Forum: General F-35 Forum

Nothing preposterous about the F-35D you made. F-35B should be a two seater.

The real F-35B should have been an FV-35.

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Adapting the F-35 to prioritize fleet defense could actually take quite a load off demands made on the airframe. Yeah, yeah, we all get that the USN wants two engines and that the DOD wants to toss a bone to Boeing, plenty of "wants" to go around, but I just don't see it happening given the fiscal strain that the Navy will be under for the next few decades.

lb wrote:

Further to that from the perspective of the defense industrial base it's an extremely bad idea if every single fighter in the US were to be produced by one corporation. If LM wants to enter a derivative of the F-35 into the competition there's probably no way to stop them but they should be told behind closed doors that defense industrial base considerations will be part of the criteria. In other words they're going to be allowed to win so don't bother.

This aside NGAD is a twin engine, two seat, whose primary mission is air superiority. The technology demonstration phase is supposed to begin next year. Does LM really have extra talent lying around to work on NGAD while they're still testing and fixing the F-35? One certainly hopes the best and brightest are already being kept busy.

One point on each of your paragraphs:
Paragraph 1: Telling a company not to bother because the fix is in; would result in major lawsuites (that would mostlikely win for, oddly enough, procurement malpractice) and I believe there are laws agaist fixed competitions.

Paragraph 2: Technology demonstration phase is historically conducted by the Skunk Works, and when a contract is won, it is then turned over to either Marietta or Fort Worth to iron out the design. So I would say that the Skunk works would probably love the challange and has plenty of personnel. I mean those model planes (X-56A) and airships must be tough (the only public projects they are working on), but I think they could pull it off.

Sufa Viper

Quote:

I'd rather see the F-35B with the lift fan removed, and an ejectable pod containing 3 SEALs -- used for inserting special forces deep behind enemy lines, quickly.

I think we saw what special forces would use to move troops deep behind enemy lines draped over the wall of Bin Laden's compound. It wasn't fixed wing.

it wasn't flying either

Forum: General F-35 Forum

My what-if the F-35D