F35B Airwing

[ivorthediver]

Thanks for the update , and look forward to further heads up on progress .

[Pelican]

A source has confirmed that Royal Navy Commander Nathan Gray will be the first to land the F-35B on HMS Queen Elizabeth next month.
Continues at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/source- ... no_cache=1
Time will tell.

[Pelican]

A VERY GOOD EXPLANATORY ARTICLE ON WHATS TO COME
NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — After years of partnership within the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office, U.S. and United Kingdom team members from the F-35 Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) eagerly anticipate the First of Class Flight Trials (FOCFTs) onboard the U.K.’s newest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, this fall.
When the first two fifth-generation F-35Bs – piloted by the ITF's Royal Navy Cmdr. Nathan Gray and Royal Air Force Sqn. Ldr. Andrew Edgell – touch down on the carrier’s deck, the historic moment will be a tremendous step in bringing back Britain’s ability to launch fast jets at sea after a nearly 10-year hiatus.
“It’ll be the return of maritime aviation fixed-wing to the U.K.,” said Royal Navy Cmdr. Stephen Crockatt, team leader of UK personnel embedded within the ITF at both Pax River and Edwards Air Force Base, California. “We’ll do the [ship] trials and collect the data so next year the U.K. can do an operational trial. Then the U.K. will have jets back at sea — a capability we haven’t had in a long time.”
Continues at - http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fu ... ry&id=6908

[Pelican]

F35B & ASRAAM
The jet, which was flown by a British pilot from RAF 17 Squadron, took to the skies from Edwards Air Force base in southern California for the momentous flight carrying ASRAAM air-to-air missiles.
And
The ASRAAM missiles, built by MBDA in Bolton, are just some of the essential parts the UK is supplying the F-35 programme. ASRAAM stands for ‘Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile’. The missiles will enable pilots to engage and defend themselves against other aircraft ranging in size from large multi-engine aircraft to small drones.
Full article at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/brit ... -the-skies
Note that whilst the a/c carried the missiles it did not fire them.

[ivorthediver]

Thanks for that David a useful and interesting update on a great step forward with our aircraft.

[Pelican]

Thanks for that David a useful and interesting update on a great step forward with our aircraft.

You and any other members are welcome Ivor to whatever I find out. Many out there seem impatient for quicker progress but the F35 let alone the B version is a very complicated project so its a case of step by step not least because each a/c costs around £100m currently which hopefully will decrease in the future but of course that is subject to the value of the pound.

[limeybiker]

Navy's F-35C Suffers 1st Major Mishap, Costing Millions in Damages


https://www.military.com/defensetech/20 ... _180911.nl

[ivorthediver]

Well sad thou it is Barry , it was only a matter of time before it happened

[Pelican]

F35 OPERATING COSTS
European F-35 fighter jet users push to drive down operating costs
BERLIN (Reuters) - The U.S. military and European operators of the radar-evading F-35 fighter jet have agreed to work together more closely to help lower the cost of operating the new warplanes as growing numbers arrive in Europe, officials said.
Continues at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-m ... KKCN1LQ25X
See also:
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/europea ... rators-r…/…

The cost of buying ours is bad enough but lets hope the MOD budget will allow for them to be used adequately. Do the RN & RAF have separate budgets for operating costs or are they pooled? Lets hope we do not go back to the bad old days of ships not going to sea because there was no money for fuel.

[Pelican]

From the last edition of the Sunday Times:
Flaws in MoD’s £9bn F-35 Lightning II jets ‘not being fixed’
Critical safety flaws in Britain’s new stealth warplanes are being reclassified rather than fixed, according to an investigation by a US spending watchdog.
Britain is buying 48 F-35 Lightning II fighter bombers from America for £9.1bn, with a pledge to purchase a total of 138. The fast-jet programme has, however, been marred by technical problems as the aircraft undergo testing ready to enter frontline service.
The warplane had 111 “category 1” deficiencies, which “could jeopardise safety, security or another critical requirement”, according to the Government Accountability Office, an agency that works for the US Congress.
An investigation by the spending watchdog Project on Government Oversight (Pogo) has now claimed that some of these deficiencies are being recategorised by defence officials as less severe, despite the flaws not being fixed.
At a meeting on June 4, US officials downgraded 19 category 1 deficiencies to the less serious category 2, including 10 “with no plan in place to correct the known design flaws”, according to Pogo, which obtained the minutes of the meeting.
They included a flaw which means the aircraft does not automatically send an emergency signal to ground-control radar if a pilot ejects.
“[H]ours could pass before anyone knows they have had a problem, let alone that they ejected and crashed,” reported Dan Grazier, a defence analyst and former US marine who wrote Pogo’s report.
This month the first F-35s will begin flight trials from the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier off the US coast.
The Ministry of Defence said: “The jets continue to meet strict safety requirements and are on track to enter service by the end of the year.”
Lockheed Martin, the US manufacturer of the F-35, said: “While the open items are important to resolve, they represent no imminent impact to safety of flight or key performance parameters.”