USA: Joint Strike Fighter

Wehrtechnik & Rüstung, Sicherheit und Verteidigung außerhalb Europas
theoderich
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Registriert: So 29. Apr 2018, 18:13

USA: Joint Strike Fighter

Beitrag von theoderich »

F-35 full mission capability rate only 27% due to parts shortages
Only 27% of F-35 fighters worldwide were full mission capable between May and November 2018, according to a study conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Some 52% of the stealth fighters were mission capable – able to perform at least one mission – over the same period.

The operational F-35 Lightning II fleet should reach an 80% mission capability rate by September 2020, Vice Admiral Mathias Winter, executive officer of the Joint Programme Office (JPO) said in prepared testimony before the US House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee on 4 April. Reaching an 80% mission capability rate was mandated by former Defense Secretary James Mattis for key combat aircraft, including the F-35, Lockheed Martin F-22, Lockheed Martin F-16 and Boeing F/A-18.

Still, F-35 aircraft were unable to fly nearly 30% of the time during the study due to spare parts shortages, according to GAO. The DoD also had a repair backlog of about 4,300 parts.
The F-35 fleet is also suffering from mismatched parts. The DoD purchases certain sets of F-35 parts years ahead of time to support aircraft on deployments, including on US Navy (USN) aircraft carriers and US Marine Corps (USMC) amphibious assault ships. But the parts do not fully match the military services' needs because F-35 aircraft have been modified over time, says the GAO.

“For example, 44% of purchased parts were incompatible with aircraft the Marine Corps took on a recent deployment,” says the GAO. “Without a process to modify the sets of parts for deployments, DoD may be unable to meet the services' operational needs.”

To make matters worse, the DoD has spent billions of dollars on F-35 spare parts, but does not have records for all the parts it has purchased, where they are, or how much they cost.
What’s more, the DoD’s re-supply network for moving F-35 parts around the world is immature, says the accountability agency.

“Overseas F-35 customers have experienced long wait times for parts needed to repair aircraft,” says GAO. “Without a detailed plan for the network, DoD may not be ready to support an expanding fleet.”
Just a week ahead of GAO publishing its report, the company announced that it was trying to improve F-35 parts inventories and reduce sustainment costs by signing more long-term Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contracts.

Under PBL contracts, suppliers are awarded a flat fee to maintain a certain level of performance for a part or subsystem, rather than just supply one-off parts or repair services. The idea is that the supplier will take ownership of the subsystem, working to meet the agreed upon performance metric, while driving out inefficiencies, to keep money saved for itself as a profit.

The company believes PBL contracts will be an important tool for improving its sustainment system.

“Lockheed Martin is taking aggressive action to build supply chain capacity, reduce supply chain costs and improve part availability to help drive sustainment costs down while enhancing readiness,” says the airframer.

The GAO says it examined the F-35 sustainment system at the request of the DoD and in light of the importance that the US National Defense Strategy places on the stealth fighter. It notes that the F-35 is the DoD’s most costly weapon system, with sustainment costs estimated at more than $1 trillion over a 60-year life cycle.

Ultimately, GAO concludes promises to do better next time will likely again fall short.

“While DoD is taking various actions to improve F-35 spare parts availability so that aircraft can fly and perform their missions, it will likely continue to struggle to meet warfighter requirements—due to how it is planning for and allocating spare parts,” it says.
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... pa-457734/


F-35 Aircraft Sustainment:

DOD Needs to Address Substantial Supply Chain Challenges


https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-19-321
theoderich
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Registriert: So 29. Apr 2018, 18:13

Re: USA: Joint Strike Fighter

Beitrag von theoderich »

U.S. Air Force F-35As conduct first combat employment

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Two U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft conducted an air strike at Wadi Ashai, Iraq, in support of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve on April 30.

This strike marked the F-35A’s first combat employment.

The F-35As conducted the airstrike using a Joint Direct Attack Munition to strike an entrenched Daesh tunnel network and weapons cache deep in the Hamrin Mountains, a location able to threaten friendly forces.
The F-35As, recently deployed from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, joined the Combined Forces Air Component team in the U.S. Central Command area of operations on April 15. This marks the F-35A’s third deployment and first to the CENTCOM AOR. In preparation for deployment, crews prepared and trained on the aircraft for the AFCENT mission.
https://www.afcent.af.mil/News/Article/ ... mployment/


U.S. Air Force’s F-35A Lightning II arrives for first Middle East deployment (15. April 2019)

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The U.S. Air Force’s fifth generation multi-role aircraft arrived for its first deployment to the Middle East on April 15, 2019. The F-35A Lightning IIs are from active duty 388th and reserve 419th Fighter Wings at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

As the first deployment to the U.S. Air Forces Central Command area of responsibility, crews are prepared and trained for the AFCENT mission.
https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/NEWS-ARTI ... eployment/


https://www.facebook.com/USAFCENT/video ... =3&theater
Foxbat_25
Beiträge: 7
Registriert: Sa 25. Mai 2019, 20:12

Re: USA: Joint Strike Fighter

Beitrag von Foxbat_25 »

Der F-35, der Jäger, der mehr als den Zweiten Weltkrieg gekostet hat... Jetzt fliegt er ganz gut, aber wie viele Sportswagen, Villen usw. kann man mit diese Kontrakten kaufen, wie viele Yachts haben die amerikanische Steuerzähler für die Aktionäre Lockheed-Martins finanziert?
Zuletzt geändert von Foxbat_25 am Sa 27. Mär 2021, 10:31, insgesamt 1-mal geändert.
theoderich
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Registriert: So 29. Apr 2018, 18:13

Re: USA: Joint Strike Fighter

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BAE Systems to support U.S. AV-8B Harrier fleet to 2029
BAE Systems and Vertex Aerospace have signed a nine-year agreement to enhance availability of the U.S. Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier II fleet.

The U.S. Department of the Navy awarded Vertex Aerospace LLC the $123 million Contracted Maintenance, Modification, Aircrew, and Related Services (CMMARS) task order in July 2020 to provide aircraft maintenance and Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) services for the U.S. Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier fleet.

Vertex Aerospace selected BAE Systems as a subcontractor for the new logistics support contract, which will ensure increased efficiency of maintenance operations for the Harrier fleet using predictive maintenance techniques and smart stock optimization tools.
This contract builds on BAE Systems’ existing role in maintaining the AV-8B Harrier’s reaction control system and providing engineering and technical support. Engineers from BAE Systems will work alongside Vertex and the U.S. Marine Corps at stations in: Cherry Point, North Carolina; Yuma, Arizona; and, Madison, Mississippi. They will be supported by a specialist team in the UK with a proven pedigree of delivering maintenance and support contracts for the UK Royal Air Force.
https://www.baesystems.com/en/article/b ... et-to-2029
theoderich
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Registriert: So 29. Apr 2018, 18:13

Re: USA: Joint Strike Fighter

Beitrag von theoderich »

F-35-Pilot hadert mit dem Touchscreen-Cockpit
Die schöne neue Technikwelt kommt in einem Kampfjet allerdings an ihre Grenzen. Das zumindest schildert ein – namentlich nicht genannter – Lightning II-Pilot in einem Beitrag für das Luftfahrtmagazin "Hush-Kit". Dort vergleicht er die Cockpit-Technologie der F-35 mit jener aus seinen früheren Einsatzmustern AV-8B Harrier und F/A-18 Hornet. Sein Fazit: Das Cockpit der F-35 sei zwar "wunderschön anzusehen" – allerdings nicht unbedingt auch schön zu bedienen. So sei etwa das Helmdisplay zwar technologisch großartig, es spiele die Informationen jedoch kleiner aus als ein herkömmliches HUD – könne er wählen, würde er deshalb letzteres bevorzugen.

Jeder fünfte Touch-Befehl geht daneben

Größter Nachteil, so der Pilot, sei jedoch "das völlige Fehlen einer taktilen Reaktion" durch das PCD. Im Flug falle es deshalb schwer, die richtige Taste auf dem Display zu erwischen. "Gegenwärtig drücke ich ungefähr 20 Prozent der Flugzeit auf den falschen Teil des Bildschirms – entweder, weil ich mich entweder falsch identifiziert habe oder häufiger, wenn mein Finger in Turbulenzen oder unter G-Belastung herumgeschubst wird." Die Alternative, den Jet in derlei Fällen mittels Spracheingabe zu bedienen, hält der Kampfpilot für wenig praktikabel. "Das mag auf einem Prüfstand am Boden gut funktionieren", aber unter G-Kräften im Flug könne man sich darauf nicht verlassen. Er habe jedenfalls noch niemanden getroffen, der es benutzt.

F-35-Cockpit trotzdem "unglaublich"

Abseits all dieser Probleme, hält der Pilot fest, "ist die Art und Weise, wie dieser Jet Ihnen Informationen anzeigt, unglaublich." Der Touchscreen lasse sich individuell einrichten und zeige "in jedem gewünschten Layout so ziemlich alles" an, was man möchte. "Das schiere Situationsbewusstsein, das ich durch dieses Flugzeug und seine Displays erhalte, ist mit nichts vergleichbar, was ich zuvor erlebt habe." Auch die Umstellung auf den Sidestick sei kein Problem gewesen. Das einzige, was im gesamten Cockpit fehle, sei das haptische Gefühl.
https://www.flugrevue.de/militaer/erfah ... n-cockpit/
theoderich
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Registriert: So 29. Apr 2018, 18:13

Re: USA: Joint Strike Fighter

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Air Force Boss Wants Clean-Sheet Fighter That’s Less Advanced Than F-35 To Replace F-16

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/3 ... place-f-16
theoderich
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Registriert: So 29. Apr 2018, 18:13

Re: USA: Joint Strike Fighter

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Powerful lawmaker calls F-35 fighter jet a ‘rathole,’ suggests Pentagon should cut its losses (6. März 2021)
The Democratic chairman of the House Armed Services Committee called the Lockheed Martin-produced F-35 Joint Strike Fighter a “rathole” in a virtual event with the Brookings Institution on Friday, and suggested the U.S. should consider whether to “cut its losses” by investing in a range of competing fighter jets.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), whose Seattle-area district depends heavily on Boeing for jobs and investment, said the F-35 “doesn’t work particularly well” and is too expensive to maintain. He also bemoaned the U.S. military’s long-term dependence on it.

“I want to stop throwing money down that particular rathole,” Smith said in a webcast conversation with Brookings’ Michael O’Hanlon.

He characterized the F-35 as an overly expensive defense platform with disappointing capabilities. He criticized the jet’s sustainment costs as “brutal,” and said he was skeptical they would ever go down. The solution, he said, is to invest in other fighter jets so the Defense Department has a range of options at its fingertips.

“What I’m going to try to do is figure out how we can get a mix of fighter attack aircraft that’s the most cost-effective. A big part of that is finding something that doesn’t make us have to rely on the F-35 for the next 35 years,” Smith said.
But the program is expected to cost more than $1 trillion over the course of its 60-year life span, making it the most costly weapons program in U.S. history. Its unit price recently dropped below $80 million, making it cheaper than Boeing’s competing F15-EX on a plane-by-plane basis. But the lower unit cost comes largely as a result of the fact that the Defense Department is buying more of them and spending more on the program as a whole. It has also been criticized for its high sustainment costs.

The F-35′s fortunes soared under former president Donald Trump as the Pentagon used its looser defense budget as an opportunity to buy the jets in bulk. A 2019 deal to purchase hundreds of them in a $33 billion deal was touted as the largest single procurement in the history of the U.S. military. The deal pushed Bethesda-based manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s revenue to new heights even when the coronavirus kneecapped other aerospace manufacturers.
The jet’s mission-capable rate, which measures the amount of time the jet is able to fly at least one of its assigned missions, has often fallen short of expectations. A 2019 report from the Government Accountability Office found the overall F-35 fleet was capable of performing all of its tasked missions only about a third of the time. (On another metric, in which only “combat-coded” F-35′s are considered, the mission capable rate is much higher at around 80 percent.)

The Pentagon is already looking for alternatives. It is in the early phases of developing a completely new jet, called Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, which will eventually replace the F-35. And the Air Force is also buying Boeing’s F15-EX to give it a competing option.

Doug Birkey, executive director of the Air Force Association-affiliated Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, said it would be foolish to significantly scale back the F-35 program at a time when it is just coming to fruition. The United States has already sunk untold billions into its development and might as well reap the rewards, he said.

Scaling back the F-35 program at this point “would be like buying all of the lumber for a new house, getting halfway through building it, and then saying ‘you know what, I don’t want to pay for the paint,′ ” Birkey said.
Aaron Gregg
Aaron Gregg covers the defense industry, government contractors and federal policy issues for the Washington Post's business section.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... smith-f35/
theoderich
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Registriert: So 29. Apr 2018, 18:13

Re: USA: Joint Strike Fighter

Beitrag von theoderich »

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter:
DOD Needs to Update Modernization Schedule and Improve Data on Software Development


https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-226
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