F-35 program updates

....Burlington AGS, Vt., has already been selected to receive the first Air National Guard F-35s. The aircraft are expected to begin arriving in Alabama and Wisconsin in 2023. Each location will get 18 primary aircraft, said Brig. Gen. Randal Efferson...

Burlington ANG has received 14 F-35A (todate), Lots 11& 12.
USAF 134 FS/ USAF 158th FW(ANG)


Fly Navy

Michigan (Selfridge AFB) and Florida (Jacksonville) are pushing hard to get the F-35A. While, the USAF (Reserve) is getting close to a decision...

QUOTE:

Air Force Reserve Command officials are currently evaluating four possible locations for future basing of the F-35A Lightning II aircraft.

The Air Force has identified Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas, as the preferred alternative and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona; Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida; and Whiteman AFB, Missouri; as reasonable alternatives for placing 24 F-35A aircraft and two backup aircraft.

If selected, the F-35As would replace the 24 F-16s currently assigned at Homestead and Fort Worth or the 24 A-10s assigned at Davis-Monthan or Whiteman.

The Air Force has evaluated all four alternative, along with a no-action alternative, and created a draft Environmental Impact Statement concerning the F-35A beddown. The draft EIS is currently available at libraries near each of the four installations and available for download at www.afrc-f35a-beddown.com.

https://www.homestead.afrc.af.mil/News/ ... w.facebook

....Burlington AGS, Vt., has already been selected to receive the first Air National Guard F-35s. The aircraft are expected to begin arriving in Alabama and Wisconsin in 2023. Each location will get 18 primary aircraft, said Brig. Gen. Randal Efferson...

Burlington ANG has received 14 F-35A (todate), Lots 11& 12.
USAF 134 FS/ USAF 158th FW(ANG)


Fly Navy

Honestly, I would like to see VFA-201 (Naval Reserve) reestablished at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base (Texas) with the F-35C. Well, at least I can dream....

FLY NAVY

F35 update from latest Mitchell Institue Mitchell hour-

Impressive. Thanks.

Air Force Times Magazine PDF 23 March 2020 four page PDF (prn reprinted to reduce file size) with graphic table as seen.

That's pretty good. From 19 fatals in 2018, to 2 fatals in 2019.

Those FSOs deserve a bonus. I wonder what aircraft (singular) or aircraft (plural) the 2 fatals were in?

That's pretty good. From 19 fatals in 2018, to 2 fatals in 2019.

Those FSOs deserve a bonus. I wonder what aircraft (singular) or aircraft (plural) the 2 fatals were in?

From the report:
Aviation-related deaths in fiscal 2019 dropped to just two, which equaled fiscal 2011 for the lowest number of aviation fatalities in Air Force history. Capt. John Graziano, an instructor pilot, died Nov. 13, 2018, when his T-38 suffered a compressor stall and crashed at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas. And Staff Sgt. Adam Erickson, a survival, evasion, resistance and escape airman from Edwards Air Force Base in California, died during a parachute training accident Sept. I0.

Thanks. I'll download the whole report next time.

I hope USAF is having as good or better fiscal '20.

F-35 programme reduces remaining SDD capability requirements, but bulkhead issue remains
23 Mar 2020 Pat Host

"Key Points
• The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin have reduced their outstanding F-35 SDD requirements from 43 to six
• The remaining requirements involve bulkheads cracking early, especially on the F-35B

The Pentagon has closed out all but six open system development and demonstration (SDD) capability requirements for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) but it still has bulkhead requirements to resolve before finally closing this contract portion.

F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) spokesman Lieutenant Commander Keith Goodsell said on 13 March that these six open requirements fall within the airframe durability and endurance area for the three different aircraft variants. A former F-35 programme official told Jane's on 20 March that this means the aircraft's bulkheads are cracking too soon.

The former official believes that the bulkhead cracking issue is mainly in the US Marine Corps' (USMC's) F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) model because the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin have had to change the design of the bulkhead and create extended requirements, meaning that the new bulkhead design has to last as long as the original contract specified. The bulkhead is an internal wall spanning the fuselage that, in fighter aircraft, is there to help manage the stresses found in take-off, landing, and flight.

The new bulkhead design will not finish testing for another year or two, which is why the JPO is not closing them out, the former official said. These outstanding SDD capability requirements are awaiting formal closure once testing, analysis, and verification are completed in August, Lt Cmdr Goodsell said."

Source: https://www.janes.com/article/95042/f-3 ... ue-remains

"A former F-35 programme official told Jane's on 20 March that this means the aircraft's bulkheads are cracking too soon."

Actually, it means the durability test article was experiencing cracks in number and severity that would not allow some B models to meet spec airframe life (by analysis). That's why a number of early lot Bs have to return to the depot (at some number of flight hours unknown to me) to undergo structural mods and/or laser shock peening (recently in the news as a weapon and/or LO treatment ) in areas of specific structural concern.

some links for laser shock peening:
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=52628&p=433953&hilit=peening#p433953
&
viewtopic.php?f=60&t=56035&p=425544&hilit=peening#p425544
&
viewtopic.php?f=60&t=56035&p=425521&hilit=peening#p425521

There are a few articles about this F-35 'production affected by COVID-19' etc so this is just one of the succinct ones.

Lockheed Martin projects fewer F-35 deliveries due to coronavirus impact
22 Apr 2020 Garrett Reim

"Lockheed Martin is projecting fewer F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter deliveries in 2020 due to impacts on its global supply chain caused by disruptions related to the coronavirus pandemic. The manufacturer is not yet sure exactly how much its deliveries will decrease, but is assessing likely outcomes, it said in an earnings call on 21 April....

...The company delivered 134 F-35s in 2019, and is scheduled to transfer 141 examples this year. Its first-quarter results show that 22 were handed over by 31 March: a reduction from 26 in the first three months of last year....

...Lockheed Martin is hoping for a return to normal in the coming months. “We’re hoping that the curve starts flattening in the second quarter, end of second quarter, and we can get to some kind of semblance of business as usual, whatever that is, starting in the third quarter,” says Possenriede [Kenneth Possenriede, executive vice-president and chief financial officer with Lockheed Martin]."

Source: https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing ... 05.article

Marietta Team Delivers 500th F-35 Center Wing
May 12, 2020

The Marietta F-35 Team marked a milestone on April 28, as the 500th Center Wing, or CW, was shipped to the F-35 Final Assembly line in Fort Worth, Texas. The Marietta F-35 team delivered its first CW in September 2011. The milestone CW will be incorporated into CF-55, an F-35C aircraft that will be delivered to the U.S. Navy at NAS Lemoore, California, in 2021.

...

Source:
https://www.f35.com/news/detail/mariett ... enter-wing

Air Force Closing in on 250th F-35A
06 Jul 2020 John A. Tirpak

"The Air Force will likely receive its 250th F-35A at the end of August, having already become the third-largest fighter fleet in the Air Force inventory, according to new numbers from the Joint Program Office. The service accounts for nearly half of all the F-35s of all variants delivered worldwide, so far.

As of June 11, the Air Force had taken delivery of 241 F-35As, which are deployed in training, testing, and operational squadrons, according to a July 1 statement from the Joint Program Office. At a delivery rate to the Air Force of about five per month, the service should expect to accept its 250th jet before September....

[more about USA F-35 buy minus Turkey at the jump]

...Canada is an original partner on the Joint Strike Fighter project and has identified a need for 88 F-35s but has not yet committed to the purchase. It continues to weigh the jet against the F/A-18E and the Swedish Gripen fighters. Singapore is another partner likely to buy F-35s, but has not yet committed to doing so.

The U.S. government does not release the specific numbers of F-35 deliveries to Foreign Military Sales countries, but 59 overall have been delivered to FMS customers so far. Those countries include Belgium, Israel, Japan, Poland, and the Republic of Korea. Japan’s order is the largest, planned at 105 A models and 35 B versions. Israel plans 50, Belgium expects 34, and Poland plans to buy 32. South Korea expects to buy 40, though additional air frames are being considered."

Source: https://www.airforcemag.com/air-force-c ... 0th-f-35a/

Three Things to Know About F-35 Sustainment
16 Jul 2020 LM PR

"...The F-35 fleet is growing at a pace unmatched by any fighter in the world. Today, more than 535 F-35s are operating from 24 bases, and more than 1,040 pilots and 9,340 maintainers have been trained. The global F-35 fleet has already amassed more than 290,000 flight hours and generated more than 170,00 sorties. To date, 14 services are flying the F-35 from nine different countries, and more than 135 training detachments and operational deployments have been completed....

...The F-35 team continues to enhance readiness and improve reliability. All three F-35 variants are exceeding reliability specifications at this point on the program’s maturity growth curve. With improved reliability, aircraft are averaging mission capable (MC) rates higher than 70%, with some operational squadrons closer to 80%. For example, during a recent Red Flag exercise, the F-35 MC rate was 86%. Other deployed F-35 units have achieved above a 90% MC rate – equal to or above the MC rate of most 4th generation fighter squadrons...."

Source: https://www.f35.com/news/detail/three-t ... ustainment

The F-35: Designed with Sustainment in Mind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TegygwMkDRg