being dedicated to amphibious and helicopter roles now that the Cavour carrier is in service.

The new LHDs will be 190 meters (623 ft.) long, feature a well dock that holds four LCACs (landing craft air cushions), and have a hangar with dedicated maintenance area where six medium-heavy helicopters can be recovered. The flight deck will provide six landing spots and be served by two elevators, one at the stern, the other forward of the island. It will thus be possible to launch air-assault operations, lifting a reinforced rifle company with each wave and rapidly moving personnel and equipment to the deck. Helicopter capacity will be 12-15, depending on mix.

Capabilities also include four smaller LCVP (landing craft, vehicle, personnel) vessels and two motorboats, all in dedicated spaces with cranes under the port flight deck.

The LHD can accommodate 760 troops, including an aviation detachment and staff personnel, in addition to a ship’s crew of only 200, a result of shipboard automation. The vessel will normally carry a reinforced marine battalion and aviation personnel, and be able to add an amphibious task force and landing force command, which will rely on extensive C4I spaces and systems. The basic space earmarked for the command staff is 500 sq. meters (5,380 sq. ft.).

The ship has a large garage deck with a capacity of 360 tons. The vehicles reach the garage from the well dock or through a large starboard door. The garage floor and ramps can support a 60-ton tank. The roll-on/roll-off concept permits rapid loading and unloading of cargo and vehicles, which can also be parked on the flight deck.

The navy has not yet selected a propulsion system. The general specification calls for a top speed of 20 kt. and range of 7,000 nm. at 16 kt., which translates to 45 days’ endurance. Basic proposals are built around a combined diesel and diesel scheme, with four diesels, each 6,000 kw., driving a shaft and variable-pitch propeller. Engine power will be 20-24 megawatts. There will also be powerful bow thrusters. A diesel-electric or pod configuration is being considered. The pod is popular, but would limit the size of the well deck.

The LHDs will have a large electricity generating capability, with four diesel generators in the 2.5-megawatt class.

A peculiarity of the design is that the ships, at least the first, will have civil protection as the primary operational role. The requirement is taken seriously and dictates many capabilities—for instance, large electricity generation and water purification capacity, including deployment of flexible hoses for ship-to-dock or ship-to-ship water transfer.

The LHD will have a hospital that treats 54, with 1,000 sq. meters of dedicated space. The hospital can expand by using space dedicated to the marines’ mess and loading medical containers in part of the hangar. The C4 spaces can be used as a command center for civil protection authorities.

The navy has not entered into discussions about the sensor suite and combat system. The LHD will have an extensive combat management and command system, multirole search and navigation radar, and electronic warfare protection system including decoy launchers.

The ship will have several 25-mm. gun mounts and machine guns, and possibly one or more Oto Melara 76/62-mm. SR guns in the Strales configuration for missile defense.

To minimize costs, the LHDs will be built to commercial standards, modified somewhat to improve survivability, but without full military specifications. Tradeoffs between cost and survivability are being assessed. According to one estimate, the ship can be built for €300 million ($369 million), excluding combat systems."

Good explanation of the F-35B STOVL engine arrangements in either this online article [dated Dec 2009] or associated downloadable PDF:

A Flexible Jet Fighter Article - Issue 41, Dec 2009 Neil Mehta

http://www.ingenia.org.uk/ingenia/issue ... /Mehta.pdf (0.5Mb)
&
http://www.ingenia.org.uk/ingenia/artic ... ?Index=576 (same article online)

Excerpt: "STOVL
For short take-off, the 3BSM is swivelled downwards, the roll post nozzles are opened and the clutch is engaged, the power of the main engine is increased and the LiftFan begins to produce thrust. As the F-35B accelerates it is lifted into the air by downward thrust from a combination of its LiftFan, the 3BSM and two roll-posts and within seconds it reaches the point where its wing provides all the lift it needs to fly conventionally. At this point, the drive to the LiftFan is disengaged, the 3BSM is swivelled rearwards and the roll post nozzles are closed allowing 100% of the main engine’s power to be delivered through the rear nozzle.

As the F-35B prepares for a vertical landing, thrust from its main engine is decreased, the clutch is engaged and the LiftFan begins to spool-up to close to 100% speed in readiness to provide downward thrust the moment it is required. But although the LiftFan is rotating at 100%, it must produce the absolute minimum of vertical thrust to avoid creating an unwanted pitch-up effect on the aircraft during the critical approach-to-landing phase.

This is an entirely novel challenge. Normally a fan running at 100% speed will produce 100% thrust. The LiftFan, however, must only begin to deliver its thrust when the pilot selects nozzles-down for short take-off or vertical landing.

Our solution has been to use the guide vanes at the front of the LiftFan’s inlet. We have designed these to operate at variable angles, constantly adjusting to optimise airflow into the LiftFan’s intake. As the F-35B slows for its transition from forward flight to hover, the LiftFan’s transmission system is engaged and within 10 seconds spools-up to 100% speed in readiness for instant power delivery. Its inlet guide vanes are closed, reducing airflow and minimising thrust. At the instant when downward thrust is needed from the LiftFan, the guide vanes begin to open. For 100% thrust they open fully."

Ski-jump take-off for light combat aircraft Tejas Anantha Krishnan M / DNA June 27, 2010

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_sk ... as_1401783

"Bangalore: The Naval Air Station in Goa is quietly readying a first-of-its-kind facility in India for flight tests on the light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas naval variant.

The shore-based test facility (SBTF), when fully-operational, will be the third such test facility in the world after the US and Ukrainian navies. “After the initial flight tests, we will shift all action to SBTF.

The ramp for the take-off area will be ready by the last quarter of 2011 and the landing area in 2012. A full-fledged telemetry unit is also coming up in Goa,” sources in the Indian Navy told DNA.

The sources said the SBTF simulates an aircraft carrier with ski-jump take-off and arrested recovery landing wherein the incoming aircraft is brought to a standstill after touchdown when a hook attached to its underbelly engages a taut arrester wire placed across the landing path.

“It’s recreating a ship on the shore. The one that’s coming up in Goa is based on the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) that’s being built at Cochin Shipyard. The SBTF is constructed with the same measurements of IAC,” sources said. All the specialised equipment for the facility is being supplied by the Russians, while the steel structure is being made by Goa Shipyard and civil engineering work by R&D Establishment (Engineers) in Pune."

http://www.topnews.in/files/tejas.jpg

Photos of Chinese aircraft jumps point to continued development of carriers

http://www.east-asia-intel.com/eai/2009/08_26/list.asp

"Satellite photographs have revealed for the first time that China has constructed a ski-jump aircraft carrier launch system at an in-land base, an indication that Beijing is moving ahead with plans for strategic naval power projection forces. The ski-jump ramp was located at Xian-Yanliang — a high- altitude location about 500 meters above sea level. A ski-jump style launch system is used on some Russian carriers. U.S. carriers use steam piston driven jet launchers.

http://www.east-asia-intel.com/eai/2009 ... /skij1.jpg