F35B Airwing

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Pelican
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Re: F35B Airwing

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The global fleet of F-35 jets has achieved a combined 400,000 flight hours.

665 F-35 jets have been built as of July this year.

Lockheed Martin say that the 400,000 flight hours includes all F-35s in the fleet: developmental test aircraft, training, operational, U.S. and international F-35s.

“This milestone is a testament to the dedicated work of the joint government, military and industry teams sustaining, maintaining, operating and flying F-35s around the globe,” said Bridget Lauderdale, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program.

“With every delivery and every flight hour, the enterprise gets more mature and effective and we are laser focused on continuing to deliver the most capable, available and affordable 5th Generation fighter aircraft.”

Lockheed Martin say in a statement:

“The 5th Generation F-35 is in the fight today and its advanced capabilities continue to transform the way our men and women in uniform conduct operations around the globe. It is the most advanced node in a 21st century warfare network-centric architecture connecting assets in the battlespace, boosting effectiveness and enabling rapid decision-making, giving our pilots an advantage against any adversary and enabling them to execute their mission and come home safe. More than 165,000 flight hours – about 41% of the total – were flown by operational and combat-coded F-35s.

F-35 availability continues to increase as more aircraft enter service. Recent U.S. Air Force data shows the F-35A has the highest mission capable rates across the fighter fleet. The more than 400,000 flight hours encompass 235,329 sorties flown and 224 detachments and deployments completed across the international fleet. During a recent Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) exercise, Exercise Lightning Thunder, the RAAF flew more than 150 sorties and more than 50 weapons deliveries all while maintaining a mission-capable rate of 80%.

In addition, recent U.S. Air Force data shows the F-35A has the highest mission capable rates across the fighter fleet. The U.S. Air Force deployed 42 jets for 18 consecutive months in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility, where the Air Force flew more than 1,300 F-35A sorties with mission capable rates of greater than 70%. Most importantly, pilots returned home safely every time.

F-35 procurement and sustainment cost continue to decrease with every delivery and flight hour. F-35 unit costs have decreased more than 70% since the beginning of the program – now at parity with legacy aircraft. Over the past five years, Lockheed Martin has lowered its controlled cost per flight hour by 44% and expects to lower it an additional 40% over the next five years. Lockheed Martin continues to leverage technology and partnerships with customers to lower sustainment costs to ensure the U.S. and our allies can affordably operate the F-35.”

Source UKDJ & Lockheed.
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Re: F35B Airwing

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How much does it cost to add weapons to the F-35?

The Ministry of Defence has revealed the cost of adding ASRAAM and SPEAR-3 missiles as well as Paveway IV guided bombs to the F-35B Lightning II.
The information came to light in response to a written question submitted in the House of Commons.
Continues at:
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/how-muc ... -the-f-35/
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Re: F35B Airwing

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British F-35B jets will be equipped with Meteor missiles by the ‘middle of this decade’ say the Ministry of Defence.

The information came to light in a response to a written question submitted in the House of Commons.

Mark Francois, Member of Parliament for Rayleigh and Wickford, asked:
“To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his timetable is for the Meteor air-to-air missile to achieve initial operating capability on the F-35 aircraft.”

Jeremy Quin, Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence, responded:
“Initial development work for Meteor integration has progressed well. The Lightning Delivery Team within Defence Equipment and Supply (DE&S), through F-35 Joint Program Office has signed a contract to integrate Meteor in the middle of the decade.”

Continues at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/f-35b-f ... is-decade/
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Re: F35B Airwing

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BAE contracted to sustain F-35 electronic warfare system

BAE Systems has received a $93 million contract to provide critical sustainment support for the F-35s EW system.
BAE Systems say in a news release that it has received a $93 million contract from Lockheed Martin to provide critical sustainment support for the AN/ASQ-239 electronic warfare countermeasure system.

The contract will ensure the mission readiness of the growing global fleet of F-35 aircraft.

Continues at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/bae-con ... vNLdx7_VUI
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Fighter Pilots Fly Virtual Missions Inside Shipping Containers on HMS Queen Elizabeth

See - https://www.f35.com/f35/news-and-featur ... WFeF9hzR3M

Read the full story at The Times - https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/figh ... -tslzqv9d6
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British F-35 jets to receive weapon capability enhancements

BAE Systems and MBDA have secured additional funding to complete the development and integration of new weapons capabilities on the UK and Italian F-35 fleets.
The firm say that this builds on the successful integration work that commenced in 2019 by BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and MBDA to upgrade the UK F-35 weapon systems.

“The award will see industry teams complete integration activities for the SPEAR precision surface attack weapon onto the UK F-35s, with the next-generation missile enhancing the UK’s future combat air capability through its network-enabled, high load-out, multi-effect capabilities with extended stand-off range. This will further enhance the UK Lightning Force’s capability to defeat challenging targets such as mobile long-range air defence systems at over-the-horizon ranges in all weathers and in highly contested environments.

The funding will also see the remainder of the integration of MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile completed on both the F-35A and F-35B jets for the UK and Italian armed forces. Meteor’s networking and range capability is ideally suited to the F-35’s sensor suite to provide unrivalled capabilities in the battlespace.”

A team of engineers from BAE Systems, MBDA and Lockheed Martin will now commence the testing, simulation and integration activities in the UK and US, to achieve initial operating capability of both weapons.

Tom Fillingham, Senior Vice President, US Programmes, BAE Systems’ Air Sector, said:
“Advanced weapons systems, such as Meteor and SPEAR, will provide the UK and Italian armed forces with an operational advantage. Our highly skilled engineers have a crucial role across the entire F-35 programme and as part of this integration activity, and we look forward to continuing to work alongside our partners as it progresses.”

Paul Mead, Group Business Development Director, MBDA said:
“We are delighted that work continues at pace to deliver Meteor and SPEAR capability to the F-35; it is also a positive step for the wider F-35 enterprise as it adds additional capability choice for all international customers across multiple variants of the aircraft. MBDA’s integration team has worked well with our BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin colleagues to date and we plan to build on this excellent foundation into the future on this key follow-on modernisation work.”

Source UKDJ
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Raytheon CEO: Air Force may not be able to afford new F-35 engine


The Air Force may decide that it can’t afford to build an entirely new, advanced engine for its F-35A Lightning II fighter jet, the Raytheon Technologies chief executive said Tuesday.

In 2016, the Air Force awarded Raytheon-owned Pratt & Whitney and General Electric Aviation each a billion-dollar contract to develop a new F-35A engine under the Adaptive Engine Transition Program. This engine is intended to deliver better fuel efficiency and thrust by using a third stream of air.

Continues at - https://www.defensenews.com/air/2021/10 ... wmUnNsBMEA
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LATEST UK F35Bs


3 new F35B Lightnings are today making the Transatlantic journey from the USA to their new home at the UKLF base at RAF Marham. They are being AAR trailed by an RAF Voyager tanker and are expected to arrive early this evening 28/10.

The aircraft ZM156/022, ZM157/023 & ZM158/024 will increase the UKLF fleet to 24 aircraft, 21 of which are based at Marham now.

Under the present production contract signed in 2019 for 17 UK F35Bs the fleet will increase to 35 a/c by early 2023 which will enable the standing up and commissioning of 809 NAS as the second UK operational Lightning squadron. It will also an increase in a/c availability for the UKLF OCU - 207 Sqn to provide a regular increase in annual pilot training and output numbers as the UKLF continues to expand to 48 a/c at least by 2026.
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THE 3 NEW A/C ARRIVING OVER MARHAM
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