2019 F-35 News and Discussion

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16 years 7 months

Posts: 3,765

BAE Striker II?
Not too long ago, i remember a BAE video simulating the use of one in an F-35 and on a Apache

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15 years 2 months

Posts: 5,197

The F-15 Advanced Eagles are already equipped with those systems

The only one of those F-15E+ systems that could be better than the current F-35 is the Sniper pod. Then again, the F-35 gets a new one in a couple of years.

For the rest, you seemed to equate basic functionally in the F-15 with advanced capabilities in the F-35. Take the EODAS for example, while the AAR-57 does provide MAWS functions, it's missing a whole host of functions that the F-35 has like "see through the plane", track every WVR target, nigh vision aide, etc. Another is the comparison of ASQ-239 with EPAWSS/DEWS. Teh F-35 has single-ship GEO-location when the Growler does te even have that(maybe soon).

Don't even get me started on data fusion.

Comparing the F-15E+'s avionics to the F-35s is like saying the iron sights on a rifle are just as good as a scope. One may get the job done but the other simply dominates.

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19 years 9 months

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On its first combat deployment, the Marine Corps’ F-35 bombed both the Taliban and ISIS

F-35Bs flew more than 100 combat sorties against the Taliban and ISIS while deployed aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, said Lt. Col. Kyle Shoop, commander of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211.

"We overall supported more than 50 days of combat flying for over 1,200 flight hours," Shoop told Task & Purpose. "We supported both Operation Freedom's Sentinel up in the Afghanistan region as well as Operation Inherent Resolve over Syria/Iraq. We employed ordnance in both theaters on numerous days," Shoop said. "Every single one of the pilots employed ordnance in theater. So, we were very busy."

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12 years 3 months

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100 sorties in 50 days doesn't sound much but 1200 flight hours in 50 days means 24h of operation per day..Hence it's equivalent as launching 8 sorties of 3 hours every day, two 4 ships mission for example.

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19 years 9 months

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Northrop Grumman Delivers 500th Center Fuselage for the F-35 Lightning II

PALMDALE, Calif. – Feb. 25, 2019 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has completed the 500th center fuselage for the F-35 Lightning II – ahead of schedule.

“We deliver an F-35 center fuselage every 36 hours and I am very proud to say we have made all our deliveries since the inception of the program,” said Frank Carus, vice president and F-35 program manager, Northrop Grumman. “Our dedicated team works closely with the customer and suppliers to improve quality and affordability in support of the warfighter.”

Designated AU-18, the 500th F-35 center fuselage is for a conventional takeoff and landing variant for the Royal Australian Air Force. Northrop Grumman began production on the AU-18 center fuselage in June 2018 and completed work on Feb. 21. Northrop Grumman has been producing center fuselages for all three F-35 variants since May 2004....

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10 years 8 months

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It's simple.. With the F-35 allegedly having such remarkable nose pointing authority, we shall soon see some breathtaking high AoA maneuvers performed by this aircraft.
I personally am not holding my breath.. But do wake me up when a video like that pops out..

That line didn't age well.

https://youtu.be/8WOOmbMFA5A

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18 years 7 months

Posts: 893

100 sorties in 50 days doesn't sound much but 1200 flight hours in 50 days means 24h of operation per day..Hence it's equivalent as launching 8 sorties of 3 hours every day, two 4 ships mission for example.

So what's a "sortie" ?

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18 years 2 months

Posts: 2,814

That line didn't age well.

https://youtu.be/8WOOmbMFA5A

We haven't seen much from Msphere in many months - not since videos of F-35s performing pedal-turns and what not in air displays started turning up. He's hardly suffering from asphyxia?

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12 years 3 months

Posts: 3,106

Interesting ASQ-239 tidbit:

the AN/ASQ-239 is its apparent use of so-called ‘cognitive’ electronic warfare techniques. Cognitive EW intends to increase the amount of processing which an aircraft EW system can perform as soon as it detects a potentially-hostile RF signal.

inside the EW system to identify an RF transmission and its waveform,even if this has not been encountered by the system before, and then to devise...Ultimately, such an approach promises to greatly accelerate the speed with which hostile signals can be detected and then jammed. This will help to protect combat aircraft carrying such EW systems, and also other aircraft in a strike package which may not possess cognitive EW capabilities.

https://armadainternational.com/2016...eptember-2016/

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9 years 9 months

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So what's a "sortie" ?

More in detail, what a sortie equates to?
It means a single plane out or a coupe or the whole squadron?

We had the same problem with comparing mission/strike /weapon dropped statistics between Western aviations and Ruaf over Syria some years ago and it turned out, as an example was found that mission is (for western) equivalent of number of air assets (so also drones, tankers or even liason helicopters) send out in the sky a given day; so if a couple of fighters make three aerial refuelling to come over Syria following the call sign of a recon drone, find nothing and get back we have six missions (2+3+1) but 0 strikes.

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19 years 9 months

Posts: 12,109

There is a difference between a sortie, a mission or an orbit. They are not the same.


DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms
As of January 2019

Sortie - In air operations, an operational flight by one aircraft.
Mission- The dispatching of one or more aircraft to accomplish one particular task.
https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Docum...dictionary.pdf

The USMC clearly state that F-35B's deployed on Essex conducted more than 100 combat sorties during this particular deployment. This is crystal clear and there is really no potential for misinterpretation or confusion even with a language barrier. The number of strikes would have likely been less because they also state that the strike mission was not the only one in which these aircraft participated, they also ran DCA and BDA missions which naturally don't involve dropping munitions or firing missiles on every occasion.

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19 years 9 months

Posts: 12,109

Excellent..! Thanks FBW! While a lot more will be learned on the block-4 capability via the FY20 request a chunk of it will remain under wraps for some time still so it will likely be closer to the mid 2020's that we learn the full extent of the modernization effort.

http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/PublishingImages/2019/March%202019/F35_0003.jpg

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15 years 2 months

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Thoughts on the two unnamed "new" weapons?

I am thinking larger Paveways, Brimstone/JCM, JASSM, etc....

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19 years 9 months

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Spear 3, Brimstone, and AARGM-ER all need to be eventually integrated as are Aim-120D, and the AF hypersonic weapons and other classified programs.

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15 years 2 months

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I noticed that they said "7 New Weapon Systems" rather than just the weapon. I guess this might mean that all Paveways, JDAMS, Sidewinders, JSOWs, and AMRAAMs are covered under current integration.

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19 years 9 months

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Yeah noticed that too. I was just going by what is left and the ASRAAM shows in the graphic while basic ASRAAM capability is already integrated in 3F. There could be some non partner (Israeli) weapons in the mix as well.

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12 years 3 months

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Wouldn't it be ASRAAM inside the WB?

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9 years 9 months

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Most probable is that they are Israeli weapons and they don't want other to know.