F35B Airwing

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Pelican
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F35B - CLOSE UP AND SERIOUS
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HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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FOR INFO

Lockheed Martin takes big step toward winning Canada jet race

OTTAWA, March 28 (Reuters) - Canada has picked Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) as the preferred bidder to supply 88 new fighter jets, Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi said Monday, in a clear sign the U.S. company is set to win the multibillion-dollar contract.

The move indicates Canada - under pressure to boost defense spending as the war in Ukraine rages - is closer to making a decision that has dragged out for more than a decade.

"This announcement marks another important milestone in Canada's competitive process to purchase modern fighter jets for the Royal Canadian Air Force," Tassi said.

Canada has been trying unsuccessfully for more than a decade to replace its aging F-18 fighters. The former Conservative administration said in 2010 that it would buy 65 F-35 jets but later scrapped the decision, triggering years of delays and reviews.

"The F-35 is in operational use by NORAD and NATO partners in missions around the globe. It has proven to be a mature, capable and interoperable aircraft and that is why we are moving to the finalization phase of this procurement," Defense Minister Anita Anand, speaking alongside Tassi, told reporters.

Continues at - https://www.reuters.com/business/aerosp ... GKRIXEGNAE
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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DEFENDER - F35s

UK and Norwegian F-35s operating from Keflavík airbase over HMS Defender during NATO and Joint Expeditionary Force exercises off Iceland.
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HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Britain clears funding for additional tranche of F-35 jets

Funding has been delegated for an additional tranche of F-35B jets for Britain beyond the 48 already ordered.
The information came to light in the following exchange.
Kevan Jones, Member of Parliament for North Durham, asked via a written Parliamentary question:
“To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the planned equipment investments for (a) A400M and (b) F-35b will be delegated to the RAF’s TLB.”
Jeremy Quin, Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence, responded:
Continues at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/britain ... -LyV_SdQjw
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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UK to purchase at least 74 F-35 jets



It was revealed yesterday that the MoD is in negotiations with the F-35 Joint Project Office to buy another tranche of F-35 jets. This second batch will consist of 26 aircraft, in addition to the 48 already under contract.

The Integrated Review published in March 2021 stated only that vaguely there was an intention to buy “more than 48” F-35s. Speaking in a Parliamentary Defence Select Committee session, Air Marshal Richard Knighton, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff specified the exact figure for the first time in public. The initial tranche of 48 jets already on order will be delivered by 2025 and Knighton said the MoD now has the funding in place for the purchase of a further 26 aircraft, including the support and personnel costs. This will bring the UK fleet up to a total of 74 aircraft (minus the one jet lost in a non-fatal accident at sea in 2021).

In negotiations with Lockheed Martin and the JPO, the Defence Secretary has stated that the contractor must demonstrate reductions in support costs and more urgency applied to UK weapons integration. Work on the integration of Meteor BVRAAM and SPEAR-3 has begun but there is no definitive date for their entry into service which is largely dependent on how quickly LM can deliver the Block IV software update for the aircraft. The flyaway cost of an F-35B is now approximately £85M so the MoD has considerable leverage when negotiating what is potentially a £2.2Bn deal. It is unclear when the UK can expect delivery of this second batch but will need to reserve aircraft from the production runs which are divided into ‘Lots’. LM’s target is to build 156 jets per year for customers worldwide but recently COVID, inflation and supply chain issues have complicated negotiations for Lots 15-17 and the price tag may begin to rise, reversing the downward trend as production has ramped up.

The idea that the UK could go for an F35-B / F-35A split buy has thankfully now been consigned to history but for now, it is unclear if there will be a third tranche of F35Bs. Knighton noted that: “the decision around further purchase beyond that 74 will be taken in the middle of the decade in the context of what we decide to do on our Future Combat Air System [FCAS] programme. It’s perfectly plausible we have a fleet of 138 as we described back in the early 2000s.” If the UK goes all-in with FCAS – ie, Tempest and its associated UCAV, distributed sensors and novel munition components, there are unlikely to be any spare funds available for further F-35 purchases in the 2030s.

FCAS may have three possible outcomes. (A) Overcoming vast technical challenges, it will be second only to the nuclear deterrent in defence spending and the centrepiece of the UK aerospace industry, ideally with multiple international partners and export buyers. (B) A technical demonstrator that achieves some success but proves ultimately beyond the reach of the UK capability and is used as leverage to be a tier-1 partner in a future US fighter development programme. (C) A failure that results in the UK buying more F-35Bs and eventually replacing the Typhoon with an ‘off the shelf ‘ purchase from the US, having little UK industrial input.

The RAF now plans to have 3 frontline F-35B squadrons (4 were originally planned). Each will have a strength of between 12-16 aircraft. Assuming that around 20% of the jets are in maintenance at any given time, this leaves about 60 available for the ‘forward fleet’ which includes aircraft assigned to the OCU (207 Squadron – pilot training) and OEU (17 Squadron – operational evaluation unit based in the US). The 47 aircraft remaining aircraft that make up the tranche 1 purchase provide a bare minimum output for carrier strike capability. Routinely the carrier will deploy with 12 jets (although this may be frequently enhanced with USMC aircraft). In ‘surge’ condition 2 squadrons totalling 24 jets could be deployed. The carriers are designed to embark up to 36 fixed-wing aircraft (plus helicopters) but this could only be managed by the UK alone in a dire emergency by stopping pilot training and severely disrupting the maintenance cycle.

Although just 54% of the promised 138, a force of 73 jets provides a little more depth and the possibility of 24 aircraft more routinely deployed on the carrier. Of course, this will also be dependent on what other land-based tasks the Lightning Force is required to undertake in addition to its core naval aviation role.

Source Navy Lookout
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Here’s how Tinker Air Force Base cut heavy maintenance time for F-35 engines in half

See - https://www.defensenews.com/air/2022/06 ... XK7Xwb2jUE
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207 SQN (UK F35B OCU) AT MAX STRENGTH


A panoramic pic of the 207 Sqn covered line at Marham taken last week. 10 F35B Lightnings are presently allocated to the OCU Sqn as the pace quickens to both continue to increase 617 Sqn to full pilot strength and also ensure there’s enough pilots and engineers ready to form the initial complement of 809 NAS which is due to reform and commission in early 2023. While a few prospective 809 staff have been through training for some time now the ability to provide enough trained pilots and maintainers is limited by the output capacity of 207 Sqn which until relatively recently was at its smaller initial size. Output capacity is also affected of course by the number of successful pilots who become available through the Valley 4 FTS advanced training pipeline.
Later in 2023 the UK Lightning Force will have reached its full initial operational strength of 2 Op Sqns (617 & 809), the OCU (207) and the small OEU Sqn (17) - all based on the first tranche buy of 48 Lightnings, 34 of which are due delivery by the end of 2022, and the remainder in annual batches by 2025.
MoD confirmed recently that it is funding plans to continue a UK F35B Tranche 2 purchase after 2025 with the aim to increase the UK Force numbers to 72 by the early 2030s. A third and maybe a fourth op Sqn will form as these T2 aircraft are acquired.
Further Tranches are anticipated too in the 2030s and beyond with numbers dependent on operational analysis by 2025 which seeks to review the UK’s future combat aircraft requirements as the Tempest, Mosquito (loyal wingman), updated Typhoon and Vixen carrier borne Combat UAV force level needs and overall balance are assessed alongside its future F35B force size.
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Israel Has Extended The Range Of Its F-35s: Report


Reports in the Israeli media suggest that IAF F-35s have been enhanced to hit Iranian targets unrefueled and carry at least one new weapon.

Recent reports in the Israeli media claim that the country has developed a means of extending the range of its F-35I Adir stealth jets, allegedly providing them with enough reach to hit targets in Iran without needing aerial refueling. The development has been announced together with the integration of a new, locally developed smart bomb for internal carriage in the F-35. These apparent upgrades to the Israeli Air Force’s long-range strike capabilities come as the Israeli leadership announces a harder line against Tehran’s nuclear program, while the air force conducts exercises widely thought to be dress rehearsals for potential raids against Iran.

A report in the Jerusalem Post yesterday states that the IAF’s “new capability” involves being able to fly F-35s to strike targets deep in Iran without needing to be refueled by the service’s fleet of just seven Boeing 707 tankers. As well as removing the reliance on these aging tankers, an F-35 strike package that doesn’t require tanker support is in some ways more flexible and more survivable. Moreover, the survivability of traditional refueling jets in or near contested airspace is becoming a growing concern. As for the existing tankers, Israel is now seeking to accelerate their replacement by more modern KC-46s.

Continues in detail + photos etc. at - https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/i ... Ksda2505gI
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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From AIR POWER

A beautiful view of a Lockheed Martin F-35B, the STOVL stealth. Btw the fan isn't for keeping the pilot cool!
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Navy Lookout

Three F-35 Squadrons are to be designated RAF. A fourth will be Fleet Air Arm badged - 809 Naval Air Squadron.
The fifth Lighting Force squadron has yet to be designated, with a timeline on identity and ownership yet to be established.

See - https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?i ... gHL1253.r0
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HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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