Operational Systems and Deployment
Pratt & Whitney F135 engine powers the F-35. The F-35 is not designed for super cruise, but can briefly fly at Mach 1.2 in dry power. It is a radar stealthy afterburning jet engine. The F-35 has a maximum speed of Mach 1.6 and maximum take-off weight of 27,000 kg, which makes it considerably heavier than the lightweight fighters it replaces. The STOVL F-35B is fitted with Rolls-Royce Lift System and thrust vectoring. The F135 has demonstrated a maximum thrust of over 50,000 lbf (220 kN), making it the most powerful engine ever installed in a fighter aircraft. The F-35 has two internal weapons bays, four under-wing pylons and two on the wing-tip. There are a total of four weapons stations between the two internal bays. Two of these can carry loads up to 2,000lb (910kg) and the other two stations are for smaller weapons such as air-to-air missiles. Each country will have flexibilities in the mix of weapons of their own choice or make. By 2024, the F-35 Block 4B will be able to carry two B61 nuclear bombs internally. On August 02, 2016, USAF declared the F-35A basic combat ready and is scheduled to be full combat ready in 2017 with its 3F software upgrade. The USMC plans to purchase 340 F-35Bs and 80 F-35C fighters, while the USN will purchase 480 F-35Cs.
On August 02, 2016, USAF declared the F-35A basic combat ready and is scheduled to be full combat ready in 2017 with its 3F software upgrade…
The F-35 has been designed for very-low-observable characteristics which include radar stealth measures and visual and infrared signature reduction measures. The radar-absorbent materials are designed to be more durable and less maintenance-intensive. The aircraft would be about as noisy as the F-16 and quieter than the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The F-35 features a full-panel-width glass cockpit touch screen “panoramic cockpit display”. The aircraft will be the first operational US fixed-wing aircraft to employ the voice recognition system. The Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS) will be in all models, while some fighters may also have Head-Up-Displays (HUD), this will be the first modern fighter designed without a HUD. Each HMDS costs $400,000. The aircraft is designed for network-centric warfare and will have AN/APG-81 AESA radar, a nose-mounted Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS) and provides for externally mounted targeting pods. The AN/ASQ-239 (Barracuda) system is an improved version of the F-22’s electronic warfare suite. The sensor fusion will allow the aircraft to control and coordinate multiple Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs). Air Force pilots began training on F-35A in January 2013 at Eglin Air Force Base which has a maximum capacity of 100 military pilots and 2,100 maintenance staff at a time. Reportedly, at Red Flag 2017, the F-35 scored a kill ratio of 15:1 against an F-16 aggressor squadron.
International Partners and Dynamics
The aircraft’s primary operators are the USAF, USN and USMC. The partner nations are either NATO members or close US allies. The United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Turkey are part of the active development programme. Several countries have ordered or are considering ordering the F-35. While Lockheed Martin is the main manufacturer and aircraft integrator, Northrop Grumman provides the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, many avionics, weapons bay and the arrestor gear. BAE Systems provides the Flight Control Software, the electronic warfare systems, crew life support and escape systems, and the aft fuselage. Alenia will do the final assembly for Italian aircraft and assemble all European aircraft with the exception of Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Several countries have ordered or are considering ordering the F-35…
The primary customer and financial backer is the United States. Level 1 partner is UK; Level 2 Italy and Netherlands; Level 3 Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Turkey. Security cooperative partners are Israel and Singapore. Level 2 and 3 partners also contributed to development costs of around $40 billion. The initial plan was that the nine major partner nations would acquire over 3,100 F-35s till the year 2035 under the Pentagon’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. Australia will have up to 100 aircraft, UK 138, Denmark 27, Italy 90, Japan has ordered five and additional 38 to be built by Mitsubishi, Netherlands 35, Norway 52, South Korea 40, Turkey 120 and USA 2443. Because of delays and cost overruns, some countries later cut-down their orders.
The Israeli aircraft will be designated F-35I and will have many customised Israeli features including their own electronic warfare systems. The main computer will have a plug-and-play feature to allow add-on Israeli electronics such as external jamming pod and new Israeli air-to-air missiles and guided bombs in the internal weapon bays. On December 12, 2016, Israel began receiving its first F-35Is of the 50 ordered. The Canadian CF-35A will have a drogue chute and include an F-35B/C-style refuelling probe.
Lessons for the Aviation Industry
The programme is the most expensive military weapons system in history and has been much criticised inside and outside government in the US and in allied countries. Critics argue that the plane is “plagued by design flaws”, with many blaming the procurement process in which Lockheed was allowed “to design, test, and produce the F-35 all at the same time, instead of identifying and fixing defects before increasing production rate”. By 2014, the programme was $163 billion over budget and seven years behind schedule. Critics also contend that the programme’s high sunk costs and political momentum make it too big to kill. Only a global scale aviation production house with close coordination of the users and government agencies can take on a project of this magnitude.
The programme is the most expensive military weapons system in history…
State-of-the-art projects that have to cater for next five decades are not only technologically ambitious but have the attendant risks. The increased cost and delays of the programme have had political fallouts in most countries and they have had to extend life of older fleets at high cost and also cut down numbers. India’s DRDO and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) have often sighted the F-35 programme to cover up delays in indigenous aviation programmes. US armed forces had accepted the aircraft in IOC status with parts of the tests still pending. Similar logic needs to be applied to the LCA and ALH variants they contend. Unlike the USA, which masters all the technologies, Indian industry requires foreign partners even for D&D and certainly for critical items such as aero-engine, radar, ejection seats and weapons. Even military super-powers such as the USA hit technological development hurdles, but close control and coordination can resolve issues.
Lessons for Government and Military
The F-35 programme was being driven by a very professional team of uniformed and civilian members of the Pentagon. The Indian MoD needs to have such core ability and learn programme management. Public criticism of the Pentagon for the programme resulted in huge public and government pressure and in turn, aircraft improvements and cost cuts. President Trump himself has been a critic of the cost overruns and delays. Pentagon had no more money to pour into the programme after three costly restructurings in recent years. At one stage, there was a proposal to invite an open tender for all follow-on projects in the programme.
Starting series production in parallel while basic D&D phase is still ON and both the hardware and software have still to be frozen, has huge risks. There were many other issues that emerged for the operators. The F135 engine exceeds the weight capacity of traditional underway replenishment systems and generates more heat than previous engines. The stealthy skin requires new repair techniques; extensive skin damage will necessitate repairs at Lockheed’s land-based facilities. The adoption of lithium-ion batteries needs careful thermal management and higher voltage systems than traditional fighters. Large quantities of classified data generated during missions shall require additional security at bases and ships.
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Programmes of this magnitude need national will and backing. The ‘We’ ‘They’ approach often seen in India cannot find quick solutions. Overstating of capabilities by DRDO and HAL, to corner greater chunk of development funds often ruins the programme and builds distrust. The private sector has great capabilities. The Government must encourage DPSUs to seek help even from foreign companies at an early stage if required.
The F-35 programme is a great example of how various agencies and companies with domain specialisation participated to find solutions. It also has lessons for cost-cutting, logistics and obsolescence management. Finally, real assessment will be possible only once the aircraft settles down in the USAF by 2019 and is operationally deployed thereafter.
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A/c to this article f-35 is proved like a hell of a mess for Lockheed Martin, usaf & us govt but after with so many complications usaf stick with the program & a/c to this article f-35 still is in ioc configuration and usaf is flying the bird. It’s a big yes f-35 is a stealth very modern and an expensive aircraft but it’s not far from completion & a/c to USAF it is combat ready. USAF flying a incompleted front line aircraft. Now we can talk about our indigenous Tejas a light, agile ,modern avionics , high angle of attack, and world’s only fighter plane with no accident from its first flight, thousands of hours Test flights and after induction and it’s short service. Tejas is cheaper maneuverable reliable and most important it’s our indigenous platform. After all these qualities still IAF reluctant to induct this bird in big number and defense ministry planning another single engine light fighter. Tejas isn’t our front line it’s only work is point defense which it can do perfectly. We can save a lot of money to induct Tejas in large number and we can invest that amount in purchasing of more Rafael, in in research and development of Tejas mk2 and AMCA, we can reduce the type of aircraft in IAF inventory to reduce logistical problems. It’s such a pity that IAF and defense ministry are not relying on Tejas. We can give a handful experience to our private sector in aviation by giving them an additional production line to them. We can’t win any war in future without indigenous platforms we can not relying on Russian tech or any Western platform. In today’s scenario no country is much reliable like 70s or 80s.
“Why would you keep your own people in the dark? I bet every organization in the world thinks they have the greatest ideas and no one else knows them. While the administration department keeps sales in the dark, the sales staff hides stuff from accounting, and the shipping department is the last to know anything. The only person who knows everything is the receptionist at the front desk. Meanwhile, some little shop in Kansas is probably doing the exact same thing, only more efficiently and never knowing it’s some ‘great wisdom’ somewhere else”.
This is a ridiculous article to say the least.
Oh Air Marshal, there is no such thing as “stealth” in the technological world, unless you use this terminolgy literally as defined perhaps in an English language dictionary. Up in the air flying, the pilot cannot switch off the engine which is a heat source. Hence there is always the “infra-red” signature in the environment to be picked up by any technologically savvy surveillance operator on ground, not to mention the acoustic of a flying object.
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