The F-35: raw performances

[HAIDER]

Unofficial translation by energo
Together with the Americans we have operated our own airplanes for almost four months, and we are well on our way with the build up here at Luke. This job is unlike anything we have done previously.

The American air force has just recently begun to develop tactics and procedures for exploiting the characteristics and capacities of the airplane. A lot of the work is being done at Luke and within the squadron we are apart of. Norway and the RNoAF are participating from the start, and we have full access into the fundamental discussions. It means we can influence the development of the weapon system - we are in other words in the middle of the sweet spot.

The Norwegian officers at Luke are integrated with an American squadron. Therefore we learn daily from those who know best the F-35, and who already have years of knowledge and experience with 5th. generation airplanes. This will provide us with the best possible starting point when we begin to operate the F-35 in Norway from 2017. The F-35 today has over 50.000 flight hours, and the Norwegian airplanes have been over 150 hours in the air since we received them in December last year.

The F-16 has been a fantastic combat aircraft for the RNoAF for the last 35 years. The introduction of the F-35 will over night represent at least as big a leap in technology and capacity as we have had with the F-16 during its entire lifetime. This provides opportunities, but also challenges. If we are to exploit the capacity that the F-35 is, it will be necessary to change the way we operate, think and organize, something I think will be far more difficult than the introduction of the aircraft itself. It is not the F-35 that will have to adjust to Norwegian practices, it is we who will need to adjust to the F-35. The jets will act also as a force multiplier for the army and navy. The aircraft's characteristics and ability to cooperate will give the Norwegian politicians more alternatives to act with respect to the use of military force in the future.

We who fly the F-35 daily, can establish the following: The aircraft is faster, more maneuverable, has more range and, can carry a significantly higher payload and provides the pilot with a significantly better situational awareness than what we are used to from the F-16. But we are still in the development phase of the F-35 program. It is therefore natural that the aircraft has some basic problems, even if critics often use such as "proof" that the airplane will never be able to meet the specifications.

From an operational standpoint the challenges are about getting complex systems to work together. The unique thing about the F-35 program is that we have chosen to operate the aircraft before it is fully developed. On one side this means that some systems are still immature, on the other side we get to take part in a test process which is much more comprehensive than what has been done before. Here at Luke we experience that problems are corrected continuously, and that the aircraft's maneuvering envelope is expanding. I therefore operate a completely different machine today than I did just two months ago.

When the final status is made up in 2025, I am therefore convinced that Norway and the RNoAF will have a weapons system which is even more capable than the government expected when they approved the acquisition in 2008.

 

[bidonv]

By:blog.executivebiz.com
BAE Systems Conducts 1,000th F-35 Vertical Landing

BAE Systems has completed the 1,000th vertical landing of a Lockheed Martin-built F-35B as part of an ongoing flight test program.

BAE said Friday Peter Wilson — lead test pilot for the short takeoff and vertical landing variant of the F-35 — performed the landing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River six years after BAE pilot Graham Tomlinson conducted the first vertical landing.

“Every day, the test team carries out numerous take-offs, landings and sorties with the aim of ensuring the aircraft is performing in accordance with our expectations,” Wilson said.

The fighter jet will be deployed from the U.K.’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier.

Wilson added the “first of class” flight trials on the QEC will occur in less than three years.

BAE noted it oversees integration of the aircraft and the aircraft carrier for the U.K. and provides design, development and manufacture support for the units.

It also performs test and development of new technologies for the aircraft based on trials in the U.S.

Data from flight trials support a simulation facility in BAE’s Warton site in the U.K. that is designed to help pilots and engineers fly the F-35B from the deck of the QEC carrier, BAE said.................Read more