so we have:

1. 50 degrees AOA?

2. excellent Low speed handling ( even better on the carrier version)

3. better acceleration than a clean block 50 f-16?

4. and now 50K LBs of thrust demonstrated?

.5 the ability to fire weapons at mach 1.6

That doesn’t look like a F-105 thunder chief to me

Composites Machining for the F-35 Article From: Modern Machine Shop , Peter Zelinski, Senior Editor Posted on: 8/3/2010 [Long article]

http://www.compositesworld.com/articles … r-the-f-35

“Lockheed Martin’s precision machining of composite skin sections for the F-35 provides part of the reason why this plane saves money for U.S. taxpayers. That machining makes the plane compelling in ways that have led other countries to take up some of the cost. Here is a look at a high-value, highly engineered machining process for the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft….

….The F-35 features “supportable” VLO. That is, the VLO on this plane comes with very low maintenance cost.

Stealth aircraft of the past couldn’t make that claim. Because radar detects sharp edges, even small mismatches between exterior parts on past VLO planes were smoothed out using epoxy. The epoxy would dry, harden and separate in the field—meaning it had to be frequently inspected and replaced.

By contrast, adjacent parts of the F-35 match so fluidly and precisely that no epoxy is needed. The trouble with previous stealth aircraft has disappeared….”
_____________

OLD PR about ‘affordable stealth’ reminder [March 18th, 2008]:

F-35C STEALTH ON THE CARRIER DECK MEANS HIGH PERFORMANCE, LOW MAINTENANCE
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/pres … rrier.html

“…technicians have spent the last decade perfecting the aircraft’s stealth design and materials to ensure they stand up to harsh carrier-deck and combat conditions with very little upkeep.
“The F-35C’s stealth will bring a profound increase in capability to the Navy’s fighter fleet. What it will not bring is increased maintenance,” said Steve O’Bryan, a former carrier fighter pilot and director of F-35 Domestic Business Development for Lockheed Martin. “The Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter with supportable stealth that was designed into the aircraft from the very beginning. It will endure extreme abuse without degrading its stealth radar-signature performance….”

…The F-35 achieves its Very Low Observable stealth performance through its fundamental design, its external shape and its manufacturing processes, which control tolerances to less than half the diameter of a human hair. Special coatings are added to further reduce radar signature.

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-14447.html

SLD: You had referred to the F-35 pilot, as a tactical decision maker, but doesn’t the F-35 play a much more strategic role in the new paradigm?If you look at the Afghan operation it’s much closer to the Marine Corps concept of distributed operations, much like the Marines talk about the “strategic corporal.” In effect, some of the formations will be almost strategic in character in a decentralized operation.

Chris Sheppard: That is true. Fighter pilots are typically thought of as being tacticians in the Air Force construct of operations. Although they will continue to be front-line tacticians, having an asset like the F-35 provides the capability to have much more situational awareness and have a much more strategic impact on decisions made in the battle space. Part of the paradigm shift is viewing flying forces –in this case the fighter community- as part of the strategic, vice tactical, picture. This is similar to the concept you spoke of previously regarding the situations our ground forces find themselves in today’s fight – their decisions and subsequent actions can have significant strategic ramifications.

In the current fight, we’re continuing to appreciate the value of leadership and critical decision making at every level. The F-35’s ability to gather data and present it in a manner where decisions can be made puts this platform on a new step with regard to its strategic importance in terms of real-time decision making.

When time isn’t as critical, some decisions can be passed back to the rear echelons when there’s time to even more deliberately ascertain, analyze, and then proceed with the proper response. Many times decisions need to be made in real time- not only on the ground but in the air as well. The need to have that information there and to make the right decision is invaluable. One never knows. I’m sure the “strategic corporal” to whom you referred earlier didn’t anticipate the time he or she would be expected to make a decision that could have battlefield effects larger than they ever dreamed possible. But that’s what we’re facing now with this type of threat and I think we’ll continue to see in future world events.

SLD: Does stealth really change Concepts of Operations?

Chris Sheppard: Stealth provides the ability for true first-look, first-shot in a traditional kinetic effect, force-on-force type application. One has to ask: with the evolution of enemy weaponry and the projected evolution of threat aircraft by other countries building fifth-generation-like aircraft, will they be of the caliber of fifth generation aircraft that we see in the United States and with her allies? Perhaps not.

Will they be built in vast quantities? I think there’s general agreement that probably will be the case. Having the benefit of very low observable stealth on these aircraft does require that weapons be carried internally. This provides the aircraft the opportunity to have a much decreased chance of detection to not have to go into those force-on-force types of scenarios, depending on the situation.

Pilots have to be mindful of ground threats as well. With today’s precision-guided weapons, the aircraft is like a truck that’s carrying weapons into a combat envelope where they can be deployed, and then returned to base. That’s a fairly typical mission.

One benefit of the F-35 is the ability to reconfigure and carry even more weapons externally when the threat environment is assessed to be permissible to this type of configuration. This enables the benefit of internal and external stores to carry more ordnance to service more targets if called upon to do so. The F-35A can carry approximately 18,000 pounds of ordnance when fully loaded internally and externally, far exceeding the payload of the F-16 and F-18.

Northrop Grumman’s EO DAS

Northrop Grumman’s EO DAS (credit: http://www.es.northropgrumman.com)

SLD: There’s a capability on the aircraft that may not be widely appreciated and that’s DAS. What does DAS do? And what does it do for your air-to-air combat and also what’s the potential for DAS to contribute to the Army and the Marine Corps on the ground?

Chris Sheppard: The Northrop Grumman Distributed Aperture System (DAS) is truly one of the game changing capabilities resident on the aircraft. We’re already seeing increased interest in its application on rotary wing aircraft, and on other assets for missions and roles such as missile defense, among others.

The Distributed Aperture System provides multiple capabilities to the aircraft. First, there’s no need to fly with night vision goggles, which we do now when conducting combat operations at night. The night vision goggles that we currently fly with are dependent upon the amplification of ambient light. In a sense, your night vision goggles are just another sensor. They don’t simply turn night into day and one must look and analyze before acting – much like a radar, much like a targeting pod.

The Distributed Aperture System (DAS) provides an EO/IR picture in a different spectrum than night vision goggles, such that it’s not dependent on ambient light, so now flying below cloud decks, and flying anywhere there’s an overcast sky, or where ambient light’s not present, is possible.

The second thing is its ability to detect missiles. There’s a lot of growth capability in the Distributed Aperture System. I think we’re only on the cusp of understanding what its true value will be to the war fighter. Its ability to detect and accurately locate firing points of missiles and anti-aircraft artillery is key to getting other sensors locked on to where that threat came from, so the appropriate action can be taken – whether it’s kinetic or non-kinetic.

DAS has a situational awareness mode that simultaneously tracks all aircraft within range, spherically about the F-35. This capability will have significant implications in air combat maneuvering, for launching off-boresight weapons, and for overall survivability.

There are also growth modes for the Distributed Aperture System which will significantly enhance the platform’s networking capability. DAS works in a spherical context and is always on, all the time, always detecting. Perhaps our biggest challenge is DAS taking in so much information that the next step is to figure out how to manage and distribute all the data it can provide.

SLD: One thing that’s not appreciated is how the F-35 can potentially reshape the next generation of UAV operations. In the manned-to-unmanned evolution, what do you think about the possibility of off-loading data to an unmanned flying data recovery system?

Chris Sheppard: There are multiple options. One of the consistent concerns of combatant commanders articulated over and over again is the need to hand off data in a usable format. It’s about turning data into actionable intelligence. The capability needed is well-articulated; our challenge is to devise the most efficient manner to manage the data and make the intelligence actionable.

SLD: So the F-35 can contribute by managing data choke points for leaders who have to make real-time decisions in a tight timeframe?

Chris Sheppard: The F-35 could aid by gathering and assimilating data from others in some circumstances, or acting as a data provider to other systems. If the objective is to get the data off board to preserve the processing power on the jet for other functions, it can be a data provider. Perhaps in other circumstances the best option is to utilize on-board fusion capacity, then relay. We’re now evolving into a system-of-systems construct, and we can readily see how such a “flying combat system” — when integrated with the ground forces — provides important new capabilities from which to develop the future of air as well as ground and sea operations.

SLD: Let’s turn to the transition from the F-16 to the F-35. As squadrons of F-35s are added, how will the F-16 mission evolve?

Chris Sheppard: We’ve already started to see the evolution in the concept of operations and concepts of employment. Fifth-generation fighters are working with fourth-generation fighters, not only from the U.S. perspective, but from a coalition perspective, in exercises throughout the world. The ability for the F-35 and the F-22 to provide the benefit of fused data discussed earlier in this conversation, and hand that off, whether via voice, data link or other methods, to other fighters is invaluable. Even after these fifth-generation fighters have gone into a highly contested threat area and expended all their ordinance, they’re still of tremendous value in coming back to act as battle space managers.

Looking at this from a battle management perspective, we may have a scenario where F-16s are utilized as a ‘bomb truck’ carrying weapons into a less contested battle space. The F-35 can track and identify potential targets from denied airspace, and signal back or provide awareness to legacy aircraft for follow on tactics. Our ‘bomb trucks’ may launch missiles from the less contested areas eliminating threats while the F-35 continues to conduct its operations in the anti-access battle space. This invites a whole new conversation on the next evolution of weapons for the F-16, F-15, or Eurofighter.

http://www.sldinfo.com/?p=6522

More after the link 000

What’s new about it? Looks like the same old report to me.

Actually LOL I Misread. the report isn’t new its old. if you want to continue the discussion then by all means/