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Subject: F-35 news thread III
jessmo_24    1/12/2011 7:23:24 AM
BF-2s 1st vertical landing. *ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS3ngl1GcaI&feature=player_embedded NAVAIRSYSCOM 10 Jan 2011 "F-35B test aircraft BF-2 accomplishes its first vertical landing and conversion back to normal flight mode at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. The integrated test team is testing both the STOVL and carrier variants of the F-35 for delivery to the fleet. Video courtesy Lockheed Martin."
 
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Heorot    F-35 procurement   2/18/2011 5:57:58 PM
The Obama Administration has sent Congress a request to spend $3.7 trillion in Fiscal 2012, which includes $553 billion in the base defense budget and $117.6 billion for overseas contingency operations.

Here's a breakdown of fighter aircraft quantities in the DoD's budget request. This list excludes funding for spares

TYPE                NUMBER                COST
FIGHTERS                                  
F-35                             32                  6,644
F/A-18E/F                 28                  2,432
EA-18G                        12                  1,108

Looking at the figures for the F35 it give a unit price of $208m. I can?t see the UK buying at that price let alone the higher price that I predict for the F-35B.

Source:

Ht*p://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/
 
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jessmo_24       2/19/2011 4:49:49 AM
The price drops as you procure more planes.
 
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Heorot       2/19/2011 5:44:14 AM

The price drops as you procure more planes.

Thats obvious, but it will have to drop an awful lot before it becomes affordable to the UK government. I have my doubts that the B will be acquired at all, although there are few alternatives at present. I don't see a Rafale purchase though.
 
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Phaid       2/19/2011 6:17:31 AM
The UK has already stated they are not buying any F-35Bs at all, that went out with the SDSR earlier this year.  They are now planning to buy F-35Cs, albeit fewer of them.
 
And yeah, while it is clear the F-35 will never be as affordable as they originally hoped, it also won't cost $208M when it enters full rate production.  But the question is, can they bring the price down below about $120M.  I seriously doubt it will ever get there.
 
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phrank       2/20/2011 3:56:15 AM
I worked for a shipyard in the 80's and we used to lose the contracts for ship to another yard. everytime they would under bid us and every time they would go over budget. But every time the bidding started out again they would award them the contract based on the bid.
 
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jessmo_24       2/21/2011 7:45:29 PM

Navy test pilot says JSF is ?easy to fly?


The plane frees aviators to focus on mission, Cmdr. Eric ?Magic? Buus says
By Joshua Stewart - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Feb 20, 2011 8:07:37 EST
. To view the contents go to:" type="hidden" /> http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/02/navy-joint-strike-fighter-test-pilot-praises-jet-022011w/" type="hidden" />

Cmdr. Eric ?Magic? Buus was the first Navy test pilot to fly the F-35B and C. But hearing his take on it, you have to wonder how much the Lightning II variants really need a warm body in the cockpit.

Compared with other fighters, Lockheed Martin?s F-35C — the carrier version of the joint strike fighter — doesn?t require pilots to think as much while in the air, letting them dedicate brain cells to handling complex weapons and the details of the mission, Buus said.

?The point of the multirole fighter is to make it easy to fly. We don?t have to put much thought into flying,? he said.

Buss, who has spent nearly his entire career on F/A-18 Hornets, was the first Navy test pilot to fly both the F-35B — the Marine Corps? short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing JSF variant — and the F-35C. He flew the Marine version Feb. 3 and the Navy?s on Feb. 11. Both flights were from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. On the F-35C flight, he flew for a little over two hours and tested the plane?s flutter execution system to measure loads on the airframe.

?One of the biggest things that jumps out to me is that it?s very easy to fly,? he said.

The thrust is good, and there?s no indication that the F-35 has only one engine, instead of two like on the Super Hornet, he said.

Compared to the Hornet, it seems ?a bit more solid,? Buus said.

Other test pilots say the F-35 feels ?stiff,? but no matter the adjective, Buus said its fly-by-wire controls and flight computers make it very responsive. The cockpit, which has its stick on the side instead of the center, is comfortable and has a large touch-screen display.

?I really like a lot of things they have done with this airplane,? he said.

Unlike with other aircrafts, F-35 pilots will fly their first training plane solo; pilots training for other aircraft are accompanied by a flight instructor. Buus said spending the last year in a simulator and doing engine runs left him prepared for his first flight, even though he
 
 *ttp://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/02/navy-joint-strike-fighter-test-pilot-praises-jet-022011w/
 
 
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Phaid    JSF Grounded For Generator Failure, Leak   3/14/2011 4:30:52 AM
The JSF test fleet has been grounded because of a electrical generator system failure in AF-4.   The entire generator system failed and the aircraft had to return to base with its control surfaces powered by the IPP.  Not good.
 
Interesting and fun fact: back in 2007, Stephen Trimble broke the story that the JSF's generator system was inadequate and had to be redesigned.  Lockheed and the JPO kept quiet about the whole thing and it was only revealed when Trimble made inquiries into the contract awarded to Pratt for the redesign.
 
So this could be just another minor glitch.  Or it could be yet more chickens coming home to roost.
 
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gf0012-aust       3/14/2011 4:59:37 AM

here's another good reason for not sole sourcing to "pratt and stiff me"

thats what happens when you ignore the risk management advice on sole source supply....


 
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Das Kardinal       3/15/2011 4:39:30 AM

I worked for a shipyard in the 80's and we used to lose the contracts for ship to another yard. everytime they would under bid us and every time they would go over budget. But every time the bidding started out again they would award them the contract based on the bid.

Did your shipyard eventually start doing the same ? 
 
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Phaid       3/15/2011 2:31:31 PM
So it turns out that the power failure problem experienced by AF-4 last week was caused not by a manufacturing error or "typical flight testing glitch", but indeed by a design flaw in the new generator.  Recall that the original F-35 generator system produces only about 2/3 of the power needed for the F-35C and that a redesign was done in 2007.  The F-35 test aircraft that have the older, lower-powered generator system are back in the air, but the ones with the redesigned production unit are still grounded.
 
Anyone still think it's a good idea to buy and build jets before the flight test program is complete?  We have paid for 61 LRIP jets as of FY10 and are standing by to procure another 40-something of them in FY11.  Fixing all these bugs is not going to be cheap.
 
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