South Korea resets Fighter Jet bidding

[spazsinbad]

There seems to be some huffing and puffing about a simple diagram of the LPX II. Perhaps by the end of the year a more detailed South Korean Navy flat deck 'concept art' may become available. Meanwhile I guess 'element1loop' knows why the Oz LHDs will not set sail unless the environment is benign. However the old CoN seemed to think otherwise - currently????

[element1loop]

There seems to be some huffing and puffing about a simple diagram of the LPX II. Perhaps by the end of the year a more detailed South Korean Navy flat deck 'concept art' may become available. Meanwhile I guess 'element1loop' knows why the Oz LHDs will not set sail unless the environment is benign. However the old CoN seemed to think otherwise - currently????

Spaz, seriously, get a grip, have a look at my original remark.

[spazsinbad]

What grip do I need? Right or Left Handed? Short Arm or Long Arm? Curious minds want to know. Just a line drawing. No?

No Ski Jump???

And why on earth would they shape it like a cheap frikken shoe box with vertical side sections, then shape the Island like lower RCS suddenly matters to them? Dumb!

[spazsinbad]

Earlier GRIPPING news: viewtopic.php?f=58&t=24682&p=428228&hilit=Jeong#p428228

Korean military to buy 40 more fighter jets from U.S.
25 Aug 2020 PARK YONG-HAN, SHIM KYU-SEOK

"Korea will double the number of F-35 stealth fighter jets it will buy from the United States, including variants that will operate on the country’s first aircraft carrier, according to military sources. A total of 40 Lockheed Martin-built F-35 jets will be acquired at a cost of approximately 8 trillion won ($6.7 billion), the sources said.

Priority will be given to the acquisition of 20 F-35B jets, which are capable of short takeoff and vertical landing, and are due to be deployed on a light aircraft carrier Korea plans to complete by the early 2030s.

An additional 20 F-35A jets — the conventional takeoff and landing variants – will be acquired afterwards, which will raise the total number of fifth-generation fighters in Korea’s air fleet to 80. In 2014, the country signed a $6.4 billion deal with the United States to acquire 40 F-35As as part of the first phase of its air force augmentation plan.

Military sources added the additional acquisitions of F-35 aircraft, constituting the second phase of its fighter jet project, will be formally ratified at a Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting slated for October. “The second phase of the fighter jet project had initially been planned for 20 units, but this has been doubled to coordinate with the construction of a light aircraft carrier,” a source said, adding that the timetable to purchase the F-35B variants was pushed forward.

In its national defense plan for 2021 to 2025 unveiled earlier this month, Korea announced for the first time it was planning to build a 30,000-ton level aircraft carrier that will operate fighter jets capable of vertical takeoff and landing. The decision to expedite the purchase of the F-35B planes — the only planes in production around the world that are capable of vertical takeoff and landing — was reached to allow planners to design the aircraft carrier in line with the aircraft's specifications.


To suit the Navy’s plan to complete the vessel sometime around 2030, a concept design needs to be drawn up by the end of this year, before work on basic design begins next year. “We require knowledge of the precise specifications of the F-35B jet to design the deck and main parts [of the carrier],” said a military source. “But Lockheed Martin is of the position it cannot release information on the jet until a contract is signed for its purchase.”...

...Though the new F-35B planes are set to be deployed on an aircraft carrier, they will be operated by the Korean Air Force rather than the Navy, sources said...."

Source: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/20 ... 00453.html

[spazsinbad]

South Korea Seeking More F-35Bs for Future LPX-II Carrier
07 Sep 2020 Xavier Vavasseur

"...Although the F-35B are set to be procured by the RoK Navy’s budget, USNI News understands that the aircraft will be flown by RoK Air Force pilots. While RoK Navy personnel flies fixed wing aircraft (P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircrafts, to be replaced by the P-8A Poseidon), it lacks pilots with experience with fast jets.

An initial power struggle between the Air Force and Navy was resolved by granting wishes of both branches: The RoK Navy will receive the F-35B first to accommodate the LPX-II program. The RoK Air Force will operate the Navy’s F-35B while also getting their own additional F-35A after the F-35B are delivered. In the end, South Korea will operate a total of 80 F-35 (60 A variants and 20 B variants).

The final approval is expected during a Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting held in October 2020. The contract is expected to be signed between 2021 and 2022 with delivery beginning around 2025."

Source: https://news.usni.org/2020/09/07/south- ... ii-carrier

[mixelflick]

The way things are going, LM might just end up selling more F-35B's than any other variant, LOL.

I honestly wonder how much of this is because they finally cracked the, "no compromise in performance just because of the STOVL design" code. If you wanted STOVL before, you bought the Harrier. But in so doing, gave up a lot of performance. That didn't always mean sub par combat capability (Sea Harrier vs. Mirage), but it still is/was a perception issue.

The only thing you give up today is around 5,000lbs of internal fuel, although it still packs away 13,000+lbs if I'm not mistaken. That means something on par or better than F-15C like range, but much much greater combat capability. For those countries that have enemies in close proximity or looking to get into the fixed wing carrier aircraft game, its an attractive value proposition..

[madrat]

Any time you can operate F-35B on a conventional landing it should extend out the life of their lift fan clutches, too. Save them for emergencies.

[zerion]

RoK Navy Issues New Images Of LPX-II As It Tries To Gain Public Support For Aircraft Carrier Program

On 4 February 2021, the Republic of Korea (RoK) Navy held a seminar at the Chungnam National University to actively promote the LPX-II Light Aircraft Carrier program to South Korea's public.

Xavier Vavasseur 11 Feb 2021

The theme of the seminar, broadcast live on YouTube, was officially dubbed “The core strategic asset of national security, the necessity of light aircraft carriers” . Eight new images showing the LPX-II from various angles (see the gallery below), several infographics and an artist impression of the future “ROK Navy Carrier Strike Group composition” were unveiled...






More pics at link



https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/20 ... r-program/

[spazsinbad]

Your first two images did not make the screen 'zerion'. How about uploading them here please. HOTLINK doan woik.

Here we go: https://g7a6v6x7.rocketcdn.me/wp-conten ... p.jpg.webp [notice the ',webp' after the .jpg ? Try it without the '.webp'.

https://g7a6v6x7.rocketcdn.me/wp-conten ... -group.jpg



https://g7a6v6x7.rocketcdn.me/wp-conten ... s.jpg.webp [same same dis one]

[spazsinbad]

edited upload GIF version: https://g7a6v6x7.rocketcdn.me/wp-conten ... lities.jpg

[jessmo112]

The way things are going, LM might just end up selling more F-35B's than any other variant, LOL.

I honestly wonder how much of this is because they finally cracked the, "no compromise in performance just because of the STOVL design" code. If you wanted STOVL before, you bought the Harrier. But in so doing, gave up a lot of performance. That didn't always mean sub par combat capability (Sea Harrier vs. Mirage), but it still is/was a perception issue.

The only thing you give up today is around 5,000lbs of internal fuel, although it still packs away 13,000+lbs if I'm not mistaken. That means something on par or better than F-15C like range, but much much greater combat capability. For those countries that have enemies in close proximity or looking to get into the fixed wing carrier aircraft game, its an attractive value proposition..

Its really sad that no other company has the engineering chops to design a 21st century stovl plane.
Even a modern Harrier upgrade with no stealth would have been a decent competitor to the F-35B.
There is an old saying that goes :

"If you really want to make money and be successful in life, make a product that solves problems".

A cheap $50-70 million Harrier replacement would have sold alot. I suppose if airplanes are hard, then stovl is really hard. Meh Que Cera!

[wrightwing]

Its really sad that no other company has the engineering chops to design a 21st century stovl plane.
Even a modern Harrier upgrade with no stealth would have been a decent competitor to the F-35B.
There is an old saying that goes :

"If you really want to make money and be successful in life, make a product that solves problems".

A cheap $50-70 million Harrier replacement would have sold alot. I suppose if airplanes are hard, then stovl is really hard. Meh Que Cera!

[wrightwing]

Its really sad that no other company has the engineering chops to design a 21st century stovl plane.
Even a modern Harrier upgrade with no stealth would have been a decent competitor to the F-35B.
There is an old saying that goes :

"If you really want to make money and be successful in life, make a product that solves problems".

A cheap $50-70 million Harrier replacement would have sold alot. I suppose if airplanes are hard, then stovl is really hard. Meh Que Cera!

Who wants to spend $70 million on a conventional jet, with a fraction of the capabilities of the F-35, if they can get the F-35?

[XanderCrews]

Its really sad that no other company has the engineering chops to design a 21st century stovl plane.
Even a modern Harrier upgrade with no stealth would have been a decent competitor to the F-35B.
There is an old saying that goes :

"If you really want to make money and be successful in life, make a product that solves problems".

A cheap $50-70 million Harrier replacement would have sold alot. I suppose if airplanes are hard, then stovl is really hard. Meh Que Cera!

The Harrier was pretty much at the end of its design. There wasn't much more performance to wring out of it left. Moreover if its 21st century, You're talking everything the f-35B already is.

Before we even get into the combat part. things like FBW, safety features, advanced flight computers, avionics etc. Harriers are extremely challenging to fly, and difficult to fix, and there's nothing easy about them. They quit making the engine decades ago I believe

[spazsinbad]

South Korea says F-35A fleet operational
30 Mar 2022 Akhil Kadidal

"South Korea said that 40 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs ordered by the country are in service. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense (MND) acknowledged the induction on 28 March during an announcement that F-35A fighter aircraft in the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) had conducted a training-oriented ‘elephant walk' on 25 March. The elephant walk was made a day after North Korea's test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The ministry, in its press statement, specified that the elephant walk was conducted by the F-35s “following the induction of the final unit”. The ministry added in a statement on 30 March that the F-35A fighter force is “fully operational”.

South Korea declined to provide details about the 40 aircraft. In response to a query by Janes about the induction of the aircraft, a ministry spokesperson said the ministry could not “confirm [information] about the military power and induction of F-35s as [it is] strategic arms in [the] RoK Air Force”...."

Photo: "South Korean F-35As participate in an ‘elephant walk' on 25 March 2022, a day after North Korea tested a new nuclear-capable ICBM. (South Korean Ministry of National Defense)" https://www.janes.com/images/default-so ... -16915.jpg

Source: https://www.janes.com/defence-news/air- ... perational