F-35 Lightning II: News thread

nemrod wrote:Even against a fokker. When I said to George that I was sceptical if a dogfight occurs between F-35 and Mig-21. I doubt too, if a F-22, could down more 5 Mig-21. With one F-22 price, you can buy at least 50. With one F-35, you can buy 100 Mig-21. Mwahahahaha  

Lockheed Upbeat Despite F-35 Losing Dogfight To Red Baron


BETHESDA, Md. — A  spokesman for Lockheed Martin today denied that there is any reason to be alarmed about possible shortcomings of the military’s newest and most expensive fighter plane after reports surfaced this weekend that an F-35, piloted by a crack Air Force fighter pilot, lost a mock dogfight with a Fokker Dr.I Triplane similar to the aircraft once piloted by World War I German Ace Manfred von Richtofen, the “Red Baron,” piloted by a World War I reenactor.

“The F-35 isn’t really meant for that kind of fighting,” said Lance McCory, a Lockheed spokesman. “We intend it to be a first-rate mulitrole attack aircraft, and to excel at long-range fighting, what we call BVR, or ‘Beyond Visual Range’ air combat. Not to worry about some Hun who’s been dead a hundred years. Frankly, the two aircraft involved in this battle represent two different philosophies of air combat.”

The Fokker Dr.I Triplane, made of wood and doped linen, entered service with the German Army Air service in 1917. It was famous for its considerable maneuverability and its high rate of climb. The pilot sat in an open cockpit, exposed to the weather, and had primitive controls by today’s standards.

McCory went on to add, “The Dr.I triplane might out climb, out turn, and out dive the F-35, but where is its radar, huh? Where are its sensors? Where is the laser terrain guidance? Huh? Sure, up close, in a knife fight, the Dr.I has machine guns, and an F-35 pilot just has his sidearm. And [the Dr.I’s] cloth wings are nearly invisible to radar. But we have ‘the world’s most advanced fighter jet.'”

Capt. A.J. Schrag, an Air Combat Command spokesman, said “There’s no way to adapt the [Dr.I] airframe to carry the required missiles and radar. It might be good in a dogfight, but not standing off for close air support, and it’s completely hopeless when it comes to engaging targets in a BVR-type air battle.”

Meanwhile, according to a source close to the recent dogfight, the F-35 “turns like a garbage truck. It might be faster than the triplane, but that doesn’t matter in a stall fight.”

Lockheed officials have separately downplayed reports that the same F-35, flown by the same pilot, previously lost mock dogfights with the Goodyear Blimp and a beagle on a flying doghouse.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III declined comment through a spokesman, saying only, “Curse you, Red Baron!”

http://www.duffelblog.com/2015/08/f-35-loses-dogfight-to-red-baron/#ixzz3kcdi7W20

JohninMK wrote:First Italian assembled F-35 takes to the air.

http://theaviationist.com/2015/09/07/first-international-f-35-makes-first-flight/

BlackArrow wrote:

JohninMK wrote:First Italian assembled F-35 takes to the air.

http://theaviationist.com/2015/09/07/first-international-f-35-makes-first-flight/

Great! More and more countries eventually receiving their F-35s. Did the Dutch receive an F-35 yet?

JohninMK wrote:

BlackArrow wrote:

JohninMK wrote:First Italian assembled F-35 takes to the air.

http://theaviationist.com/2015/09/07/first-international-f-35-makes-first-flight/

Great! More and more countries eventually receiving their F-35s. Did the Dutch receive an F-35 yet?

Probably not unless they will get a Lockheed produced aircraft, this article says that the Dutch F-35s are part of the Italian production.

BlackArrow wrote:Marine Corp F-35B probably has a better serviceability than RuAF MiG-31BM, who knows?

JohninMK wrote:The F-35 problems roll on. No surprise with a project this complex. It will clearly get sorted but its more $ spent.

Defense News reports that the F-35’s Martin Baker US16E ejection seat system can cause fatal neck trauma when pilots on the lighter end of the F-35’s crew accommodation spectrum eject at slower speeds. These recent tests occured when the dummies were wearing the jet’s third-generation helmet, which is heavier than the second-generation helmet, a factor that possibly aggravated the issue. During certain tests, the lighter-weight dummies’ necks were literally snapped according to a Defense News source.

As of now, the Navy, Marines and Air Force have to restrict access to pilots only weighing more than 136 pounds.

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/now-the-f-35-has-an-ejection-seat-problem-1734594615

AlfaT8 wrote:

JohninMK wrote:The F-35 problems roll on. No surprise with a project this complex. It will clearly get sorted but its more $ spent.

Defense News reports that the F-35’s Martin Baker US16E ejection seat system can cause fatal neck trauma when pilots on the lighter end of the F-35’s crew accommodation spectrum eject at slower speeds. These recent tests occured when the dummies were wearing the jet’s third-generation helmet, which is heavier than the second-generation helmet, a factor that possibly aggravated the issue. During certain tests, the lighter-weight dummies’ necks were literally snapped according to a Defense News source.

As of now, the Navy, Marines and Air Force have to restrict access to pilots only weighing more than 136 pounds.

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/now-the-f-35-has-an-ejection-seat-problem-1734594615

Man, and i thought arm eating T-72s were bad, now we have head decapitating F-35s, now that should motivate the pilot (win or be decapitated).

higurashihougi wrote:F-35, gun test.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/2015/11/02/f-35-fires-gun-during-aerial-test-first-time/75058718/

WASHINGTON — For the first time, a US Air Force F-35 fighter jet has successfully fired its internal gun from the air.

The aerial gun test marks another milestone in the Pentagon's effort to certify the F-35A's internal 25mm Gatling gun. Lockheed Martin released a video Monday of F-35 test pilot Maj. Charles “Flak” Trickey firing the first aerial gun burst from the four-barrel weapon.

higurashihougi wrote:Well, Canada may agree to buy some F-35 to pamper the White House.

As they have no real potential external threat and no need to send large troops aboard, buying some F-35s for fun is no harm.

GarryB wrote:Hehehehe.... yeah... buy what we sell... don't even consider what you actually need...

Sounds like the US has as close and as healthy a relationship with its northern neighbour as with anyone else...

And no harm?


I can think of a lot of things Canada could do with the trillions of dollars they will spend on F-35s over the next two or three decades.

Militarov wrote:"The first delivery of an F-35 outside the United States happened Dec. 3 at the F-35 Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility in Cameri, Italy. The first Italian F-35A Lightning II for the Italian armed forces, known as AL-1, marked a production milestone for Italy’s national defense and aerospace industry. Lt. Gen. Pasquale Preziosa, Chief of the Italian Air Force, welcomes the first Italian F-35A, known as AL-1, into the Italian armed forces at a Dec. 3 acceptance ceremony in Cameri, Italy.

“When Leonardo DaVinci first envisioned human flight as an Italian creation, there is no way he could have imagined what we have here today,” said Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 Joint Program Executive Officer. “The F-35 aircraft built here in Cameri will take flight on the wings of Italian craftsmanship, ingenuity, and skill and will help build the first global fleet of fifth generation fighters.” Italy is the sixth nation to receive an F-35 joining Australia, Netherlands, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States with jets in their service’s inventory.



The F-35s being assembled and delivered at the Italian FACO will transition to Italy’s Aeronautica Militare (Air Force) and Marina Militare (Navy). AL-1 first rolled out of the production facility in March with first flight Sept. 7, one month ahead of schedule. Italy’s first two pilots have begun F-35 flight training at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, where Cameri-built F-35As will be delivered in 2016 to support international pilot training.

“This is a monumental achievement for the F-35 program,” said Lorraine Martin, Lockheed Martin F-35 Program General Manager. “The F-35 provides Italy’s aerospace industry with high technology work, ensuring the future health and competitiveness for their defense industry. To date, Italian industry has contracts worth more than $1 billion, along with opportunities for additional work over the life of the program.”

I have feeling DaVinci would have to say a thing or two about this brick

Source: https://www.f35.com/news/detail/first-f-35a-delivered-outside-the-united-states?sf16620464=1