The most current reports are most valid. I have posted the most current articles. The f-35 was a turkey, but by the admission of it's own project manager is pulling out of that state. Can it slide back - I think it can, but, IMHO it will not.Reports of a few months old are quite valid,as matters do not get fixed overnight
PARLIAMENT HILL—A worst-case scenario of cost risks in a Department of National Defence report on a possible acquisition of 65 Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets estimates the airplanes could cost Canada up to $71-billion through acquisition, sustainment and operations over 36 years.
The costs, $25-billion more than the current National Defence estimate, are contained in a section of the department’s latest report to Parliament on the F-35 that outlines “cost risk and uncertainty” and is intended to provide a range of effects on the cost of buying and operating a fleet of stealth attack planes if factors such as inflation, the exchange rate between the Canadian and U.S. dollar, the cost of fuel and the rate of aircraft to be produced by Lockheed Martin fluctuates either higher or lower than the estimates that are behind the current National Defence figures.
If Lockheed Martin expectations of more efficiency through continued production and economies of scale as it makes and sells an expected 3,100 jets are even just three per cent less than expected, the extra cost to Canada would be $6.1-billion over a current acquisition calendar which has the 65 aircraft being delivered over a seven-year period beginning in 2017.
That timeline is up in the air after Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) and his government put the F-35 project on hold last year following a scathing report by Auditor General Michael Ferguson. The government is now engaged in reviewing final cost and industrial benefit submissions from four aircraft manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin and its F-35, as part of an options analysis it promised at the same time it suspended the F-35 plan.
Though the Canadian project has been put on hold, Canada remains a partner with eight other countries in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter consortium, and has Canadian Forces officers assigned to the project’s Joint Program Office at the U.S. Department of Defense in Washington, D.C.
Other risks the National Defence report outlines include a likelihood that Lockheed Martin will sell 250 aircraft less than the number previously expected during the period Canada would potentially buy, leading to lower economies of scale in production and an extra cost to Canada of $500-million.
The risk analysis shows if the Canadian dollar were valued at 78 cents per U.S. dollar, instead of the current forecast of 92 cents, it would add $1.6-billion more to the acquisition cost. If the inflation rate were one per cent more over the lifetime of the fleet than the inflation rate on which the current National Defence forecast is based, the extra cost for sustaining Canada’s fleet would be $3.1-billion over the aircraft lifecycle. A change of one cent in the exchange rate could mean an extra $2.1-billion in lifetime sustainment cost. On the other side of the coin, a one-cent change in the exchange rate to the benefit of the Canadian dollar would lower the lifecycle sustainment cost by $2.1-billion.
The National Defence forecast of $19.8-billion in operating costs over the F-35 fleet’s lifecycle would increase by $5.4-billion with just a one per cent increase in the inflation rate from the rate the National Defence estimates are based on. It would correspondingly drop with a reduction of one per cent in the inflation rate from the current forecast rate.
The National Defence report forecast of fuel costs over the fleet’s lifetime is based on a price of 87.9 cents per litre, and a 10-per-cent increase in that cost could raise the forecast of life cycle fuel costs by $1.5-billion, with a reduction of the same amount in the unlikely event fuel costs would drop by 10 per cent.
Opposition MPs say the cost risk analysis, reviewed independently by the accounting firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, fuels suspicion that if the Conservative government goes ahead with the F-35 acquisition, it is buying a pig in a poke.
The NDP and Liberals argue a full-blown competition is required to replace Canada’s aging F-18 fleet of fighter jets, and the government has to take another stab at defining what Canada’s needs are for the new fighter fleet.
The F-35, still in development and testing stages although several countries and the U.S. military have purchased the planes, is a sophisticated stealth version of first-strike attack jets. NDP MP Jack Harris (St. John’s East, Nfld.) said the updated risk analysis demonstrates Prime Minister Harper’s government has been “reckless” with the F-35 acquisition.
“The whole thing demonstrates how risky and frankly, for a government, reckless to throw so many eggs into this basket of one plane that hasn’t even been determined is suitable for Canada’s needs,” Mr. Harris told The Hill Times. “Absolutely there should be a competition … but we’re at the point now also of having to seriously consider what function we want a jet fighter to play, what Canada’s needs are. There should be a significant evaluation of what Canada’s needs are, for domestic interceptor, patrol, surveillance, that sort of work, as opposed to this strike fighter.”
Liberal MP Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, B.C.), her party’s new defence critic, also called for competitive bidding to replace Canada's fighter fleet.
“There is lack of transparency. There is a need for a competition to really get out the facts of the cost, and we’re still waiting to see an analysis of the activities that the equipment will be required to support, to know the F-35 is the right solution,” Ms. Murray said.
She criticized the fact that the government at the moment does not have an up-to-date statement of requirements for the F-18 replacements that is in force. “I think that’s key. This is a massive investment of public funds for something for which there has been no public justification of what this needs to fulfill,” said Ms. Murray, who was responsible for a B.C. government major services secretariat in former Liberal premier Gordon Campbell’s Cabinet.
The Public Works department, which is houses the National Fighter Procurement Secretariat the government established in response to Mr. Ferguson’s 2012 report, had not responded to emails as of 5 p.m.
After months of preparation the weapons troop Standardization Load Crew from the 33rd Maintenance Group performed the first munitions load verification on the F-35A Lightning II here Aug. 27.
"Over the next couple of days, our 33d Fighter Wing maintenance professionals, alongside representatives from the F-35 Program Office and Air Combat Command, will validate weapons loading procedures. This involves loading and unloading laser-guided and GPS-guided bombs, and air-to-air missiles into the weapons bays of the aircraft and ensuring the instructions we provide our load crews are accurate and effective - one more step towards F-35 initial war fighting capability," explained Air Force Lt. Col. Ron Huzzard, deputy commander of the 33rd MXG.
The SLC has been practicing this load verification using a series of tabletop exercises for several months. This marked the first hands-on load verification for the crew.
"Watching our weapons troops verify loading procedures was like getting a glimpse into the future. Ultimately, this will be the work that is performed down range when it counts, and we are laying that foundation here at Eglin," said Navy Capt. Lance Massey II, commander of the 33rd MXG. "The stealth capability on the F-35 is beyond incredible, but the weapons capability rounds out the whole purpose of the joint strike fighter."
The procedure was overseen by Chief Master Sgt. Christopher Wilbur, wing weapons manager at the 33rd MXG.
"The Airmen walked through the technical instructions to verify the data is accurate and make adjustments as necessary," Wilbur said about the verification load exercise.
The three-person SLC included Air Force Master Sgt. Karen Griffin, Tech. Sgt. Russell Fontaine and Staff Sgt. Steven Dash. Working as a cohesive team, the trio carefully performed several iterations of loading and unloading four different munitions. Once the procedures are verified SLC members will train the weapon troops.
"Getting this step verified in ALIS (the automated logistics information system) for the F-35A is important, so we can move forward and get our 60-plus maintainers trained and working," Griffin said.
USS WASP — The Marine Corps and Navy are close to wrapping up 19 days of Sea Trials for the Corps’ F-35B short take-off-and-vertical-landing, or STOVL, variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, service officials said.
The trails, taking place aboard the USS WASP Amphibious Assault Ship about 30-miles off the coast of Maryland, are designed to assess the F-35B’s ability to take-off and land vertically at night, maneuver and operate in high crosswinds and headwinds, among other things.
“There’s no better way to determine how an aircraft is going to operate in the fleet than to take it to sea,” said Navy Capt. Erik Etz, director of test and evaluation, F-35 Naval variants. “We’ve been pushing the aircraft out to the edges of its operational envelope.”
The Marine Corps F-35B variant, slated to reach what’s called initial operating capability by 2015, is a stealth aircraft specially engineered to land vertically, meaning without a runway.
This ability to land vertically without a runway is designed to give the Navy and Marine Corps the ability to use the aircraft from a smaller amphibious platform such as the USS WASP – without needing the catapult or large runway of an aircraft carrier, Etz added.
The ongoing Sea Trials have resulted in at least 90 successful short take-offs and 92 vertical landings aboard the USS Wasp, said Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Joint Strike Fighter’s Joint Program Office.
The JSF program developmental strategy is, in part, grounded upon a series of incremental software “drops" — each one adding new capability to the platform. In total, there are more than 10 billion individual lines of code for the system, broken down into increments and “blocks,” F-35 program office officials explained.
The F-35B is currently testing with Block 2B, which enables the aircraft to provide basic close air support and fire an AMRAAM [Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile], JDAM [Joint Direct Attack Munition] or GBU 12 [laser-guided aerial bomb].
In addition, the aircraft has conducted test flights with a full internal weapons load, including a GBU or Guided Bomb Unit and an Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile, or AMRAAM.
As what’s called a fifth-generation stealth or low-observable fighter platform, the F-35 is engineered with a suite of next-generation technologies designed to provide the pilots with more capability and more information.
When it comes to STOVL landing technology, the F-35B is a generation beyond its Harrier Jet predecessor, also a Marine Corps plane designed for vertical landing.
“Harriers are all manual controls. With the F-35 we have computers. A ton of engineering goes into making it a low work load. The plane is literally sampling winds, sampling conditions and the parameters,” said Marine Corps Capt. Michael Kingen, an F-35 developmental test pilot.
The F-35 is also engineered to accomplish what’s referred to as “sensor fusion,” namely the technological ability to fuse relevant information from a variety of sources into one common operating picture for the pilot to view – such as digital maps, radar information and sensor information all combined into a single set of screens, said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Matthew Kelly, former F-35 test pilot.
For instance, the F-35’s Electro-Optical Target System, or EOTS, is an infra-red sensor able to assist pilots with air and ground targeting at increased standoff ranges while also performing laser designation, laser range-finding and other tasks.
In addition, the plane’s Distributed Aperture System, or DAS, is a series of six electro-optical sensors also able to give information to the pilot. The DAS includes precision tracking, fire control capabilities and the ability to warn the pilot of an approaching threat or missile.
“The ability of the aircraft to take in all that information, process it and then provide it to the pilot with the right information when he wants it in the right format – is really what makes this the fifth generation design for the next war and the war after that,” said Kelly.
The next Sea Trials for the F-35B are slated for sometime in 2016, DellaVedova said.
“F-35 is a growth platform and will remain so for the forseeable future,” he said.
The problem Canada faces with the purchase of the F-35 is that it is a single engine aircraft. The northern part of Canada is really inhospitable during winters and a single engine aircraft poses a problem under most winter conditions out there.
MONCTON, New Brunswick, Canada, Sept 3rd, 2013 – Apex Industries Inc., today, became the newest Canadian industrial partner with Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] on the F-35 Lightning II program. This agreement uses the machining expertise of Apex for aluminum metallic components, and they will produce structural parts that span the forward fuselage and wing. The agreement is a multi-year contract with all work being completed at Apex’s Moncton location in New Brunswick.
The award to Apex is a recent example of how Lockheed Martin is partnering with Canadian Industry for the F-35 program. This opportunity is part of the more than $11 billion to be offered to Canadian Industry over 30 years and adds to the more than $500M in contracts to date. While supporting the program, Apex can utilize and mature their capabilities to capture more opportunities in the future. Currently, there are more than 34 Canadian suppliers on contract to the F-35 program.
“Lockheed Martin is honored Apex Industries is joining the F-35 Canadian Industrial team to bring value to the program as we increase our production rates and further reduce the cost of our aircraft,” said Keith Knotts, Lockheed Martin’s director of F-35 Business Development in Canada. “Apex’s contribution will be substantial F-35 machining work which is extremely important as the program continues to grow.”
The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced in service support (sustainment). Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least 10 other countries. The U.S. Air Force plans to declare Initial Operational Capability with the CTOL (Canada’s preferred variant) in 2016.
Apex Industries is a Canadian, privately held corporation with 225 employees. They support various aerospace customers including Boeing Defense, Bell Helicopter, Bombardier and, now, Lockheed Martin.
The Pentagon’s top acquisitions official expects the lifetime operations and sustainment (O&S) costs for the F-35 joint strike fighter to drop following a report this fall.
Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, made his comments Wednesday after speaking at the ComDef conference in Washington, sponsored by IDEEA.
“We’re … looking at that number,” Kendall said. “The official number is still the one we put up in the SAR [selected acquisition report]. We’re going to do a review of F-35 this fall. We’ll get another estimate out of CAPE [Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation] for that and we’ll probably make some adjustments.”
In late August, Bloomberg News reported that Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the head of the F-35 program, estimated that O&S costs have dropped to $857 billion. Previous government estimates have put the lifetime O&S costs at $1.1 trillion, a number proponents of the fifth-generation fighter have said suffers from unfair projections of inflation over a 50-year period.
When asked about that report, Kendall indicated that estimate may be overly optimistic.
“I do expect it to come down. I don’t know if it will come down as much as [Bogdan’s] number, but we’ll take a look at it,” Kendall said. “He has a basis for it. The problem with that number is there are so many different assumptions you can make and too many different ways to calculate it. I don’t want to be overly optimistic and I don’t want to be overly conservative.”
“So, we’ll take a look at the assumptions he made and we’ll look at what CAPE comes up with and see what we want to use as an official estimate.”
If sustainment costs drop, it would continue a four-month stretch of positive news for the F-35 program, which started the year off with two separate incidents requiring the grounding of jets.
In May, the Pentagon announced in the SAR that the total price tag for the F-35 program fell $4.5 billion in 2012, the first time in the F-35’s checkered history that estimators have lowered the projected cost of the program. That was followed by a July agreement to purchase low-rate initial production blocks six and seven with contractor Lockheed Martin and an agreement in August to purchase engines for block six from Pratt & Whitney.
The Lockheed and Pratt deals each saw cost-per-unit figures drop, a trend both companies expect to continue.
Fighter pilots do much of their warfighting work at night, when targets are lulled by sleep and the jets can take cover in the embrace of darkness.
That capability was on display during the past three weeks of F-35B testing aboard the Norfolk-based amphibious assault ship Wasp. The next-generation Marine fighter jet conducted 19 nighttime takeoffs and landings – demonstrating its remarkable ability to slow to a hover and drop with precision onto the flight deck of an amphibious ship in the middle of a dark ocean.
It was a milestone for the $400 billion joint strike fighter program, which is developing three versions of the jet – to operate from land, from amphibious ships, and from aircraft carriers. The planes have been in development for more than a decade but are years from operational use.
“Our primary striking power and posture comes at night,” said Navy Capt. Erik Etz, director of testing and evaluation for Navy and Marine Corps variants. “So the ability to operate the F-35B at night from the ship provides that capability for this aircraft to augment forces abroad.”
But there’s a catch: Night-vision capabilities on the F-35’s revolutionary integrated helmet system fall short of requirements and are inadequate for shipboard vertical landing or nighttime refueling.
“The helmet’s been a problem, no doubt,” said Brig. Gen. Matthew Glavy, assistant deputy commandant of aviation for the Marine Corps.
The helmet-mounted display is key to unlocking the technological systems built into the plane – allowing the pilot to view a kind of virtual reality through the aircraft’s many cameras.
The F-35’s “fusion” system processes all the data collected by the airplane – movement on the ground, possible enemy targets, the approach of enemy aircraft – and projects it onto a display screen built into the visor, so the pilot sees it all in real time.
Walking around the aircraft on the deck of the Wasp on Wednesday, Lt. Col. Matt Kelly, a former F-35 test pilot now working in the program office, pointed to a transparent enclosure under the nose of the plane containing two rounded chrome-and-glass sensors.
The F-35 is the only stealth aircraft to have this kind of electro-optical targeting system built in, allowing it to remain stealthy, he said. It works in conjunction with radar and the cameras embedded in the plane.
“One of the key attributes of the F-35 is, it is designed to collect information through its multiple sensors,” Kelly said.
All that information is transmitted to the pilot through the helmet.
Over the past year, testing of the helmet revealed a series of problems, Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, executive officer for the F-35 development program, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in April.
Some problems – including a green glow, jittery symbols and a time lag in displaying information – have been resolved. But the night vision remains troublesome, and an alternative helmet is being developed based on night-vision goggles, he said.
Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems are competing to design a helmet, Glavy said.
Because of the unique challenges of operating on an amphibious ship, the F-35B has proved to be the most costly to develop for the services. Its purchase price is an estimated $110 million in 2018, compared with $96 million for the Navy version and $85 million for the Air Force version.
During three weeks on the Wasp, two F-35Bs conducted more than 90 takeoffs and landings on the small amphibious deck. On Wednesday, when the Navy flew journalists aboard the Wasp for an F-35B demonstration, both jets were down for maintenance. One was quickly repaired and took off later the same day, program officials said.
The planes also “pushed the envelope” in other ways, flying in stronger winds and carrying dummy weapons to simulate how the aircraft handles with its payload.
In those things, the jet “is matching expectations in ease of handling,” Etz said.
Some of the Wasp crew spent time at Patuxent River Naval Air Station training to work with the F-35B either in maintenance or on deck.
“As much as the aircraft evolves, the ship evolves with it,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Bennett, who directs the rear half of the flight deck.
“It’s a pretty prestigious event,” he said. “We are kind of going down in history with this jet.”
Lockheed Martin, Vision Systems International and the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) are making progress with solving night vision acuity problems on the F-35's helmet-mounted display, says a senior test pilot assigned to the programme.
Test pilots recently tested a modified second-generation helmet fitted with a new 1600x1200 resolution ISIE-11 night vision camera coupled with a new display management computer/helmet, says Lt Col Matt Kelly, an F-35 test pilot assigned to the JPO.
Kelly says the ISIE-11 immensely improves the helmet's night vision capabilities.
"The ISIE-11 has great potential for tactical operations," Kelly says of the new system. However, there is still a lot of work to do before the helmet is ready for fleet release - the system will have to be demonstrated in the air before test pilots give it a green light.
Meanwhile, the F-35 JPO is still funding parallel development work on a BAE Systems-developed helmet into the third quarter of 2014.
F-35B test pilots on the USS Wasp are using the existing helmet with the current ISIE-10 camera, which has been judged to have deficient night-vision performance.
The ISIE-10 has inferior night vision capability compared with the ANVIS-9 night vision goggles (NVGs) used in the Boeing AV-8B and F/A-18. However, pilots say it is easier to land the F-35B unaided by the night vision camera on a ship than a AV-8B with NVGs.
From this user's PoV: Case closed !!!!!!(Reuters) - The Pentagon's chief arms buyer on Wednesday said he did not expect the U.S. Navy to significantly change its plans to buy F-35 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), despite mounting pressure on the U.S. military budget.
Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit that the $392 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was the U.S. military's highest priority conventional warfare program.
"I don't see any indication that the Navy is going to change its plans in any fundamental way," Kendall told the summit, highlighting the need to seek out more advanced equipment.
The Navy and other branches of the military have been going through tough budget reviews to map out their options if lawmakers fail to reverse mandatory budget cuts and they are forced to implement an additional 10 percent budget cut in fiscal 2015.
One of the options under discussion has been a two-year pause in orders for the F-35C carrier variant, a move that could increase the cost of the remaining aircraft to be bought by the Marine Corps and the Air Force, according to four sources familiar with the issue.
Kendall declined comment on the fiscal 2015 budget deliberations, but said he did not expect major changes in the Navy's plans for the F-35 program.
Kendall's strong endorsement of the added capabilities of the Turkey marked a setback for Boeing Co (BA.N), which is offering the Navy upgrades of its F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter in the hopes that it can sell more those planes.
"The F/A-18 is a great airplane, but it's a fourth generation fighter. The F-15 is a great airplane, the F-16 is a good airplane, but they're fourth generational fighters, and you get a quantum improvement in capability out of the Turkey," Kendall said. "It's why we're buying them."
He said the Navy needed the added capabilities that the F-35 offered, noting that other countries were developing their own radar-evading fighter planes, advanced electronic warfare capabilities and other advanced weapons that threatened the U.S. military's ability to "control the air."
"That's a serious problem and it applies to a carrier strike group just as much as it does to an aircraft air wing or a marine amphibious group," he said.
Lockheed is building three variants of the F-35 for the U.S. military and the eight partner countries that are helping fund its development: Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Norway, Italy, Turkey, Denmark and the Netherlands. Israel and Japan have also placed orders for the new jet.
Members of the British Parliament have described the U.K.’s plan to purchase the Joint Strike Fighter for the carrier strike role as high risk because of the defense ministry’s lack of control of the program.
In a report released Sept. 3, the U.K. Public Accounts Committee (PAC) studied the ministry’s decision to flip-flop its choice of which F-35 variant to operate from the U.K.’s new Queen Elizabeth II-class aircraft carriers. It moved from the short-takeoff and vertical landing (Stovl) F-35B to the conventional catapult-launched F-35C in 2010, then reverted back to the F-35B in 2012.
The original decision to change variants cost £74 million ($115 million), and the decision to change back to the Stovl aircraft is likely to cost a similar amount, the PAC says, although the full costs will not be known until 2014. The ministry believes that, despite writing off the £74 million, reverting to the original decision will help it to avoid £600 million across the 30-year life cycle of the Carrier Strike program. However, the report states that the cost information is still not mature.
The report says the ministry provided its decision makers with “deeply flawed information” on the benefits of changing the type of aircraft to errors such as “omitting value added tax (VAT) and inflation from the costs of converting the carriers.”
Despite defense ministry assurances, the committee says it is not yet “convinced” that it has the aircraft contract “under control,” and describes the whole carrier strike program as high risk.
“Although Carrier Strike is over five years from planned operation, significant technical issues, costs and delivery dates for the aircraft are not resolved,” the PAC report states.
The report also addresses some concerns about the ministry’s definition of interoperability for the carrier strike capability. When the F-35C was selected the defense ministry said there would be interoperability between the U.S. and French navies because they also used catapult and arrestor-based carrier operations. However, when it was realized that the ability to land the carrier variant was more technically challenging than previously thought and the program reverted back to the F-35B, the PAC points out that the emphasis shifted to interoperability with the Italian navy and the U.S. Marine Corps.
Officials are looking toward “Main Gate 4,” a procurement contract milestone due to take place later this year that will not only buy the U.K.’s first squadron but also begin what officials call the transition toward operations. The order will be for around 14 F-35Bs. Around 2018 this squadron should move back to the U.K., where they would begin aircraft carrier trials with the aim of achieving an initial land-based operating capability by late 2018.
The PAC also outlines concerns it has with the planned late entry into service of the Crowsnest carrier-borne airborne early warning (AEW) capability planned for embarkation onto the new ships. The committee says it is not due to be fully operational until 2022. The PAC questioned senior defense officials about why the capability was not entering service at the same time as the ship, and that the lack of airborne-early warning coverage could constrain where the ship could operate.
The PAC says, however, that the defense ministry has “other options” for protecting the carrier, including land-based AEW as well as reliance on allies for the AEW capability.
Aviation Week has reported that Royal Navy officials are now working with the U.K. Defense Equipment & Support procurement agency to try to advance the introduction of the Crowsnest system by two years, in a bid to retain the crew skills developed through the use of the Thales Cerberus radar currently fitted to the Sea King Mk. 7, the current helicopter AEW platform.
Responding to the report, Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said, “As the National Audit Office recognized in their report in May, the MoD [ministry] acted swiftly to switch back to Stovl aircraft as soon as it became clear that the alternative would cost more money. In doing so, we did incur some costs, as the PAC records, of £74 million — but we did so in order to save £1.2 billion, a clear demonstration of our commitment to safeguard taxpayers’ money.”
Britain and Norway are investigating possible collaboration in the support and training for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The two sides said they are looking at cooperation opportunities in maintenance, sustainment and training of crew and technicians.
The collaboration announcement followed a Sept. 5 meeting in London between British defense procurement minister Philip Dunne and his Norwegian counterpart, Eirik-Owre Thorshaug. A spokesman for the Norwegian Ministry of Defence said exploratory discussions between officials were continuing today in London.
The talks come against a background of wider European efforts to collaborate on F-35 support, but the spokesman said that with similar delivery timelines and their geographical proximity it was natural the British and Norwegians would consider bilateral opportunities.
“This will be the first time in nearly 60 years that Norway and the UK will operate a similar type of fighter aircraft [the last time was the Vampire] and this naturally opens up new possibilities for co-operation,” said Thorshaug.
“The pooling and sharing of resources and maintenance capabilities is already at the heart of the support strategy for operating the F-35 [in Europe], and the UK and Norwegian MoD are looking to see where further national synergies may exist. In this context, both governments are encouraging UK and Norwegian industry to explore collaborative opportunities for cooperation in support and sustainment of our common F-35 fleet,” the two sides said in a statement.
The Norwegians said it would like to see a role in the maintenance of the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine for companies like the state-owned AIM Norway.
Aside from support options, the two sides are looking at possible cooperation in training crews and maintenance technicians. The Norwegian spokesman said sharing simulation capabilities was one option. Oslo would also be running its eye over a planned UK training center, he said.
Dunne said that a number of decisions had yet to be made on the “totality of the UK’s JSF program, but it is clear that coordination and cooperation with like-minded allies such as Norway will offer many advantages in terms of shared knowledge, best practice and efficiencies. The UK looks forward to exploring possibilities for collaboration on our approach to through life support and capability development with Norway over the coming years.”
Norway already has parliamentary authorization to purchase the first 10 of what is expected to be a 52-aircraft requirement. Oslo has not actually signed a firm contract yet, but has initiated a deal to allow purchase of long lead items on some of the aircraft.
If the program proceeds, Norway expects the first aircraft, a conventional takeoff and landing F-35A, to arrive at its Orland Main Air Station in 2017 ahead of an expected initial operating capability in 2019.
Four of the Norwegian F-35As will be based in the US for training and conversion purposes.
The British, meanwhile, are in advanced talks with Lockheed Martin for the purchase of a squadrons worth of the F-35B short-take off and landing variant. A deal for between 12 and 18 aircraft is expected in the fourth quarter.
The first production aircraft are expected to be delivered in 2016 for initial operation from a US air base in 2016 with the first UK-based operations planned for 2018.
Three operational evaluation aircraft have already been delivered to the British and an order for a fourth could be announced as early as next week as one of a number of contracts to be rolled out at the DSEi defense exhibition which gets underway in London Sept 9.
Before the end of this decade, the F35 Lightning II will provide the ultimate punch of the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. The F35 – also known as the Joint Strike Fighter or Lightning II – is an Anglo-American joint effort, designed by the best and brightest in the two nations’ aircraft industries.
F35B Already two decades in development, prototypes of the fighter-bomber have been flying for ten years. Fleet Air Arm aviators will pilot the jump jet version, the F35B.
The first British trials aircraft made its maiden flight in April 2012 and is due to begin its first trials flying on to and off the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2018.
A small team of Royal Navy engineers is working on the development and testing of the prototype F35 at Pax River in the USA, learning how to carry out routine maintenance and fix problems.
The jet is the world’s first ‘fifth generation’ fighter (the WW2-era Meteor and Messerschmitt Me262 are first generation; the Harrier is third generation).
Speed: 1.6Mach
Crew: 1 Pilot
Range (Up to): 900Nautical Miles
Combat radius (up to): 450Nautical Miles
Wing Span: 10.7Metres
Length: 15.6Metres
Payload: 15000Pounds
Last week Con Coughlin became the first British journalist to see a British pilot conduct a perfect test landing of Britain's new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Here he describes an aircraft that is set to become one of Britain’s leading strike fighters for the next generation.
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The smile on the face of the test pilot as he completed a successful vertical landing of Britain’s newest generation of fighter jets said it all. “This is simply a phenomenal flying machine.”
After all the bitter controversy over the Government’s decision to scrap the iconic Harrier jump jet in 2010 as part of the defence cuts, a team of Britain’s top gun fighter pilots has now arrived in the U.S. to begin testing its successor, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Under the Government’s plans to build two new aircraft carriers equipped with state-of-the-art fighters, the role of the F-35 is crucial to the programme’s success. Like the Harrier before it, the F-35 has the ability to conduct vertical landings.
And last week at the American military’s Patuxent River naval air base in Maryland, I became the first British journalist to see one of the British pilots conducting a perfect test landing of an aircraft that is set to become one of Britain’s leading strike fighters for the next generation.
One of the most impressive aspects of Britain’s first stealth warplane is its Rolls Royce vertical landing system, which will enable the aircraft to land on the deck of the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers that are currently under construction in Scotland.
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During last week’s test flight I watched as one of Britain’s prototype F-35 fighters approached the landing area at around 150mph, before the aircraft slowly came to a complete halt. It then hung perfectly motionless in the sky for a full minute at around 100 feet before making a gentle landing on the tarmac.
“This aircraft is light years ahead of the Harrier in terms of what it can do,” said Peter Wilson, 47, the British test pilot who conducted the landing. A veteran Harrier pilot who has flown combat missions in Iraq, Bosnia and Sierra Leone, Mr Wilson, who is now one of Britain’s leading test pilots, said the Harrier was a difficult plane to fly, and required immense skill on the part of the pilot to conduct vertical landings. “We have learnt our lessons and the F-35 has all the Harriers faults designed out of it,” said Mr Wilson, from Whalley, Lancs.
A key element in the versatility of the Harriers, which played a vital role in the campaign to liberate the Falkland Islands and more recently saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan, was their ability to make vertical landings in the most challenging conditions, whether on the deck of an aircraft carrier in a driving gale or at a remote desert airstrip.
Now the team of British pilots and technicians working on the F-35 are making sure the new aircraft has the same capability. If all goes according to plan, and the new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers are built on time, then the F-35s will available to fly off the decks on combat operations by 2020.
Apart from its flying capability, the F-35 is also fitted with the latest intelligence-gathering and stealth technology. Named Lightning II in honour of Britain’s supersonic jet fighter during the early Cold War era, the F-35 can fly at nearly twice the speed of sound and its stealth capability means it can penetrate deep into enemy territory without being tracked by radar. “The stealth factor means you can detect enemy aircraft but they cannot detect you,” explained Mr Wilson.
“It is a joy to fly,” said Lt. Commander Ian Tidball, 43, a former Royal Navy Harrier pilot who arrived in the U.S. four weeks ago to begin test flights. “It is very responsive compared to the Harrier, and has a far wider range of capabilities.”
These include a specially designed helmet that gives the pilot a 350 degree view around the aircraft simply by tilting his head, while the cockpit is filled with a multi-screen display consol that enables the pilot to collect and assess intelligence collected by the aircraft’s advanced sensors will assessing which targets to attack. In all the most advanced combat aircraft ever flown by the British military contains around eight million lines of software code.
“The helmet is like wearing a laptop on your head, while the cockpit has been designed with its own in-built i-Pad before the i-Pad had even been invented,” explained Group Captain Harv Smyth, 41, another veteran RAF Harrier pilot who won the Distinguished Flying Cross during the Iraq War in 2003 and is overseeing the project. “The main problem we face is that the technology is now so advanced that we have to make sure it fits in with our air worthiness requirements.”
At $110 million (around £71 million) a piece, the Lightning does not come cheap and, like the previous Eurofighter project that produced the RAF’s Typhoon interceptor, the development programme has been beset by spiralling costs and serious equipment setbacks. During early trials pilots found that the helmets – which cost around £300,000 each – did not function when the plane hit turbulence, a potentially fatal failing in a combat environment, while more recently the entire test fleet was grounded earlier this year when cracks were found in the engine turbine blade.
Critics of the ambitious plan to provide a new generation of aircraft carriers with top-range fighters also say that at a time when the Government is trying to cut the deficit Britain simply cannot afford to continue with the most ambitious military project undertaken in recent British history.
But Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, who visited the American test site last week, said he remained committed to maintaining the £10 billion programme. He said Britain’s participation in the American-led F-35 venture will create 25,000 jobs and has the potential to earn an estimated £35 billion in exports during the life of the programme. In addition it will help to strengthen the transatlantic alliance.
“It’s great to be back in the business of vertical landing aircraft again,” said Mr Hammond. “This aircraft will enable Britain to have one of the world’s leading war-fighting capabilities for many years to come.”
4++ fighters with an injection of stealth steroids are becoming alternatives.The "Advanced F-18SH,F-15SE,Super-Sukhoi 30/SU-35,are options that are being considered.If I'm not mistaken even the Swedes are trying to inject something into the Gripen. So a mix of stealth,"to knock down the door" which will then allow Adm.Greenert's "bomb trucks" to fly in and do the business ,appears to be the flavour of these lean times.But all it needs is a little war where the US can demonstrate its stealth birds for the oilygarch Gulfers to bite the bait! Remember how the patchy Patriot was sold to the Gulf states during the GW-2? Now read Syria.Will we see the first demo of the F-22 Raptor in the attacks on Syria? I'm betting on it.It could simply fly out of Israeli air bases for a few minutes over Syria,remain undetected and out of harms way,drop a bomb or launch a missile,or two and be declared a success! The Syrians have an ancient legacy air defence system,with the Buks their most modern SAMs.It will be Iraq redux as far as the air campaign goes.If the Raptor is thus demonstrated,or who knows,maybe a JSF even could be involved (the Israelis are to get them first) in a flying-the-flag "flypast",watch the oilygarchs running for the chequebooks.There are acquisitions on the cards where the current favourite is the Typhoon ,Any demo of stealth over Syria could shoot down the Typhoon.WASHINGTON -- Two years ago ('95), the problem with the Air Force's B-2 Stealth bombers, which cost $2 billion apiece, was that their radar could not tell a rain cloud from a mountainside.Now the problem is that the B-2 cannot go out in the rain.
The investigative arm of Congress reported this week that the B-2, the world's most expensive aircraft, deteriorates in rain, heat and humidity. It "must be sheltered or exposed only to the most benign environments -- low humidity, no precipitation, moderate temperatures," said the report by the General Accounting Office.
That works out to $120+ million per plane (I suspect that is a life cycle cost - need to confirm that)To reach its original target, the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) still needed another 60 next-generation fighters. Thus, the F-X Phase 3 (F-X III) project was launched, with the aim of procuring those 60 additional air fighters to supersede the aging F-4 and F-5 fleet. The plan is to introduce them between 2017 and 2021 at a cost of 8.3 trillion won ($7.3 billion).
Wonder why. In such a short time.In fact, the ROKAF is already starting to struggle with the heavy maintenance costs of cutting-edge air fighters. According to a Korea Times report which cited a senior air force official (speaking on the condition of anonymity), maintenance costs for the F-15K rose 10-fold, from 9.7 billion won ($8.5 million) in 2008 to 95.82 billion won ($85 million) in 2011, about the price of a new F-15K.
According to a parliamentary reply by Peter Luff dated September 14, 2010, the Royal Air Force (RAF) calculated that the cost per flight hour of operating the Tornado GR4 was £35,000, the Harrier GR9 £37,000 and the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 £70,000, while the German Defense Ministry estimated last year that a one-hour flight in a Eurofighter would cost €76,000.
In news that would come as a major relief for Lockheed Martin Corp., the U.S. based manufacturer of fighter aircrafts, Australia's opposition coalition seems inclined toward the government's defence procurement plan to buy dozens of new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets. However, another report says, that the Opposition's commitment is not absolute. The opposition coalition Liberal National is pitted against the incumbent Labor for power in this year's Australian election. With election-day approaching both national parties have been trying to outdo each other, demonstrating their willingness to cut government spending.
The Wall Street Journal which reported the news, says Lockheed Martin Corp will be gladdened by Opposition statement as the company is already reeling under major defence budget cutbacks at home.
"We do believe that they're the best aircraft for our future," Coalition Opposition leader Tony Abbott was reported as telling the media on Monday.
"If we want to be interoperable with our best ally, obviously it's best if we're using that same aircraft."
However, the Guardian, in another report, says, that the Opposition has abandoned a long-standing promise to buy long-range unmanned surveillance drones, Global Hawk, which it once said were essential for watching over Australia's vast lands and seas
Meanwhile, on F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project, the newspaper says, Abbott indicated Opposition commitment, which he, however clarified, is not absolute. The Guardian quoted him as saying; responsible oppositions should not make commitments to multibillion dollar projects without all the information.
The Journal reported that the Australian Labor government has intentions to procure up to 100 F-35s. However, it has repeatedly complained to Washington about rising costs and delivery delays.
Australia's conservative opposition, favoured to regain power in this weekend's election, won't deviate from the Labor government's plan to buy, the Journal quoted its leader as saying.
The report says, last year, the Australian government postponed some purchases of the Lockheed fighters after China's slowing economy crimped government revenue from commodity exports.
The average price of each plane has almost doubled to US$137 million since development began in 2001, the report said.
The Journal says, "Deep U.S. budget cuts have driven Lockheed to seek alternative buyers for the new jets overseas, but it has faced setbacks."
The main focus of Australia's election campaign has been on the failing economy, an unpopular carbon tax and the rising tide of asylum seekers.
Meanwhile, Guardian said in its report that the Coalition government, if it comes to power, has promised not to make further cuts to the defence budget which Abbott said had fallen under the Labor government to 1.59% of gross domestic product (GDP). It is the lowest level since 1938. Abbott assured that within a decade, defence spending under a Coalition government would be 2% of GDP. That should come as relief for world's defence manufacturers.
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Naval Academy graduate Bill Gigliotti knows the stereotypes people conjure up when he tells them he's a test pilot.
"A guy with a flight suit," said Gigliotti, who also graduated from the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School, known as Topgun. "Throw a scarf around our necks, it's all glamorous and sexy. But that's a very small part of what our job is."
The heroic image of American test pilots goes as far back as 1938, when Clark Gable flew a fictitious experimental flight on an aircraft known as a B-17 bomber. Other films, such as Tom Cruise's "Top Gun," added "reckless" and "cocky" to the descriptions.
But Gigliotti and other pilots who are instrumental in developing the nation's next-generation warfighter -- Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II -- are nothing like "Iceman" and "Maverick."
Instead, they are an unusual combination of nerdy engineer and brave trailblazer.
"We have a drive and sense of exploring the unknown and helping to be a part of a bigger thing, in making things better from that engineering standpoint," said Alan Norman, the F-35's chief test pilot at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth.
Norman holds two engineering degrees, one of them a doctorate in electrical engineering.
For much of the past decade, the F-35's development has been plagued by technical setbacks and cost overruns. Test pilots have been at the forefront of fixing problems in the program, which Pentagon leaders recently said is back on track.
Engineering knowledge is key for test pilots, who must understand the intricate layers of wires and systems that control the aircraft before they can troubleshoot.
The pilots push the capabilities of the combat plane to the max, then provide information to design engineers and production employees so they can make improvements.
"The test pilot is the one who bridges the gap between the people who design the plane and the people who fly the plane," said Gigliotti, who is also based in Fort Worth.
When the F-35 program was launched more than a decade ago, the Pentagon had ambitious goals and a vision to replace existing fighters with fifth-generation combat planes.
The charge was to build three versions of the F-35 at once. One version, with Marine missions in mind, was required to execute a short takeoff and a vertical landing. A lighter version with an internal cannon would be used by the Air Force. The third version, for the Navy, would be modified for carrier landings.
It was also decided that the plane be tested and produced at the same time, a methodology called "concurrency."
But simultaneously building and testing three versions of the same aircraft proved to be much more complicated than expected.
In 2010, the Pentagon reset up the program's cost projections and shifted the financial risk to Lockheed. Today, the three test pilots interviewed by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said, the jet is performing more consistently.
"When the airplane has a problem . it behaves as predicted and comes back safely," said Marine Lt. Col. Ty "O.D." Bachmann, who mentors future F-35 pilots and test-flies the plane at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. "It's really good news."
Meanwhile, other fighter jet issues -- such as problems with the oxygen system in Lockheed's F-22 Raptor -- haven't been reported on the F-35, Bachmann said.
"The Marine Corps is confident and poised to push the F-35 to the next generation battle space," he said. "I think that's really important (to say) at a time when dollars are kind of slim."
The pilots say the F-35 will be ready for battle and its pilots will be well-trained. "It's probably the easiest aircraft ever flown," Gigliotti said.
Unlike its predecessors, the F-35 is equipped with battlefield data, via integrated sensors and fused missions systems, that can predict an enemy's next move, the pilots said.
The aircraft's sensors amplify the user's "situation awareness," a military theory that dates back to Sun Tzu's "The Art of War."
"SA" is also described as the "ace factor" -- an observation skill that enables a pilot to anticipate an enemy's next move a fraction of a second before the enemy can observe or anticipate the pilot's own move.
"To the pilot, it's intuitive," Norman said. "It's a visual environment . and the pilot gets all the information they need."
The F-35's pilot wears a special helmet that displays flight data.
"We don't have to look down at a dashboard anymore," Bachmann said. "That information is represented on the heads-up display that we have. . We can see the information in front of us, and we can see it at night and night looks like day.
"We have cameras and sensors around the plane that can see."
“Round up the usual suspects” deadpans Claude Rains as the police chief in the classic movie Casablanca. The same happens when Washington experts propose budget cuts at the Pentagon.
Because it is a large international program with a large price tag, the first to be dragged through the door by critics is the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. For example, some respected analysts suggest cutting the program in half, from 2,450 F-35s for the U.S. to about 1,200 F-35s. Others propose ending the F-35 program entirely.
This is scary and wrong. Deep cuts to F-35 will leave the U.S. (and allies) ill-prepared for future contingencies.
“Whether you are competing against a single airplane or competing against a system on the ground, [the F-35] allows us to operate in places we could not before and complete the mission we’ve been assigned,” says General Mark Welsh, who should know. He flew combat missions in Operation Desert Storm and is now Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Admiral Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, says of the F-35: “we need its stealth, we need the advanced electronic warfare sensors, the weapons and perhaps more importantly, the command and control capability that this aircraft brings.”
They’re right. Yet chatter about deep cuts to the F-35 continues even as the program has stabilized and production costs are coming down. It’s alarming because it suggests Pentagon leaders still have not fully connected with taxpayers and lawmakers as to why and how the F-35 is vital to national security.
Picture this. You are flying combat air patrol near the South China Sea in the 2020s. Suddenly your GPS goes out. Your favorite datalink to other aircraft and ships floods with confusing signals. Your cockpit radar is a grey blur. The air operations center drops offline in a cyber attack.
You are experiencing a first-wave information attack, probably by China.
A RAND report warned China’s military is on track to be far more sophisticated than the Soviet Union ever was. Chinese military doctrine promotes a broad information warfare assault that could yank away traditional American advantages. Cyberspace attacks are part of that, but expect megawatt power jamming, fried satellite communications and disruption of sensors, networks and command and control also. China’s information warfare strategy aims to blind and confuse, stripping U.S. forces of the tremendous information advantage they’ve enjoyed for so long.
Only the F-35 can deal with all of this.
F-16s and F-18s and all the other 1970s-design fighters are marvelous aircraft, but they don’t bring enough advantages to cope with the problems from here on out. Back to you, in the future cockpit. What you need is the F-35’s mix of electronic warfare capability, sensors in the infrared, protected communications and in-flight data links that can’t be hijacked, and other tools to comb through the haze that adversaries will throw at you.
The F-35 has them, plus room to grow. Down the road it might even host laser weapons. That’s why it is a top priority and should not be cut.
And yes, numbers matter.
China today has over 1,300 fighters capable of carrying advanced weapons. The total aircraft inventory is much higher. A one-for-one match won’t hack it. The U.S. and allies need a superior ratio in the Pacific, probably more like three-to-one. Then consider air defenses, like the long-range surface-to-air missiles that can be deployed by Chinese naval ships ranging the Pacific. The fact is that U.S. forces must prepare to operate in a hostile, contested environment whether in the Pacific or elsewhere.
Add to that other commitments around the world; stability in the Middle East. partnership in Europe, homeland defense. Aircraft are also set aside for training, testing, and a reserve for the inevitable crashes and accidents. Long-term, the number of F-35s needed probably is about 2,450.
What’s clear right now is the F-35 is not a short-term fix for deficit reduction or the sequester impasse. As most experts know, even deep cuts over 20 years won’t save much upfront. But what is equally clear is that if the U.S hopes to prevail on the battlefield of the not-too-distant future, the F-35 should be fully funded.
Grant is president of IRIS Independent Research, a public-policy research organization in Washington, D.C. She is the author of numerous articles on defense and national security strategy and an aerospace consultant. She is not a consultant on the F-35.
Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and the Pentagon are said to be at odds over a deal for the of Lockheed martin F-35 JSF (Joint Strike Fighter). The following 408-word report sheds light on the subject and tells what about the nature of differences between Emir Tamim and the Pentagon. It also tells what about the reaction of Lockheed Martin.
Chinese hackers caught trying to steal secrets of our new stealth fighter as tens of thousands of cyber attacks are launched on jet manufacturer every week
Lockheed Martin said it was being targeted by hackers from China
Company is building new Joint Strike Fighter which is 'invisible' on radar
Team of 'young geeks' battling against cyber attacks at British base
By Sean Rayment
PUBLISHED: 2 11 May 2013 | UPDATED: 11 May 2013
Chinese cyber spies have been caught trying to steal the secrets of Britain’s most sophisticated combat jet, The Mail on Sunday has learned.
A covert unit within the Chinese Army has been using highly sophisticated cyber weapons in a desperate attempt to acquire classified information about the stealthy Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin claims it is thwarting tens of thousands of computer attacks every week to keep secure secrets about the jet – due to be in service with the Royal Navy and RAF by 2018.
Cutting edge: An F-35 fighter taking shape. Each of the jets costs £100million
Cutting edge: An F-35 fighter taking shape. Each of the jets costs £100million
Invisible: The Joint Strike Fighter can fool radar systems due to its shape which makes it hard to detect
Invisible: The Joint Strike Fighter can fool radar systems due to its shape which makes it hard to detect
Hackers: Lockheed Martin is receiving tens of thousands of cyber attacks from China every week (file photo)
Hackers: Lockheed Martin is receiving tens of thousands of cyber attacks from China every week (file photo)
The defence giant has recruited some of Britain’s brightest ‘young geeks’ to help thwart the attacks, based in a secure area of the company’s counter-cyber headquarters in Farnborough, Hampshire.
A source said: ‘We have recruited a very strong team of young computer engineers who are basically experts in counter-cyber. They are effectively all geeks and spend much of their time war-gaming against the Chinese.
‘They allow the foreign hackers through the first few security levels and then can work out, through a process of reverse engineering, where the attacks are originating.
‘It’s the same country every time – China. The Chinese try to disguise what they are doing but their guys are not as good as ours.’
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U.S accuses China of cyber-spying on government computers
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The JSF can fly into enemy territory and attack targets with precision-guided weapons without being detected – a capability which is said to terrify Chinese generals.
The aircraft is coated with a special paint and has a stealthy design which means it is almost completely invisible to radar.
The Chinese government is understood to have developed a sophisticated ‘exfiltration cyber weapon’ which can steal information by secretly downloading computer files.
MI5, Britain’s security service, and America’s FBI both believe the cyber attacks against Lockheed Martin originate from a secret cell within the China’s People’s Liberation Army.
Big business: Lockheed Martin is the world's largest defence contracting company
Big business: Lockheed Martin is the world's largest defence contracting company
The unit is understood to be staffed by hundreds of English-speaking computer experts whose sole job is to steal information from the US and Britain.
But despite the weight of evidence supporting the claims, the Chinese government denies any knowledge of the unit’s existence and refutes all allegations that it is involved in cyber espionage.
The latest allegations of Chinese cyber theft follow a report last week from the US defence department, which accused the Chinese of launching attacks on Pentagon computers.
In the report, officials said: ‘In 2012 numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the US government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military.’
The JSF can reach 1,300mph and has a range of 1,450 miles, making it faster and more capable than any Chinese fighter.
The jet’s invisibility – called ‘Very Low Observable’ or VLO stealth – is achieved through its shape which is designed to dramatically reduce detection by enemy aircraft and defence systems.
'State sponsored': Both MI5 and the FBI suspect the Chinese Government may be behind the attacks, something it denies
'State sponsored': Both MI5 and the FBI suspect the Chinese Government may be behind the attacks, something it denies
The JSF’s hull is made from advanced materials whose formula is classified, and it is coated with a special paint which also reduces its radar reflection.
The aircraft’s advanced electronic warfare capabilities mean it can locate and track enemy forces, jam radio frequencies and disrupt attacks – allowing it to reach highly-defended targets while suppressing enemy radar detection.
Each pilot is fitted with a special helmet and visor which shows all of the aircraft’s data and provides a 360-degree view of the battle space.
Inside the cockpit, there is speech recognition so that a pilot can talk to the JSF – and the aircraft talks back.The jet also has a glass screen digital instrument panel that the pilot can touch to pull up data – similar to that used on smartphones.
Both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force will be equipped with the £100 million F-35B version of the JSF, known as the jump jet or short take-off/vertical landing (SVTOL) model, which can hover or land by itself at the press of a button.
Such advanced features and instrumentation explain why Lockheed Martin want to safeguard the jet’s secrets.
British base: Lockheed Martin's counter-cyber headquarters are in Farnborough, Hampshire
British base: Lockheed Martin's counter-cyber headquarters are in Farnborough, Hampshire
Most of the UK geeks fighting the attacks are graduates of Coventry University’s forensic computing masters degree.
Dr Siraj Shaikh, senior lecturer in cyber security at Coventry, said his students were particularly attractive to the defence industry because of their skills in ‘ethical hacking’ and ‘penetration prevention’ techniques.
Dr Shaikh said: ‘We know that sophisticated “exfiltration cyber weapons” are being used against companies like Lockheed Martin.
‘These types of cyber weapons are used by countries or organisations attempting to steal secret information. These attacks are extremely sophisticated and are nearly always state-sponsored.’
A spokesman for Lockheed Martin said: ‘We recognise the significance of the F-35 programme and the fact that it – along with many of our other programmes – faces constant threats from adversaries around the world.
‘We regularly take actions to increase the security of our systems and to protect our employee, customer and programme data.’
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Pilots at the Pentagon's first Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter training unit at Eglin AFB, Florida, are gearing up to start an updated training syllabus that incorporates more of the jet's advanced avionics.
While F-35 students and instructors at the base currently use the rudimentary Block 1B configuration in their aircraft, later this year, the 33rd Fighter Wing will transition to operating the more advanced Block 2A configuration.
"We are going to transition to a Block 2A syllabus here in the late fall and early into next spring as we get the jets upgraded," says US Air Force Col Stephen Jost, commander of the 33rd Operations Group. The upgraded aircraft also means that the base's F-35 simulators and academic course have to be updated to incorporate the new systems.
As such, the F-35 Block 2A transition course will include flying three additional sorties over the current syllabus, which includes six flights. Those additional sorties will focus on using the F-35's Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL), which will enable pilots at the base to conduct more realistic tactical training in the F-35 for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.
"That will become operational with the 2A software, and so that is one of the key enablers that allows us to expand our mission set," Jost says.
Jost says that the Block 2A software is also expected to allow the F-35 fleet at Eglin AFB to operate at night. Pilots at the joint USAF, US Navy and Marine Corps operated fighter wing are also hoping for the release of additional flight envelope clearances. "We are hoping to get some relief on the flight controls," Jost says.
The expanded flight envelope - which will be released as test pilots put the three versions of the F-35 through its paces - should allow operational pilots to fly at higher angles of attack and possibly greater g-forces. The flight envelope currently released for training is severely restricted.
Jost could not offer any specific information on exactly how much of the F-35's flight envelope will be cleared for the pilots at the wing to use because such releases are often varied and incremental in nature.
The updated Block 2A syllabus will start clearing the way for the USMC to declare the short take-off and vertical landing(STOVL) F-35B variant of the jet operational in July 2015 with a Block 2B configuration. The USAF will declare the F-35A operational a year later in 2016 with the Block 3i configuration - which is the same software as Block 2B, but hosted on an upgraded computer system.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) expects to complete construction of its new manufacturing facility to produce wings for the Lockheed Martin F-35 by mid-2014.
Building work commenced on the factory earlier this year following an agreement between the two companies, although the schedule for completion has been advanced under technical supervision by Lockheed personnel. The site will eventually produce 811 wing pairs for the Joint Strike Fighter.
Flightglobal visited the site in mid-August, when workers were completing the wing production floors.
IAI's contribution to the programme is part of an offset deal stemming from Israel's decision to purchase an initial 20 examples of the F-35A for its air force.
IAI expects to begin production of the wings for the stealthy fighter in 2015, with the first shipsets destined for Israel's fighters.
The company's contract with Lockheed Martin covers 10-15 years of production and could be worth as much as $2.5 billion.
Israel has expressed its intention to purchase as many as 75 F-35s.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme has had a significant impact on the UK defence industry benefitting companies across the supply chain, sustaining high skilled engineering jobs and generating export revenues, according to the UK’s defence procurement minister.
‘The JSF programme is the largest defence programme today and for a long way to come, sustaining 24,000 jobs across the supply chain for the coming 25 years,’ Philip Dunne, minister for defence equipment, support and technology, told reporters at DSEI on 12 September.
Steve O’Brien, Lockheed Martin’s vice president of the JSF programme, added: ‘More than 500 UK suppliers will supply 15% of each F-35 produced.’
In addition to large OEMs such as BAE Systems and Rolls Royce, many SMEs in the supply chain are benefitting from the programme.
UK industry is responsible for various F-35 components including the aft fuselage, fuel system and crew escape system.
Three F-35 test aircraft have already been delivered and procurement of a fourth one is under consideration.
It remains unclear how many aircraft will be ordered initially to equip the RAF’s No 617 Squadron. ‘The first order will be placed in the next months,’ Dunne said, adding that the cost of the aircraft is ‘now coming in less than in our planning’.
‘Unit prices have dropped by 55% since the first F-35 production due to developed efficiencies in the supply chain,’ O’Brien said.
The UK originally planned to procure 138 aircraft, but a final number will not be confirmed until 2015.
Northrop Grumman has begun company-funded development of a Directed Infrared Countermeasures (Dircm) system for fast jets, anticipating a requirement to protect the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter from heat-seeking air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles.
“We believe the requirement is there, and coming quickly, and that the first opportunity will be on the F-35,” says Jeff Palombo, senior vice president and general manager of Northrop’s land and self-protection systems division.
Northrop plans to begin testing a prototype of the Threat Nullification Defensive Resource (ThNDR) system in its system-integration laboratory by year’s end, he revealed at a briefing in Washington Sept. 12.
The timing for development of a laser missile jammer to equip the F-35 “is still in question,” Palombo says, “but we want to get out in front of the requirement.”
Northrop has supplied more than 3.000 Dircms to protect large aircraft and helicopters against heat-seeking missiles by directing a modulated laser beam into the seeker head to confuse its guidance.
A Dircm is not part of the requirements for the initial, Block 3-standard F-35 now in development. But draft requirements already exist and Northrop says a laser jammer is now expected to be part of the scheduled Block 5 update.
The system must meet low-observability (LO) requirements and be packaged to fit in a restricted space available inside the F-35. But it will have a smaller, more-powerful laser than current Dircm systems and require liquid cooling, Palombo says.
The ThNDR, which includes the laser, beam steering and LO window, is packaged to fit inside volume available alongside sensors for the F-35’s distributed aperture system (DAS). There would be two jam heads, one on top and one underneath the aircraft to provide spherical coverage with minimal change to the outer mold line.
The DAS, which has six infrared sensors located to provide a 360-deg. view around the aircraft, would provide missile warning, detecting and declaring incoming threats and cueing the pointer/tracker, or jam head.
Beyond the stealthy F-35 and Lockheed Martin F-22, Northrop sees requirements for a podded version to protect aircraft such as the Boeing F-15 and Lockheed F-16. “It can be put in a self-contained pod, and it can be air-cooled,” Palombo says.
Tests in the system-integration lab will look at challenges such as the high-speed hand-off of targets between the upper and lower jam heads as the F-35 rolls at rates of up to 170-deg./sec., he says.
Northrop is evaluating lasers from three suppliers, and looking at quantum cascade laser (QCL) technology. Offering lower cost and higher reliability, QCLs are used for the first time in the compact Common Infrared Countermeasures (Circm) system under development to equip U.S. Army helicopters.
The competitive technology-development phase for Circm is scheduled to end early in 2014. A request for information for the engineering and manufacturing development phase has been issued, and a request for proposals is anticipated early in 2014, Palombo says.
