[P44]

The deficit commission wants to cancel the Marine Corps’ F-35B and halve procurement of other versions to save $27 billion by 2015. (Lockheed photo)

  http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articl ... 00-bn.html

[teXou]

US Navy Receives First F-35 Fighter
12 November 2010


The US Navy has received its first stealth fighter F-35C Lightning II carrier variant at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland.

F-35C Lightning II, a fifth generation fighter aircraft built by Lockheed, achieved successful air refuels at a maximum load of 19,800lb during the flight.

The aircraft will conduct air-to-air refuelling and performance testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River.

The F-35 aircraft is a combination of advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility that features fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations, advanced sustainment, and lower operational and support costs.

http://www.naval-technology.com/news/news101684.html

[AtInf]

Oferta de 20 ( vinte ) F35 a Israel em troca da suspensão por três meses da construção de colonatos.
De acordo com o Jerusalem Post a oferta de um segundo esquadrão de F35, a juntar à encomenda de um primeiro lote a receber entre 2016 e 2017, foi feita na semana passada durante a visita da Secretária de Estado Hillary Clinton.

[sergio21699]

Oferta de 20 ( vinte ) F35 a Israel em troca da suspensão por três meses da construção de colonatos.
De acordo com o Jerusalem Post a oferta de um segundo esquadrão de F35, a juntar à encomenda de um primeiro lote a receber entre 2016 e 2017, foi feita na semana passada durante a visita da Secretária de Estado Hillary Clinton.

Não podem fazer o mesmo conosco se adiarmos o TGV??

[Luís]

Não podem fazer o mesmo conosco se adiarmos o TGV??

Ahh, era bom era...mas só para os suportar... €€€€€ lá iam muitos destes.

Se tivéssemos uns Rafale ou Eurofighter já não era nadinha mau

[Edu]

Oferta de 20 ( vinte ) F35 a Israel em troca da suspensão por três meses da construção de colonatos.
De acordo com o Jerusalem Post a oferta de um segundo esquadrão de F35, a juntar à encomenda de um primeiro lote a receber entre 2016 e 2017, foi feita na semana passada durante a visita da Secretária de Estado Hillary Clinton.

O israelita é de facto um especialista na arte de chular o americano...

[Jorge Pereira]

Oferta de 20 ( vinte ) F35 a Israel em troca da suspensão por três meses da construção de colonatos.
De acordo com o Jerusalem Post a oferta de um segundo esquadrão de F35, a juntar à encomenda de um primeiro lote a receber entre 2016 e 2017, foi feita na semana passada durante a visita da Secretária de Estado Hillary Clinton.

Não podem fazer o mesmo conosco se adiarmos o TGV??  

[teXou]

Lockheed finds cracks in F-35B test aircraft

Lockheed Martin has discovered a potentially significant problem with one model of its F-35 joint strike fighter, the company reported Wednesday.

The news comes just days before an important Pentagon meeting on the program's continuing delays and rising costs.

Lockheed issued a statement saying its Fort Worth engineering staff had found cracks in the rear bulkhead -- a major structural part weighing about 300 pounds -- of an F-35B ground test plane undergoing fatigue testing.

The cracks were found after the plane had been subjected to the equivalent of about 1,500 hours of flight time. The airplane's structural components are designed to last at least 8,000 hours.

Lockheed said the cracks were found in a special inspection after engineers discovered unusual data from test instruments.

The latest problem comes at a key juncture for the troubled F-35, which, at an estimated $382 billion, is the costliest weapons program ever.

Pentagon officials have been reviewing the program for weeks to determine how to expedite testing and fix failing components, particularly of the short-takeoff-vertical-landing F-35B designed for the Marines.

A Defense Acquisition Board plans to meet Monday to review cost and test data and approve any changes in budgets and schedules.

There have been unconfirmed reports that senior Pentagon officials were at least considering the possibility of canceling the F-35B model to focus on getting the other two versions tested and into service.

Lockheed did not disclose when the inspection took place but said it had inspected all of the other flight test aircraft and the ground test F-35A model.

"No additional cracks were found, and flight testing has not been impacted," the company said.

Eight F-35s are now in flight testing, including four F-35Bs.

Four more are built and being prepared for flight testing, and six have been built for ground testing.

At least 14 production planes are in the final assembly stages on the Lockheed production line, with most of the major structural components installed around the bulkheads.

An investigation into "the root cause" of the cracks is under way, Lockheed said.

The test equipment, an improperly manufactured bulkhead or a design error could have caused the problem.

"Sometimes it's a machining issue. Sometimes it's a design issue. They'll figure it out pretty quickly," said Hans Weber, an aerospace engineering executive and consultant in San Diego.

A design issue is probably the worst-case scenario, since it would mean redesigning and then remanufacturing the bulkheads, then installing them on planes already built.

The F-35B has bulkheads made of a lighter aluminum alloy than those on the F-35A and C models.

An Arlington company, Progressive Inc., mills the bulkheads to exact measurements and extremely tight tolerances from large aluminum forgings made by Alcoa.

The bulkheads, which the engine sits inside of, provide the core strength of the airplane and are designed to withstand massive pressures and loads.

The wings, the tail, the nose section and other components all attach to the bulkheads.

Joe DellaVedova, public affairs director for the Pentagon's joint strike fighter program office, said in an e-mail that it's "too early in the process to talk about the significance" of the problem.

The F-35B is the most complex of the three models because of the unusual stresses involved in making short takeoffs and vertical landings.

The Navy has long resisted operating F-35Bs aboard its aircraft carriers, but the Marines want the plane to replace their aging Harrier jump jets.

The British military initially planned to buy F-35Bs for its Air Force and Navy but recently altered its plans and now expects to buy the same version as the U.S. Navy for its carriers.



Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/11/17 ... z15lm29aG9

[Cabeça de Martelo]

Esta versão está a mostrar-se cada vez mais problemática. Acho que com a saida da RN e o facto de haver tantos problemas os Norte-Americanos e os Britânicos já estão arrependidos de não terem feito um "Super-Harrier" em vez disto.

[nelson38899]

Esta versão está a mostrar-se cada vez mais problemática. Acho que com a saida da RN e o facto de haver tantos problemas os Norte-Americanos e os Britânicos já estão arrependidos de não terem feito um "Super-Harrier" em vez disto.

Agora que o defeito foi encontrado, é só redesenhar a parte interna do componente, de forma a diminuir a área onde a concentração de tensões é maior!

[Edu]

Isso não será assim tão simples como o caro nelson o quer fazer parecer, o defeito foi encontrado mas ainda não se descobriram as causas nem as soluções. Isso pode levar à necessidade de mais pesquisas e estudos o que vai encarecer o já carissimo F-35B. Alem de que a solução pode levar a um aumento de peso e com isso sacrificar as permormances de uma aeronave que mais do que as outras versões (A e C) tem enormes restrições de peso.
No entanto é verdade que este tipo de problemas são mais que normais no desenvolvimento de uma aeronave nova, o problema é que esta aeronave se encontra em risco de ser cancelada e mais problemas não vêm melhorar a situação.

[PCartCast]

Oferta de 20 ( vinte ) F35 a Israel em troca da suspensão por três meses da construção de colonatos.
De acordo com o Jerusalem Post a oferta de um segundo esquadrão de F35, a juntar à encomenda de um primeiro lote a receber entre 2016 e 2017, foi feita na semana passada durante a visita da Secretária de Estado Hillary Clinton.

Não podem fazer o mesmo conosco se adiarmos o TGV?? :| .

[HaDeS]

Tantos custos para um avião que será inferior ao F-22 só demostra como esse projeto está sendo mal administrado.

[Cabeça de Martelo]

Tantos custos para um avião que será inferior ao F-22 só demostra como esse projeto está sendo mal administrado.

O problema é que eles querem que um caça tenha 3 versões diferentes para 3 dos 4 ramos das Forças Armadas Norte-Americanas e aliados. Pessoalmente acho que é pedir muito, e na verdade grande parte dos problemas tem sido na problemática versão B que está a ser construida para o US Marine Corp e Marinhas que disponham de PA com Harrier. Um dos principais clientes externos desta versão já a descartou (Royal Navy), por isso se ela for cancelada...a batata quente fica do lado dos Marines. De qualquer maneira é a versão mais fraca do F-35.

[Cabeça de Martelo]

DATE:06/01/11
SOURCE:Flight International
US military unveils possible F-35B redesign in sweeping budget reforms
By Stephen Trimble
 

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.