DDM-NG is fine as long as you don’t mind not seeing SAMs, AAA, & AAMs coming from in front and below your plane 😉

There is no such thing as clearing out the AAA & SAM networks on the “1st day” and making it safe for the rest of the war, Package Q taught us that.

Really.. you’re going to try an label & define what a bubble means in a picture and then apply that to the entire way that an F-35 can relay info????

btw, B-2 SATCOM is directional and thereby LPI.

The 2006 date was obviously pre-SWAT and when SATCOM was part of Blk3. this does not change the fact that it is planned for Blk4. It just gives them more time to get it right.

As far as high data-rate goes, it does not have to be as all it really needs to do is sent the coordinates of detected emitter and the type detected.

http://www.f-16.net/news_article4509.html

Australia is delaying 12 of 14 units in its initial F-35 batch. Just 2 F-35s delivered to Australia by 2020. Australia will by 24 Super Hornets in the mean time.

Seriously… don’t you do any of your own research?

The first two RAAF F-35s are CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION as part of LRIP6. This means that they will roll off the production line in 2014 with Block 3I. They will initially be staying in the US as part of the training wing (just like they did with the F-18E/F) and will get Blk3F LONG before 2020. Stop drinking the APA (aka ELP) koolaid. 🙂

For those of you who don’t believe it till you see it…

http://australianaviation.com.au/2012/11/caf-sees-first-raaf-f-35-under-construction/

It’s official now (Hat tip to Spaz for posting on F-16.net)

F-35B’s Grounding Traced to Crimped Fluid Line, Pentagon Says Tony Capaccio Monday, January 28, 2013

http://bloomberg.finanza.repubblica.it/Notizie/Article?documentKey=1376-MHCPA66KLVSG01-201LBL2FN5C5MVHUAPT3HMTD4I

“Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) — An “improperly crimped” fluid line was the probable cause of a propulsion-system leak that led the Pentagon to suspend flight tests of the F-35 fighter’s Marine Corps version, according to the Pentagon.

The investigation “ruled out any design or maintenance issues,” Pentagon spokesman Joe DellaVedova said today in an e- mailed statement. The evidence revealed “a quality discrepancy” resulting in the crimped line, he said….”

________________________

Engineers discover culprit behind F-35B fueldraulic line failure Dave Majumdar 28 Jan 2013

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/engineers-discover-culprit-behind-f-35b-fueldraulic-line-failure-381574/

“…The investigating team found that six other aircraft had the same manufacturing defect. The faulty parts have been returned to F-35 propulsion system prime contractor Pratt & Whitney for replacement. The fueldraulic line is built by Stratoflex. The company, along with Rolls-Royce and Pratt &Whitney, has “instituted corrective actions to improve their quality control processes and ensure part integrity,” the JPO says.

The fueldraulic line powers the actuator movement for the F-35B’s STOVL vectoring exhaust system. Instead of traditional hydraulic fluid, the system uses fuel as the operating fluid to reduce weight.

NAVAIR and the JPO are currently “developing a return to flight plan which details the removal and inspection requirements of currently installed fueldraulic lines on the 25 F-35B variants affected by the flight suspension.” The B-model has been grounded since 18 January

Bad part and not bad design likely cause of the F-35B grounding.

It should be fixed and cleared for flight ops soon.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/28/us-lockheed-fighter-idUSBRE90R0PE20130128

(Reuters) – Pentagon and industry investigators have pinpointed a manufacturing quality problem as the most likely cause of an engine failure that led to the grounding of the Marine Corps version of the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet, sources familiar with the investigation told Reuters.

Pentagon officials are expected to finalize the finding and the proposed fix at a meeting on Monday, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly. They said the F-35B should be able to resume flights as soon as the “nonconforming” parts supplied by a unit of Parker Hannifin Corp are replaced.

The grounding did not affect the Air Force or Navy versions of the radar-evading new fighter since they do not use the same part.

The Pentagon grounded all 25 F-35B jets on January 18 after a propulsion line associated with the B-model’s exhaust system failed just before takeoff during a training flight at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

The part in question enables actuator movement for the exhaust system associated with the B-model’s engine. Instead of traditional hydraulic fluid, it uses fuel as the operating fluid to reduce weight.

An initial inspection discovered a detached propulsion line in the rear part of the engine compartment, and subsequent tests showed the line was not built to specifications by Stratoflex, a unit of Parker Hannifin.

“It wasn’t built to specification as it should have been,” said one of the sources. “But there’s a very small population of the tubes, and the problem should be fixed soon.”

Stratoflex is a subcontractor to engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, which builds the engines for the single-engine, single-seat fighter jet along with Britain’s Rolls-Royce Plc.

No comment was immediately available from Stratoflex.

The speedy conclusion of the investigation is good news for the F-35 program, which is racing to complete an aggressive schedule of flight tests this year.

The F-35 program has completed about 34 percent of its planned test flight program, but Lockheed is already building production models of the new warplane.

Lockheed is building three different models of the F-35 fighter jet for the U.S. military and eight countries that helped pay for its development: Britain, Canada, Italy, Turkey, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia and Norway.

The Pentagon plans to buy 2,443 of the warplanes in coming decades, although many analysts believe U.S. budget constraints and deficits will eventually reduce that overall number.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

There is nothing insane about that range. The plane was tracked from much greater distance and because they had to turn on/off the acquisition radar for only 25 sec there is not much opportunity for the crew to take the shot.

To reinforce my point, 13km is close because many have said have pointed to the downing of the F-117 as a reason not to buy the F-35. I was trying to show that flying directly over the head of a SAM unit can be lethal for any plane, be it F-16, F-15, B-2, F-117, F-22, or F-35. Even with such close distances involved, the first SAM failed to detonate and only the second one hit.

More to the point that I have made here and elsewhere, situational awareness is the most important survival tool for a penetrating fighter. The article talks about scanning for up to 25 seconds on several occasions trying to get a lock on the F-117. If the F-117 had the appropriate RWR he would have changed his route and avoided the SAM unit. He did not, could not, and therefore he paid the price.

The F-35 (and most modern fighters) do not have this limitation. The tactics that downed the F-117 will not work on the F-35. Not only will an F-35 detect and geo-locate an emitter, it will share this info with everyone else.

Before you say “If SA is so important and other fighters have it, why buy the F-35”, it’s VLO airframe makes the detection and engagement bubbles of SAM units much smaller than vs non-VLO airframes.