Aug 14/15: The Navy is reportedly considering reducing the number of F-35C fighters it plans to procure, alluding to budgetary concerns. Italy is a Tier 2 partner in the program, with a planned procurement of 90 F-35s. Those 2 planes will remain in the United States for testing and pilot training. Tom Dunlop. September 14/22: Engine General Electric Aviation said it and the US Air Force finished testing the firms second adaptive engine, which it hopes the military will adopt for the F-35 jet, and is ready to move into the engineering and manufacturing development phase. As the most lethal, survivable and connected fighter aircraft in the world, the F-35 strengthens national security, enhances global partnerships and powers economic growth. A wide set of consortium partners and national government investments would form an interlocking set of commitments, drawing on a wide range of global industrial expertise and making the program very difficult for any one party to back out of or cancel. Trump had made disparaging comments about the F-35 last year on a conservative talk show, calling into question the fighters cost-benefit when compared to the capabilities of existing aircraft. May 2/22: Electronic Warfare Capabilities Lockheed Martin won a $93 million contract modification, which adds scope to procure special tooling and test equipment in support of electronic warfare capabilities for F-35 Lightning II low rate initial production for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers, and non-US Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Issues with the US16E ejection seat grounded lightweight pilots at the end of September, with the risk of serious neck injury in low-speed ejections deemed too high; however, the restrictions only affected one out of the 215 pilots trained to fly the Joint Strike Fighter. Work will be performed at various locations, including Fort Worth, Texas; El Segundo, California and Nagoya, Japan. The approval means the Martin-Baker Mk16 ejection seat meets the original service specification for the F-35A, which requires the manufacturer to accommodate all pilots weighing over 46.7kg. With respect to their own order, the first Dutch F-35 is ready, and the 2nd will arrive in summer 2013, but the projects lateness has started to affect the RNLAF. The Whole Life Cost of the programme will continue to be reviewed in line with the Annual Budget Cycle process and reported upon accordingly. The F-35 program will see $1.33 billion additional procurement money as production of the fighters will be ramped up. Either way, a DSCA-approved export request would be required before any order can be placed. The glitch represents one of the greatest threats to the USAFs initial operational capability (IOC), expected sometime between 1 August and 31 December. The first tranche of eight F-35s was ordered in March, with these scheduled for delivery in 2019. Five such incidents have been reported at the Arizona base since May 1 and are currently being investigated by USAF authorities. The Red Delivery Confidence Assessment is due to a Forecast Cost to Completion (FCAC) in respect of the original Scope of Work, which is predicted to exceed the original Main Gate Approval by some 250M. Half of the 12 F-35B variants are for the Royal Navy, with the remaining B and C models for the Marine Corps and Navy respectively. Thats a bit of a crisis; meanwhile, the larger question is whether 24-35 fighters is even close to adequate for future needs. WebOn Thursday, July 19, the U.K. officially accepted its first F-35, an F-35B aircraft known as BK-1. A spokesperson for Lockheed Martin confirmed in a Dec. 1 statement to Breaking Defense that a total of 30 F-35B aircraft have so far been delivered to the UK This is mainly as a result of a directed cost-saving ABC16 Option, savings as a result of the Extended Initial In Service Support contract, and a downward revision of project costs. A crack in an F135-PW-100 engine blade grounds the entire F-35 fleet. 2004-2023 Defense Industry Daily, LLC | About Us | Images on this site | Privacy Policy, Contact us: Editorial | Advertising | Feedback & Support | Subscriptions & Reports, Defense program acquisition news, budget data, market briefings, F-35 JSF family: DOT&Es key 2012 findings, Keep reading for the whole story with recent events put in context. November 2/21: Maintenance Support Lockheed Martin won a $30.5 million modification, which exercises options to provide operation and maintenance support of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter development labs in support of testing developed configurations across the F-35 platform for the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and non-US Department of Defense (DOD) participants. The timing of their follow-on buy of 12 F-35As may be uncertain, but this contract seems to indicate that theyll buy the 2 IOT&E jets (see also March 5/13). The average flyaway cost of the F-35C is about $125 million. Work will take place in Virginia, Ohio, Germany, Texas, Maryland and Florida. Progress to resolve these issues is yielding improvement. Acquisition Partner to be appointed ASAP, which has not yet been appointed, although is being augmented through the Framework Approach for Technical Support (FATS) to provide immediate resource uplift. Preparations are now underway for the Wasps first scheduled patrol later in the year with the Okinawa-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the F-35Bs of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121, which relocated to Iwakuni, Japan, in early 2017. Subcontractor errors were part of the problem: There have been issues such as corrosion on some of the gears and some undersized holes, Jacqueline Noble, a spokeswoman for the defense agency, said in the [emailed] statement [to Bloomberg]. The GCAS system is being developed by Lockheed Martin and will be the stepping stone to increased combat capability via a fully capable combat autopilot that will be able to execute tactical manoeuvres to defeat inbound kinetic and non-kinetic threats, and maximise lethality through precise weapon employment, says Lt Col Raven LeClair, a F-35 test pilot with the 461st Flight Test Squadron. MADL also allows for F-35s to share information on air and ground threats in order to more effectively target and engage them. Valued at $6.5 million, the contract will see the company manufacture the rounds in four lots at Rheinmetall Switzerland and delivery will commence in December, 2017. The Government Accountability Office found that the time to repair a part has averaged 172 days which is twice the programs objective.