Amen to that, makes me want to "chuckle", HEH!, Heh! Heh!The Chinese and NoKors are going to be thrilled at the news. And it only gets better once the JASDF and RoKAF field their F-35s in the not-so-distant future.
another op-ed:Would be good to have this corroborated but it seems the USMC have undertaken their first overseas deployment with the F35B. Sounds as though the USAF may not be far behind with the A model either.
US Marines send F-35 stealth fighter squadron to Japan - Channel NewsAsia
I never heard of other CAT launched fighters when totally unarmed or w/o drop tanks having the same problem. Any thoughts?Pilots Say F-35 Carrier Launch Problem Is Safety Concern
Fleet pilots say the violent vertical oscillations seen during carrier launches of the U.S. Navy’s F-35 variant are a safety concern, even as the Pentagon races to fix the problem. One of the most critical and dangerous phases of flight for Navy pilots is the launch, when an aircraft is shot from the carrier by a steam-driven catapult. For the F-35C carrier variant, pilots discovered a complex problem during recent at-sea testing: excessive vertical oscillations, or a bouncing effect, during takeoff. Pilots who conducted training onboard the carrier USS George Washington during the latest set of ship trials said these oscillations were “a safety concern,” the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) wrote in its most recent annual report. “Excessive vertical oscillations during catapult launches make the F-35C operationally unsuitable for carrier operations, according to fleet pilots,” DOT&E wrote. Pilots reported the oscillations were so severe that they could not read flight-critical data, DOT&E said. The oscillations caused most pilots to lock their harness during launch, which made emergency switches hard to reach. The pilots deemed this situation “unacceptable and unsafe,” DOT&E wrote. The Navy has informed the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) that it considers this problem a “must fix” deficiency. The problem occurs primarily because the mechanism in the nose gear is not “damping out” the oscillations from the cable release quickly enough, JPO Chief Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan told reporters during a December round table. “The first thing that happens when those Navy seamen hook the airplane up is they hook the nose gear up to a latching mechanism, and then they pull down and the airplane kind of noses down, all that tension is being held,” Bogdan said. “Then boom! When the cable releases and you start going down the deck, because the airplane has been held down like that the airplane [bounces], and that’s primarily because the mechanism in the nose gear is not damping out the oscillations enough or quick enough.” Bogdan downplayed the problem, saying the oscillations only occur at very light gross takeoff weights. “At medium weights and heavy weights you don’t see this problem at all,” Bogdan said. “If an F-35C is going to combat it is not going to take off lightweight. It’s going to take off with everything it needs to go to combat, so you won’t see that problem.” The Pentagon is currently investigating the best way to fix the problem. One option is to redesign the nose gear, a potentially expensive and time-consuming solution. A long-term mechanical fix is “probably a couple of years off,” so in the meantime the JPO is looking at operational solutions like changing the way a pilot holds on during takeoff, Bogdan said.
You do actually realise what T&E is for don't you? They look for problems that will adversely affect operational performance and safety, those problems get fixed, are verified as fixed, the capability is certified and goes onto IOC, FOC etc. Been happening this way for decades and works much better than building a still very developmental A model, and finding problems through trial and error, in service, at the expense on service personnel's lives.Why will F-35 make US aircraft carriers more lethal?
I never heard of other CAT launched fighters when totally unarmed or w/o drop tanks having the same problem. Any thoughts?
"...he problem occurs primarily because the mechanism in the nose gear is not “damping out” the oscillations from the cable release quickly enough, JPO Chief Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan told reporters during a December round table.
“The first thing that happens when those Navy seamen hook the airplane up is they hook the nose gear up to a latching mechanism, and then they pull down and the airplane kind of noses down, all that tension is being held,” Bogdan said. “Then boom! When the cable releases and you start going down the deck, because the airplane has been held down like that the airplane [bounces], and that’s primarily because the mechanism in the nose gear is not damping out the oscillations enough or quick enough.”
Bogdan downplayed the problem, saying the oscillations only occur at very light gross takeoff weights. “At medium weights and heavy weights you don’t see this problem at all,” Bogdan said. “If an F-35C is going to combat it is not going to take off lightweight. It’s going to take off with everything it needs to go to combat, so you won’t see that problem.”..." http://aviationweek.com/defense/pil...m=email&elq2=73c2f17711484b9f96183586ca659561
More Superhornets could be a real option. With the USN and Trump not necessarily being big F-35 fans it wouldn't surprise me to see additional SHs bought.Could this vertical oscillation problem with light loads using a steam catapult be less of a problem with a EMALS? IIRC, the EMALS offers more flexibility on how much launching power is applied. Since the Nimitz class will be around for some time yet, a solution for the steam catapult launching of F-35Cs will be required (and soon). With the C version delay along with the aging F-18s, Boeing is no doubt ready to aggressively pursue more SH/Growler orders. NG may be knocking on the USN's door again with the X-47. LM really needs to get its stuff together.