F-35 enters 2011 on high note, but still dogged by future uncertainty

[Lankan Ranger]

F-35 enters 2011 on high note, but still dogged by future uncertainty

The eleventh Lockheed Martin F-35 flight-test aircraft is expected to begin taxi trials during the week of 10 January ahead of first flight as the $380 billion programme faces the consequences of the most sweeping government review to date.

The maiden sortie of the BF-5, the last of five short take-off and vertical landing jets in the flight-test fleet, follows the 30 December first flight by the AF-4 conventional take-off and landing variant.

Along with BF-5, two other F-35 flight-test aircraft - carrier variants CF-2 and CF-3 - failed to enter flight tests in 2010 as scheduled. The programme's overall flight test schedule remained on track, however. Nine aircraft completed 410 flight tests, completing 3,793 test points - both exceeding expectations.

But the programme enters the year facing uncertainty. So far, Lockheed officials have declined to specify a number of test flights scheduled for 2011, although programme officials previously estimated about 1,000 sorties would be necessary to keep the programme on track.

Lockheed plans to introduce a new metric for measuring flight-test progress, saying only the new goals will not be as simple as the 2010 objectives, which specified 394 test flights and 3,772 test points.
More broadly, the F-35 programme's development and production plans have been in flux for nearly eight months.

Last February, Vice Adm David Venlet assumed control of the joint programme office after his predecessor was sacked. Venlet initiated the last and most comprehensive in a two-year series of reviews of the programme's status, attempting to establish an achievable new baseline.

Venlet is expected to deliver the results of that technical baseline review later this month. Top US Department of Defense officials received a preview of the findings in late November. Since then, industry observers have speculated about a wide range of possible changes, with a focus on a likely new round of production cuts and development delays.

Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 Aircraft News from Flightglobal

 

[TruthSeeker]

Pentagon delays F-35, buys more Boeing fighters

WASHINGTON | Thu Jan 6, 2011 7:14pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon overhauled the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter program for the second time in a year and said it would buy 41 Boeing Co F/A-18 warplanes over the next three years to offset slower production of the Lockheed plane.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced on Thursday a further restructuring of the radar-evading F-35 as part of a broad cost-reduction plan, saving it would result in net savings of about $4 billion over the next five years.

The Pentagon's biggest arms program, the new fighter is being developed with eight international partner countries at total cost of $382 billion, but the program has run into schedule delays and massive cost overruns in recent years.

Gates said work on the Air Force and Navy versions of the plane was moving along satisfactorily.

But he said the Marine Corps variant of the plane, which offers short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) capabilities, was put on a two-year "probation," and could be canceled if Lockheed was unable to fix significant test problems.

"If we cannot fix this variant during this time frame and get it back on track in terms of performance, cost and schedule, then I believe it should be canceled," Gates told reporters at a Pentagon briefing.

For now, he said adopting "a more realistic production schedule" and repricing would save $4 billion over the next five years. The changes must be approved by Congress.

A Pentagon document on the changes called for Lockheed to build 325 F-35s through fiscal 2016, instead of the 449 that were planned, and said cost-cutting efforts were still needed.

Pentagon officials said the cuts would not have a significant impact on the overall cost per plane, since additional testing would stave off problems later on.

Cutting those 124 planes could save well over $10 billion at current prices, which ranged between $109 million per plane and $142 million under the Pentagon's last contract with Lockheed. That does not include the price of the aircraft's engine.

Of the total savings, $4.6 billion will be shifted into the program's development phase to pay for more testing and to offset too-low cost estimates, the Pentagon said.

Development of the new fighter was now slated for completion in early 2016 instead of mid-2015 under the previous restructuring, according to the Pentagon document.

The Pentagon estimates that it must still spend $13.8 billion to finish the F-35's development, on top of $37 billion spent to date.

The document said all three military services would reassess when they could begin using the new Lockheed fighter jets in combat but had not done so yet.

News of the further delay comes after the disclosure of images this week that appeared to show that China had a working prototype of its own stealthy fighter jet.

Boeing will benefit by being able to sell the Pentagon 41 more of its F/A-18 fighters in the next three years, a deal industry sources say could be worth close to $2 billion for Boeing, plus engine orders for General Electric Co.

Boeing said it had been delivering its "Super Hornet" warplanes to the Navy on time and on cost for years, and was ready to meet the Pentagon's new demand. "If the secretary has decided that's what needed to fill the gap, we'll be there for them," said Boeing spokesman Dan Beck.

Analysts said the Lockheed restructuring was more severe than expected. "This is clearly a major blow to the program," said Virginia-based analyst Jim McAleese.

A technical baseline review conducted by the program's new manager, Navy Vice Admiral David Venlet, had obviously gone worse than expected, he said, adding, "We've never seen something this significant before."

Lockheed Chief Executive Robert Stevens said his company was determined to meet its commitments.

"We recognize our role and responsibility to deliver extraordinary fighters in three variants," Stevens said. "We're committed to doing that, and we're confident that we'll succeed, including delivering the STOVL variant."

Pentagon delays F-35, buys more Boeing fighters | Reuters

 

[unicorn]

US military unveils possible F-35B redesign in sweeping budget reforms

Lockheed Martin may need to redesign the airframe structure and propulsion system of the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B, says US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

The changes would raise the weight and cost of the variant ordered by the US Marine Corps, Gates says. As a result, the F-35B will be placed on the equivalent of a two-year probation, with termination possible if the programme fails to recover, he says.
"The Marine Corps made a compelling case that they need some time to get things right with the STOVL and we will give them that opportunity," Gates says.

Meanwhile, the STOVL variant will be moved to the end of Lockheed's production system, Gates says. The US Navy will buy more Boeing F/A-18s in the interim, he adds. The Department of Defense also plans to cap F-35 orders this year at 32 aircraft, or only one more than ordered in fiscal year 2010 under the fourth lot of low-rate initial production.
The F-35 restructuring was revealed as part of a package of budget proposals unveiled by Gates on 6 January aimed at reinvesting $100 billion taken from "unneeded programmes" over the next five years into new priorities.

Gates also announced that the US Air Force will relaunch a next-generation bomber in the FY2012 budget request to the US Congress. The follow-on bomber is a "high priority for future investment given the anti-access challenges the department faces," he says.
The USN also plans to accelerate development and production of a next-generation jammer (NGJ) to replace ALQ-99 pods flown on the Northrop Grumman EA-6B and Boeing EA-18G escort jammers. In addition to buying more F/A-18E/F Super Hornets in place of F-35Bs in the near-term, the navy also will extend the life of 150 of its current F/A-18s, Gates says.
The bulk of the budget proposals in the aerospace sector, however, fell on the F-35 programme. Gates estimates that the changes, which include a more realistic "repricing" plan and production schedule, will generate $4 billion in savings.
"We recognise that long-term confidence in the programme must be earned over time by executing and meeting commitments," Lockheed says in a statement. The new plan unveiled by Gates represents "an essential foundational requirement to ensure future success", it adds.

Gates notes that the conventional take-off and landing F-35A ordered by the USAF and the F-35C variant ordered by the navy are proceeding "satisfactorily".
"By comparison, the Marine Corps variant has experienced significant testing problems," he says.

In November, Lockheed revealed that the F-35B ground test aircraft had suffered fatigue cracks in the 496 bulkhead, an aluminium structure manufactured by Alcoa. The cracking issue was under investigation as Gates's staff reviewed the overall programme's cost and schedule.