What is up with the F-35? Part II

[JRT]

Still looks like the F-35 is under-performing in terms of readiness & maintenance costs compared to other platforms. I assume there is still some prospect of improvement over the next few years? Or is that a forlorn hope?

GE are developing and promoting an engine upgrade (XA100) which promises improved cooling of onboard electronics, as well as improved engine durability, improved fuel efficiency, and increased thrust. P&W are developing and promoting a competing product (XA101).

Also, the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider reportedly uses the P&W F135 which is currently used in the F-35, so maybe that too will get a better engine if a better engine gets funded into production for use in F-35A/C.

[Monash]

Still looks like the F-35 is under-performing in terms of readiness & maintenance costs compared to other platforms. I assume there is still some prospect of improvement over the next few years? Or is that a forlorn hope?

[JRT]

Enjoy.
Availability and Use of F-35 Fighter Aircraft

Congressional Budget Office, April 7, 2022

CBO examines the availability and use of DoD’s F-35 fighter aircraft. This report includes findings about fleet sizes, availability rates, time spent in depot-level maintenance, flying hours, and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57842

Is there a better thread for this?

Here.

[Albany Rifles]

Without getting yourself into hot water, can you elaborate on that? Was this a "too many cooks in the kitchen situation"? By god that was certainly the case with the basic JSF concept (CTOL/STOVL/CATOBAR all crammed into a common airframe).

Poor system engineering

Ignoring Acquisition Logisticians who told PM that they were accepting too many risks in integrating software systems

Good idea fairies allowed to run free

Poor business management practices

Those 4 phrases are a distillation of about a 2 week Defense Acquisition University class

[TopHatter]

Lockheed Martin beats its F-35 delivery goal for 2021

Been saying for quite awhile...once they took a scythe to the PM office for the F-35 they would end up with a competent government partner with industry to get a game changing weapon system to the Force. So many of our best practices in Acquisition are the result of what we learned from the early fiascoes of the F-35 office.

Without getting yourself into hot water, can you elaborate on that? Was this a "too many cooks in the kitchen situation"? By god that was certainly the case with the basic JSF concept (CTOL/STOVL/CATOBAR all crammed into a common airframe).

[Albany Rifles]

Lockheed Martin beats its F-35 delivery goal for 2021

Been saying for quite awhile...once they took a scythe to the PM office for the F-35 they would end up with a competent government partner with industry to get a game changing weapon system to the Force. So many of our best practices in Acquisition are the result of what we learned from the early fiascoes of the F-35 office.

[TopHatter]

Lockheed Martin beats its F-35 delivery goal for 2021

(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin delivered a total of 142 F-35 fighter jets to the United States and its allies, three more than originally planned, the world's largest defense contractor said on Monday.

The company was expected to deliver between 133 and 139 jets in 2021.

Last year, two new countries – Switzerland and Finland – selected Lockheed's F-35 for their new fighter jet programs. The company added that Denmark received its first F-35 in 2021 and the Royal Netherlands Air Force became the eighth nation to declare their F-35 fleet ready for initial operational capability.

Finland in December said it planned to order 64 F-35 fighter jets with weapons systems in a $9.4 billion deal. Earlier last year, Switzerland had picked Lockheed's F-35A Lightning II as its next-generation fighter jet.

In 2022, Lockheed plans to deliver 151 to 153 of the fighter aircraft, fewer than the 169 jets it had hoped to deliver. The weapons maker also said it was expecting to deliver 156 aircraft to the U.S. beginning 2023 and for the "foreseeable future".

The U.S. government is Lockheed's biggest customer, accounting for three quarters of its sales last year.
_________

[kato]

Italy took over Baltic Air Policing from Germany at the turn of the month - deploying F-35A to the Russian border for the first time for that. BAP deployments are usually for 8 months. The Italian Air Force has previously deployed F-35 in NATO Air Policing over the North Atlantic, from Iceland.

The US has so far only had short visits of F-35, in 2017 to Estonia and 2019 to Lithuania.

[Officer of Engineers]

What gets me is how pissy-whimpsy everyone has gotten. We make a big deal about FONOPS. The Chinese are bellyaching. The Russians are warning us. Back in our day (Dinosaurs speaking now), these things MIGHT make it to page 6 in the local paper, right behind the SUNSHINE GIRL. We saw 4 T-72s at a Berlin checkpoint. Whoopee do. A Russian army doing drills 100 miles from the Ukrainian border and everyone is crying rape.

This is a Big Boys Game with Big Boys Rules and a Big Boys Rule is don't bellyache about things being unfair.

[Albany Rifles]

Oh, it gets better. Canada has been doing FONOPS also. Two years ago, Chinese fighters buzzed two Canadian Frigates. The Chinese actually complained that the Canadians had the gall to turn on their AD radars and practised AD drills.

Play stupid games....

[Officer of Engineers]

Man, are the Chinese going to have a hissy fit about this one. Now the British. Well, tough cookies...

Oh, it gets better. Canada has been doing FONOPS also. Two years ago, Chinese fighters buzzed two Canadian Frigates. The Chinese actually complained that the Canadians had the gall to turn on their AD radars and practised AD drills.

[tbm3fan]

[SIZE=18px]
In addition to the 65,000 metric ton British carrier, the CSG with which the US Marines will be operating will include the British destroyers HMS Diamond and Defender, frigates HMS Richmond and Kent, support ships Fort Victoria and Tidespring, and a submarine.

A Dutch frigate and American destroyer will also be a part of the group.

The CSG, which will also include more than 30 aircraft, will be the largest fleet of Royal Navy ships to deploy abroad since the Falklands War.

The deployment is expected to take the group into the Indo-Pacific region, likely through contested waterways like the South China Sea, where China routinely bristles at US aircraft carrier operations. The plan is for the strike group to visit Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and India, among other nations.

UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Monday that "when our Carrier Strike Group sets sail next month, it will be flying the flag for Global Britain."

He said the CSG will be "projecting our influence, signaling our power, engaging with our friends and reaffirming our commitment to addressing the security challenges of today and tomorrow."

'"The UK," he said, "is not stepping back but sailing forth to play an active role in shaping the international system of the 21st century."
________

That's pretty damn impressive...

Man, are the Chinese going to have a hissy fit about this one. Now the British. Well, tough cookies...

[Albany Rifles]

Room temperature beer?

Beats the temperature of the beer aboard US Navy vessels.

[Officer of Engineers]

I wonder if the Wake Island Avengers are going to be able to avail themselves of the bar when aboard?!

Room temperature beer?

[Albany Rifles]

I wonder if the Wake Island Avengers are going to be able to avail themselves of the bar when aboard?!