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What is up with the F-35? Part II

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  • Originally posted by jlvfr View Post
    Double ouch: hurts and can't see info...
    makes one wonder why, if its been known for awhile, they are waiting till now to address. or were they just not aware of how serious it was?

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    • Originally posted by bfng3569 View Post
      makes one wonder why, if its been known for awhile, they are waiting till now to address. or were they just not aware of how serious it was?
      I'm guessing the problem ony really became serious when they starting doing a lot of catapulted flights, rather than ground based testing...

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      • Also, the problem could simply be addressed by loading planes heavier, which is probably the operational solution until things are fixed.

        Lt. Gen Bowden specifically noted that this was only a problem at very light loading weights. Of course, this completely escaped the chicken littles in the online press for reasons that are not hard to fathom.
        Last edited by citanon; 06 Jan 17,, 22:11.

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        • http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Sec...3671484149028/

          'IWAKUNI, Japan, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. Marines have relocated the first operational F-35B Lightning II squadron from a base in Arizona to Japan.

          The relocation makes the Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Japan, the first location to receive the branch's F-35 variant as part of the plane's worldwide deployment capability.

          Defense News reports 10 F-35Bs from the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121, or VMFA-121, departed for Japan, and an additional six are scheduled to join them at a later date.

          In a statement, the Marine Corps hailed the event as a milestone for the F-35 program. The relocation follows the final testing period for the 5th-generation fighter, in which Marine Corps pilots operated F-35Bs in Developmental Test III and the Lightning Carrier Proof of Concept Demonstration aboard the USS America in October 2016.

          The F-35B was designed by Lockheed Martin and other industry partners to combine short takeoff and vertical landing with stealth capabilities. The Marines plan to use the fifth-generation fighter to replace its legacy fleet of F/A-18 Hornets, A-10 Thunderbolts, and various other aircraft.

          Other operators include Italy and Britain.

          The Air Force is expected to become the next U.S. armed service to make an international deployment with its F-35 variant, and is eyeing a relocation to Europe.'

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          • Meanwhile the support software seems to have severe problems, and it's delayed again...

            ALIS v3.0 (the release version) is now set to be delivered in “mid-2018,” a slip of six months from its previous introduction date.

            In many instances, maintainers must attempt to synch several PMAs [portable maintenance aids – the laptops] with an aircraft before finding one that will successfully connect.

            And this paragraph left me with a serious feeling of "wtf": Controversially, it also sends each jet’s history back to the US, regardless of which country actually owns that aircraft – though Lockheed has promised it won’t read the pilots’ names.

            So... any F-35 client better not do any covert ops with them...

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            • Yes operators of the F-35 are like monitored employees with computers. While those with 4th Generation aircraft have the freedom of using a typewriter. Technology is a tricky thing.

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              • Originally posted by bfng3569 View Post
                makes one wonder why, if its been known for awhile, they are waiting till now to address. or were they just not aware of how serious it was?

                To find a truly effective fix engineers often need a lot of data to model solutions. Full Operational Testing is where a lot of this data comes from and solutions are determined. It helps refine the trouble set down to a manageable level and realistic and sustainment solutions can be worked out.


                Originally posted by jlvfr View Post
                Meanwhile the support software seems to have severe problems, and it's delayed again...

                ALIS v3.0 (the release version) is now set to be delivered in “mid-2018,” a slip of six months from its previous introduction date.

                In many instances, maintainers must attempt to synch several PMAs [portable maintenance aids – the laptops] with an aircraft before finding one that will successfully connect.

                And this paragraph left me with a serious feeling of "wtf": Controversially, it also sends each jet’s history back to the US, regardless of which country actually owns that aircraft – though Lockheed has promised it won’t read the pilots’ names.

                So... any F-35 client better not do any covert ops with them...
                Said it once and I'll say it again and again...the most difficult thing in systems deployment in software integration. It is brutally hard. I'll take a 6 - 9 month delay which leads to many years of success.
                “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
                Mark Twain

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                • In regard to F-35's possibly being based in Montgomery, Al., there is an Air National Guard squadron currently operating F-16's at Dannelly Field.

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                  • Originally posted by Albany Rifles View Post

                    Said it once and I'll say it again and again...the most difficult thing in systems deployment in software integration. It is brutally hard. I'll take a 6 - 9 month delay which leads to many years of success.
                    that's something no one pays attention to in the news, except on the F-35. Look at all the uproar about the 35 not being able to use all the latest and greatest weapons.

                    Until last year the F-22 wasn't able to use the AIM-9X. Something every other fighter in the US has had for over 10 years. And its a jury rigged system. And still no helmet mounted cueing system

                    http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the...hal-ever-15434

                    At long last, the United States Air Force has started to field the AIM-9X Sidewinder high off-boresight (HOBS) missile onboard the stealthy Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.

                    Until now, America’s premier air superiority fighter had been equipped with the antiquated AIM-9M version of the missile. The lack of a HOBS missile put the $140 million stealth fighter at a severe disadvantage in a visual range dogfight with other aircraft.

                    “Every aspect about this missile, it's a huge capability increase in all facets,” explained Lt. Col. David Skalicky, commander of the 90th Fighter Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.

                    “We can employ it in more scenarios, at greater range, and reach edges of the envelope we would have had a more difficult time reaching with the AIM-9M,” Skalicky said. “Similar to how the F-22 is a generation beyond the fighters that came before it, the 9X is a generation beyond the previous Sidewinder missiles we used before. It's a huge advance in lethality for the F-22.”

                    The F-22 Raptor units of the 3rd Wing—which includes the 90th Fighter Squadron and the 525th Fighter Squadron—are the first to receive the AIM-9X. But units flying the F-15 and F-16, as well as the Navy and Marine Corps’ F/A-18 Hornet squadrons, have been equipped with the new weapon for years.

                    It took the Air Force more than a decade to equip the Raptor with the AIM-9X because of the F-22’s obtuse avionics architecture—which is exceptionally difficult to upgrade. Even this recent addition of the AIM-9X is a jury-rigged interim measure called Update 5, which also includes an automatic ground collision avoidance system.

                    While the new software upgrade allows Raptor pilots to take advantage of the performance of the new missile, the jet’s targeting display will not show the correct symbology for the AIM-9X. Instead, the weapon will have the same displays as the current AIM-9M and pilots will have to compensate for the difference.

                    The situation will not be rectified until a new enhanced stores management system (ESMS) is added to the frontline Block 30 and Block 35 Raptors in 2018 with the Increment 3.2B hardware upgrade. With Inc. 3.2B, the F-22 will display the proper symbology for the AIM-9X. But even then, the F-22 will not have a helmet-mounted cueing system—which was deleted during the jet’s problematic development program in the late 1990s.

                    Raptor pilots will be able take advantage of many of the superior capabilities of the AIM-9X even without a helmet-mounted cueing system. But to fully exploit the outer edges of the new Sidewinder’s greatly expanded weapons employment zone, F-22 pilots will eventually need one.

                    The Air Force demonstrated such a capability using the Thales Scorpion helmet-mounted cueing system onboard the Raptor in 2014 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. While the pilots gave the Scorpion systems a thumbs up, the service instead embarked upon a contest to field a new helmet-mounted cueing system on the powerful fifth-generation fighter by 2020.

                    The helmet that pilots don’t want is the one on the F-35—which is heavy and strains the neck during high-g maneuvers. Indeed, the Air Force’s stated requirements say that the service won’t accept any reduced field of view or any other performance degradation. “The helmet mounted assembly of the RHMD shall have a weight, center of gravity (CG) and principal moments-of-inertia that minimize risk of injurious neck loads during flight and ejection,” the Air Force requirements document states. “The helmet shall not force the pilot’s head forward, relative to the HGU-55/P, from the seat headrest.”

                    It’s only once the new helmet is fielded that the Raptor will realize its full potential. But, unfortunately for the Air Force, which had stated a requirement for 381 Raptors, only 195 F-22s—including test aircraft—were ever built. Right now, the Air Force only has 186 Raptors in its inventory, and of those only 143 are frontline combat aircraft. The breakdown is 123 combat-coded and twenty backup inventory jets according to the service’s Air Combat Command.

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                    • Clip of F-35c pilots head bouncing around on take off

                      http://www.businessinsider.com/new-f...vy-f-35-2017-1

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                      • Originally posted by bfng3569 View Post
                        Clip of F-35c pilots head bouncing around on take off

                        http://www.businessinsider.com/new-f...vy-f-35-2017-1
                        Ok... that hurts just looking...

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                        • I think the long term solution is to lengthen the nose strut.

                          But can someone tell me why the pilots are not strapped in tight? Looks like a good way to get thrown around the cockpit when maneuvering.

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                          • Originally posted by Gun Grape View Post
                            I think the long term solution is to lengthen the nose strut.

                            But can someone tell me why the pilots are not strapped in tight? Looks like a good way to get thrown around the cockpit when maneuvering.
                            There's was another article stating that strapping in to tight limited movement to the point that reaching stuff, i.e. ejection handles, would be an issue....

                            No ideasy the validity of that claim....

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                            • Originally posted by Gun Grape View Post
                              I think the long term solution is to lengthen the nose strut.

                              But can someone tell me why the pilots are not strapped in tight? Looks like a good way to get thrown around the cockpit when maneuvering.
                              The neck is very flexible and your wearing weight (a heavier helmet) on your head all above the center of gravity for the body which is strapped in.

                              They could attach the helmet by inertial reel harness to the head rest

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                              • I wonder if wearing an airbag in the shape of a neck pillow would help. After takeoff you just deflate and stow it away.

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