F-35 STOVL Powers Up Engine, Prepares for First Flight

(Source: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company; issued April 25, 2008)

FORT WORTH, Texas, -- The British pilot who will be the first person to fly the short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II started and ran the aircraft's engine for the first time on April 18, initiating the final series of ground tests before the jet's first flight.

Test pilot Graham Tomlinson of BAE Systems throttled up to full military power (non-afterburner) in two consecutive tests. The Pratt & Whitney F135 engine, which produces about 28,000 pounds of thrust in military power and 40,000 pounds of thrust in afterburner, was evaluated for nearly an hour of run time at a variety of power settings. The engine runs were part of the F-35B's first comprehensive systems checkout on the aircraft's own power. The engine runs were preceded by successful tests of the Integrated Power Package, which combines the functions of a starter, generator, environmental (air conditioning) system and emergency power system.

"The F-35B continues to hit one milestone after the other, and the team is doing a great job of keeping us on track for the airplane's first flight in the late May/June time frame," said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and F-35 program general manager.

The April 18 tests also included the opening and closing of all doors associated with the STOVL propulsion system. During STOVL flight, doors open above and below the shaft-driven lift fan (located immediately behind the cockpit) and at the rear of the aircraft beneath the engine nozzle. A pair of auxiliary engine inlet doors opens behind the lift fan to feed more air to the engine. The F-35B's initial series of flights will be conventional. In early 2009, the aircraft will begin engaging its STOVL propulsion system for short takeoffs, vertical landings and hovers.

The F-35B will be the world's first STOVL aircraft that is both stealthy and supersonic. It will be fielded by the United States Marine Corps, the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, and the Italian Navy.

The first F-35A test aircraft, a conventional takeoff and landing variant, has completed 40 flights and has exceeded performance and reliability expectations.

The F-35 is a supersonic, multi-role, 5th generation stealth fighter. Three F-35 variants derived from a common design, developed together and using the same sustainment infrastructure worldwide will replace at least 13 types of aircraft for 11 nations initially, making the Lightning II the most economical fighter program in history.

Lockheed Wins $197M for JSF Long-Lead Items

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued May 14, 2008)

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded an advance acquisition contract with an estimated value of $197,050,000 for long lead materials and effort associated with the Joint Strike Fighter Air System Low Rate Initial Production Lot III procurement of 8 Air Force Conventional Take Off and Landing, 8 Marine Corps Short Take-off and Vertical Landing and 2 United Kingdom, STOVL aircraft.

Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, (35 percent); El Segundo, Calif., (25 percent); Warton, United Kingdom, (20 percent); Orlando, Fla., (10 percent); Nashua, N.H., (5 percent); and Baltimore, Md., (5 percent), and work is expected to be completed in Feb. 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.

The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-08-C-0028).

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Lockheed Wins Order for 12 F-35s; $2.2Bn Funds JSF Lot 2 Production

(Source: Lockheed Martin; issued May 22, 2008)

FORT WORTH, Texas --- The United States Department of Defense has authorized the release of funds to buy six conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35A Lightning IIs for the U.S. Air Force, with provisional approval to purchase six short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) F-35Bs for the U.S. Marine Corps following a senior leadership review and the inaugural flight of that variant.

The 12 aircraft will be built in the second phase of F-35 low-rate initial production (LRIP 2).

The $2.2 billion contract authorization comes after the Defense Acquisition Board's recommendation to release the funds and proceed with production.

"We welcome the board's decision and their vote of confidence in the F-35 program," said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and F-35 program general manager. "We're seeing excellent progress on our production line, with 17 preproduction aircraft in assembly flow, the first two production-model F-35s already under way and unprecedented assembly quality across the board."

Long-lead funds of $197 million for LRIP 3 were released on May 14 for at least 18 additional F-35s. The LRIP I contract for the first two F-35A production aircraft was finalized and issued in July 2007.

The first F-35A test aircraft has completed 40 flights and has exceeded performance and reliability expectations. The inaugural flight of the first F-35B is on schedule for late spring/early summer.


The Pentagon has released funding for six more F-35As (above); funds for the Marine Corps’ first six F-35B STOVL fighters will be released only after the variant’s first flight, due in June. (Lockheed Martin photo)

Here's the F-35 in flight

http://images.military.com/Video/061201_f35.wmv

Sheet!!!

And when I saw a Harrier at Cherry Point in 1971 I thought I just saw the ultimate. A fixed wing bird hovering!!!! WTFO??????

F-35 Offers Multirole Surprises

Aviation Week's DTI | David A. Fulghum | June 20, 2008

This article first appeared in Aerospace Daily and Defense Report.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will "redefine the concept of multirole strike" aircraft, Lockheed Martin officials say, but they offer few details to flesh out that claim.

Still, while the future concept of operations, electronic attack (EA) capability and derivative options remain undefined, at least publicly, some capabilities can be picked out of their purposely vague descriptions.

Starting from the notion that new hardware is the least likely addition to the aircraft and that it has an open architecture for avionics, look for the big multirole capability additions to involve electronic attack.

Because of the ability to penetrate while using low-probability-of-intercept radar and passive sensors, the JSF will not operate in proximity to current, so-called fourth-generation aircraft. It will instead roam well-defended enemy airspace while feeding precision targeting data to nonstealthy aircraft with standoff-range weapons.

Tailored for EA

The F-35 aircraft is being designed to deliver electronic attack (jamming, spoofing and pulses of energy) with the same ease that it can deliver explosive weapons. Moreover, Lockheed officials say the F-35 -- first of all a combat aircraft -- will have full 360-degree awareness of what is going on around it.

That presents an interesting dilemma for EA versus kinetic weaponry. The new AIM-9X air-to-air missile can perform high off-boresight shots without turning the aircraft's nose toward the target. However, delivering electronic effects require specialized antennae pointed toward the target. As far as is known, JSF has only its advanced active, electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar antenna in the nose to pump out its electronic firepower. It would then have the weakness of any AESA array in that it is flat with a field of view of less than 180 degrees, perhaps an effective field of regard for effective attack of 60-90 degrees.

Some radar specialists and Air Force planners already say they anticipate flying the F-35s in line, with the first aircraft being passive and the second emitting and passing target information to the first so that it can remain undetected. Therefore, it appears that without an add-on antenna, the JSF's EA capability will be limited to the forward quarter.

However, within that field the electronic effects generator can be routed through the AESA radar, which allows the F-35 to invade, blind or fool enemy sensors and radars at ranges of up to hundreds of miles.

Sensors

Lockheed officials do admit that the F-35's sensor capabilities include advanced electronic surveillance allowing development of an instantaneous electronic order of battle -- what's emitting and from where.

Along with EA, the JSF will take on the mission of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. So instead of depending on a few specialized high-demand aircraft like Rivet Joint (for signals intelligence), Cobra Ball (measurement and signature intelligence) or Compass Call (EA) that can't venture into enemy airspace, a fleet of F-35s will be able to conduct those missions deep into enemy territory to take advantage of physics (by being nearer the targets) while deepening the areas of surveillance.

They won't say if information warfare is part of the package. Info warfare is generally the bailiwick of Commando Solo and Compass Call (including network penetration and attack), but with software upgrades radar specialists expect the capability to appear soon.