Forum: F-35 milestones

USAF to start F-35 operational utility evaluation on 10 September 07 Sep 2012 by Dave Majumdar

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... er-376217/

"The US Air Force is scheduled to start an operational utility evaluation (OUE) of its Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) fleet at Eglin AFB, Florida, on 10 September.

The OUE is scheduled to last 65 training days, says Lt Col Randy Efferson, 33rd Operations Group deputy commander and lead planning officer for the evaluation. The review is being led by the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC) though an F-35 Joint Operational Test Team (JOTT).

"What they are here to do is evaluate the entire air vehicle system that Lockheed Martin has delivered," Efferson says. "That entails the logistical support, the maintenance side of it, the maintenance training side of it, and the pilot training and the pilot execution side. So it's everything."....

More explanation at the jump.

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Since this OUE is reviewing aircraft, training and support for the 1A coded aircraft and the feature set for that release, does that mean that they will have to repeat the exercise again with subsequent software releases?

The last paragraph of the above article says this: "...It is important to note that the OUE is only "a snap-shot in time," Efferson says. While the OUE is going to be conducted with the F-35 Block 1A configuration, a number of aircraft at the base have already been upgraded to the newer Block 1B standard. The aircraft at the base will continue to be upgraded after the OUE. "So we're moving on," Efferson says." I would assume that if future software blocks are OK otherwise then training continues with those future block software updates with no further OUE required. The training syllabus would be upgraded though.

Last edited by neptune on Sep 10, 2012 - 08:46 PM; edited 1 time in total

spazsinbad wrote:

?...... the OUE is going to be conducted with the F-35 Block 1A configuration.........

revised

The six F-35A LRIP2 (Block 1A) at Eglin, not the three F-35A LRIP3 (Block 1B). Smile

F-35A reaches 'huge milestone' in program development 9/9/2012 by Chrissy Cuttita
Eglin Air Force Base Public Affairs

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123317111

"...Two 33rd Fighter Wing pilots at Eglin AFB, Fla., along with two Air Force test pilots, will conduct the review expected to last approximately 65 days.

"The start of the OUE is another huge milestone for the Air Force and the program as a whole," said Col. Andrew Toth, 33rd Fighter Wing commander. "We've been preparing for this event since the arrival of our first aircraft in July last year. So far, the men and women of the 33rd Fighter Wing have proven we can successfully execute safe and effective flying operations in addition to academic training."

Since February's Military Flight Release, 11 experienced fighter pilots checked out in basic F-35A operations so they can be prepared to be the military's first cadre for the fifth generation fighter....

...said Toth. "At the conclusion of the evaluation we should receive the Air Education and Training Command's approval that states we are 'ready for training'."

This milestone for the Air Force will be a precursor to training other services and allies. The wing is responsible for F-35 pilot and maintainer training. Initially, 59 aircraft and three flying squadrons, one for each service/aircraft variant, will be established at Eglin.

The 33rd FW has flown more than 200 JSF sorties, both A and B variant, increasing pilot and maintainer familiarity with the aircraft, exercising the logistics infrastructure and continuing to develop aircraft maturity. These initial F-35A flights were limited, scripted and conducted within the restrictions and stipulations made in February's military flight release.

Now that release has been updated for OUE, necessary joint program office and AFOTEC formal readiness reviews have been completed and the AETC local area operations metrics and safety reviews all support the Air Force readiness to execute OUE safely and effectively, service officials said."

Probably best read at the URL above.

Last edited by marksengineer on Sep 10, 2012 - 09:39 PM; edited 1 time in total

I'm confused. Why are they conducting an operation utility evaluation of a software release already superceded by a subsequent one? Is it that the 1A aircraft will remain in that configuration for some time? Based on Spaz's post in this thread they are moving forward with the Block 1B upgrade to the aircraft and the syllabus that the upgrade supports:

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopi ... 2c45a.html

I realize that when it is completed they will: "...said Toth. "At the conclusion of the evaluation we should receive the Air Education and Training Command's approval that states we are 'ready for training'." How can you say you are ready for training based on a six flight syllabus when you are already expanding he syllabus to 27 flights?

Because 1A contains a vast majority of the items that the final syllabi is based on. This way they can get training started ASAP. Once 1B is available, they can update the syllabi based on 1B's unique items.

It 'feels' like this evaluation is part of a traditional "waterfall" process that hasn't been updated by the affected service to accept the modern day possibility that LRIP may in fact already be concurrently using multiple versions of features and systems for the same new airframe.

So this checklist item is out of date with the times and rather than bother to update it to better work with reality they just picked an iteration to complete the checklist against and hope that the delta between the validated version and other newer versions doesn't adversely affect the future operational capability of the reviewed items. Indeed, it sounds like a large portion of the supply chain validation items shouldn't be significantly different for 1A, 1B etc.

This is the 'hole enchilada' so doan goa jumpin' Hokay?

F-35 OUE kicks off at Eglin By Dave Majumdar, September 11, 2012

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-d ... eglin.html

"The F-35 operational utility evaluation (OUE) kicked off as scheduled yesterday. Two "students"-- Maj Matt Johnston and Maj John Wilson-- along with one back up pilot-- Lt Col Todd Lafortune--from the 33rd FW started six weeks of academics on 10 September. They are joined by two primary "students" and another back-up student from the Joint Operational Test Team.

While the "students"--who are actually high time Weapons School graduates--work on their academics, the 33rd FW is working to get five USAF instructor pilots (IP) qualified in the F-35 to teach those transitioning pilots.

Three USAF instructors were already trained prior to this week, but yesterday a fourth IP, Lt Col Mike "Jeb" Ebner, a former Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle pilot, finished his qualification in the F-35. "The airplane feels really stable and plows through the air making for a very smooth ride," he says. "At low altitude, the aircraft has a significant amount of thrust and accelerates rapidly. The autopilot features on the aircraft make it very easy for instrument flight, allowing the pilot to fly precise altitudes, headings and airspeeds."

The fifth IP who will participate in the OUE is 33rd FW commander Col Andrew Toth. Yesterday, Toth completed his fifth flight and should fly his check ride in the F-35 the week after next."