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Pax River F-35 Integrated Test Team Launches the Joint Standoff Weapon in the Atlantic Test Ranges

Posted on April 1, 2016 | by SysAdmin | Leave a Comment

04/01/2016

2016-03-31 According to a Joint Program Office Press Release, a new weapon has been added to the bow for the F-35 as the archer.

An F-35C Lightning II launched its first AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) over the Atlantic Test Ranges on 23 March.

Test aircraft, CF-05, cleanly released the 1,000-pound air-to-surface guided glide bomb from an internal weapons bay, said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ted “Dutch” Dyckman, the F-35 Lightning II test pilot who flew the mission.

The JSOW is a medium range all-weather standoff weapon that enables aircraft to remain outside the threat envelopes of typical enemy anti-aircraft and counter air defenses while effectively engaging and destroying targets. This lethality and survivability delivers a decisive advantage over potential adversaries.

CF-05 Flt 180 First separation of a JSOW (AGM-154) from an F-35, piloted by CDR Theodore Dyckman from NAS Patuxent River, MD on 23 March 2016

The F-35 Lightning II Pax River ITF joint team, assigned to the Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 aboard Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, released one JSOW during the flight. The team will release additional JSOWs throughout 2016. Working on the multi-phase testing of the F-35 Block 3F capabilities, are U.S. government, military and contractor personnel, and industry partners.

The JSOW is currently integrated and in operational status on F-16, F/A18, B-52, F-15E, B-1B, and B-2 aircraft. Integration is underway on the F-35 Lightning II. The JSOW is a joint Navy-Air Force weapons program, with the Navy as the lead service.

The F-35 Lightning II is a multi-role stealth strike fighter that incorporates low-observable technologies, advanced sensor fusion, and internal/external weapons to accomplish its missions.

http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2100&tid=300&ct=2

http://www.navair.navy.mil/ranges/atr/index.htm

The F-35 is operational with the Marines and about to be operational with the USAF.

The Edwards and Pax River test teams are completely integrated in rolling out the F-35 fleet and modernizing it through software upgrades through the life cycle of the aircraft.

Developmental testing is a fact of life for operational fleets. As one test engineer commented during our visit to Pax River, “we continue to do developmental testing on the Super Hornet here at Pax.” And with more than 50,000 flight hours on the F-35 fleet and an operational squadron with the Marines, to be joined by the USAF this year and the Navy next year, the F-35 fleet has already taken off.

There are currently more than 250 F-35 pilots and 2,400 aircraft maintainers from six nations already trained and more than 110 jets are jointly under construction at the Fort Worth and Cameri production facilities.

The F-35 has become tactically operational in the USMC while the aircraft is undergoing developmental testing by the Pax River and Edwards AFB with an F-35 Integrated Test Force (ITF) for the USAF and USN .

What is not widely understood is that the ITF is managing the ongoing developmental testing for the life of the program.

With the scope, complexity and concurrent global reach of the F-35 program, a new approach to testing was set in motion.

The program is one of “spiral development” in which combat F-35 Type/Model/Series (T/M/S) airplanes emerge throughout the process to operate as effective combat assets, even while the developmental testing for all three types of F-35s continue. Put bluntly, the F-35B in the hands of the Marines is a fully “up” combat aircraft (both airframe, sensors and weapon systems) addition to the USMC Air/Ground team. All Squadron Pilots in Marines, USAF and Navy, will be backed up by the best test community in the world at Edwards and Pax. This partnership forged for decades will continue a dynamic synergistic combat way for the entire life of the F-35 Global Enterprise.

For the Lightning II, the past decade of putting together a unique, and innovative approach to shaping the F-35 fleet has paid off and has built a solid foundation for the decade ahead. As US fighter pilots and their partners generate fleet and ultimately combat experience, that will lead to never ending innovations and developmental testing.

Put bluntly, if you waiting for the end of developmental testing come back in 30-40 years. Meanwhile, the F-35 fleet will have reshaped air combat operations.

As Andrew Mack, F-35 Integrated Test Force chief test engineer put it:

“When the F-35B Block 2B became cleared for IOC, there were many stories about what it cannot do; that really is not the point. The plane will evolve its capabilities over time based on spiral development. The point is that it is a very capable combat jet at the block it has achieved already.

And the impact is immediate.

Stealth from the sea is brand new for the Marine Corps and Navy.”

The global enterprise is a key part of what happens at Pax River. The UK is an integral part of the team, and as Gordon Stewart, UK MoD flight engineer at Pax described this powerful and productive partnership:

This is the most integrated test team I have ever worked on. As we work the way ahead, it might be a UK person, a Lockheed person, or a US government person who provides the best solution. It is a very well integrated team at the working level.

It is a very different test process than in the past, although what is happening in the F-35 program is the way we are approaching the future as well. In the past, there was much more serial testing.

Twenty years ago when I first started, the contractor would do something and then throw it over the fence to the government, which would look at it, approve it and then pass it on to the operator.

Now with the pace of technology, and the role of software, we have a much more integrated process. We are shaping the evolution of the aircraft as it goes out the door as well.

At Pax, we are testing a software version ahead or a couple ahead of what the fleet is getting at the moment. In effect, we are testing the next iteration of the aircraft.

And the Edwards and Beaufort efforts provide important pieces to the evolution as well. We have an integrated RAF and Royal Navy team at Edwards. 17 (R) squadron at Edwards is a mix of RAF and RN.

At Beaufort, we have a UK team and one of our aircraft, and we are working closely with the USMC. That is another key element of the joint integrated effort, from our point of view.

https://www.sldinfo.com/the-uk-at-pax-river-integrated-innovative-and-creating-21st-century-airpower/

See our report on Pax River as well.

The slideshow highlights various images from the Pax River F-35 activities.

The Atlantic test ranges serving Pax River.

Lt. Col. Raja Chari Talks About the Way Ahead with the F-35: The Renorming of Airpower Seen from Edwards

Posted on March 24, 2016 | by SysAdmin | Leave a Comment

03/24/2016

2016-03-24 By Edward Timperlake and Robbin Laird

An organization is known by the individuals that make it successful, and there is no more demanding organization than a Combat Fighter Squadron.

To become a successful fighter pilot it all begins with their first tour Squadron experience in beginning their personal journey to make a difference for those yet to come.

The legacy of an organization and a base can also provide insights since it may be a cliché but the past is prologue.

We were fortunate to interview one such Fighter Pilot. Lt Col Raja Chari, Director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force and Commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron (FTS), Edwards Air Force Base, California.

He is a senior pilot with combat experience and more than 2,000 flying hours in the F-35A/B/C, F-15C/D/E, F-18, F-16, T-38A/C, T-37, and T-6.

Following undergraduate pilot training at Vance AFB, OK and F-15E training at Seymour Johnson AFB, NC, Lt Col Chari served as an F-15E Evaluator Pilot and Chief of Standardization and Evaluation at Elmendorf AFB, AK and RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, where he gained operational experience in the Pacific and flew combat missions in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

Lt Col Chari served at Eglin AFB executing flight test on F-15 aircraft to include the introduction of the first Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on the F-15E.

He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Lt. Col Chari’s full bio is at end of the article)

His command has a storied combat history.

The 461 FTS squadron performs flight testing on the F-35 Lightning II.

In the early days of WW II, the 461st Squadron was deployed to England aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth and served in combat as a part of the VIII Fighter Command from October 1943 to May 1945.

The 461st ran operations in preparation for the invasion of the European continent; they supported the landings in Normandy and the Allied drive across France and Germany.

The squadron flew P-47 Thunderbolts until replaced by P-51 Mustangs in November 1944. Aircraft of the 461st were identified by a magenta/blue diamond pattern around their cowling, carrying fuselage code “QI”.

From October 1943 until January 1944, the squadron operated as escort for B-17 Flying Fortress/B-24 Liberator bombers that attacked industrial areas, missile sites, airfields and communications.

Fighters from the 461st engaged primarily in bombing and strafing missions after 3 January 1944. Its targets included U-boat installations, barges, shipyards, aerodromes, hangars, marshaling yards, locomotives, trucks, oil facilities, flak towers and radar stations.

The 461st bombed and strafed the Arnhem, Netherlands area on 17, 18 and 23 September 1944, in order to neutralize enemy gun emplacements that were providing support to Allied ground forces during Operation Market-Garden. In early 1945, the squadron’s P-51 Mustangs clashed with German Me 262 jet aircraft.

The squadron flew its last combat mission, escorting B-17’s dropping propaganda leaflets, on 7 May 1945.

As for the legacy of a military base, driving on Yaeger Blvd, Edwards AFB to interview Lt. Col Chari says all one needs to know about the storied history of USAF high performance testing of the future aircraft that will continue to dominate combat aviation in the 21st Century.

Question: When did you come to the command?

Answer: About nine months ago.

I came from the Rapid Capability Office where we focused on an accelerated acquisitions process for urgent operational needs.

Question: What were your expectations when you came to the command about the program?

Answer: I knew very little about the F-35 programmatics when I was informed I was going to take command.

With all the negative press out there, my first task was to get ground truth on the program.

When I went to Eglin to learn to fly the plane, I saw a lot of F-35s on the tarmac, and that was a key ground truth – the program is way beyond getting out the gate.

Indeed, when I got here [to Edwards], we were on the cusp of IOC for the USMC F-35; that was a launch point for me as well.

The ship has sailed on the F-35 program.

We have this awesome airplane, now how do we get the best out of it?

That is my task.

Ground truth and some press reporting seem a bit out of whack with one another.

And really it feels like what NASA must have been like in 1969; it is a once in a generation thing to get IOC on a next generation aircraft, and the excitement around here is palpable.

You are going to talk about this experience for the rest of your life, being present at the creation and evolution of F-35 combat capability.

Question: We discussed the so-called F-16 and F-35 dogfight with colleagues earlier today, what is your take on this amazingly blown out of context story?

Answer: My first week here that story came out. I found the whole thing amazing because it did not even involve a simulated combat sortie. We were going after some particular test points.

The F-16 was simply a test aid, not in a dogfight with the F-35.

The story was simply spun and used by those who like to spin stories.

Because this happened just after I got here, I reached back to the leadership to determine whether this would have a chilling effect on our pilot reporting and discussions and was given clear guidance that we were not testing in response to the press, we were testing to evolve the aircraft.

That was made very clear from the top down. We are looking for accurate test and evolution of the aircraft, not a managed press campaign. Somebody else’s distortions are not going to deter our discussions.

And really, discussing the F-16 with the F-35 would be like a horse cavalry officer discussing the tank during the First World War.

You know the tank can not jump across the trench like a horse does!

That is correct and absolutely irrelevant.

The USAF Chief of Staff has us focused on the target of dominance in 2035 and not just carrying the legacy approach and fleet forward. The F-35 is a big part of that forward thinking.

Question: Where are you with regard to USAF IOC?

Answer: We finished IOC testing on the USAF IOC software as of last Fall. We have been working on the next block or cluster of capabilities for the aircraft.

Recently, the program with inputs from us and OT, decided to go back to the AF IOC software to look at an anomaly in the missions systems to enhance the stability of those systems interacting with one another.

It is really about improving , but with the overall approach of still pushing the Full Operational Capability (FOC) software in the next block as far as we can go and then determining what we should do in that block vs what should be moved into a future block of the software.

Since we are focused on multi-ship formations, we are working on the stability of the exchange of information among the aircraft.

We are driving the evolving capabilities hard and will be throughout the life of the program.

We are pushing the limits of technology; that is the point of what we are doing here.

If we weren’t having challenges, it would mean we had set the bar way too low.

Question: There is an evolution of the tactics coming from places like Yuma and Nellis as they start to learn fifth generation combat F-35 style.

How does that feed in to your efforts?

Answer: The OT squadron here is a clear player in that domain and we work together closely and feedback goes both ways.

But the tactics OT is developing are very different.

We are likely not going to do visual formations with the F-35 tactically; you are operating over multiple tens of miles and flying distributed ops where you can have completely different functions or tasks being performed by those aircraft within the same four-ship.

You are essentially spreading out the geometry of air combat.

You are not simply operating in or patrolling a lane but operating a much wider variable geometry.

Question: How do you see the interaction between dynamics of change for C2 and the F-35 fleet?

Answer: The F-35 is generating the air picture, which changes the situation for the AWACS dramatically.

It does not need to tell me what I can see better than what I can already see; but it will become more like an airborne air battle manager.

And as the F-35 intersects with ground, sea and other air systems, the entire Command and Control (C2) operation changes as well.

The new challenge will be to get the right information to the right person at the right time; not just providing point outs on radar contacts like previous fighter/Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) integration.

Put in blunt terms, each F-35 is its own C2 platform.

The CNI is a key system here whereby software can generate waveforms for the jet. The Communications Navigation and Identification (CNI), is a set of processors and antennas that generate waveforms that can be UHF or VHF waveforms, a TACAN, data link, or whatever waveform you want it to be.

It’s just whatever software you’ve created will allow the pilot to pick and choose.

This is a revolutionary foundation for the evolution of C2 in the air.

The F-35 is a key tool in transitioning to how we will do air warfare differently as we push decision making and target determination capabilities to the edge of the battlespace, or to determine where effects need to be created.

Other systems will become part of this evolving approach but the F-35 is the game changer that will take us there.

Biography

Lt. Col Raja Chari is the Director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force and Commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron, Edwards Air Force Base, California. e directs an integrated team of over 1,000 active duty, government civilians and contractors, in the planning, execution and reporting of F-35 Developmental Testing.

Lt. Col Chari graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy where he double majored in Astronautical Engineering and Engineering Science while minoring in Mathematics. He was awarded a Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Fellowship and attended graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he developed methods for automated orbital rendezvous.

Following undergraduate pilot training at Vance AFB, OK and F-15E training at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., Lt. Col Chari served as an F-15E Evaluator Pilot and Chief of Standardization and Evaluation at Elmendorf AFB, AK and RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom where he gained operational experience in the Pacific and flew combat missions in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

After graduating from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Lt. Col Chari moved to Eglin AFB where he served as an evaluator Test Pilot, Chief of Weapons and Assistant Director of Operations.

Lt. Col Chari was the project pilot for the F-15C and E’s APG-63(v)3 and APG-82(v)1 Radar Modernization Programs bringing cutting edge Active Electronically Scanned Array radars to the USAF and flew critical envelope expansion and validation missions for a variety of weapons including AIM-9X, AIM-120D, GBU-28, and JASSM.

Additionally, Lt. Col Chari oversaw a team of military, civilian and contractors in planning, executing, and reporting on flight test missions for four different weapons systems.

Lt Col Chari served in the CENTCOM Joint Operations Center as a time sensitive targeting officer, monitoring and authorizing dynamic targeting against high value targets and individuals.

After graduating from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Lt. Col Chari was a program manager for an ACAT-1 Program in the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office.

He led a Deputy Secretary of Defense priority program overseeing a multi-billion dollar effort and rapidly delivered a critical combat capability.

Lt. Col Chari is a senior pilot with combat experience and more than 2,000 flying hours in the F-35A/B/C, F-15C/D/E, F-18, F-16, T-38A/C, T-37, and T-6.

Ed Timperlake’s Personal Note:

Having been present in the Pentagon for the Office of Net Assessment and also at the CIA during the late seventies as the developer of the TASCFORM-AIR math model, I saw the “Fighter Mafia” up close.

In fact to understand what he was saying, I sat through John Boyd’s lecture twice.

The one thing that struck me was residual anger directed at both the F-14 and F-15 at the time.

In fact, in one briefing talking about the evolving AIM-120, the briefer was mocked for putting what was loudly stated as bogus potential kill-ratios.

History has written a far different story as the F-15 has been shown to be the most successful fighter ever put into the hands of a Squadron Combat Fighter Pilot.

Eagle has a Kill Ratio of over 105 to 0.

Visiting the RAAF Williamtown Air Base: Preparing for the Future and Remembering the Past

Posted on March 24, 2016 | by SysAdmin | Leave a Comment

2016-03-25 By Robbin Laird

The RAAF’s Williamtown Air Base is the home of key current combat assets, the historic home of several legacy air assets, and the future home of a major part of the F-35 capability.

This was my third visit to the base, the first being to 2^nd Squadron, home of the Wedgetail, the second to the Surveillance Response Group and this year to visit the Commander, Air Combat Group, Air Commodore Steve “Zed” Roberton.

According to the RAAF Website:

The Royal Australian Air Force is proud to have been a part of the Hunter since the late 1930s when the Defence Practice Area was first designated at Williamtown.

Defence looks forward to continuing its positive relationship with the local community. It is Air Force’s intent that RAAF Base Williamtown remain as the nation’s main fighter pilot training base, and it will house most of the planned F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Lightning aircraft.

RAAF Base Williamtown is the home base for the tactical fighter element of the Air Combat Group (ACG) and the Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) element of Surveillance and Response Group (SRG).

The following squadrons are based at Williamtown:

No 453 Squadron (453SQN) Williamtown Flight

No 3 Squadron (3SQN) operating F/A-18 Hornet aircraft

No 77 Squadron (77SQN) operating F/A-18 Hornet aircraft

No 2 Operational Conversion Unit (2OCU) operating F/A-18 Hornet aircraft

No 76 Squadron (76SQN) operating Hawk Mk127 aircraft

No 4 Squadron (4SQN) operating PC-9/A Forward Air Control aircraft

No 2 Squadron (2SQN) operating AEW&C Wedgetail aircraft

No 2 Expeditionary Health Squadron, Headquarters

1 CCS (Combat Support Squadron) Detachment Williamtown

No 453 Squadron (453SQN) Headquarters

No 26 (City of Newcastle) Squadron – Airbase Operations

No 381 Squadron – Contigency Response

No 1 Security Force Squadron, Headquarters

When you go to the visitor’s center you are greeted by a plaque, which tells the history of the RAAF base, which was first established to deal with the Japanese threat in the 1940s.

RAAF Williamtown Base History

RAAF Station Williamtown was established on 15 February 1941 to provide protection for the strategic port and steel manufacturing facilities of the Hunter Region.

The base was initially served by four runways, each 1,100 m (3,600 ft) in length to meet the needs of the Williamtown Flying School.

The School consisted of 62 buildings which accommodates 366 officers and men.

A number of Australian Empire Air Training Scheme squadrons were formed at Williamtown before proceeding overseas and No. 4 Operational Training Unit was located at Williamtown from October 1942 until the unit was disbanded in April 1944.

Following World War II Williamtown was retained as the RAAF’s main fighter base and was equipped with squadrons of Gloster Meteor and F-86 Sabre fighters.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAAF_Base_Williamtown

While waiting for my meeting with Air Commodore Roberton, I ate at the end of one of the flight runways and watched the Super Hornets and Hornets land and take off from the base.

And then I visited the Fighterworld Museum which houses several classic aircraft from the storied past of the Royal Australian Air Force, including the F-111, the Mirages and Spitfires flown by the RAAF and the only type of jet fighter flown by the allies in World War II, the Gloster Meteor.

We will publish Air Commodore Roberton’s interview in due course, but after the interview, I was given a tour of the base by a senior security officer who has served for many years (39 years in the RAAF) as a senior mechanic.

He highlighted the changes at the base associated with the coming of the F-35. He noted that the changes were triggered by the F-35, but many of these changes were overdue to upgrade the airbase over all.

When the Minister of Defence spoke last week at the Airpower Conference, she highlighted the importance of investments in the enablers for airpower. One of those enablers is clearly the infrastructure to support air operations.

It is clear from the tour that Williamtown’s future is being shaped by its preparation for the F-35, but more than that, leveraging the coming of the F-35 to prepare for the next fifty years of military aviation.

Around 1.5 billion dollars is being in the Williamtown airbase infrastructure; including hangars, maintenance and support facilities and lengthening the runway to 10,000 feet to mitigate any noise concerns in the surrounding community.

The first building, which has been built, was an intelligence facility to handle the information coming off of the aircraft, either in terms of mission or maintenance data.

The airfield is being expanded and bulldozers and grading equipment was seen adjacent to the commercial airport. This airport is leased from the RAAF facility and in terms of crisis could be taken over by the RAAF and used to support their operations.

In addition, base housing will be rebuilt and moved to another part of the base.

As the security officer noted: “We are building for the fifty years ahead, and not just for the next couple of years.”

He argued that as the F-35 would come into operations, the new infrastructure would support new approaches, and those approaches would in turn prepare the future, notably as unmanned assets are added to the fleet.

A key problem for the air base is that it is located in an area with the ground water level very close to the surface.

In fact, as one travels the base one can see patches of ground water, which look like lakes, but actually are the ground water level.

“You would not want to keep a KC-10 on the base all that long,” my guide warned!

In an article published by Robert Virtue (with Aaron Keraney) for ABC news Newcastle in May 6, 2015, the program of construction was highlighted.

But north of the Hunter River, at Williamtown, an investment of a similar magnitude begins today – a $1.5b upgrade of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base, in preparation for the delivery of the military’s order of new F-35A Lightning II (also known as ‘Joint Strike Fighter’) jet aircraft.

The Minister for Defence, Kevin Andrews, along with other senior members of the military will turn the first sod in a ceremony this afternoon.

How significant an investment is the upgrade?

The billion-and-a-half dollar works will go towards building new facilities at Williamtown to house the Joint Strike Fighters, the first of which is set to arrive in Australia in 2018.

The base has been in operation since the late 1930s, and was kept as the country’s main fighter base after WWII – a purpose it has retained since.

Air Combat Group commander at the Williamtown RAAF base, Air Commodore Steve Roberton says it’s a new era in the Hunter region’s association with the defence force.

“It (Williamtown) has really been the centrepiece for Australian defence, and the Royal Australian Air Force,” he says.

“This [work] is pretty significant for us.”

As part of the construction, the runway will be extended by just over 600m. A number of other facilities, including taxiways and buildings will also be built.

“These new facilities are largely over at the back of the military side of the airport. In fact, as people land on the runway [at the airport], you will be able to see these new works,” says Air Commodore Roberton.

“Many of the old buildings at the front have lost their purpose, but they’re also heritage-listed.

“[The upgrades] will make the place a lot more functional and a lot more modern, and able to house the high security arrangements we need for such a modern strike fighter.”

Along with the look of the base changing, the main entrance will be moved further north along Medowie Road.

Timeline

Today’s sod-turning marks the start of a long construction process, expected to take years.

Currently 3,500 people work on the base and during the construction, an extra 950 people (mainly contractors) are set to work there.

Construction on the runway extension and other facilities will begin in the coming days.

Over the next few years, the current Hornet Squadrons will morph into the F-35A Squadrons (once the Joint Strike Fighters arrive) through 2018 to 2019.

The works should be completed by 2020 to 2021.

With an already-busy civil airport, along with existing military aircraft noise emanating from the Williamtown site, Air Commodore Steve Roberton says residents of the Port Stephens area have been extensively consulted on the works and the transforming role of the base.

He says the RAAF welcomes the continued growth of the Hunter region.

“The changes are very much necessary, and every effort is being made to minimise the impact on anybody locally.

“With the Joint Strike Fighters being introduced [it] represents a bit of an opportunity for even more industry and employment in this region. It does represent a fairly long continuity of work over the next six years or so.

“It’s very much about, this is the Newcastle region, this is our Air Force: and this is our base.”

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2015/05/06/4230446.htm

The first slideshow above show fighters at Williamtown or from Williamtown engaged in various activities and are credited to the Australian Ministry of Defence.

There is also a photo of Air Commodore Roberton and the former Minister of Defence visiting the base.

The second slideshow are photos taken at the Fighterown museum and are credited to Second Line of Defense.

For a report which looks at the F-35 and infrastructure in Australia see the following:

Facilities Requirements

Aussies in Anarctica

Posted on March 23, 2016 | by SysAdmin | Leave a Comment

03/23/2016

03/23/2016: A team of maintainers from 723 SQN have lent their support to the RAAF in recovering three AS350 Squirrel helicopters for the Australian Antarctic Division in Antarctica.

Leading Seaman Jodie Khan, Petty Officer Mark Anderson and Leading Seaman Tim Graham were collected from HMAS Albatross in a RAAF C17 Globemaster, flown to Hobart and then on to Wilkins Aerodrome near South Casey Station.

As well as their expertise, the team provided specialised equipment including loading ramps 723 Squadron developed specifically for loading Squirrel helicopters into the C17 Globemaster.

A permanent base in Antarctica is managed by the Australian Antarctic Division.

It lies on the northern side of the Bailey Peninsula overlooking Vincennes Bay on the Budd Coast of Wilkes Land in the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Credit: Australian Ministry of Defence: March 22, 2016

Building Wings for the F-35: Israel, Italy and Fort Worth Shape a 21st Century Capability

Posted on March 10, 2016 | by SysAdmin | Leave a Comment

03/10/2016

2016-03-10 By Robbin Laird

When the first F-35 crossed the Atlantic from Cameri, Italy, to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, the plane had been assembled in Italy and had only 15 flight hours illustrating the confidence of Lockheed Martin and the Italian Government (and Italian pilot) in the maturity of the aircraft.

The wings on the aircraft, designated AL-1, had actually been built in Fort Worth with other sections having come from Northrop Grumman Company or the U.K.

The Finmeccanica plant in Cameri has a final assembly and checkout facility (FACO) for the F-35 and is also building wings not just for the planes to be final assembled in Italy (namely for the Italian and Dutch Air Forces) but for the U.S. and other partners as well.

The work contracted to Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi, a strategic supplier of F-35A full wing assemblies, is one of the largest manufacturing projects for the Italian F-35 program.

The Cameri FACO is owned by the Italian government and operated by Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi in association with Lockheed Martin.

Under current industrial participation agreements, Alenia Aermacchi will produce a minimum of 835 full wings in addition to airframe parts that are consumed by their assembly operations including complex machined bulkheads and fiber placed composite parts. Alenia Aermacchi’s full rate of production will be 66 wings per year, expandable to 72 wings annually.

https://www.f35.com/global/participation/italy-industrial-participation

Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi produced the full wing-set at the F-35 Final Assembly & Check-Out (FACO) facility in Cameri, Italy. The entry into the Electronic Mate and Assembly (EMAS) – where the forward fuselage, was assembled. Credit: Lockheed Martin. — Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi produced the full wing-set at the F-35 Final Assembly & Check-Out (FACO) facility in Cameri, Italy. The entry into the Electronic Mate and Assembly (EMAS) where the forward fuselage, was assembled at Fort Worth. Credit: Lockheed Martin.

The first F-35 wing produced in Italy was integrated into the Fort Worth FACO in the spring of 2015.

The entry into the Electronic Mate and Assembly (EMAS) – where the forward fuselage, center fuselage, wing and aft fuselage are joined, in May 2015 was an important production milestone for Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi’s F-35 program, exhibiting high performance on a vital part of the aircraft while demonstrating successful technology transfer, and the key involvement of the Italian aerospace industry.

The Cameri FACO’s F-35 production operations began in July 2013 and rolled out Italy’s first F-35A aircraft, AL-1, in March 2015; AL-1’s first flight was completed in September 2015.

https://www.f35.com/news/detail/f-35a-lightning-ii-with-first-italian-made-wing-set-enters-assembly-line

Complete or full wings for the F-35 are only built in Cameri and Fort Worth, but Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) builds outer wing boxes as well.

Outer wing boxes are shipped to the United States and are mated at the Fort Worth plant to the center wing sections produced by Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Georgia.

IAI has built an F-35 production line to build wing boxes and will do so for the U.S. Air Force and European customers.

It is anticipated that IAI will produce more than 800 F-35 outer wing boxes over the next 10-15 years for a potential value of $2.5 billion.

IAI received its initial contract from Lockheed Martin for F-35 wing sets in 2013 and subsequently invested in a state-of-the-art automated F-35 wing production line which is nearly identical to the line in Fort Worth, Texas.

It is located at the production center at IAI’s Lahav Division, which is experienced in manufacturing wings for F-16 and T-38 aircraft.

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2016/02/16/IAI-producing-more-F-35-wing-sets/7481455641310/

These IAI-produced left and right wing boxes are a complex part of the plane and support the overall supportable low observable JSF philosophy.

Supportable low observables imply significantly reduced maintenance hours per flight hour for the F-35 customers.

Ambassador Dan Shapiro, along with Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Yaalon and other distinguished guests from the American and Israeli defense industries, inaugurated the production line where the wings of the F-35 Lightning II will be manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries for the American Lockheed Martin. IAI is planned to produce 811 pairs of F-35 wings over a 10-15 year period. Photo: November 4, 2014. Credit: US Embassy Israel

In addition, sensors are precisely installed on and in the wing during the final assembly manufacturing process to ensure performance of the avionic systems.

The level of precision required by a stealth-enabled aircraft is much greater than that required for fourth generation (F-16, F-18, F-15) aircraft.

To get a sense of the nature of the wing manufacturing process and the challenge of getting it right, I asked Don Kinard, an expert on F-35 manufacturing at Lockheed Martin, to explain the process.

“The key manufacturing technology to build the wings (and other JSF components) is all tied up with what we call outer mold line control.

Although at first look the wings appear to be simple structure, the technology required to meet the tolerances is quite complex.

We developed outer mold line control processes here in Fort Worth, and at our Partners (Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems), and at our suppliers for the Joint Strike Fighter program that involve, for example, controlling the thickness of the composite skins.

This is accomplished in two different ways.

We in Fort Worth control the wing skins by using a laser radar system and a patented process that Lockheed Martin Aeronautics at Fort Worth developed called cured ply compensation.

We cure the part, the wing skin for example, on the cure tool, and we then we measure the part thickness using a laser radar system.

Then by subtracting the tool surface measurements from the tool plus cured skin process we have the part thickness.

We send the part thickness data to a ply cutter which cuts and identifies all of the glass plies that we need to add to the cured wing skin to bring the wing thickness up to the nominal Engineering dimension, and then we project the location of the glass plies on the wing using a laser projection system and re-cure the wing in order to control the exact thickness.

The addition of glass plies compensates for the thickness variation in the composite and yields a controlled thickness skin.

We do that because we want all the skins to match up perfectly and if they are tightly controlled from a thickness point of view they should not create mismatches on assembly.

If we control the substructure, if we control the skins, then when we assemble the aircraft we don’t have mismatches, which increase drag and impact observable performance.

Prior aircraft depended on what we call a “fill and fair” approach where we would fill and fair mismatches across the joints using filler materials.

When aircraft are in flight, the joints are stressed and move around causing the filler materials to crack and resulting in maintenance actions on those jets to restore performance.

With the F-35, because of the outer mold line control on the airplane, we eliminate these fill and fair repairs and provide a more durable and maintainable product for the customers.

We are already seeing the maintenance hours per flight associated with F-35 maintenance to be about a tenth of what we’ve seen in the past.

Now we’re still young and, we have the opportunity to improve even more over this initial success, but that’s where we are now.”

Question: Because of this manufactured stealth, this inherent capability is built into the aircraft for the life cycle of the aircraft as well?

Kinard: That is correct.

One of our passions over the past 15 years has been to develop the manufacturing process to so tightly control the outer mold line of the airplane that we don’t have to fill and fair.

F-35 Wing Assembly at Cameri. The same materials technology are used in Italy as in the United States. Credit: Alenia

We reduce LO maintenance hours on the aircraft over the life of the aircraft because of that.

To do so requires complex technology.

I’ve mentioned the first approach which is the laser radar system for the wing.

We call it a “cured laminate compensation” or CLC process where we compensate for thickness variation by adding glass plies; this is a process patented by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and developed by our Manufacturing Technology organization.

Now the other way that it’s done, which was originally brought to the F-35 team by our partner BAE Systems, is the approach we use on the forward fuselage and other sections of the aircraft like the aft fuselages (BAE), center fuselages (NGC), and empennage (BAE).

Just to give you a little of breadth here, we put sacrificial material on the inner mold line or the inside of the composite skin and machine it away in very high-precision machine equipment that once again controls the thickness of the part to very tight dimensions.

This process is used here in Fort Worth, in Northrop Grumman, and every place where the aircraft are made.

The two processes yield the same result, one is the cured laminate compensation approach; another one is machining sacrificial plies.

We also put sacrificial material on the substructure, for example, around the outside of the forward fuselage after we assemble it and then take that whole forward fuselage into a machine and machine it to control the outer mold line.

Again, remember that the ultimate objective for F-35 is a supportable platform to reduce maintenance to lower costs and improve overall aircraft availability for the customers.

We developed that technology as part of the F-35 team with Northrop Grumman and BAE.

Now all of us take that technology and transfer to other producers of the parts and components like Finmeccania and IAI for Lockheed Martin, TAI in Turkey for the NGC center fuselages, and Terma in Denmark, and Quick Step in Australia for the BAE Empennage.

We send our people over to Italy and Israel.

We review their equipment suppliers, and procedures, because fundamentally, at the end of the day the parts made in Italy and the parts made in, in Israel have to be identical to the parts we make in the United States, which is true for all of the international participants in the F-35.

Philosophically Lockheed Martin is responsible for delivering a compliant aircraft, and then we deliver the aircraft to our US government customer – the DCMA – who then turns the airplanes over to the purchasing countries.

Lockheed Martin is guaranteeing that all of the aircraft processes are done the same.

In fact, that technology transfer, the manufacturing technology transfers for the F-35 have been one of the incentives for other countries to participate because it’s not just the outer mold line philosophy, it’s the digital thread philosophies, such as optical projection of work instructions onto the aircraft surfaces, and the use of automation such as automated drilling and robotic spraying.

We share our manufacturing technologies as we develop them with our partners and our co-producers and suppliers so that we can lower the cost of the aircraft to everybody.

Finmeccania has already delivered several full wings out of Italy, and IAI has delivered several wing sets out of Israel.

The fact that we can not only build them ourselves but transfer technology to partners and suppliers around the globe to build identical products is another great indicator of the maturity of the program

Question: The precision of the drilling in the wing must be very high given the sensors which get then inserted and integrated into the wing.

Can you describe that challenge?

Kinard: Many sensors are attached to the wing and integrated into the wing. For example, the leading edges have a lot of sensors and obviously the trailing edges.

The F-35 has 360-degree sensors, basically around, but those are components that we add to the wing. The wing is built to then put those sensors on the wing and precision is crucial.

All the sensors have to be aligned in order for all of the avionics systems to work. And all of that is controlled and calibrated as we build the aircraft.

Question: Working with other nation’s industries must force you to clarify processes as you transfer them, but mutual learning is certainly possible.

Can you describe the approach?

Kinard: As we worked with the international participants we have learned things from everyone, these lessons learned are shared formally between sites.

The technology transfer is really a two-way street.

One of the beauties of the F-35 is the global interaction and that we have enough aircraft on our forecast to continue to develop manufacturing technologies way out to the future.

The F-35 has got a long runway, and so we continue to be very aggressive in technology development going forward.

And the division of labor allows for flexibility between international sites in production as well.

An Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare) F-35A aircraft made history at 2:24 p.m., February 5, 2016 as it completed the very first trans-Atlantic Ocean crossing of the F-35 Lightning II, arriving at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River from Cameri Air Base, Italy. F-35A aircraft AL-1 - the first international jet fully built overseas at the Cameri Final Assembly & Check-Out (FACO) facility - was piloted by the first Italian Air Force F-35 pilot, who completed training at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, last November. The aircraft will now begin three months of Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (EEE) evaluation and certification. Lockheed Martin photo by Andy Wolfe. — An Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare) F-35A aircraft made history at 2:24 p.m., February 5, 2016 as it completed the very first trans-Atlantic Ocean crossing of the F-35 Lightning II, arriving at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River from Cameri Air Base, Italy. Lockheed Martin photo by Andy Wolfe.

At some point IAI will build most of the A model wing boxes and we’re going to build the B and the C model wings here in Fort Worth.

Question: There were only four journalists at Pax River when the Italian aircraft assembled in Italy crossed the Atlantic. It was piloted by an Italian pilot with only 50 hours on the aircraft and the plane itself had only 15 flight hours on it.

What does that say about the maturity of production for the aircraft?

Kinard: How mature does it have to be to put a pilot in there with only a few hours of flight time, when almost anything could go wrong over the ocean?

I think that really shows how mature this plane is and how confident the pilots are. Because obviously the pilot wouldn’t have taken the flight unless he felt very comfortable with the airplane.

For earlier discussions with Don Kinard, including a 2010 interview on wing production, see the following:

https://www.sldinfo.com/the-maturing-of-f-35-manufacturing-and-crafting-synergy-among-suppliers-the-final-assembly-line-and-maintainers-an-update-with-don-kinard/

https://www.sldinfo.com/shaping-f-35-production-maturity-a-dialogue-with-dr-don-kinard/

https://www.sldinfo.com/visiting-the-f-35-final-assembly-line-fort-worth/

https://www.sldinfo.com/an-update-on-f-35-manufacturing-the-case-of-wing-assembly/

ACC Heritage Flight Program: The F-35 Joins the Program

Posted on March 8, 2016 | by SysAdmin | Leave a Comment

03/08/2016

03/08/2016: F-35 Heritage Flight Team qualified on March 6th 2016 during the Heritage Flight Conference to join the Air Combat Command Air Force Heritage Flight program.

The program features modern USAF fighter aircraft flying alongside WW2, Korean War, and Vietnam-era aircraft in a display of airpower history.

The F-35 Heritage team is from the 61st Fighter Squadron at Luke AFB, AZ.

It consists of 10 maintainers and one F-35 pilot, Maj. William Andreotta.

The qualification conference took place at Davis-Monthan AFB near Tucson AZ.

These flights will allow all Americans to learn more about the F-35 and at the same time see just how far airpower has come over the years,” said Brig. Gen Scott Pleus, 56th Fighter Wing commander.

“I think it’s very important for everyone to have a chance to watch the F-35 fly and see firsthand what a great capability this fighter jet will give to the U.S. and our partner nations.

We’ve flown thousands of sorties and hours in this jet already, and are excited to be able to show it to the public.”

“The F-35 will be the backbone of the USAF fighter fleet and represents the future for the U.S., our partners and allies. Being a part of these heritage flights provides a unique insight into the past and the future,” said Pleus.

The heritage flight team will attend the Heritage Flight Conference at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tuscon, Arizona, in preparation for taking part in heritage flight demonstrations during the 2016 air show season.

It also enables flying dissimilar aircraft in close formation.

Credit:56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs:3/6/16

The Spanish Minister of Defense Visits the Juan Carlos at Sea

Posted on March 5, 2016 | by SysAdmin | Leave a Comment

03/05/2016

2016-03-05 The Spanish Navy along with other European and NATO navies are engaged in operations in the Mediterranean in support of the fight against ISIS as well as dealing with the migration crisis.

In these photos, credited to the Spanish Ministry of Defense, Pedro Morenés, the Spanish Defense Minister, is seen onboard the Juan Carlos off of the Cadiz coast on February 23, 2016.

Credit: Spanish Ministry of Defense

In the following interview by Esteban Villarego conducted in the Fall of 2015 and published in Defense News on November 3, 2015, the Minister provides insight into his views.

For four years, Pedro Morenés has led Spain’s Defense Ministry through a budget-cutting period that started in 2009. However, Spain has continued to play a role in international military missions — in Lebanon, wearing UN helmets; in the Indian Ocean, operating under the European Union; in Turkey under NATO command; in Senegal and Gabon, supporting French air operations in Mali and the Central African Republic; and in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition there. It has also signed two agreements with the US to host four Aegis destroyers at Rota Navy Base and a special US Marine Corps unit at Moron Air Base in Spain.

[Defense News interviewed Morenés several days before the Oct. 27 withdrawal of Spanish troops from Afghanistan.]

Now the Spanish Ministry of Defense has announced two new major programs, the 8×8 armored vehicle and new frigates; and an initial budget to purchase four MQ-9 Reaper drones….

What is the main threat which Spain faces from the national defense point of view?

Without a doubt, terrorism is the most important. We fight terrorism from Afghanistan to the Central African Republic or Mali in different ways. We still have a lot to do.

In addition, there are other serious threats: those that are affecting our allies in NATO. We belong to two political and military organizations, the European Union and the Atlantic Alliance, and the risk of our allies is our peril…..

You met with the US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in October. How can the US and Spain strengthen their defense relationship with the four US Navy Aegis destroyers at Rota and the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force at Morón de la Frontera Air Base?

Our relations with the US have improved dramatically the last four years.

Firstly, we need to share military intelligence elements linked with the enormous capacity of the US to obtain certain information. That is essential to build a trust between two countries, which share a common goal: peace and stability around the world.

Secondly, we must identify common risks and threats, like the instability of North Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.

Thirdly, we need to integrate as much as possible our operational skills to multiply our capacity to respond.

Finally, we could develop together industrial and technological capabilities with some agreements between companies.

Do you mean the possibility of joint ventures or mergers between some American and Spanish companies?

For example, the possibility that Spanish tech companies could contribute to develop some fields of the defense industry of the United States; or, perhaps, we continue hosting technological capabilities developed by the US and could be used as a common exporter.

Spanish shipbuilder Navantia is on the short list to win a contract from the Royal Australian Navy to build two auxiliary oiler and replenishment ships. Are you optimistic?

Defense contract programs of this kind need a long time to materialize but I hope it can be achieved. We will see it very soon…..

Next F-35s Across the Atlantic: Dutch F-35s to Fly from Edwards to the Netherlands

Posted on March 5, 2016 | by SysAdmin | Leave a Comment

2016-03-05

According to an article published by Edwards AFB on 2/24/2016:

A Dutch F-35A Lightning II will touch down on home soil for the first time for environmental compatibility trials this spring according to a Royal Netherlands Air Force release.

Two Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35A Lightning IIs take off from Edwards AFB. The Dutch stood up their first F-35 unit, Number 323 Squadron, in 2014, specifically to conduct operational testing and evaluation at Edwards. (Royal Netherlands Air Force photo)

The F-35 will conduct several low-altitude circuits, take-offs, and landings at both Leeuwarden Air Base and Volkel Air Base, where the aircraft will eventually be based.

The RNLAF plans to replace its legacy F-16A/B fleet with a minimum of 37 F-35s, split between the two bases.

An F-16 will accompany the F-35 during the trials in May or June, to provide comparison data on the level of noise generated by the two aircraft, and its possible impact on nearby communities, according to the release.

The first Dutch F-35 unit, Number 323 Squadron, is currently undertaking operational test and evaluation at Edwards AFB, Calif. Airfield trials will begin in earnest next year ahead of the aircraft permanent relocation to the Netherlands in 2019, according to the RNLAF.

And in a recent piece published about the Dutch F-35 testers, a number of key points were highlighted:

The future of Dutch air warfare is shaped in all of the vast airspace around Edwards Air Force Base, California. The two tools of the trade have clocked up over 500 flight hours since first delivery in 2013.

They are two stealthy and somewhat secretive F-35A Lightning II fighter jets, flown and tested by Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) 323 squadron. Edwards is their home away from home and will be so for some time to come. Testing done right takes time.

Edwards is the ‘home of the right stuff’ and the perfect place for Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) of any fighter aircraft let alone the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, the fifth generation fighter aircraft that sparked so much debate over the last decade. ….

“And we are moving along nicely”, says Marten Hendriksma, chief of RNLAF fighter operations. “Our four pilots are now involved in weapons employment following the successful systems integration tests in 2015.

Those tests proved two F-35s can work jointly using both aircraft’s sensors, AN/APG-81active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL), and share this information with accompanying F-16s using Link-16.”

The goal is of course to prepare the F-35 and its pilots for any future threats. Hendriksma: “The jet is capable of seeing and engaging targets from great distances, or guiding accompanying fighters towards those targets using the data link system.

An F-35 pilot can selectively provide other combat pilots with the chunks of information those pilots need to enhance their situational awareness. It really is so much more than a bomb truck.”

It is also why system integration with F-16s is important, because they represent all of the fourth generation fighter jets that will remain active in international conflicts for decades to come.

“It’s vital that the F-35 shares its information with other allied combat jets, also such as aircraft as the Rafale and Typhoon. For the guys who fly those jets, it’s brilliant.

The F-35 is a force multiplier and an eye in the sky, with the added bonus that it can fly directly over the battlefield and engage targets itself as needed, unlike an AWACS that usually stays away over more friendly territory…..”

“The F-35 will have a large advantage going into the visual arena against fourth generation or aircraft like the Su-35, due to its advanced sensors, stealth and datalink capability and resulting increased situational awareness.

We have already seen this during testing at Edwards”, says ‘Gladys’, one of the RNLAF pilots at Edwards.

The visual fight will most likely already be decided before the adversary knows it’s in a dogfight, continues Gladys. “Even so, slow-speed and high angle-of-attack performance is much better than many fourth generation fighters like the F-16. High angle of attack testing has been an eye-opener for previous F-16 pilots, who are not used to very good slow speed performance.

Straight line acceleration is also much better.

At higher speeds, the F-16 has the sustained turning advantage (as it does over many aircraft like the F-18), but only when fighting in training configurations without any missiles or bombs. When flying in combat configs, even the high speeds sustained fight becomes much closer.”

Each day at Edwards, the Dutch better get to know their two silver-grey and somewhat sinister looking aircraft, unassumingly known as F-001 and F-002. Modifications are an ongoing thing.

A major upgrade in 2016 and 2017 is the installment and testing of the latest and ‘combat-ready’ Block-3F configuration instead of the current Block-2B, which is the same software found in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) F-35B that reached Initital Operational Capability (IOC) in July last year.

“Right now, we are successful in reaching 60 percent serviceability whereas we aim at 70 percent. That is still considerably better than the F-16 in the early stage of its career,” says Erik Rab, who supports Dutch testing from the F-35 Joint Program Office in Washington, DC….

Liaisons are also in place with the Italian Air Force, who plan to fly the first Italian-made F-35 across the Atlantic to the US in February, using one of their Boeing KC-767s for air-to-air refueling (AAR).

“It’s no secret that we are planning to fly an F-35 to the Netherlands later this year, so any experience the Italians gain is also valuable to us.

Our jets are yet to refuel from our own KDC-10 tanker and we’ll start testing and validating AAR soon in preparation for our own Transatlantic flight”, says Rab.

“We’ve flown 3 to 4 hour-missions already with refueling by US tankers.”

If all goes to plan, F-001 should arrive in the Netherlands some time in May, ahead of the RNLAF airshow at Leeuwarden.

“The test schedule at Edwards is tight and nothing is certain yet”, says Marten Hendriksma. “The priority is to familiarize those living around Dutch airbases with the F-35 and its noise levels, as promised by the Minister of Defence.

For the rest of the article, see the following:

http://airheadsfly.com/2016/01/26/dutch-lightning-testers/