Can't turn, Can't climb, Can't run: F35 problems

[mnewbery]

Point taken. Not to politicise but I'm not sure they are refugees while still in their own country

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Please tell me that doesn't include the philosophy of widespread non precision bombing of Syrian civillians?

No, I was referring to the Russian preference for rugged, low maintenance aircraft.

 

 

[willedoo]

No, I was referring to the Russian preference for rugged, low maintenance aircraft.

Even though the doco has a bit of age on it, it seems to still be the case these days. Big difference since the times of that documentary would be glass cockpits, far more sophisticated weaponry and targeting ability etc..

 

There's been a couple of different Sukhois with the Su-35 designation. I've got an idea the new one in Syria recently is not the same one in the documentary.

 

Watching the Victory Day parade earlier this month, it was interesting to see the new Su-34's blowing a fair bit of black smoke with a bit of throttle on. It's always been a problem with their engines. I guess if everything will go to over the horizon contact (wishful thinking), black smoke wouldn't be an issue.

 

Cheers, Willie.

 

 

[Himat]

And a link to some of what is going on in radar development:

 

www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA506106

 

 

 

Can't turn, Can't climb, Can't run: F35 Problems

 

Lets add: Can't hide

 

 

 

New anti aircraft system are going to be fielded that minimize the adventage of STEALTH, the F35 will then have to go low level, as have been done before. But the F35 was by design not optimized for low level strike.

 

 

[Himat]

And one more paper on the impact of radar development:

 

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a515506.pdf

 

 

[fly_tornado]

The F35's stealth is only effective when not using external stores, surely you could target the aircraft carrier or airbase or refueling aircraft its going to need?

 

 

[Marty_d]

I believe you pop up on radar when you open the weapon bay doors too... and wasn't there a software problem which required the cycling of those doors in flight?

 

 

[PA.]

I believe you pop up on radar when you open the weapon bay doors too... and wasn't there a software problem which required the cycling of those doors in flight?

Problem overcome but doing this when inverted.

 

 

[Himat]

The F35's stealth is only effective when not using external stores, surely you could target the aircraft carrier or airbase or refueling aircraft its going to need?

The F35 is only really "STEALTHY" against mono static radars in the high frequency range. And the STEALT properties perform best when the radar is straight in front of the airplane. Search around and you find sources that show that there are radars that can find, track and identify the F35 at useable ranges. Radar guided air to air or surface to air missile will maybe not lock on before closer than 4nm, but if the missiles have a waypoint closer, they can still lock on.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

FA-18F

 

 

Capt. Robert Boyer, commander of Carrier Air Wing 1, launches in an F/A-18F Super Hornet from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise for an aerial change of command ceremony.US Navy Photo

 

Mission: Icons of Navy aviation, these lethal attack aircraft are used as escorts when not deployed into combat.

 

Branch: Navy

 

Other DoD component user rates: $10,507 per hour

 

All other user rates: $11,140 per hour

 

Source: US Navy, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller

 

 

 

F-35A

 

 

The first F-35A Lightning II to land at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, arrives Sept. 13, 2013.US Air Force Photo

 

Mission: The latest fifth-generation fighter designed to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons and A-10 Thunderbolt II's.

 

 

 

Branch: Air Force

 

 

 

Other DoD component user rates: $28,455 per hour

 

 

 

All other user rates: $29,685 per hour

 

 

 

Source: US Air Force, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller

 

 

 

No costs for running our F18 Growlers

 

 

 

 

 

A look into how much it costs to fly America's military planes per hour

 

 

 

We will need to shed some RAAF pilots to keep our top guns current

 

 

 

[willedoo]

Short video of a test fit with the $400,000 helmet:

 

 

 

[fly_tornado]

from Aviation Week

 

Weapons Tester Cites Further F-35 Challenges

 

The Pentagon’s top weapons tester is once again sounding the alarm over the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), warning that significant deficiencies with the aircraft’s gun, challenges integrating the short-range AIM-9X missile and unresolved software bugs could delay fielding of the fighter’s full capability.

 

On the heels of the U.S. Air Force’s milestone decision to declare the F-35A ready for war, the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation (DOT&E) is raising new concerns about Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation fighter.

 

In an internal memo to Defense Department leadership on August 9, DOT&E warned that the jet still has a long way to go before full combat capability and may run out of funds to fix significant performance problems on time if late discoveries delay the end of the program’s development phase.

 

Before kicking off a final test period that will put the F-35 in its final warfighting configuration through its paces, known as initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E), the Joint Program Office (JPO) still has a significant amount of development testing to complete and a number of problems to fix, DOT&E tells Aviation Week.

 

Still, the JPO is confident it will complete the F-35 program on time and budget, JPO Chief Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan tells Aviation Week.

 

“There were absolutely no surprises in the recent memo from the OSD Director of Operational Test and Evaluation,” Bogdan says. “Specific to the memo, the JPO has been and is currently acting on all the recommendations.”

 

 

[red750]

Report on 60 Minutes tonight. Tara Brown visited the airbase in Arizona where 2 RAAF pilots are training and testing our first F35's.

 

Comments by the pilots such as, "Those who criticise the planes have never seen them."

 

Tara Brown flew formation in an F-16 with a GoPro to film them.

 

The program will be on 9Now.com in a few days.

 

 

[kodiak74]

The trouble with taking quotes from the RAAF pilots is that it would be almost impossible for them to say anything close to a personal, honest opinion if that was contradictory to the RAAF's position on the aircraft. Essentially the guys being trained would be faced with - "here is the F-35, its going to be the aircraft your flying, do you like it ?", hard to be picky when you only have a choice of one.

 

Fast forward a couple of years to when (if ?) we get operational aircraft, and we might get a better idea (thinking of the Tiger helicopter...) of what they think.

 

And taking the reports comment further - its not the looks of the aircraft that are important, rather its ability to perform the role(s) its intended to serve, and the cost compared to other options - so far the F-35 isn't doing too well on either of those measures.

 

 

[mnewbery]

A what do army aviators say about the Tiger?

 

 

[kodiak74]

A what do army aviators say about the Tiger?

Well for starters -> http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/army-pilots-stage-mutiny-over-chopper-fears/news-story/3e05b763489080527b5943f3d8ea7ee2

 

 

[M61A1]

Well for starters -> http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/army-pilots-stage-mutiny-over-chopper-fears/news-story/3e05b763489080527b5943f3d8ea7ee2

That article says more about our Army pilots than our helicopters. And I don't mean that in a nice way.

 

 

[Methusala]

I presume that what it "says" about Army pilots is that they prefer to "breathe" rather than "suffocate". Funny, what?

 

 

[fly_tornado]

Pilots with F35 experience bound to get fast tracked for promotion and end up flying hundreds more hours than F18 pilots as they sort out the bugs. And then a lucrative contract working for LM traveling the world selling the benefits of having the F35 in the arsenal.

 

 

[red750]

I think what they meant was that the knockers haven't seen what it can do and are going on rumour. Still they are biased because they are involved. The US base commander says there is nothing to match it anywhere in the world, but of course he'd have to say that.

 

 

[red750]

On 9now.com.au now, episode 48.

 

 

[M61A1]

I presume that what it "says" about Army pilots is that they prefer to "breathe" rather than "suffocate". Funny, what?

The reality is that with the exception of one event, I would lay money on you having worse air quality in the cockpit of your Thruster.

I am familiar with the aircraft, and I am familiar with the pilots.

 

 

[M61A1]

Pilots with F35 experience bound to get fast tracked for promotion and end up flying hundreds more hours than F18 pilots as they sort out the bugs. And then a lucrative contract working for LM traveling the world selling the benefits of having the F35 in the arsenal.

You really don't understand how the defence force works.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

Self interest is the same the world over

 

 

[fly_tornado]

perhaps this is why 60 minutes fluff piece was broadcast

 

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is the most expensive military program in the world with a total cost of more than $1 trillion. Now, a new Pentagon report suggests that the futuristic fighter jet still has hundreds of deficiencies and won’t be ready for ready for full combat testing until 2019.

 

The Pentagon’s latest brutal assessment of this high-priced aircraft was part of an annual report from the Pentagon’s director of operational test and evaluation Michael Gilmore. The dossier includes a five-page evaluation of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the results of which are damning—emphasis ours:

 

The Services have designated 276 deficiencies in combat performance as “critical to correct” in Block 3F, but less than half of the critical deficiencies were addressed with attempted corrections in 3FR6.

 

That’s not all. In addition to the hundreds of flaws that have already been found in the aircraft, the Pentagon expects to keep finding more. The report specifically states that deficiencies are popping up at a steady rate—emphasis ours:

 

Deficiencies continue to be discovered at a rate of about 20 per month, and many more will undoubtedly be discovered before and during IOT&E.

 

The operational performance of the aircraft is a complete joke. The plane’s “objectionable or unacceptable flying qualities” while breaking the sound barrier are just some of the many flaws plaguing the aircraft including overheating problems and cybersecurity vulnerabilities that could lead to compromises of F-35 data.

 

The most telling sign in the Pentagon’s report is that the agency admits to ignoring many of the upcoming development tests, instead shifting focus to the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOTE) process that begins in August. By rushing through the development tests, the agency will place more emphasis on the operational testing process, which could end up causing even longer delays.

 

The report appears to admit that there is no clear path to resolving the ballooning cost of the F-35 program—emphasis ours:

 

Significant, well-documented deficiencies; for hundreds of these, the program has no plan to adequately fix and verify with flight test within SDD; although it is common for programs to have unresolved deficiencies after development, the program must assess and mitigate the cumulative effects of these remaining deficiencies on F-35 effectiveness and suitability prior to finalizing and fielding Block 3F.

 

With all of these lingering issues, it’s no wonder President-elect Donald Trump recently lashed out against the F-35 program, saying the “cost is out of control” and “billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th.”

 

http://gizmodo.com/the-f-35-amazingly-has-even-more-problems-than-we-thoug-1791285476