Internationale fighter ontwikkelingen

[Sparkplug]

AIRSHOW-Kuwait says sticks to F-18 jets despite approval delays

By Nadia Saleem, Manama | January 21, 2016

Kuwait's air force is sticking to plans to purchase Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet to replace ageing fighter jets, despite a lengthy congressional approval process in Washington that has frustrated industry players.

"The Super Hornet is one of the best solutions for us," Abdullah Al Foudary, commander of the Kuwait Air Force, said on the sidelines of an industry event in Bahrain. "We have the legacy F-18s that we have to find a solution for in 2030-2040."

U.S. industry executives and military officials have grown increasingly concerned about delays in approving the sale of 28 Boeing F/A-18E/F fighter jets to Kuwait, a deal valued at around $3 billion.

The fighter planes are of increasing importance to Kuwait amid rising regional tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, after an attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran by protestors angry over the execution of a Saudi Shi'ite cleric.

Kuwait, an ally of Saudi Arabia, is also part of the Saudi-led coalition against Yemen and is primarily supporting that effort with its air force and F/A-18s.

Al Foudary said the air force would play the most important role in addressing regional threats.

"We have to set up priorities and buy new capabilities so we can cope in this situation," he said.

Boeing must decide in coming weeks whether to start building the jets using its own funding to ensure that materials that take years to procure are on hand when needed.

The company is likely to make that investment as a bridge to additional U.S. Navy orders expected in fiscal 2018, according to a source familiar with the issue.

The company is anxiously awaiting the release of the Pentagon's fiscal 2017 budget plan on Feb. 9 to see if the Navy orders even a few jets in fiscal 2017, potentially through a separate war-spending supplement.

U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus last week said foreign military sales helped ensure continued production of U.S. weapons systems, such as the Boeing Co F/A-18E/F fighter jet, and also helped the U.S. military and its allies work seamlessly in joint military operations.

But Mabus called for continued efforts to accelerate what he described as a slow and "torturous" approval process for military sales to foreign customers. (Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal, Editing by William Maclean and Tom Heneghan)

http://www.reuters.com/article/kuwait-defence-idUSL8N1550FT

[Sparkplug]

Reviving F-22 Raptor production a 'non-starter'

By James Drew, Washington DC | 20 January 2016

The secretary of the air force has become the latest official to douse hopes of restarting Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor production, which was capped at 187 aircraft and closed in 2011.

The tooling and equipment needed to produce the twin-engine air-superiority fighter, which was barred from export because of its sophistication, remain in storage along with video instructions for various assembly processes.

This equipment will aid in the remanufacture of spare parts for the aircraft and its two Pratt & Whitney F119 engines, but some Raptor advocates want to see the assembly lines in Marietta, Georgia and Fort Worth, Texas reborn. This was done for improved versions of the Lockheed U-2 and Rockwell B-1.

That idea is "pretty much a non-starter," service secretary Deborah Lee James said when asked about the prospect of resuming serial F-22 production at a recent CSIS event in Washington DC.

"If you were to ask [air force chief of staff Gen Mark Welsh] or any of the uniformed officers in the air force, they would probably tell you they would love to have more F-22s.

"The original plan was to have quite a few more additional F-22s, and it was a regrettable set of circumstances – a combination of budget overruns and taking way longer than originally projected – that actually caused what became an early termination for the F-22 programme."

Optimised for air-to-air combat in a Cold War fight against Russia, the original requirement was for 750 aircraft. That number later dropped to 339, and then 187 plus eight test aircraft.


Lockheed Martin

Some retired and serving USAF officials have called ending F-22 production "the biggest mistake ever," particularly as the aircraft sees combat action in Syria, and as Russia and China finalise development of competing fifth-generation combat jets. Former presidential hopeful Mitt Romney even pledged to restart F-22 production during his 2012 campaign.

Air Combat Command chief Gen Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle said in September that he "dreams" about the day F-22 assembly resumes, but admits it's an expensive proposition. In 2010, a RAND study commissioned by air force placed the cost at $17 billion (2008 dollars) for 75 more aircraft.

"The very prospect of re-opening that [F-22 line] is pretty much a non-starter," says James. "We've got what we've got. We've got the F-35 coming, approaching initial operating capability. It's not the same, but they will complement one another and we'll have to go forward as is."

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/reviving-f-22-raptor-production-a-non-starter-421019/

[Sparkplug]

Israel gives green light to F-15I upgrade

By Arie Egozi, Tel Aviv | 20 January 2016

Israel will embark on a "deep" upgrade of its Boeing F-15I Ra'am fleet as it looks to maintain the type as the backbone of its air force's strike capability, despite the parallel acquisition of the Lockheed Martin F-35.

The enhancement has been mooted for some time, but Tel Aviv has recently given the green light to the programme.

Modifications will include structural changes, the addition of an active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar, updated avionics and new, unspecified weapon systems.

A selection process for the radar is ongoing, with a decision due mid-year. It is thought Israel favours the Raytheon APG-82(V)1 radar selected by the US Air Force for its F-15Es.


Israeli air force

Lt Col Yiftach, head of the Israeli air force's aircraft branch, told the service's website, although some missions will eventually pass to the F-35, the Boeing type will remain a "strategic aircraft".

"When we want to reach far distances with few aircraft and many arms – the F-15I wins," he says, noting its "great carrying abilities".

Yiftach says: "There is a reason it hasn't stopped flying and conducting missions after 18 years. As an aircraft that only operates with one squadron, it has every extreme ability we would want our aircraft to have."

It will also take time to integrate weapons onto the F-35, says Yiftach.

Flightglobal's Fleets Analyzer database records the service as operating 25 F-15Is, along with a combined 42 A/C-models.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/israel-gives-green-light-to-f-15i-upgrade-421013/

[Harald]

Northrop Will Fly T-X Prototype This Year

Northrop Grumman intends to fly a prototype of the company's T-X concept early this year, in anticipation of an upcoming Air Force competition to replace the aging T-38 fleet used for advanced jet training.

Northrop is working with aerospace company Scaled Composites, which it acquired in 2007, on an internally funded T-X demonstrator aircraft, Tom Vice, president of the company's aerospace sector, told reporters Jan. 14 during a media trip. Vice did not specify exactly when the prototype would fly, but said the event would take place in the first half of this year.

"We intend to fly the aircraft at a time which we believe aligns with the competition. So we will fly it when the competition dictates it," Vice said. "Obviously we're trying to hold on to the uniqueness of the design, but we will be flying that airplane probably in the first half of 2016."

..../....

Vice declined to give further details about the T-X demonstrator, but said the aircraft "is more than just a prototype." The company's T-X proposal bears a striking resemblance to the T-38 Talon, also built by Northrop, according to December press reports.

..../....

Voor gehele artikel zie LINK
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/support/2016/01/19/northrop-fly-t-x-prototype-year/78966566/

[Sparkplug]

Storm Shadow dropped from UK's F-35B follow-on integration plan

Richard Scott, London - IHS Jane's Missiles & Rockets | 18 January 2016

Key Points
• The integration of Storm Shadow on the F-35B as part of UK follow-on development has been dropped
• The UK is looking to integrate the Meteor BVR air-to-air missile and the SPEAR Cap 3 stand-off precision guided weapon as part of Block 4

The United Kingdom (UK) Ministry of Defence (MoD) has abandoned plans to integrate the MBDA Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missile on the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), and is instead looking at the far future integration of a new long-range deep-strike weapon projected under the still embryonic Selective Precision Effects at Range (SPEAR) Cap 5 programme.

To read the full article, Client Login

(102 of 1347 words)

http://www.janes.com/article/57304/storm-shadow-dropped-from-uk-s-f-35b-follow-on-integration-plan

[Lex]

Dus zal een baan van leeuwarden verlengt moeten worden voor als de windrichting de verkeerde kant op staat
Of is dat niet zo heel problematisch?

Dat zal de toekomst uitwijzen; afwachten dus maar.

[JdL]

Stel dat het zo zou zijn dat de vereiste baanlengte voor take-off 8kft zou zijn:
Baanlengtes EHVK: beiden >9900ft;
Baanlengtes EHLW: 9700 & 6500ft.

Dus zal een baan van leeuwarden verlengt moeten worden voor als de windrichting de verkeerde kant op staat
Of is dat niet zo heel problematisch?

[Lex]

Zijn de banen van Volkel en Leeuwarden op dit moment lang genoeg voor de F-35?

Stel dat het zo zou zijn dat de vereiste baanlengte voor take-off 8kft zou zijn:
Baanlengtes EHVK: beiden >9900ft;
Baanlengtes EHLW: 9700 & 6500ft.

[JdL]

maar er zijn ook kritieken van een bedenkelijke aard.

+1
Die de media maar al te graag aangrijpen om het toestel nog verder af te kraken

[Sparkplug]

Zijn de banen van Volkel en Leeuwarden op dit moment lang genoeg voor de F-35?

Het is de bedoeling dat komende juni een F-35A naar Nederland komt. Dan weten ze meteen of de start/landingsbanen de juiste lengte hebben    :lol:

Sommige kritieken op de F-35 zijn terecht, maar er zijn ook kritieken van een bedenkelijke aard.

[JdL]

Zijn de banen van Volkel en Leeuwarden op dit moment lang genoeg voor de F-35?

[Harald]

5 Reasons Why Our F-35s Are Too Dangerous to Fly    ( )

(Source: American Thinker; posted Jan 17, 2016)
By David Archibald

The F-35 has been around as long as global warming. The aircraft had its origin in the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) program started by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy in 1993. The word "Strike" in the designation of this program indicates that it was oriented toward developing a light bomber. The following year, the JAST program absorbed the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter program and a separate short take-off/vertical landing program.

This became the Joint Strike Fighter program, with the aim of producing a common airframe and engine across the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps. (.../...)

Many years then passed. The production prototype F-35 first flew in 2006.

The flying characteristics of an aircraft can be determined from its statistics – that is, things like the weight divided by the wing area, weight relative to thrust, etc. The F-35 was still a light bomber. Its engine is optimized for operating at about 20,000 feet. By 2008, simulations had shown that the F-35 was not fit to be a fighter aircraft. This was in a RAND study by Dr. John Stillion, which concluded that the F-35 "can't turn, can't climb, can't run."

Now, ten years after the F-35 first flew, it remains in development, though 180 have been built. None of those aircraft can operate in combat; all will have to be modified if and when the final design has been settled on. There is not much point in doing that, because the F-35 has a number of show-stoppers that would kill it instantly in a rational world. These include:

1. The F-35's engine is failing at too high a rate, and its reliability is not improving fast enough to be approved for operational use. The F-35 has a poorly designed, unreliable engine – the largest, hottest, and heaviest engine ever put in a fighter plane. (.../...)

The project recognized the engine's limitations in 2012 by announcing an intention to change performance specifications for the F-35A, reducing sustained turn performance from 9.0g to 4.6g and extending the time for acceleration from 0.8 Mach to 1.2 Mach by 8 seconds. (.../...)

2. The F-35 requires a runway at least 8,000 feet long to operate from. By comparison, the F-16's minimum runway length requirement is 3,000 feet.

3. The F-35's operating cost of $50,000 per hour means that we won't be able to afford to give its pilots enough flying time to be fully proficient. The same problem afflicts the F-22 with its $70,000-per-hour operating cost. (.../...)

4. Being designed as a light bomber, the F-35 is less maneuverable than fighter designs up to 50 years old and will be shot out of the sky by modern fighter aircraft. Thus, it wasn't a surprise when an F-16 outflew an F-35 in mock combat in early 2015, a result entirely predictable from simulation. (.../...)

The F-35 uses its fuel for cooling its electronics. The aircraft won't start if its fuel is too warm, making deployment in warmer regions problematic. At the Yuma and Luke U.S. Air Force bases in Arizona, fuel trucks for the F-35 are painted white, parked in covered bays, and chilled with water mist systems because the jet won't even start if the fuel is already too warm to cool the electronics.

5. The F-35 has a logistics system (ALIS)  that requires an internet connection to a centralized maintenance system in the United States (.../...) If the internet link is down, the aircraft can't fly even if there is nothing wrong with it. (.../...)

Those are the known show-stoppers; the F-35 has many other mere deficiencies. (end of edited excerpt)

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/170464/five-reasons-why-the-f_35-is-too-dangerous-to-fly.html

voor gehele originele artikel :
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/01/5_reasons_why_our_f35s_are_too_dangerous_to_fly.html#ixzz3xWMuo4DI

[Harald]

Germany's Tornado jets 'can't fly at night'

Berlin: German Tornado jets deployed to Syria for reconnaissance missions can't fly at night, Bild daily reported on Tuesday in a new embarrassment for the defence ministry which has been battling equipment problems.

The six aircraft sent to Syria are fitted with surveillance technology, and had been touted as being capable of taking high-resolution photos and infrared images, even at night and in bad weather.

But Bild reported that night flights were impossible as pilots are blinded by the cockpit light which is far too bright.

A defence ministry spokesman admitted that there is "a small technical problem that has to do with the cockpit lighting".

"It is possible that the night goggles worn by pilots result in reflections," he said, adding that the ministry was looking at resolving the problem within the next two weeks.

He added that there was "currently no need to fly at night in Syria" and that the deployment was performing at "100 percent".

Germany's military has faced criticism in recent months over the state of its weaponry.

Its G36 assault rifle which is being phased out by the army became the butt of jokes after reports that it had trouble firing straight at high temperatures.

Der Spiegel magazine had also reported last year that only four of the military's 39 NH90 helicopters were currently useable.

Most recently, the army said the external fuel tank of one of its Eurofighter combat planes fell off as it was preparing for takeoff.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/europe/190116/germany-s-tornado-reconnaisance-jets-can-t-fly-at-night.html

[Sparkplug]

Combat-coded F-35A to begin dropping bombs

By James Drew, Washington DC | 18 January 2016

In February or early March, a combat-coded F-35A from the 34th Fighter Squadron at Hill AFB will release an inert, laser-guided bomb at the nearby Utah Test and Training Range.

What will seem ordinary and routine to the pilot will actually be a "monumental achievement" for the multinational F-35 programme, which has been building to this moment since Lockheed Martin won the Joint Strike Fighter contract in 2001.

A stealthy, jet-powered combat aircraft is nothing if it cannot put weapons on a target, and this GBU-12 Paveway II release will be a moment of truth for the conventional A-model, which until now only released weapons in development and operational testing.


Reserve pilot Maj Jayson Rickard of the 466th Fighter Squadron flew Hill AFB's 100th F-35 sortie on 11 December
US Air Force

The air force's Block 3i aircraft will first operate with basic laser and GPS-guided weapons, as well as beyond-visual-range AIM-120 air-to-air missiles. It will also have advanced targeting, surveillance and radar-jamming equipment.

The full complement of weapons will not arrive until Block 3F in late 2017, but the armaments the F-35 does have in Block 2B and 3i can accomplish basic close air support, air interdiction and suppression or destruction of enemy air defence missions, according to the air force.

"It is a monumental achievement, because we are the first operational unit to do it. But quite frankly, I don't expect it to be a difficult achievement for us to accomplish," says Col David Lyons, commander of the squadron's parent wing, the 388th Fighter Wing. "It will be an ordinary mission. They will be inert, at least initially.

"The airplane can already simulate the drop, so we simulate firing the AIM-120 and dropping laser-guided and GPS-guided bombs every day as we practice our tactics, but to actually have something come off the airplane – we've not done that yet."

Introducing weapons into live training is one of several steps the squadron must take to be deemed combat-ready on 1 August, which marks initial operational capability (IOC) for the conventional takeoff and landing model. The US Marine Corps achieved IOC with the F-35B jump jet in July.

Because F-35s are designed to operate in formation, Lyons says the squadron will begin practicing "four-ship" combat tactics in March, where four airborne F-35s will train together. The 34th Fighter Sqn has been practicing four-ship tactics in its four Lockheed-built 360° mission simulators since they were networked in December.

Since activating in July, the "Rude Rams" squadron has received five aircraft from Lockheed, and the sixth is due shortly. The group expects to have 12-16 aircraft and 24 mission-ready pilots in place by IOC.

Pilots arrive from the training bases at Luke AFB in Arizona and Eglin AFB in Florida as trained F-35 aviators, but are qualified on the latest combat tactics at their local base.

Today, the 388th wing counts eight IOC-ready pilots and another one is assigned to its partner reserve unit, the 419th Fighter Wing. Its growing fleet is supported by 260 maintainers.

The aircraft will receive the most up-to-date 3i software load, and Lyons says that will arrive on 1 February.

The local autonomic logistics information system (ALIS), which manages the logistics and maintenance programme, is also being upgraded. "We expect to have it in a deployable configuration in a couple of months," says Lt Col Darrin Dronoff, who heads the 388th unit's F-35 integration office.

The first real test of the squadron's ability to deploy abroad will begin in a few months, starting with simulated deployment exercises on-ramp at Hill, says 34th unit commander Lt Col George Watkins.

"We're going to take F-35s from the 34th Fighter Squadron and go to Mountain Home AFB in Idaho," Watkins tells Flightglobal. "We're going to fly missions from Mountain Home as our proof of being able to go out on the road and fly missions from the road.

"We'll come back from that and continue our spin up to full proficiency with a surge in July where we'll fly extra sorties in a surge week, so in the month of July we have enough sorties programmed to get everyone up to combat-mission status by 1 August."

Lyons and Watkins are both confident of achieving IOC on 1 August, and the wing has even invited the Air Combat Command inspector general to monitor the process.

Lyons expects the F-35A will be called up fairly quickly, perhaps in 2017 or 2018, although there are no deployments currently scheduled.

"It would not surprise me at all to see the airplane used in that time frame," Lyons says. "I don't make that decision; it's above my pay grade. But once the airplane is declared IOC, it will be available to use, and I would expect them to use it."

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/combat-coded-f-35a-to-begin-dropping-bombs-420924/

[Sparkplug]

Life of RAF Tornado squadron further extended to 2018

By Beth Stevenson, London | 18 January 2016

Further detail on the UK Ministry of Defence's November Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR) has revealed the retirement of a Panavia Tornado GR4 squadron will be pushed back to 2018, from the previously announced 2017 date.

Last August, defence secretary Michael Fallon said a delayed retirement from 2016 until March 2017, of the Royal Air Force's 12 Sqn, would allow the type to continue operating until the Eurofighter Typhoon was able to fully take over the ground-attack role in Iraq and Syria. However, the next retirement of a Tornado squadron has now been pushed back further, to 2018.

"We will extend the third Tornado ground-attack squadron in service until 2018 to continue the fight against Daesh [Islamic State] and be ready for other tasks, then retire the remaining two squadrons of Tornado in 2019," an SDSR factsheet released by the MoD on 15 January says.

The Tornado is proving its worth against Islamic State militants in the Middle East and the demand for it is high; 12 Sqn was returned to service in January 2015 to join Operation Shader after originally disbanding in 2014 after the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Three squadrons are required to support the operation, with one deployed at any given time, one in a preparation role and another on stand down.

The recent SDSR also noted the UK will acquire the planned 138 Lockheed Martin F-35s over the life of the programme, and will "buy some of these aircraft more quickly than previously planned, creating an additional frontline squadron by 2023", according to the factsheet.

The Tornado GR4's replacement, the Typhoon, will also see an additional two frontline squadrons formed to support the type until 2040, with more investment into integrating an active electronically scanned array radar. With the integration of the MBDA Brimstone air-to-surface missile in 2017, the newer type should be able to begin adopting the ground-attack role of the Tornado, which began carrying the weapon in Syria this month.


Crown Copyright

The factsheet also confirms the UK's commitment to developing unmanned combat air vehicle technology, specifically in collaboration with France – the two nations are involved in the bilateral Future Combat Air Systems programme – and the USA.

"We will work with France to develop an advanced Unmanned Combat Air System technology demonstrator, and with the United States to mature other high-end technologies," it says. "Additionally, we will pursue a national technology programme to maintain the UK's position as a global leader in this area."

Under its Protector programme, the UK will see its fleet of armed UAVs doubled in the 2020 timeframe, from a capability currently provided by the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/life-of-raf-tornado-squadron-further-extended-to-201-420923/