BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

"That's enough?" It would seem as though the summer is a very unlucky time for the Joint Strike Fighter. Last summer, the F-35 weathered some stormy PR after spontaneously combusting during take off .  This would have been bad enough by itself, but the incident caused the JSF to be a no-show at its international debut . This summer, Lockheed Martin and Joint Program Office are mobilizing their PR departments once again after a not-so-complimentary report was leaked detailing the F-35's lack of dogfighting prowess.  Some have dismissed the report as " garbage " (yet still slam the JSF for being a " bloated failure ").  Whatever the merit of the report, it is still a harsh blow to a program that once boasted of the JSF's superiority compared to fourth-generation fighters. This latest bit of PR shenanigans may soon be forgotten if this next shoe drops, however... In a document addressed to the United States of America's Senate A...

In news that will surely have repercussions to the JSF program, the United States Navy has chosen to cut back their F-35C orders until 2020 by as much as a third.  Instead, the USN will pursue more stand-off weapons (ie: ALCMs).  The news can be seen here:   http://aviationweek.com/defense/f-35cs-cut-back-us-navy-invests-standoff-weapons "The Navy’s budget priorities reflect the views of Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert. In June 2012, shortly after he was appointed as CNO, Greenert published an article in the Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine that downplayed the importance of advanced platforms, including stealth aircraft, in favor of “payloads” including standoff weapons." In order for the F-35 to meet its production goals over the next few years, those USN sales will have to be made up some other way. Otherwise, its price will remain high, resulting in the "death spiral" or, at least, a "zombie shuffle". 

"Could amount" does not mean "will amount". Israel, one of the JSF's staunchest supporters since its inception, has drastically reduced its F-35 order.  Instead of an initial order for 31 stealth fighters, the Israeli government has only approved funding for 14 .  This is thanks to the fact that the F-35 simply is not ready yet.  Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz had this to say: “Since the plane is not yet operational in the US, I suggested that we make do with the purchase of less than half the amount, and wait with decisions on purchasing additional jets, as several other countries – like Australia, Italy, Canada and Holland – have done.” It seems as though everybody wants a piece of the JSF's industrial benefits , but at the same time is having cold feet when it comes to actually purchasing the aircraft in sufficient amounts.

For those of you have either away on vacation or living under a rock this past summer; the F-35 has had some major engine issues. Let us recap: On June 23rd, a F-35A caught fire prior to taking off at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The F-35A was suspended from flight status on July 3rd, just prior to the Independence Day long weekend.   This meant the JSF would be unable to make its planned international debut at the Queen Elizabeth 's naming ceremony . The F-35 would go on to miss the Royal International Air Tattoo scheduled for the next week. Then the Farnborough Air Show the week after that. Questions about the F-35's alternate engine, the GE F136, were quickly dismissed . In July, " excessive rubbing " in the engine was named as the culprit.   Shortly after, the JSF's grounding was lifted , but with severe restrictions. Those restrictions were relaxed somewhat  two weeks later. Two weeks later, restrictions were lifted further . Now ano...

Boeing T-X concept (pre-Saab partnership) Saab and Boeing dropped a bombshell late last year when they announced that they would be joining forces to submit a bid for the upcoming T-X program.  The T-X program intends to replace the venerable T-38 Talon in use by the USAF as a high performance jet trainer.   What will this collaboration look like?  Early reports on a "decontented" Saab Gripen have been dispelled.  This will be an "all new" aircraft .  Given the context of the T-X program, it is very likely that much of the project will be off-the-shelf in order to keep risk and costs down.   Designing an all new aircraft does give put the Saab/Boeing T-X bid in a riskier position than the other T-X contenders.  All the other bidders are proposing existing aircraft in order to keep risks to a minimum.  Lockheed Martin is partnering up with Korean KAI in offering the T-50 Golden Eagle, Northrop Grumman is partnering with BAE in offeri...

Such a nice summer day, too... A week ago, F-35 flights were suspended after an engine fire.  Today, the word is that the JSF fleet is now officially grounded.  This is no real surprise.  According to one witness  “The engine ripped through the top of the plane” .   The timing of this comes at a particularly precarious time in the JSF program.  European support for the F-35 is less than stellar at the moment.  It was hoped that the F-35's presence during the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) and the Farnborough Air Show this month would give JSF boosters something to be proud of.   As it is, today's hoped for flyby during the HMS Queen Elizabeth's naming ceremony is off .  Instead, the part of the F-35 was played by a 50-year old de Havilland Sea Vixen .  Participation at RIAT (July 11th) is as good as cancelled, as the F-35's 36 hour turnaround time would require the grounding be lifted almost immediately.  C...

Not happening for Spain anytime soon. There aren't many options for STOVL fighters these days.  No options at all, in fact.  The only STOVL fighter aircraft currently in production is the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lighting II.  Its predecessor, the AV-8 Harrier, was no different.  The only other STOVL fighter to make production was the Soviet Yak-38 "Forger" . The F-35B is seen as the de facto choice for organizations operating Harriers.  It is the only fighter with STOVL abilities, enabling it to operate from smaller aircraft carriers designed primarily for helicopter operations.  This includes the Royal Navy, USMC, Indian Navy, Royal Thai Navy, Italian Navy, and Spanish Navy. With a monopoly on making STOVL fighters, you'd think Lockheed-Martin's F-35B sales would be shoe-in.  Unlike the "A" and "C" models, there are no alternatives to the F-35B, stealthy or no.  Yet, F-35B sales are looking incredibly shaky lately. Spanish AV-8B Harr...

Lightning down under. To the surprise of pretty much nobody, Australia has formally announced its purchase of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II .  This will bring the total number of RAAF F-35s up to 72. Much like Canada, Australia is in the midst of replacing its legacy F/A-18 Hornet fleet.  Also like Canada, there has been much controversy regarding the sole-source selection of the F-35 with no real consideration over other options available.  Unlike Canada, the Australian Government has proven to be unwavering in their commitment to the JSF.  Canberra has steadfastly committed to replacing its F-111C and F/A-18 fleets with 100 F-35As.  At the same time, the Aussies have accepted the reality that the JSF will not be ready until the 2020s, and has ordered a small fleet of "interim fighters" to bridge the gap. RAAF Super Hornet. In 2010, the RAAF started taking deliveries of the Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet.  This would help make up for the ...

The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its report on the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter earlier this week, and the results were fairly predictable to anyone who has been paying attention to the program in the last few years. The report can be found here. The general gist of it?  The F-35 is going to be late, and it's going to take a lot more money.  The very first page states, in big letters: Problems Completing Software Testing May Hinder Delivery of Expected Warfighting Capabilities It's not all bad, however.  The report actually praises the "flight sciences" aspect of testing, meaning that the aircraft is meeting most of the goals associated with hardware, like taking off, flying, dropping bombs, and landing.   The program accomplished nearly all of the flight sciences testing, including weapons testing, it had planned for 2013. Progress has been made on the troublesome tail hook, ...

The Spirograph...  OF DOOM! I recently posted about the possibility of Italy reducing its F-35 order down to 45 out of the once planned 131.  One question that always pops up after news like this is "Could this be the start of the F-35's death spiral ?" Not really. The JSF program is already far enough along, with enough money already invested, that there is unlikely to be any issue big enough to kill the program outright.  The F-35 is simply " Too big to fail ".   100 jets have already been constructed , with more on the way.  The JSF's "winner take all" competition has removed all possibility of a contingency plan such as pressing a navy design into USAF service, akin to the F-4 Phantom II.  The only other viable options are '90s era aircraft like the Super Hornet and Typhoon.  Neither option is attractive to the USAF.    For the STOVL F-35B, there are no options at all, save extending the life of existing AV-8 Harriers. One wa...