The Hidden Troubles of the F-35 [DefenseNews]

aussiebloke · by **aussiebloke** » 17 May 2020, 22:55

Here is an example of F-35 weapons integration anticipated to occur before 2026 (or even 2024 for that matter).

Raytheon expects a new flight test of its Joint Strike Missile (JSM), being developed in partnership with Norwegian firm Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, to happen later this year, says Kurt Neubauer, business development lead for Raytheon Air Warfare Systems......

“We expect the Royal Norwegian Air Force to declare IOC with JSM on their F-35As in 2023,” Neubauer said.

https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/fir ... -raytheon/

wrightwing · by **wrightwing** » 17 May 2020, 23:24

aussiebloke wrote:Here is an example of F-35 weapons integration anticipated to occur before 2026 (or even 2024 for that matter).

Raytheon expects a new flight test of its Joint Strike Missile (JSM), being developed in partnership with Norwegian firm Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, to happen later this year, says Kurt Neubauer, business development lead for Raytheon Air Warfare Systems......

“We expect the Royal Norwegian Air Force to declare IOC with JSM on their F-35As in 2023,” Neubauer said.

https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/fir ... -raytheon/

In addition to JSM, F-35s will be getting JSOW-ER, AARGM-ER/SiAW, GBU-53, 6 internal AAM, AIM-260, Meteor, ASRAAM, all before 2026, not to mention TR3 updates, Advanced EOTS, upgraded DAS, upgraded ASQ-239, new cockpit displays, etc...

mixelflick · by **mixelflick** » 18 May 2020, 14:01

No dount lots of "hidden troubles" in those too

ricnunes · by **ricnunes** » 18 May 2020, 23:58

smsgtmac wrote:
timmymagic wrote:I don't think many people have registered just how bad this is....

...In practice for most F-35 users this means their new, very expensive fighter aircraft will not be fully operational with their choice of weapons until 2028 at the earliest. Or the capabilities that they were banking on. For example the UK will find itself restricted to legacy Asraam, Amraam C-5/D and Paveway IV 500lber's for the next 8 years. Thats not a full combat capability. 2024 was bad enough, particularly given the number of munitions that have already been dropped from the original intent.

Oh FFS. All airplanes reach "full" capability the day after they stop being upgraded at the end of their operational life. FOC capability IS Block 3. Block 4 and subsequent blocks are NEW capabilities. With Blk 3 having more advanced weapon capability than any other baseline fighter design in history, it is hardly parity-challenged by any other design for the foreseeable future.

I can hardly wait for when Block 4/5/6 are fielded to hear the laments over not being 'FOC' until Block 5/6/7 because some enhancement or another was pushed back or cancelled.

I was planning to reply to timmymagic's post but I'm glad that I didn't because you replied much better (and in a much more 'compact' way) than I could.
Thanks smsgtmac for your post :thumb:

By the way and If I could, I would suggest any 'newbie' (and not only) to this forum should be 'forced' to read your post above before posting here.

magitsu · by **magitsu** » 22 May 2020, 22:11

The inside story of two supersonic flights that changed how America operates the F-35
The F-35 pilot who flew the two infamous supersonic missions that inflicted damage to the jet’s stealth coating and tail wants to set the record straight
https://www.defensenews.com/smr/hidden- ... s-the-f-35

The Flynn (said pilot) part seems new, but the last bit seems like a rehash of the previous article, like we see commonly.

quicksilver · by **quicksilver** » 22 May 2020, 22:48

What none of the reporting clarified was whether or not the restrictions imposed in flight test were permanently extended to cover routine training and fleet operations, post-SDD.

Dragon029 · by **Dragon029** » 23 May 2020, 02:31

From when they first reported on the issue they've said it applies to operational pilots, though they're free to exceed the restrictions if the situation requires it.

XanderCrews · by **XanderCrews** » 23 May 2020, 02:33

magitsu wrote:The inside story of two supersonic flights that changed how America operates the F-35
The F-35 pilot who flew the two infamous supersonic missions that inflicted damage to the jet’s stealth coating and tail wants to set the record straight
https://www.defensenews.com/smr/hidden- ... s-the-f-35

The Flynn (said pilot) part seems new, but the last bit seems like a rehash of the previous article, like we see commonly.

"its basically rules for longevity and in Combat those rules go out the window" could be a military mantra for time immemorial.

charlielima223 · by **charlielima223** » 23 May 2020, 21:24

Any additional info about the gun? Last i heard the mis-allignment of the gun was causing cracks to the area around the gun port. I read that they got the gun realigned and that use of the gun for training and exercises are for limited use.

quicksilver · by **quicksilver** » 23 May 2020, 21:43

charlielima223 wrote:Any additional info about the gun? Last i heard the mis-allignment of the gun was causing cracks to the area around the gun port. I read that they got the gun realigned and that use of the gun for training and exercises are for limited use.

You read? Then, tell us with a link.

charlielima223 · by **charlielima223** » 23 May 2020, 23:05

quicksilver wrote:
charlielima223 wrote:Any additional info about the gun? Last i heard the mis-allignment of the gun was causing cracks to the area around the gun port. I read that they got the gun realigned and that use of the gun for training and exercises are for limited use.

You read? Then, tell us with a link.

I dont know what your problem is with me so eat a...

spazsinbad · by **spazsinbad** » 23 May 2020, 23:15

Looking in the sub forum: F-35 Armament, Stores and Tactics in the The GAU-22/A thread would be a start nestpas?

Quotes from last page 10: viewtopic.php?f=54&t=52628&start=135

"...The report is based on collected data from the period up to September 2019 and does not reflect work on bug fixes that have occurred in the period since then. One example of this is improved match safety with the built-in machine cannon. After software updates on this system and installing an aid to ensure proper positioning of the machine cannon, we see from tests in December that this provides better accuracy, the ministry said....

"..."The F-35 enterprise has made significant progress regarding the F-35 gun since the data used for the DOT&E report. In the F-35A integral gun, we have implemented software updates and installed a field gun alignment aid to ensure proper gun barrel position. We tested this in December and the results were improved accuracy."..."

quicksilver · by **quicksilver** » 23 May 2020, 23:18

charlielima223 wrote:
quicksilver wrote:
charlielima223 wrote:Any additional info about the gun? Last i heard the mis-allignment of the gun was causing cracks to the area around the gun port. I read that they got the gun realigned and that use of the gun for training and exercises are for limited use.

You read? Then, tell us with a link.

I dont know what your problem is with me so eat a...

Ain’t nothin personal about it. If you read something, post it.

steve2267 · by **steve2267** » 25 May 2020, 22:12

quicksilver wrote:
charlielima223 wrote:Any additional info about the gun? Last i heard the mis-allignment of the gun was causing cracks to the area around the gun port. I read that they got the gun realigned and that use of the gun for training and exercises are for limited use.

You read? Then, tell us with a link.

...

quicksilver wrote:Ain’t nothin personal about it. If you read something, post it.

Sorry, I'm with QS here. When I read CL223's first post... I thought to myself, "that's news to me..." and "he read"... so where's the link? I'd like to read too...

Dragon029 · by **Dragon029** » 26 May 2020, 00:36

charlielima223's just slightly misremembering the details; it's not (to our knowledge) that the misalignment is causing cracks or delamination in the composite skin and coatings, but rather LRIP-9 and newer F-35As are simply having a durability issue relating to the loads experienced (in terms of vibration and possibly overpressure) when the internal gun is fired, causing said cracks in the skin and coatings. This is covered in the Jan 2020 DOT&E report, but here's a web article about it: https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/strik ... to-gun-use