I looked at wikipedia and there is a number of 135 F-35s built, but is any of those operational or only intesting phase?
F-35 Program - General Discussion
- Thread starter OPSSG
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Air Force Brat
Member
Two A models visited EAA Air Venture this week for the first civilian air-sho appearance of the F-35, along with two F-22s. My little brother Dan took several pictures, I have posted one on Sino Defense in the F-35 thread, Dan related that the F-35 looked short and dumpy sitting next to the F-22, then went on to state that the F-15 was still the best looking of all the fast jets to him? so, the F-35A is out in public, visiting with John Q Public, and by all accounts was a smashing hit, the Raptor flew 3 or 4 times, flying again this afternoon.
check out U-tube for the arrivals, note the B-52 also made its first visit ever to Air Venture.
Nice video of an F-35A doing a full 181 round burst from its gun. IIRC the gun pod has ~220 rounds.
F-35A Gun Test
F-35A Gun Test
I haven't been paying much attention to JSF newsflashes as they've been progressing pretty quickly based on the stuff I have seen.
but - IIRC there is a full squadron stood up already....
confirmed - USMC stood up 1st squadron cleared for active combat 5th August 2015
Yep USMC has stood up a 10x strong squadron of F-35B's at the Block 2B standard. They have passed all necessary requirements for the Corps to declare IOC on the platform.
The first USAF Squadron is planned to reach IOC on 1 August 2016 and (I believe) will be at the Block 3F standard (Block 2B standard hosted on the new Block 3 processor architecture).
The naysayers are getting increasingly desperate and vocal, but the program continues on regardless, hitting milestones the vocal few have said would never be reached...
The USAF will go IOC at Block 3i which is Block 2B on Tech Refresh 2 with a few new features added on (not full Block 3F).
Per LM:Software code content percentage vs full warfighting capability
Blk 2F - 87%
Blk 3i - 89% plus hardware refresh
Blk 3F - 100%
https://www.f35.com/about/life-cycle/software
As of May 2015, 97.5% percent of the required F-35 software is currently flying and 99.9% percent of the required software has been coded. This equates to about 10,000 lines of code that remain to be written.
Blk 2F - 87%
Blk 3i - 89% plus hardware refresh
Blk 3F - 100%
https://www.f35.com/about/life-cycle/software
As of May 2015, 97.5% percent of the required F-35 software is currently flying and 99.9% percent of the required software has been coded. This equates to about 10,000 lines of code that remain to be written.
John Newman
The Bunker Group
As I've understood it, yes the F-35A's that will initially be delivered to the RAAF will be Block 3F, but an anti-shipping capability is not included in 3F, we have to wait for a few more years after that for Block 4 to be released, so that's a pretty important Block release too for the RAAF and other users who require an ASM, such as Norway with JSM.
Fortunately for the RAAF the Super Hornets will still be in the prime of their service life and will (I assume?) continue to be tasked with that role in the interim until the F-35A's obtain that capability.
It's only a "certain" anti-shipping radar mode.
It has others that are not as fast but they still work in the anti-shipping role.
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/navy-need-deferred-but-f-35-software-on-the-right-415913/
John Newman
The Bunker Group
Ok yes, but as I had understood it, Block 3F would allow for the carriage and use of JSOW-C1 in an anti shipping role (but of course JSOW not being 'powered' has restrictions on it's range based on the altitude it is released, low = shorter range, high = longer range), but the use of JSM for example, is not available till Block 4.
And that's probably not just a 'software' limitation, I'd imagine that all the physical qualifying work would have to be done too, not just fitment (which I believe has been done) but all the other airborne test too for JSM. And I'd imagine that LRASM for example is probably even further down the track than JSM (assuming that it does get integrated for the F-35.
Yes, 3F primarily uses the JSOW for Anti-Shipping duty. However, in reality it could use anything from an LGM to a JDAM.
While there is certainly fit, drop, and interface testing that is needed for JSM at Block 4, the only "change" to the will be software.
Apologies yes, that's the order I meant...
The proposed tests would have the F-35 perform CAS the way an A-10 would which is indeed silly. Just a waste of time and resources. A more realistic test against the type of modern SHORADS/MANPADS proliferating nowadays would end badly for the A-10 and the notional troops on the ground.
F-35 vs. the A-10 – comparative tests are not needed says Air Force chief | Ottawa Citizen
F-35 vs. the A-10 – comparative tests are not needed says Air Force chief
The U.S. Air Force says that planned tests which would pit the F-35 against the A-10 Warthog in the area of close-air support are not needed.
The USAF argues that such an exercise would be irrelevant because of the F-35’s superior capabilities, writes Lara Seligman of Defense News.
The USAF was reacting to the news that the U.S. Defense Department plans to test the F-35 against the A-10 attack aircraft in close-air support...
“I think that would be a silly exercise,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told journalists. Lara Seligman wrote that Welsh point out the F-35 will be able to perform high-threat close-air support in contested environments the A-10 could never survive.
F-35 vs. the A-10 – comparative tests are not needed says Air Force chief | Ottawa Citizen
F-35 vs. the A-10 – comparative tests are not needed says Air Force chief
The U.S. Air Force says that planned tests which would pit the F-35 against the A-10 Warthog in the area of close-air support are not needed.
The USAF argues that such an exercise would be irrelevant because of the F-35’s superior capabilities, writes Lara Seligman of Defense News.
The USAF was reacting to the news that the U.S. Defense Department plans to test the F-35 against the A-10 attack aircraft in close-air support...
“I think that would be a silly exercise,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told journalists. Lara Seligman wrote that Welsh point out the F-35 will be able to perform high-threat close-air support in contested environments the A-10 could never survive.
methinks that DoD should be looking at combat vignettes for JSF before they go off and waste time on fly-offs
it might be juicy for some of the loons who are platform centric strategists residing in their armchairs.... but I seriously question the material value when the fundamental issue is that the A-10 can only go into a controlled battlespace - the JSF can control the battlespace to a far greater degree and thus dictate how and when it engages. An A-10 needs someone else to have removed anti-air threats before it enters the box
if its a plinking exercise without real complex box constraints its a waste of time
Agreed, and in contested space the AH64E Guardian provides very solid CAS, Yes it's not USAF style Traditional CAS but with the advent and advancing capabilities of rotary wing attack one wonders the extent of need of traditional fixed wing CAS
I think time and money can be better spent on the F35 program in other areas rather than this testing.
I have my doubts about the future of attack helo CAS. We observed what Stinger did to Soviet aviation in Afghanistan. MANPADS and crew-served air defense systems have become even more lethal since forcing helos to lower altitudes that expose them to concentrated ground fire ie. from the frying pan into the fire. Anything low and slow, fixed wing or rotary, faces this dilemma. Perhaps that will be the province of UAVs going forward? The defenses are just too lethal for manned aircraft.
A high-flying aircraft like the F-35 fitted with a sophisticated sensors suite, a countrrmeasures suite and LO for added measure has the benefit of extended distance from threat systems and more time to react to and counter the threat. PGMs have long since demonstrated accuracies that CAS demands.
It's the OT&E guys pushing this and not the DoD. They plan on half the OT&E tests to be CAS vs the A-10 in the 2017/18 timeframe at Block3F.
Technically yes, but they are more akin to the oddball cousin that your Aunt Congress sent for a summer visit that just won't go back home.
So we can expect the DoD bosses to make the final decision re the proposed tests ? And if they go with the CSAF, Gilmore goes behind their back to Congress...