F-35 program documents

186 (F-22s) + 875 (F-35s) = 1061+ Stealth Fighters

186 (F-22s) + 875 (F-35s) = 1061+ Stealth Fighters

sarcasm on
Thats nothing! Russia's soon to be small but capable silver bullet force of 76 Su-57s is more than enough to handle F-22s. The Su-75 with proven tech from the Su-57 is designed to be cheaper and easier to produce so that means they will be more prevalent in the Russian air force. It will be like the F-35 becoming the mainstay of the fighter force so expect hundreds to be built for Russia and for foreign costumers like Algeria

Dont rule out China; they already built over 200 J-20s. That is before they finish developing their J-35s which like the F-35, will be smaller and cheaper to produce than their big brother. If they really wanted to, China has a loyal and dedicated force of thousands if not millions of laborers that can quickly put those aircraft into production rates the US and her allies cannot hope to match.

LM F-35 Fast Facts 04 Jan 2023: https://www.f35.com/content/dam/lockhee ... an2023.pdf (1.2Mb) attached below.

https://www.dote.osd.mil/Portals/97/pub ... Report.pdf (14Mb) 11 page F-35 extract attached.

Pentagon’s annual weapon test report reverses classification, details major program challenges
20 Jan 2023 JASPREET GILL, THERESA HITCHENS, JUSTIN KATZ and SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.

"The report, without "controlled unclassified information" redactions, discusses concerns with major weapons programs from ships to planes to hypersonic missiles....

...F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Fields ‘Immature’ Software
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program continues to draw serious criticism from DOT&E, although the report notes that “steady progress” was made in FY22 to enable the Joint Simulation Environment for the 64 tests needed for the program to pass initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) and thus officially enter full rate production. The report says the IOT&E trials currently are estimated to wrap up in August, but caveat that DOT&E thinks that date will slip “due to the possibility of further discoveries of deficiencies and potential delays in the verification, validation, and accreditation (VV&A) process.”

The report also chides the F-35 program for continuing “to field immature, deficient, and insufficiently tested Block 4 mission systems software to fielded units. The operational test (OT) teams continue to identify deficiencies that require software corrections and, with them, additional time and resources.“

DOT&E further asserts that the Joint Program Office hasn’t “adequately planned” for operational testing of Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3), the upgraded hardware configuration currently scheduled to be delivered in production Lot 15 aircraft, beginning in the fourth quarter of FY23. In particular, the report notes, required flight test instruments for the current Technology Refresh 2 aircraft as well as the TR-3 jets are “not all on contract and will not be available,” meaning there may not be enough test aircraft to do so before operational employment of the upgraded version.

Lastly, the program’s full transition to the Operational Data Integrated Network, or ODIN, logistics network to replace the F-35’s notorious Autonomic Logistics Information System has been delayed another year, to at least June 2024, following a discovery of a number of safety-imperiling “Category One” deficiencies...."

Source: https://breakingdefense.com/2023/01/pen ... hallenges/

The annual ‘self-licking ice cream cone’ from dote.

“Do more testing”

The operational test (OT) teams continue to identify deficiencies that require software corrections and, with them, additional time and resources

Ugh, I know how that goes Digital == WIP (work in progress), as in, continually....

The operational test (OT) teams continue to identify deficiencies that require software corrections and, with them, additional time and resources

Ugh, I know how that goes Digital == WIP (work in progress), as in, continually....

When I was working with OT at Nellis for F-22 and F-35, we were encouraged to DR everything that went wrong - hardware failure, software glitches, support Equipment issues. Even if it was a known issue, the Program office wanted the occurrence documented in the military DR reporting system for history and future funding prioritization. Many Cat 2 DRs will never be corrected, just worked around till the end of time. Just reporting the number of DRs is meaningless.

Yeah, if they didn't field new versions and waited until every defect and problem was solved and fully tested, the F-35 (or any other equipment) would never reach service. There will always be deficiensies in any major system. Why are there constant updates coming to all operating systems in computers, smart phones, TVs etc? Because there are constantly something that need to be fixed or improved or changed. I'd be really worried if they didn't constantly find new deficiensies or improvements to F-35. With now probably close to 10 million lines of code, there are bound to be defects somewhere. Space Shuttle software was pretty much defect-free, but it required enormous amount of work and software development was extremely slow and very, very costly. Military can do with their fighter jets having some defects and bugs as they can be worked around and there is always the option to eject if all else fails. Not so in case of very unique spacecraft on orbit...

LONG story rehashes DOT&E report above but with explanations and I'm intrigued by the last paragraph quoted below.

DoD delays key F-35 tests, lowering chance of 2023 production decision
25 Jan 2023 Stephen Losey

"...DOT&E said the military has taken steps to expand depots’ resources and make them more efficient as well as to toughen key engine components so they last longer. But without more steps, the report said, “a lack of propulsion spares will result in some aircraft not having a functional engine through at least 2028.”

Source: https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/01 ... -decision/

LONG story rehashes DOT&E report above but with explanations and I'm intrigued by the last paragraph quoted below.

DoD delays key F-35 tests, lowering chance of 2023 production decision
25 Jan 2023 Stephen Losey

"...DOT&E said the military has taken steps to expand depots’ resources and make them more efficient as well as to toughen key engine components so they last longer. But without more steps, the report said, “a lack of propulsion spares will result in some aircraft not having a functional engine through at least 2028.”

Source: https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/01 ... -decision/

I believe that the acquisition metric was for no more than 3-4% (I don't have the exact figure in front of me) of F-35 were to be NMC for engines at any one time. In other words, if 1 or 2 aircraft per squadron are down for lack of a serviceable engine, the program is meeting its supportability goals. So having "some" F-35 aircraft without engines in 2028 is OK and expected by the program.

This was designed into the F-35 supportability program, and is much different than previous programs. In the management of F-15, F-16, and F-22 (and probably in earlier US programs), there was an Intermediate Level engine shop whose job it was to keep serviceable spare engines available for flight line installation, and their metrics were based on the number of serviceable spares and maintaining zero engine holes on the flightline. In addition, combat coded wings had an additional metric of War Readiness Engine (WRE) that was a level above zero holes, with the WRE spare typically pickled and wrapped, ready for deployment to a forward operating location.

The F-35 program was provisioned with fewer spare engines than previous programs with no defined WRE and is set up as a 2 level maintenance concept. The engine are maintained at O level either On-Equipment (LRU replacement and minor repairs like blade blending) or Off-Equipment (Module Replacement, QEC buildup), with the Engines / Modules being shipped to Depot for repair, which has a much longer turn-around. At Depot, most Module repairs will require an engine test cell run-in to set operating clearances, so repaired modules have to be assembled into an engine, run on Depot test cells, then disassembled back into modules to be ship back to base level. With no Intermediate level test cell, the module run-in cannot be accomplished at base level.

When the F100 program attempted 2 level maintenance in the 1990s, it failed miserably. They learned you need high reliability and rapid depot pipeline turnaround, along with a lot of spare engines. It looks like the F-35 program was set up with 1 of those 3 lessons learned. I know some of the people involved with fixing the depot turn times and they have made great strides over the past few years, but this maintenance / support concept will continue to be a challenge.

LM F-35 FAST FACTS 01 Feb 2023 PDF: https://www.f35.com/content/dam/lockhee ... 202023.pdf

890+ Aircraft Delivered; 1,894+ Pilots & 13.578+ Maintainers trained; 623,000 Hours flown