F-35 - International Participation

Bonplan

New Member
The Moderators have noted your nationalistic posts both here and elsewhere on the Internet and nationalistic posts are not allowed.

You had better up the quality of your posts or your time on here will be very short indeed.
If the only way to stay here is to praise blindly the F-35, it will be an issue indeed.

You have not heeded the rules. One liner posts, nationalistic rhetoric and trolling are simply not tolerated. That is the issue.

MrConservative (Moderator)
 

OPSSG

Super Moderator
Staff member
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #684
Norway and Italy’s efforts to mature the F-35 platform.

1. An interview with LTC Martin Tesli on Norway’s view of their F-35As and the 3,500 hours flown by their pilots.
He explains how the aircraft has evolved over the years, from limited to 3Gs, to now flying at the full 9Gs envelop.

2. Explaining Norway’s view of the F-35A landing in winter, snow, and their use of the Drag Chute in the past year.

3. It is interesting how instructor pilots look at simple things during routine training, like using the Drag Chute, as a means to maintain capability.

4. In July 2020, the first Italian Navy’s F-35B assigned to the GRUPAER unit landed for the first time on the ITS Cavour in the Mediterranean sea. In order to accommodate the fifth generation STOVL aircraft, the Cavour was subjected at the Arsenale Militare Marittimo of Taranto to modifications and enhancements in addition to platform and propulsion overhaul, based on a contract awarded by Italian MoD Naval Armaments Directorate (NAVARM) in April 2018 to Fincantieri.

5. The most visible were the application of a deck coating suited to withstand the extreme temperatures emanated by the F-35B’s engines. All areas of the flight deck involved in F-35B activities (around 4,200 square meters) have been coated with a thermal metal spray capable of resisting temperatures of up to 1,500° C. The flight deck has been reinforced in correspondence of landing spot 2, 3, 4 and 5 with metal structures added underneath each spot in order to withstand the thermodynamic payloads associated with the aircraft engine exhausts. The thermodynamic stress was evaluated based on eight consecutive landings on the same spot at a distance of 120 seconds from each other.

6. The Cavour was equipped with a Special Access Program Facility (SAPF) area for aircraft mission planning, briefing, debriefing, protected by high security systems, as well as the automated logistic information system (ALIS), which integrates a broad range of F-35B data to enhance the jet operational availability. In order to support the higher data transfer required by this system, one of the ship’s SATCOM systems was enhanced.

7. Among other Cavour modifications, the two-tonne overhead crane in the hangar’s jet engine workshop has been replaced by a four-tonne safe working load crane suited to handling the heavier F-35B engines and lift-fans, the hangar having received new wall supports for aircraft bomb racks and missile launchers alongside compartment enhancement for flight personnel equipment. The aircraft carrier electrical distribution system was also modified based on the F-35B needs with the introduction of new transformers and converters while the platform gensets were overhauled for performance recovery.
 
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John Newman

The Bunker Group
The latest update from the f35.com website:


As at 1 October 2021:

* 705+ aircraft delivered
* 443,000 flight hours
* 1485+ pilots trained
* 11,200+ maintainers trained
* 251,425 sorties
Another update from f35.com:


As at 1 December 2021:

* 730+ aircraft delivered
* 463,000 flight hours
* 1535+ pilots trained
* 11,500+ maintainers trained
* 267,263 sorties
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
The Finnish Air Force would be the 19th air Arm to select the F-35 and hopefully common sense emerges in Canada to become the 20th.
Not bad for the worst Combat Aircraft of all time:rolleyes:
Common sense and Canadian military procurement in the same sentence….hmm. We can only hope. New thought on the recent SH rejection. It might be a gradual approach to the eventual F-35 win, sort of junior’s we rejected one unsuitable bid and then reject the Saab bid a month or two later after an “exhausting evaluation” then announce the F-35. A real image move that should pacify the fools that fell for his “no F-35” promise.
 

FormerDirtDart

Well-Known Member
Rumours emerging that Finland has chosen the F35 as their next fighter. Watch this space.

Rumors no more, it's official
Personnel start training in US in 2025
First aircraft delivered in 2026
Finnish Hornet fleet replaced between 2028 and 2030

 

John Newman

The Bunker Group
And another win for LM and the F-35.

The spotlight is now well and truly on the Canucks to go back down the F-35 path.

What could possibly go wrong?
 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Rumors no more, it's official
Personnel start training in US in 2025
First aircraft delivered in 2026
Finnish Hornet fleet replaced between 2028 and 2030
64 is a good sized fleet. From memory that's two nations in Scandinavia operating the F-35 now.
 

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
B model has higher acquisition and operating costs. You give up range/fuel and weapons payload.

Finland has the population/economy the size of New Zealand. 64 F-35A is a very capable force. There are lots of roads/airports/military bases in Europe. Singapore has literally one major airport and could be disabled by a single bomber attack. Or even an accident.

Finland is much larger than Singapore. Finland is ~500 times larger than Singapore. Singapore had ordered ~4 F-35B's and hopes to get ~16. Finland hopes to operate 64 F-35's. The Finnish competition valued running costs highly, throwing the F-35B in there would have failed badly.

The Finnish order really makes me think some forces have too few of aircraft. Now that the F-35 is maturing they might revisit their numbers and plan for a greater acquisition.
 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
The Finns also have a neighbour who has invaded them more than once. The last time was in 1940. They were lucky in 1945 that Stalin didn't absorb them into the USSR. As it was they lost territory to him; the territory he tried to take in 1940, plus a bit more.
 

swerve

Super Moderator
As said, Finland doesn't have the same space constraints as Singapore. It doesn't have many people but it's almost as big as Germany, & bigger than Italy, Poland or the UK. In terms of US states, between New Mexico & Montana, or like New York & Nebraska combined.

And IIRC the Finns have something similar to the Swedish model of austere dispersal bases.
 

Vivendi

Well-Known Member
64 is a good sized fleet. From memory that's two nations in Scandinavia operating the F-35 now.
One operating, one working up to delivery, one selected but not yet ordered: Norway, Denmark (1st rolled out March 2021), Finland.
OT: Locally, Scandinavia is defined as Norway, Denmark and Sweden (very similar languages and cultures). Finland is a Nordic country. We define the Nordic countries as Scandinavia + Finland and Iceland.

Outside of Scandinavia, "Scandinavia" is often used to describe either the Nordic countries, or Scandinavia + Finland (i.e., Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland), but sometimes also used to describe Denmark, Sweden and Norway (i.e., as we do locally). Confusing, I know :)

Scandinavia - Wikipedia
 

Ananda

The Bunker Group

Gent's How credible this is ? If we see the article, seems US agree to give LM go ahead for different 'variant' of 'export' F-35. Perhaps a variant that not interconnected toward US network.

However if this's reliable, then perhaps US found a way to give F-35 to customers like UAE something that not fully as capable with US and main allies F-35. F-35 capabilities as we know also derived on fully utilising US network. Could it selling F-35 without full access from the users on the network something found as middle ground ?


LM FB shown more active posting on F-35, which in my book shown more promotional effort. Will this 'export' variant is something they want to prepare for F-16 customers that are not US main allies circle ? They're doing similar pattern before with F-16.
 
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