Australia’ has taken delivery of two of its ultra-expensive, state-of-the-art fighter jets
The two F-35A stealth fighters have arrived at Williamtown RAAF Base, near Newcastle. More than 50 of the aircraft will eventually reside at this one base, with a further 12 or so on rotation to Tindal Air Force Base in the Northern Territory.
Flanked by the ageing F-18 Hornets they’re set to replace, the first two F-35s landed at RAAF Base Williamtown on Monday after flying from RAAF Amberley in south Queensland, where they arrived from the United States last week. Aviation enthusiasts gathered on the edge of the base from early in the morning and more watched a flyover of Newcastle ahead of the state-of-the-art aircraft’s official welcome by Defence Minister Christopher Pyne.
Christopher Pyne
✔@cpyne
In an historic day in Australian aviation, the first two F-35A Joint Strike Fighters to be permanently based in Australia arrived at @AusAirForce RAAF Base Williamtown https://cpyne.me/2UuoWkL #auspol#ausdef
The single-engine F-35A Joint Strike Fighter has been labelled the most advanced in the world and is capable of reaching a top speed of 1975km/h.
The Royal Australian Air Force has taken delivery of nine early-model F-35As. The remaining seven continue to operate out of a US Arizona training facility.
The federal government will spend a total of $17 billion on 72 of the F-35 aircraft, with the cost being widely criticised, including by US President Donald Trump. The project is widely cited as the most expensive in history, with the total projected cost - once research, development and sustaiment is factored in - estimated to be over $US1 trillion F-35: BY THE NUMBERS
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull backed Australia’s spending when questioned last year. “When we send our young men and women out to war, they have the tools to do the job to destroy their enemies and the terrorists,” he said.
Lockheed Martin, builders of the jets, say the cost is expected to be driven down to $80 million per plane by 2020. Support costs — those associated with maintaining the aircraft and keeping them in fighting form — are expected to remain high, however.
And there are fresh concerns the fighter cannot maintain its main redeeming feature — stealth.
Especially in Australia’s harsh climate.
F-35 Lightning II
✔@thef35
From the @LockheedMartin Fort Worth flight line crew to our team in Australia, we’re all ready for the first aircraft arrival of @AusAirForce’s F-35s! Check out this link for the event info: https://bit.ly/2QHhm77
Reports state the F-35’s radar-absorbing coating is wearing off far faster than expected. The composite material may need to be replaced after every flight.
The coating is so sensitive — and so important — that a simple scratch could expose an area large enough to act as a beacon to modern radar systems.
“It’s not a human problem; that’s just the result of our ability. We’re approaching the limits of our ability to build some of these things from precise-enough technology,” a Lockheed Martin spokesman told reporters overnight, admitting the company was having issues with the Low Observable coating.
An Australian F-35A aircraft during a sudden dust storm at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. The first two Lightning IIs to be based in Australia have touched-down. Picture: Defence ‘NEXT GENERATION’
Royal Australian Air Force chief Air Mashal Leo Davies has told the Australian Strategic Policty Institute that the F-35 strike fighter is an invaluable addition to Australia’s defence force.
“They’ll think we’d be a tough nut to crack’, says Davies. ‘That to me is the first part of having a defence force—deterrence.”
He said that regional air forces have been enhancing their abilities. Australia had to do the same. F-35: Q&A
“So we need to maintain a level of sophistication that allows us to do what we need to do when we need to do it. The F-35 brings that next step which means we are able to confidently send men and women to do a job and have a better than even chance of survival—and of success.”
Marshal Davies says reports from his pilots about the F-35 state ‘there’s just no comparison’ with other combat aircraft: particularly in relation to the way its integrates information from its own and external sensors.
He say’s it is like being able drive at night - as though you were driving in the day. “It’s that stark in their estimation: Night becomes day so you can drive normally. But to try to drive without night-vision equipment or headlights would be impossible.”
An Australian F-35A on the flight line at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. The resiliance of the sealth fighter is facing some serious questioning. Picture: Defence TESTING TIMES
More than a decade late and innumerable billions over budget, it’s crunch time for the F-35 Lightning II program.
Its final test and evaluation program began last week.
Its manufacturers insist it’s ready. Its supporters say none of its remaining problems are insurmountable.
Auditors and the Pentagon are not so sure.
All three versions of the Joint Strike Fighter — the F-35A built for the US air force and the RAAF, the F-35B ‘jump jet’ built for the US Marines and UK navy, and the F-35C built for the US Navy — have begun a seven-month in-depth assessment.
The purpose of the tests are to determine if the jets live up to expectations.
But doubts persist: have all of its ‘critical’ flaws been addressed?
And the F-35 project is already three months over its latest deadline. F-35: FLIGHT SUIT
The original evaluation start date was September. This was missed due to a late ‘critical’ software update.
If they make the grade, the F-35’s current ‘low-level’ production runs will be accelerated. The assembly lines will be cranked into high gear to mass-produce the hundreds ordered by the US and its allies, including Australia.
Royal Australian Air Force and United States Air Force F-35A aircraft taxi toward the runway prior to a training mission at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. The new stealth aircraft are undergoing evaluation to determine if they live up to expectations. Picture: Defence TRIAL BY FIRE
The initial operational test and evaluation (IOT & E) of the Lightning II finally kicked off last week, after a three month delay.
The F-35 can’t fail.
But a poor showing could further delay the project and add substantially to its overall cost.
Between now and July next year, a handful of F-35s of all types will be put through their paces. F-35: AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY
Can they operate in cold weather? Can they be kept operational given the exposure to the elements and limited facilities available on aircraft carriers or forward-deployed airfields? Can they fight — and win?
It’s a process intended to reassure customers — and critics — that the controversial jet has overcome most of its problems.
It’s a process that has already been delayed several times. Most recently, a September 15 start-date was missed due to delays in the provision of a vital operating software update.
“The start of formal operational testing is a milestone more than 18 years in the making,” F-35 program head Vice Admiral Mat Winter said.
The Joint Strike Fighter Operational Test Team (JOTT) initially said it believed it could complete IOT & E by the original July 2019 date. But, to do so, it must hurry things along — and “assuming more risk”. The latest US military statement now, however, says it expects the testing to be “completed in the late summer (US time) of 2019”.
Some 300 F-35s are already in service.
And several squadrons have already deployed on ‘limited’ operational tours. The US Marines has had their jump-jet version active since 2015. And the US Air Force has a few of its strike-fighters since 2016. F-35 EXPERIENCE
It’s already fired its first shots in anger.
Israeli F-35s reportedly engaged in two strikes “somewhere in the Middle East” in May. On September 27, a Marine Corps F-35B, launched from the USS Essex amphibious warfare ship, struck targets in Afghanistan.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing.
The most troubled version of the F-35, the “B” variant jump-jet, suffered the first ever crash of the type in September. The pilot ejected and survived. But the jet, worth more than $100 million, was destroyed. The cause was traced to faulty fuel-lines, prompting the grounding of the entire fleet for assessment and repairs.
A Royal Australian Air Force F-35A aircraft during operations at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. Picture: DEFENCE UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
In August, the Pentagon’s aircraft testing director reported that the F-35 simply was not ready to undergo the crucial combat evaluation tests.
Director of operational test and evaluation Robert Behler ruled that he would not accept testing of an aircraft that did not have the same operational software as production aircraft.
And he pointed out the F-35s operating software, mission-data system, self-diagnostic and self-reporting systems were not up to scratch. F-35: ALIS
The September start date also was delayed to ensure F-35 on-board artificial intelligence — the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) — reported accurate mission flight test data. RELATED: What we know about Russia’s new Su-57 stealth fighter
This was accompanied by concerns of “key technical deficiencies” including the F-35’s ability to effectively use one of its primary weapons — the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM). Its on-board cannon was also judged to be out-of-alignment, consistently firing to the right of the crosshairs and missing its target.
It is not known if the software fix applied to the aircraft since September has addressed all these issues. That, however, will become apparent under the eyes of the evaluation umpires in coming months. AUSTRALIA'S 1000TH SORTIE
At the heart of the issue is a list of long-known design flaws. POGO states reports had been altered to make it look as though progress had been made in addressing these issues, when in fact nothing had been fixed. RELATED: How China’s J-20 stealth fighter compares
“F-35 officials are recategorizing — rather than fixing — major design flaws to be able to claim they have completed the program’s development phase without having to pay overruns for badly needed fixes,” the POGO report reads. “Several of these flaws, like the lack of any means for a pilot to confirm a weapon’s target data before firing, and damage to the plane caused by the tailhook on the Air Force’s variant, have potentially serious implications for safety and combat effectiveness.”
An Australian F-35A aircraft is towed to cover during a sudden dust storm at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. Picture: Defence CHALLENGED FUTURE
The Defence Department is slated to make a decision on full rate production by the end of 2019. Though this is entirely dependent upon the evaluation program’s outcome.
Under US federal law, this cannot begin until the director of operational test and evaluation office agrees the F-35 program has met all of its agreed-on criteria.
But the new US deputy secretary of defence isn’t so worried about whether or not the F-35 is up to the task: He’s more worried about whether or not that lasts.
“We know long term, the biggest challenge for the F-35 is not going to be the performance of the aircraft, it’s going to be affordability,” Shanahan said. “In the next two years, we double the fleet. And if we don’t really have a robust, high-performing sustainment system, it’ll divert attention of the F-35 program from other critical areas like development or production, and it’ll create disruption in the supply.” ARIZONA
The F-35 has been flying in some form or another now for 17 years. Some 300 early examples have already been delivered to the US and its allies.
Seven of Australa’s nine F-35s are currently situated at a US training facility in Arizona. RELATED: Here’s the USAF’s vision of future air combat
Most of those will likely need extensive upgrades, repairs and modification to bring them up to fully operational standards.
The complete force of 72 Australian jets is due to be delivered by 2023.
It’s a $17 billion project aimed at replacing Australia’s ageing F/A-18 A and B model Hornet strike fighters. LOCKHEED MARTIN
It’s an incredibly ambitious aircraft.
To maintain its standards of stealth, all components must be precisely fitted. Even being a millimetre out can produce a surface producing unwanted radar reflection. All this requires high quality materials and precision engineering not previously applied to aircraft.
Then there’s the complex and integrated nature of its sensor and weapons systems. Pulling it all together requires powerful software.
With complexity comes risk.
According to US Air Force records for its F-35As, the type achieved only a 55 per cent availability rate during 2017. That’s a lot of down time in the hangar. It also means a greatly reduced presence of aircraft on the ‘front line’.
Availability objectives require more than an 80 per cent readiness state across the operational fleet. Clearly, the F-35A still has some way to go to reach that goal.
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https://cpyne.me/2UuoWkL #auspol #ausdef
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