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SpudmanWP

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September 29, 2016 at 6:13 pm in reply to: If you had to choose between Rafale or F-35 #2130305

SpudmanWP
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yes, for manoeuvers and exercises, days with nice weather. Apart from that… No or so Ammos, no Rover, datafusion bugged etc. etc. Ultimately yes it will be operational. Today? Only for advertisement.

“manoeuvers and exercises” — so the F-22 was not combat capable till it dropped bombs in Syria? I guess it’s not A2A capable since it’s never done that in anger either?

“days with nice weather” — Says who? Added lightning protections were specific requirements of Block3i that the USAF used to go IOC.

“Rover” — who cares as it was NEVER part of the IOC requirements. ROVER did not even exist when the Blcok 3F requirements were written.

“datafusion bugged” — Still better than Rafale or any US fighter flying and getting better every day.

“Today? Only for advertisement.” — BS. Unless you think that the DoD is playing games with it’s pilot’s lives. The F-35B will be in Japan in the 1st half of 2017 and the F-35A will be in the Middle East late next year with the same Block 2B/3i that they are flying with today (with a few tweaks I am sure).

September 29, 2016 at 7:43 am in reply to: If you had to choose between Rafale or F-35 #2130857

SpudmanWP
Participant

I was being conservative 😎

September 29, 2016 at 6:36 am in reply to: If you had to choose between Rafale or F-35 #2130907

SpudmanWP
Participant

By the time the 1st Indian Rafale touches down in India, the F-35A will have received Block 3F and will be in the $95 mil range (flyaway cost).

This whole 5-10 years for FOC (ie Block4~ish) is BS goalpost moving by sore-looser critics (not you specifically Y-20).

September 29, 2016 at 4:56 am in reply to: If you had to choose between Rafale or F-35 #2130923

SpudmanWP
Participant

btw you sure about the lower operational cost of f-35?
Msphere would like you to believe, everything about the f-35 is more expensive

Everything?

The recent numbers on the Indian Rafale buy and the Swedish Gripen E put (roughly) the GripenE at $85, the F-35A at $93/97 (BlockBuy/AnnualBuy), and the Rafale at $106.

Gas per mile will be more expensive for the F-35 and least for the GripenE, but dev/upgrades/parts will be cheaper for the F-35 (thank you economy of scale).

I have not found recent solid flyaway Eurofighter costs, so no idea there.

There is quite a bit where the F-35 has a cost savings advantage over the Rafale and even some over the Gripen.

September 28, 2016 at 3:58 pm in reply to: Military Aviation News #2131419

SpudmanWP
Participant

“launch AMRAAMs by hands”

????

I would not use AMRAAMs but ESSMBlk2 or SM6 at the least from a B1, not a B-52.

September 28, 2016 at 3:40 pm in reply to: USAF T-X #2131466

SpudmanWP
Participant

An IRST can also help more with a PID.

September 27, 2016 at 7:18 pm in reply to: USAF T-X #2132193

SpudmanWP
Participant

The Boeing model has “provisions” for pylons to be added.

That could mean something as simple as the internal wing structure supports the adding of pylons.

September 26, 2016 at 10:15 pm in reply to: So what are the top netcentric fighters out there? #2132719

SpudmanWP
Participant

The F-35 has “some” issues with data fusion which are related to Block 2B/3i (to a lesser degree) in very specific instances. Re:”distant future”, dream on, try in testing now. Even with the limitations it has now, it’s still better than anything else.

If you are going to discount the F-35 due to it still being in SDD, then GripenE can’t be on the list either since the 1st one has not even flown, let alone achieved IOC.

The F-22 can share it’s data with other non-F-22 platforms with a gateway like BACN (now), 5th-to-4th, etc (later).

September 26, 2016 at 9:43 pm in reply to: So what are the top netcentric fighters out there? #2132735

SpudmanWP
Participant

arent f-18 & rafale using standard link 16 like everyone else ?

I was speaking more to their ability to use/fuse/share data within their own avionics suite. Saying that, there is a reason they are on the bottom of the list.

September 26, 2016 at 6:59 pm in reply to: So what are the top netcentric fighters out there? #2132824

SpudmanWP
Participant

IMHO, I would say:
F-35
F-22
Gripen (directional datalinks, but only with a small number) Not sure of the new Gripen yet.
Rafale
F-18 SH Block2

September 26, 2016 at 4:24 am in reply to: F-35 News and discussion (2016) take III #2133181

SpudmanWP
Participant

What I said was that when US combat pilots talk of performance, the speak in terms of combat loads, not airshow loads. When you said of the F-22 pilot “That’s not what he said.”, he did not have to specify combat loads because that is how he normally talks.

September 26, 2016 at 2:59 am in reply to: F-35 News and discussion (2016) take III #2133278

SpudmanWP
Participant

Combat load now..:rolleyes: That’s not what he said.

US Combat pilots always talk combat loads by default, not airshow loads.

September 24, 2016 at 9:49 pm in reply to: F-35 News and discussion (2016) take III #2134894

SpudmanWP
Participant

Fuel line problem may get fixed without fuel line replacement and be back up by the end of the year.

Engineers at Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) are addressing the issue alongside Hill AFB Airmen, the team has currently conducted inspections of at least eight aircraft. Engineers are currently developing procedures that will allow them to resolve the issue without having to replace the maintenance lines. This will hopefully get the aircraft ready for flight prior to the release of affected production aircraft to the field, and return affected operational aircraft back to the field before the end of the year.

“We won’t need to replace the cooling lines; our engineers are working on a solution and they have it,” said Johnson. “They are starting on the first test article at Fort Worth early next week. When that test article is done to the specification of the U.S. Government, JPO, etc., then eight teams from Lockheed will go into the field to provide the necessary maintenance on the aircraft in the field.

more at the jump

http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/military/88713.html?hq_e=el&hq_m=3287962&hq_l=1&hq_v=1c766e3241

September 24, 2016 at 12:10 am in reply to: F-35 News and discussion (2016) take III #2135672

SpudmanWP
Participant

F-35A Catches Fire at Mountain Home Air Force Base

WASHINGTON — An F-35A caught fire during an exercise at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, the Air Force confirmed to Defense News.

The incident took place at around noon and involved an F-35A aircraft from the 61st Fighter Squadron located at Luke Air Force Base, the service said in a statement. No serious injuries seem to have been sustained by the pilot or nearby crew.

“The pilot had to egress the aircraft during engine start due to a fire from the aft section of the aircraft,” Air Force spokesman Capt. Mark Graff said in an email. “The fire was extinguished quickly. As a precautionary measure, four 61st Aircraft Maintenance Unit Airmen, three Airmen from the 366th Maintenance Group and the 61st Fighter Squadron pilot were transported to the base medical center for standard evaluation.”

Seven F-35As from Luke AFB, which is one of the bases responsible for joint strike fighter pilot instruction, had deployed to Mountain Home to conduct surface-to-air training from Sept. 10 to 24.

The root cause of the event is under investigation, Graff stated.

At the time of publication, it is still unknown whether the fire originated from the F-35’s F135 engine, manufactured by Pratt & Whitney.

“We are aware of an incident involving an F-35A jet from Luke Air Force Base operating at Mountain Home Air Force Base, but we do not have any further details at this time,” said Pratt & Whitney spokesman Matthew Bates. “We are ready to assist the U.S. Air Force and the F-35 Joint Program Office in their investigation.”

It’s also unknown if there is a connection to a recent problem with the F-35A’s coolant line insulation that caused the flight operations of 15 joint strike fighters to be suspended. During depot maintenance it was discovered that the insulation around the coolant lines was breaking down inside the fuel tank— a situation the joint program office said was due to the supplier using the incorrect materials to manufacture the insulation.

The insulation issue also impacts 42 F-35s on manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s production line. When the problem was made public last Friday, JPO officials said they were certain no other planes had been affected. Earlier this week, F-35 Joint Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said Lockheed planned to test a potential fix next week, and if it works, company teams would roll out the following week to begin repairs.

Marine Corps Times Reporter Jeff Schogol and Defense News reporter Aaron Mehta contributed to this report.

http://www.defensenews.com/articles/f-35a-damaged-in-fire-at-air-force-base

September 23, 2016 at 9:38 pm in reply to: F-35 News and discussion (2016) take III #2135693

SpudmanWP
Participant

Now do that to scale when comparing the F-35/PakFA.
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