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2014-12-13 The F-35 is not an airplane, but an air system.
And one which will be global in character.
Operationally, the impact of an integrated F-35 fleet will be significant.
And no less so will be the global sustainment possibilities inherent in the program.
The program has built in a global sustainment capability from the ground up, which allows for the clear possibility of shaping a very different approach to global sustainment.
Programs developed first for the US which then add global customers face a significant parts and support problem because there was never a thought of building in a global sustainment approach.
The Italians have already built a regional sustainment center in Italy for Europe and Med operations.
The manufacturing program is already mature and there will three FACOS: two already exist in the US and Italy and a third to be added in Japan.
Recently, the US F-35 program office announced an official step forward in shaping such an approach.
F-35 European Maintenance Sites Announced
By Claudette Roulo
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2014 – The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter program office announced today the European locations for heavy engine and heavy air frame maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade facilities.
“In the European region, F-35 initial air frame MROU capability will be provided by Italy by 2018,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan told reporters.
Bogdan is the Program Executive Officer for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office in Arlington, Virginia.
Italy has invested $1 billion into a purpose-built final assembly and check-out facility for the F-35, he said.
“As Italy builds up their production capability at the FACO, there’s an opportunity later on to add more production capacity to that FACO if other partners and the U.S. want to build their planes there,” the general said. If the facility does shift toward production, Bogdan explained, the United Kingdom would be assigned to provide additional air frame depot capability.
Engine heavy maintenance will initially be provided by Turkey by 2018, he said, “with Norway and the Netherlands providing additional capability two to three years after Turkey’s initial capability.”
Test cells for engine heavy maintenance are “very expensive — in the tens of millions of dollars,” the general said, and no single partner or their industry was willing to invest in more than one test cell in their nation.
“That’s a big risk for industry and that partner long-term to get the return on that investment,” Bogdan said. Based on projections by the program office, at least three test cells were needed in order to build a sustainable program in Europe, he said.
Global Sustainment Posture
The announcement is the next step in establishing a global sustainment posture for the aircraft, the general said, noting that he expects to announce the Pacific region locations next week. Regional assignments for components, systems repair, warehousing, support equipment and other global supply chain functions will begin next year, Bogdan added, eventually totaling hundreds of billions of dollars in potential work.
“There is much work still to be had on the F-35 global sustainment posture,” he said, “and we will go through a similar process over the next few years of assigning that capability to those areas and those partners that provide us the best value for doing that kind of work.”
Partner nations and countries participating in the foreign military sales program for the F-35 who also wish to be assigned MROU work are responsible for making the investments in their own infrastructure, the general said.
“Over time, the workload that gets sent to that partner nation is the way in which their industry can recoup that investment cost,” Bogdan said.
Site Selection Process
The final site determinations were made after the F-35 program office solicited and evaluated proposals from nations interested in being assigned heavy engine or heavy airframe work, he said.
A site survey team visited each nation that responded, the general said, and the evaluations and site visits were used to compile a list of recommended locations for review by the Defense Department.
DoD’s final decision took into consideration a number of factors in addition to the recommendations by the program office, Bogdan said, including geography, operational necessity and the expected distribution of aircraft.
Multiple Sites Guarantee Flexibility
Each nation that sets up a regional capability is guaranteed to always receive a workload that is equivalent to the number of aircraft it purchases, the general said. But as basing decisions change over time, he added, the additional regionally assigned workloads may shift based on who can provide the best value given past performance.
“We will probably look at this on a two- to three-year basis,” he said, adding that cost is not the only consideration in determining best value.
“When you look at a best value type of arrangement, you’re looking at quality of the work, you’re looking at delivery schedule and are they meeting [it], and you’re looking at cost,” Bogdan said.
The site decisions will have no effect on where the F-35 is based, the general said.
“Those decisions are made at the DoD level for reasons other than this,” he said. “The reason why we’re standing up capability in all three regions is to provide the partners and the U.S. the freedom of maneuver and the freedom of action to base the plane anywhere they want globally and still have access to the kinds of support we need to keep the F-35 fleet going.”
And a Jane’s piece provided some additional assessment as well.
The US Department of Defense has assigned maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) responsibilities for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter airframe and engine in Europe to Italy and Turkey, US officials said on 11 December.
“These initial assignments will support near-term engine and airframe F-35 overseas operations and maintenance and will be reviewed and updated in approximately five years,” said Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, the Pentagon’s F-35 programme manager. Regional considerations such as forward basing, aircraft phasing, and transportation contributed to initial assignment decisions, he said during a press briefing.
F-35 initial airframe MRO capability will be provided by Italy by 2018, Lt Gen Bogdan said. Should additional airframe MRO capability be required, the United Kingdom would be assigned to supplement Italy’s work.
Engine heavy maintenance for the Pratt & Whitney (P&W) F135, meanwhile, will initially be provided by Turkey, with Norway and the Netherlands providing additional capability approximately two to three years after Turkey’s depot becomes operational in 2018. The general explained that engine test cells needed at such facilities cost “tens of millions of dollars” to build and that no single F-35 operator in Europe was prepared to bankroll a large enough facility to handle the work.
He added that other F-35 operators will have future opportunities for maintenance work on the aircraft. He expects “hundreds of billions of dollars” worth of F-35 work worldwide over the next five decades or so.
The Pentagon has not yet assigned F-35 depots for Asia, but Japan and Australia are known contenders for the Pacific facilities. Both countries have outlined plans for such depots.
In July Australian Defence Minister David Johnston stated his government’s plan to set up a regional F-35 MRO centre will strengthen defence relations between Australia and the United States, enhance the Royal Australian Air Force’s capability to operate the F-35, and provide opportunities for Australia’s aerospace and defence industrial base. A development partner in the F-35 programme, Australia is committed to purchasing 72 F-35 aircraft, after announcing a second tranche of 58 aircraft in April. All aircraft are expected to be operational by 2023.
Meanwhile, linked to Japan’s plans to locally build F-35s under licence, Tokyo also wants to set up a regional F-35 MRO depot. A spokesman from the Japanese Ministry of Defence told IHS Jane’s in April that it is drawing up a plan to support the development of a facility in collaboration with the United States as well as regional procurers of the aircraft. Tokyo ordered four F-35s in 2011 and has plans to locally manufacture a further 38 aircraft. In 2013 Lockheed Martin and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) signed a contract to build a final assembly and check-out (FACO) facility for Japan’s F-35s. The Japanese FACO plant is being established at MHI’s Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works Komaki Minami Plant in Aichi Prefecture, which was used to build F-2 multirole fighter aircraft, developed in the 1990s in conjunction with Lockheed Martin.
Other Asian F-35 operators will likely include South Korea, which agreed in March 2014 to purchase 40 F-35s, and Singapore, which is a security co-operation participant in the programme. The US military is also expected to deploy F-35 from US bases and ships based in the region.
Not to put to fine a point on it, but Second Line of Defense has been looking at the roll out of the F-35 global sustainment efforts for some time.
Some of the many articles which address this development are the following:
Both the UK and Italy will operate a mixed Eurofighter and F-35 fleet. Both have operated the Tornado, which is reaching the end of its service life. Both will sort through evolutions of the Eurofighter to encompass some of the mission sets for Tornado as the Tornado is retired and as the F-35 comes into the two fleets and provides the next surge for the re-working of air-led combat concepts of operations.
A key element of this transformation will be reworking the connectivity among air, sea and ground systems as well as shaping the weaponization approaches of joint and coalition forces.
In part, this is a Eurofighter transition whereby the radars are upgraded, and weapons added; in part this is the coming of the F-35 and its impact on reshaping air enabled combat operations.
And associated with this will be fundamental changes over time in C2, and the approach to strike operations.
The UK and Italy already fly together in operations through their use of Tornados and Eurofighters and have clearly shared combat learning with regard to the use of these platforms; as the F-35 comes on line this combat learning cycle will continue into the next generation of aircraft, and shaping ways to approach fifth generation warfare.
F-35 takeoffs will be an increasingly common occurrence at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale as the current fleet of nine is expected to grow to 144 within a decade. The US and the F-35A allies will train here. (Photo: Photos by David Wallace/The Republic)
In effect, the dynamics of change for Italy and the UK will be a function of the intersection of four variables: the evolution of the Eurofighter; the impact of the F-35 and the global fleet of F-35s; changes in weaponization, and evolving C2 for strike and combat operations.
There is an inherent possibility that the UK and Italy could provide an important force for synergy in shaping concurrent approaches to evolving concepts of operations. Of course, this depends upon how effective their working relationship is and how effective cross-MOD, and cross-industrial relationships are in leveraging their working relationship.
And the two countries can play an important role as well with the European Air Group, the only multinational organization which focuses solely on airpower and its evolution. Recently, the EAG which has been a fundamental element of shaping the European Air Transport Command and the soon to be stood up European Personnel Recovery Centre, has started to look for the Air Chiefs of the seven European Air Forces for whom they work at the integration of 4th and 5th generation aircraft.
Clearly, Italy and the UK can play an important role working through the challenges and the opportunities based on the evolution of Eurofighter while the F-35 is introduced.
And both will be operating F-35Bs from sea bases so can lead in shaping an understanding of how sea-based and land-based air can work together to great a significant operational effect as well.
The Reconfiguration of Eurofighter
The twin dynamics of the retirement of the Tornado and the arrival of the F-35 pose a significant challenge as well as opportunity for both the UK and Italy.
And shaping effective responses to this challenge can open prospects of innovation for other Eurofighter users as well.
Although operational needs have kept moving the Tornado retirement date to the right, the scheduled date is 2019 for the RAF.
Italy will be a bit further down the road and retire their Tornados with 5 years after the intended RAF retirement date.
As one UK Typhoon pilot put it in a recent interview to appear shortly; “There is a clear need to expand the effects of Typhoon operations and here the enhancement of its weapons package will be an important improvement.”
To take up some of this role the Eurofighter is being reconfigured to provide an enhanced capability for the ground attack role, over and above the austere level of Enhanced Paveway II integration that was used by the RAF during the Libya campaign.
Paveway 4 is being integrated in P1E and then further weapon capability, primarily from MBDA, is being integrated, some of which are currently carried by Tornado.
The Tornado carries both Storm Shadow and Brimstone and both are being shaped for integration onboard the Eurofighter. The integration of the Storm Shadow on Typhoon is being driven in part by funding from the Middle East, notably Saudi Arabia which wants its Typhoons to have a cruise missile carrying capability, and when married with its new air tanking capability can enhance the strike range of its Typhoon force.
Brimstone 2 is designed to operate against maneuvering surface targets on land or sea. It is a low collateral, close air support weapon and has been combat proven by the RAF in both Afghanistan and Libya. It will greatly enhance the effect of the Eurofighter as well.
And a recently announced modernization package for the Eurofighter radar will allow the integration of Storm Shadow and Brimstone 2 to be more effective as well.
As Alan Tovey in the Daily Telegraph highlighted the synergy between weapons modernization and radar upgrades:
The new radar will increase the range at which Typhoon pilots can identify potential targets, as well as allowing them to scan a 200-degree field of vision, greater than rival fighters, giving them a tactical advantage.
The addition of the radar will take Typhoon’s capabilities ahead of other fourth-generation fighters such as France’s Rafale and Sweden’s Gripen, making it more attractive to export clients looking to upgrade their air forces.
A graphic of representation of the end state for the radar modernization effort for Eurofighter. Credit: Airbus Defence and Space.
In many ways, the pressure on Eurofighter is to indeed redeem its promise as a multi-role fighter and to be able to expand its effects, to quote the Typhoon pilot and future station commander cited earlier.
For the plane will evolve over time, into a significant role as well a weapons caddy for the F-35 enabled Italian and British strike forces.
The RAF has already caught a glimpse of what 5th generation aircraft can do for its Typhoons in training with the F-22s. The experience of training at Langley AFB was quite clear: and to quote the Typhoon pilot: “The situational awareness of the F-22 enhanced our survivability and lethality.”
And this pilot saw a future where the hard points on the Typhoon can evolve over time in terms of what it carries to support an initial fifth generation insertion fleet.
The Impact of the F-35 Fleet
The F-35 is built from the ground up to be a 21st century multi-mission aircraft.
“The F-35 is not an A (Attack) or an E (Electronic Warfare) or an F (Fighter); it is all of those. Earlier we had an F-14, an A-6 and an EA-6B and needed all three to do our job; now one airplane blends those capabilities and we can leverage that as we look at the integration of the other capabilities of the air wing we are developing.
Fifth generation is opening up so many possibilities that how we used to think about our capabilities is changing; how do we wring out the full capabilities of the air wing with the fifth generation as a catalyst for change?
Where it used to be platform-to-platform, we now have inherent in a single weapon system, the capability to fold in all those things that we used to think were single missions, like the fighter mission, like the attack mission, like the electronic warfare mission.
Those missions were given to separate platforms because we didn’t have the way to fold them into a single platform. Now we have that capability to do that. So that fundamentally causes us to look at the way in which we do business in the future.”
The F-35 will function as a forward scout, a passive sensor strike force, a forward battle management fleet, and generally operate in ways, which will enable the rest of the strike forces to operate much more effectively.
F-35 BF-17 from the F-35 Integrated Test Force in Formation with RAF Typhoons, Edwards AFB, CA April 4, 2014 F-35 test pilot LtCol Jon “Miles” Ohman performs interoperability testing. Credit: USAF
As the head of the Italian Air Force, Lt. General Preziosa, has put it with regard to the impact of the F-35 on his legacy fleet:
“One way to think about the way ahead is to continue to use 4th generation aircraft in surging mass to more classic airpower situations. One would use the F-35 as the key asset up against the distributed operational settings or for operations in denied air space. Another way to look at it will be to find ways to gain more synergy between the F-35 and the legacy fleet. How can we better utilize our older assets during the process where the F-35 fleet becomes a reality?
Shaping combinations of 4th generation with the F-35s will be a mix and match opportunity in tailoring airpower to the missions ahead.
This is a challenge; but it is a key task within which the F-35s will make the legacy aircraft more effective; and the 4th generation aircraft will add support and strike capabilities to an F-35 enabled air power force.”
He then added that when he was speaking of airpower, he was not simply speaking to the question of an air force.
All of the services are enabled by airpower.
“The Navy is not defined by its ships but by its operational reach and this comes with airpower. The Army tends to think of airpower in terms of their helicopters, but Afghanistan teaches a different lesson. Continents are working together; why not the services?”
He concluded by emphasizing that the line between those countries that operate in the fifth generation and those that don’t will be more than just a line in the sand.
“It will first of all be about survival. Do you want to be the Eagle or the Chicken in an airpower confrontation?
Working New Concepts of Operations
This puts an innovative challenge in front of the UK and Italian Air Forces – how best to work the relationships with a Eurofighter transitioning to a role in ground attack while the F-35 enables air and sea bases to operate with greater reach by linking up with the global fleet of F-35s?
USMC and USN airpower leaders have both highlighted the importance of the F-35 fleet aspects in enhancing the range of the sea base, and its ability to work more effectively with land-based air assets. With the F-35Bs coming off of the amphibious fleet, the reach of the F-35Bs is enhanced by its integration with allied and joint F-35s sharing data, and decision-making.
This is a key enabler for the tiltrotar enabled assault force, which comes off of todays’ amphibious ships.
It is also a consideration when looking at the USN carrier fleet and notably when the USS Ford is added to the force.
As Rear Admiral Manazir put it clearly:
“Reach not range is a key aspect of looking at the carrier airwing and its ability to work with joint and coalition forces. This is clearly enhanced with the F-35.
What you can do with a Carrier, given joint and coalition perspectives is the Carrier automatically extends your reach because you can put it anywhere you want. The mobility of the carrier is a key point. You can put it up against the problem set the national command authority or the joint force commander wishes to address; and then you can move it to deal with an evolving target or operational set of challenges, again aligned with the commander’s intent.
You can move the reach of the carrier wing as you redeploy it and connect with joint or coalition assets. The carrier has a core ability to operate organically but its real impact comes from its synergy with the joint and coalition force, which will only go up as the global F-35 fleet emerges.”
For the British and Italians, the ability of the F-35 to tie in the sea base with land-based operations is an important consideration, as F-35Bs will fly off of the new Queen Elizabeth class carriers, as well as off of the smaller Italian carriers, more akin to the USN amphibious ships. Indeed, British strategic planners are already trying to think through the cross cutting of a new large aircraft carrier with a fifth generation strike capability which can allow aircraft on the seabase to integrate other at sea assets with land based ones.
A graphic contained in the May 2013, Carrier Strike Report from the National Audit Office, reflects some of the initial thinking:
Eurofighters forward deployed on land bases and operationally integrated with the F-35s can provide a lethal expansion of the strike capability of the overall force as the F-35 prioritizes targets and identifies strike support which the Eurofighters can provide as weapons carriers and launchers.
Shaping such integrated concepts of operations will require technological changes as well as cultural changes.
The technical changes will be easier than the cultural ones, for sure.
The technical dynamic is already under way in working F-22 relationships with the legacy fleet for the USAF.
I have got the command embarked on a full-court press to get a fourth to fifth, fifth to fourth capability that will need a combat cloud to be fully empowered, but it will then allow us to fundamentally change how the fourth generation platforms fight in addition to the fifth gen.
Without that back and forth communication, machine-to-machine, the fourth gen’s going to have to do what they already do, they’ll just leverage some of the capability that fifth gen — the SA the fifth gen can provide.
If I can get that machine-to-machine, now the fourth gen platform will begin to realize some of the benefits inherently at the tactical level that the fusion engines of the fifth generation aircraft provide.
But there is a cultural shift as well which was highlighted in a dialogue between Secretary Wynne and Lt. Col. “Chip” Berke, the only operational F-22 and F-35 pilot in the world.
The fifth generation pilots are going to have to be trained that firing first is not their core con-ops.
Giving validated targets to other shooters is the ‘to be’ condition.
This is reversing decades of training and experience where the instinct is to fire first and ask questions later.
With 5th generation aircraft you are setting up the air space for air dominance, and weapons are delivered from assets throughout the managed airspace.
Without the 5th generation aircraft you have to fight your way in and expend significant effort just trying to survive.
With the 5th generation aircraft you are setting up the grid to shape the offensive and defensive force to achieve the results which you seek.
Evolving Weapons at the Vortex of the Change
Weapons have largely been considered as organic assets in terms of the weapon on which they have been integrated. They are integrated to a particular class of airplanes, or variant of that class, or to a particular type and class of subsurface or surface naval platforms.
Now one is looking at the effect being delivered kinetically and non-kinetically by a strike fleet.
Fifth generation aircraft will accelerate an off-boarding shift where weapons can be on very different platforms as long as a target identified, and communicated to the strike asset. Over time, unmanned and manned assets will work the target acquisition and delivery dynamic.
But for now, a core challenge for the British and Italians is how to weaponize effectively their “integrated” Eurofighter and F-35 fleet?
Clearly missiles such as Storm Shadow, Brimstone and Meteor are part of the solution set but as solutions are found, a new phase in the evolution of weapons can be opened up whereby an aircraft like Eurofighter could carry much longer range strike weapons (such as SPEAR 3 destined for F-35), rather than focusing on the air-to-air battle as its primary mission.
In other words, the challenge and opportunity for Eurofighter will be to make a real transition to a more flexible strike role through the missiles it carries and can be directed organically or by the command center, which in the emergence of the F-35 will be distributed, not concentrated.
For the F-35, the challenge will be to work through its role as a fleet, in operating forward to not only acquire targets, but to strike first passively, or by other means, and to be able to operate within innovative new C2 arrangements.
If warfighters were to apply the same C2 approach used for traditional airpower to the F-35 they would really be missing the point of what the F-35 fleet can bring to the future fight.
In the future, they might task the F-35 fleet to operate in the battlespace and affect targets that they believe are important to support the commander’s strategy, but while those advanced fighters are out there, they can collaborate with other forces in the battlespace to support broader objectives.
The F-35 pilot could be given much broader authorities and wields much greater capabilities, so the tasks could be less specific and more broadly defined by mission type orders, based on the commander’s intent. He will have the ability to influence the battlespace not just within his specific package, but working with others in the battlespace against broader objectives.
Collaboration is greatly enhanced, and mutual support is driven to entirely new heights.
The F-35 pilot in the future becomes in some ways, an air battle manager, or a Peyton Manning-style quarterback who is really participating in a much more advanced offense, if you will, than did the aircrews of the legacy generation.
And going back to my comment about the convergence of planning and execution, and a warfighter’s ability to see and sense in the battlespace … that’s only relevant if you take advantage of it, and the F-35 certainly allows warfighters to take advantage of it.
You don’t want to have a fifth-generation Air Force, shackled by a third-generation system of command and control.
Leveraging Weapons Commonalities: The Case of the Meteor Missile
A good example of the potential cross benefit between legacy and fifth generation aircraft involves the impact of the Meteor missile upon those European forces operating both Eurofighter and F-35. With Meteor enabled for Eurofighter and F-35A/Bs, the opportunity for joint stockpiling, joint development and common training for a missile, which can be used on both platforms, is significant.
An example of synergy among the air combat systems can be seen with regard to the Italian Armed Forces with their future mixed fast-jet fleet of Eurofighters and F-35s.
The first new standard Eurofighter Typhoon built in Italy has rolled out from the Turin-Caselle Plant. The latest Alenia Aermacchi production Eurofighter Typhoon, known as Tranche 3, represents a major achievement in the evolution of the world’s leading combat aircraft.
The Tranche 3 standard embodies a number of changes that effectively enhance the aircraft’s performance and which allow for future upgrades making it more attractive to current and potential export customers.
The first Italian Tranche 3 has been produced for the Italian Air Force by the Eurofighter Partner Companies and assembled by Alenia Aermacchi.
Working through how Eurofighters will work with F-35s is an important operational challenge for the Italian forces, but clearly having a common weapon in the form of Meteor can provide cost savings and amortization of support and training costs as well.
And the F-35 will be able to find targets for the Eurofighter, much like the USMC F-35s are already doing for the F-18s at Yuma Air Station training. This increases the survivability of both platforms, and gives increased utility and becomes a force-multiplier for Eurofighter in an air operation.
Italy is buying a mixed F-35B and F-35A fleet and it would make a great deal of sense for Italy to work with its partners in Alenia and MBDA to shape a common F-35 approach whereby Meteor can be used on both the A and the B.
First firing of the Meteor missile from a Eurofighter. Credit Photo: Eurofighter,
Italy has invested significantly in Meteor development and currently manufactures the seeker near Naples. It is clear that cost savings can be obtained from pooling resources for buying, stockpiling and maintaining a common weapons capability for the F-35A, F-35B and Eurofighter.
A key element of any rethink about the future of 21st century airpower is clearly working coalition investments and experiences more effectively in building out common capabilities and shaping greater interoperability for operations. The F-35 provides a unique integrated air combat capability whereby coalitions of joint or allied F-35s can be supported in common.
And linking F-35s with evolving overall joint and coalition combat force will be a key opportunity as well.
For Italy and the UK, as both F-35B operators, and Meteor partners, there is a clear opportunity to leverage joint experience and investments as well.
The UK is in a similar position with Italy (Eurofighter and F-35B operators), there is a natural partnership between the two in shaping a common policy with regard to Meteor integration on the F-35 and the residual ability to leverage the advantages from commonality.
Furthermore, this gives both the UK and Italy an increased operational edge and grants both nations a significant capability for coalition operations which could be leverage to enhance their political influence in those coalition operations.
UK and Italian leadership on Meteor would also act as a catalyst towards other JSF users interested in this capability. It is a case of each country’s natural alliances reinforcing the others.
There are also broader industrial benefits worth considering as well. It is clear that the global F-35 enterprise draws upon a global supply chain; what is not fully realized is that next generation weaponization can both benefit from the F-35 global enterprise and empower legacy aircraft at the same time.
With regard to Italy, Meteor’s integration on both F-35 and Eurofighter offers the opportunity to improve the overall Italian industrial return across the F-35 program and reinforces the investment plan for the Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility; expanding the FACO’s role to include the weapon aspects of sustainment is fully in keeping with the vision for a Regional Support Center as clearly articulated by the Italian Government.
In short, developing new weapons for combat aircraft is clearly a core necessity moving forward.
There are clearly major advantages to working commonality across the airfleet, and ensuring that the F-35 is the enabler for the overall weapons enterprise.
The Eurofighter and F-35 sharing the benefits of a next generation missile like the Meteor can enhance as well ways to ensure that these two aircraft work seamlessly across the battlespace for 21st century operations.
Italy and the UK will lead the way in working out Eurofighter and F-35 integration. Credit: Second Line of Defense
For additional looks at the Eurofighter and F-35 dynamics see the following:
Standing up the Luke AFB Pilot Training Center: A Key Enabler of the F-35 Global Operations
The F-35 is a global enterprise in the making. The impact of a global community of F-35 users on coalition operations will be very significant in shaping collaborative concepts of operations.
But global operations start with training, training in common.
Luke Air Force base will be the center of excellence for pilot training on the F-35A for the global users of this variant of the F-35.
And Luke already has Australians in addition to USAF personnel in place to start the process.
A 56th Fighter Wing story published on 5/5/14 highlighted the coming of the RAAF to Luke:
Luke will act as ground zero for international partners to build their expertise in F-35A operations. The RAAF is the first partner to start their spin-up operations and are expecting their first aircraft by the end of this year.
“We are really pleased to come in and be the first partner to stand up operations here,” said squadron leader Maj. Nathan Draper, the 61st AMU participant maintenance liaison officer and RAAF senior officer. “We are pretty lucky to get to come here first.”
The RAAF plans to eventually have 12 aircraft at Luke, with their goal to have a complete working picture of U.S. Air Force F-35 operations, then return to the home base they are setting up for the F-35.
“One of the biggest things I hope to achieve is the successful transition of our aircraft from the production line to the Luke training environment and the commencement of training operations alongside our Air Force colleagues,” Draper said. “If we can do that in a safe and efficient streamlined manner, leveraging the Air Force processes and systems, it will be a pretty good day.”
The RAAF expects their first pilot to arrive at Luke the beginning of next year. Draper is part of an acquisition project called Joint Strike Fighter Division, and he now considers himself a team member of the 61st Aircraft Maintenance Unit.
“We have a really good, close working relationship with our colleagues in the Air Force, and we are looking forward to the next few years of joint operations here,” he said.
Luke’s relationship with the RAAF goes back a long way. Air Marshal Mark Binskin, soon to be the top Australian Defence Force officer, was stationed at Luke in the late ’80s.
Follow-on squadrons are scheduled to bring in additional partner countries including Italy, Norway, Turkey and the Netherlands.
F-35 bases are different from legacy air bases due to the nature of the combat systems carried by the aircraft and the data fusion on the aircraft.
The good news is that because it is a global program, the plans for every F-35 facility is identified in the Facility Requirements Document and are the same across all participants.
The global partners can tailor the building experience of one partner and apply to their own local conditions.
In an interview published on 10/5/2012 with Phil Klendworth, head of site activation for the F-35 at Lockheed Martin, the new infrastructure being built to house the F-35 at Yuma MCAS was discussed.
Site activation is an important part of any new program, especially so for the F-35 with its new hangers being built appropriately for an 5th generation electronic warfare combat aircraft…..
SLD: Could you discuss the advantage of getting a common design when you come to construction and how that saves money and increase efficiency realistically? What’s the real advantage?
Klendworth: Savings and advantages are recognized in many different ways. Design packages take less time to build, the design inspection goes faster because the basic requirements are being electronically brought over and the construction cost can be lower when you have actual cost from like facilities to challenge with. For the squadron person he or she can walk into any JSF hangar and find common services (power, air, ALIS), shops and offices that are similar to their own facilities and operations.
It also allows for industry to compete on JSF projects across the United States much easier and capitalize on economy of scale.
Having a basic design makes it easy to estimate around the country and globe because there is standard labor and material cost factor that can be applied based on regional areas to give you a rough order of magnitude cost estimate for long range financial budget planning.
SLD: Have you already seen cost savings from the replication process?
Klendworth: It has already been realized at Yuma.
The cost estimate for the second hangar was less than the first. The span time to construct has been reduced significantly and we have been able to capture functionality improvements from the Lesson Learned database in the second hangar design.
SLD: My understanding is that a lot of the legacy equipment used in a hanger to support an aircraft has been eliminated by the F-35. Is that correct?
Klendworth: That has been the JSF approach. It’s more cost effective to put permanent installed systems that are support three or four stations compared to having three or four replicated sets of support equipment in a hangar.
To get an update on the process of standing up the F-35 facility at Luke AFB, and to discuss the global enterprise aspects entailed by common training with allies and partners, Art Cameron, the Lockheed Martin site Director for the F-35 at Luke AFB, discussed the process, progress and the way ahead.
The last time we talked with Cameron was at Fort Worth in 2010 where we discussed the process of setting up the sustainment enterprise for the F-35.
In that interview, Cameron discussed the differences he saw between the processes for setting up the F-35 enterprise and a legacy one.
I spent 33 years in the USAF doing fighter sustainment, from turning wrenches on F-106’s in Northern Michigan in the late 70’s to working the latest fifth generation fighter, the F-22.
While I’ve worked all Air Force fighters, most of my career was with the F-16. I worked F-16’s at the first operational base, Hill AFB, in 1980. I worked F-16 flight test at Edwards AFB.
I deployed with the F-16. And, I led the MRO&U effort on the F-16 at Ogden Air Logistics Center. The F-16 was (still is) a great airplane.
However, it was built like most previous weapons systems, with sustainment not being an integral part of the design.
Aircraft operational capabilities have become evolutionary and revolutionary over the decades but, reliability and maintainability has not kept pace with the increased operational capabilities. The F-35, in many respects, is the first aircraft that has sustainment as an integral part of the aircraft design.
The original fifth generation aircraft, the F-22, was light years ahead in terms of sustainment with some of the integrated sustainment systems, the data management systems and the health management systems that are onboard the airplane.
The next fifth generation iteration, the F-35, is evolutionary and revolutionary ahead of even the F-22.
What we have learned in aircraft development is that the key to operational capability is to ensure aircraft availability.
Therefore, the big difference in the F-35 is that it’s built as an “Air System” which comprises both the aircraft and the sustainment system. Sustainment has been built in from day one in this airplane.
We like to say “sustainment is as integral to the aircraft as the wing”.
Now that reality was catching up with plan, we discussed with Cameron the state of play at Luke AFB.
Question: What is the importance of the standup at Luke AFB?
Cameron: We are all focused on standing up a flying and pilot training capability at Luke AFB.
However, that is not the primary milestone.
The Luke leadership is focused on US Air Force Interim Operational Capability (IOC) Luke is very important because Luke is the base that will train the F-35A pilots, for Air Force IOC in August of 2016.
In order to declare IOC, Hill AFB will have to have pilots in the right quantity, and the right quality trained in the missions that they need to go war with.
And the function of Luke Air Force Base is to train those pilots, to send them up to Hill Air Force base, so the Air Force can declare IOC.
And I can tell you that it’s pretty exciting times here at Luke as we rapidly built the base up.
Question: What is the relationship between Luke and Eglin as this process unfolds?
Cameron: Eglin was the initial pilot base, and hosts a joint pilot base where initially all the partners were going to go and fly. The three services, and the international partners were going to there to train.
But Eglin couldn’t handle the volume of pilot training which the program is generating.
So Luke was determined to be the core F-35A training base.
All the partners, and all the foreign military sale customers will train at Luke Air Force Base, except for the United Kingdom because the United Kingdom is flying F-35Bs and training with the Marines.
Question: Who are the initial partners coming to Luke?
Cameron: The Australians are already here and their planes are projected to arrive in December of this year.
Norway should be here in December 2015 and then Italy a month later and then the other partners and foreign military sales countries will follow shortly after that.
The U.S. Air Force will have about two-thirds of the jets at Luke Air Force Base.
And about a third of the jets will be international partners, and foreign military sales airplanes
Question: With regard to training, how will the partners and the USAF work together?
Cameron: The partners which includes the US Air Force will train on the same ramp flying out of six different squadrons.
Each Air Force squadron will have 24 airplanes, which will mean that 144 F-35s will be operating here when the aircraft build up is completed.
Question: This will enable significant cross learning between the USAF and international pilots? (not maintainers)
Cameron: It will. The squadrons will be joint squadrons with multiple partners flying in each squadron.
And each country can fly the other country’s jets.
Pilots will be able to brief and step up to any airplane inside that squadron.
In other words, Italian, Australian or Norwegian pilots will fly USAF planes and vice versa.
Question: That’s a significant step forward in changing the mental furniture of what these folks are prepared to do. How important then is the pooling of training?
Cameron: So, this is the second role for Luke AFB.
Luke, because of the multiple countries present, will serve as the battle lab for interoperability.
It will be central to reworking coalition operations in the future.
The F-35 is a key element of shaping the future interoperability piece and we are doing proof of concept here at Luke AFB.
Question: What is entailed in standing up each squadron?
Cameron: The USAF and their industry counterparts will stand up the facilities and all logistics enablers.
The USAF and partner countries will contribute the airplanes that are required to stand up each squadron.
In general, as we stand them up, each squadron will have 24 airplanes with three different countries flying out of those squadrons.
You will need all the requisite F-35 US and International instructor pilots required to train the joint community.
In the fifth photo, Maj. John Wilson, 61st Fighter Squadron instructor pilot, climbs out of one of Luke Air Force Base’s first F-35 Lightning II May 6, 2014, after flying one of its first sorties. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jason Colbert).
Question: What is your role as Lockheed Martin site director?
Cameron: My industry team serves as the local Luke Product Support Integrator to execute the contract requirements established by the US Air Force and International customers in a contract with the Joint Program Office in Crystal City.
I report through Lockheed Martin leadership then directly to the JPO for execution, but I work day to day with the local Luke AFB leadership from the general officer level on down to satisfy local customer expectations.
LM leads a multiple industry team at Luke that provides a multitude of capabilities. We do all the on aircraft touch labor for the international jets, and remember, approx. 1/3 of the F-35As coming here are international jets.
We man the Academic Training Center with contract instructor pilots and simulator operators/technicians that do the academic and simulator training for all the pilots.
We run the Autonomic Logistics Information System System (ALIS), ALIS is the system that is the backbone of Air System operations and training. We also provide program, information and air vehicle security, and field service support and technical support for the jets.
Right now, there are about 90 people on station, but and at full rate, we’ll have about 600 to 700 Lockheed Martin and other industry people on station performing those functions.
Question: How many F-35s are here now?
Cameron: We have 9 LRIP 5 planes and we just received a 10th which is an LRIP 6 plane.
Question: What is the impact of having a common jet on building common infrastructure?
Cameron: Very significant indeed, as we discussed earlier with regard to the commonality of the facilities.
It all goes back to interoperability.
When we stand up bases, everybody’s using what’s called a facilities requirement document (FRD). In that FRD, it outlines the requirements for the countries to stand up an F-35 capability.
And it outlines each and every facility, and each and every capability in terms of manpower, communications, electro-power; everything required to set up F-35 infrastructure.
That’s a starting point for all the services in all the countries to stand up an F-35 capability at their location.
And that’s exactly what the team did here at Luke.
We used that facilities requirement document to identify what the requirements were as we stood up buildings across the organization.
Question: You were engaged in the first standup of F-16s and now of F-35s. What is the biggest difference other than you being older?
Cameron: The major differences is the sustainment system that’s already in place for the F-35 and, of course, the base line capability differences between the two jets.
The block 15 F-16s that were put at Hill Air Force Base were not nearly as mature as the block 40s and 50s and 60s F-16s that the services are flying right now for one thing. And, the sustainment system also wasn’t as mature.
The tech data, support equipment, spares, all the issues that we talk about on the F-35 as still needing to mature, are much more mature on the F-35 at this stage in the program than they ever were in the F-16 when they were laid in Hill Air Force Base initially for the first F-16 stand-up..
But one needs to understand that the F-35 is an air system, not just an airplane.
Sustainment is actually embedded in the airplane.
And this is the first platform where sustainment had a seat at the table at every step of the design and build of the F-35. Legacy fighters were not that way.
We built legacy fighters, launched them out to the fleet, and the sustainment eventually followed and caught up. However, sustainment was built right into the F-35 as it was rolling down the production line. And it shows as we’re pushing the airplane out into the fleet.
And I certainly don’t want to say that the sustainment system is 100 percent mature because it’s not. But the airplane also is not 100 percent mature, so the sustainment is maturing along with the capabilities of the airplane.
F-35 at Luke News Notes
F-35 Flies First Local Training Sortie at Luke
56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
5/12/14
An F-35 Lightning II took to the skies over the West Valley on May 5 in what was the first local training sortie for the fifth-generation fighter jet. The jet, tail number LF 5031, is currently the only F-35 at the base. Additional jets are expected to arrive at Luke within the next few weeks.
“The ability to conduct local flight operations demonstrates the commitment by thousands of individuals who have worked to make this a reality,” said Lt. Col. Michael Ebner, 61st Fighter Squadron commander. “Our first sortie this week represents a significant milestone in the F-35 program at Luke.”
There are currently six F-35 pilots assigned to the 61st FS, which is the first F-35 squadron at Luke. There will eventually be approximately 30 by the time the squadron is up to full capacity.
The 61st FS coordinates with the 61st Aircraft Maintenance Unit, which maintains the aircraft, to fly the jet when it is available – which as of this week is approximately 1-2 times per day. That number could increase to 2-4 sorties a day by next month, when more jets are expected at Luke, Ebner said.
As F-35 operations ramp up, West Valley residents may notice a slight decrease in F-16 sorties, as jets from one of the F-16 squadrons, the 309th FS, are being transferred to Holloman AFB, N.M.
Construction, much of which is sub-contracted locally, continues on base to prepare for the arrival of additional F-35s.
The Academic Training Center, which will house classrooms and 12 F-35 simulators, is under construction and is expected to be completed in late September. Construction is also underway on the combined Operations/AMU building for the second F-35 squadron.
Other projects, including the third Operations/AMU building, a maintainer training facility and a four-bay F-35 hangar are also in planning stages.
Luke Air Force Base launched its 100th F-35A Lightning II sortie at approximately noon on Tuesday, August 26.
“Flying the 100th F-35A sortie at Luke is a tremendous accomplishment,” said Maj. William Andreotta, 61st Fighter Squadron chief of standardization and evaluations. “It is also a tribute to all the hard work and dedication put forth by the men and women of the 61st FS and 61st Aircraft Maintenance Unit.”
The 61st AMU has been dedicated to keeping the new fighter technology in flying condition.
“With every new weapon system comes a learning curve, and our maintenance team has done an exceptional job maximizing the balance between training opportunities and keeping pace with flying operations,” said Lt. Col. Benjamin Smith, 56th Maintenance Group deputy commander.
Luke recently welcomed its seventh F-35 jet on Aug. 20, bringing the F-35 program into full swing.
“Being a part of Luke’s transition from F-16s to F-35As has been an incredible and rewarding experience,” Andreotta said. “Every day we fly we are paving the way for a new era at Luke.”
Brig. Gen Scott Pleus, 56th Fighter Wing commander, held his first commander’s call Monday at the Luke Air Force Base theater.
The day was divided by Airmen, NCOs, senior NCOs, civilians and officers. It began at 7 a.m. with the Airman tier being the first to hear the commander speak about where he came from, why he joined and why he has chosen to stay in the Air Force.
He spoke of his grandfather, Carl Pleus, a successful lawyer during the 1920s, who owned two planes back when they were the newest invention. His grandfather passed away when he hit a mountain hidden by the clouds on a flight, leaving behind his wife and 2-year-old son Ned, Pleus’ father.
Carl’s other plane was sold at an auction, and the gentleman who purchased it from Pleus’ grandmother asked her who Ned was. After hearing Ned was Carl’s son, he removed the wooden airplane propeller and gave it to Pleus’ grandmother to give to Ned to remember his father by.
After graduating from pilot school, Pleus’ father gave him the propeller. It hangs in Pleus’ front room as a reminder of his heritage and why he joined the Air Force.
“This is why I joined,” Pleus said. “I’ve had a love of flying since I was a baby, but it’s not why I chose to stay. I stayed because of the core values of the U.S. Air Force, and I stayed because of you (Airmen). I stayed because of integrity, service and excellence.”
Chief Master Sgt. John Mazza, 56th FW command chief, spoke about the changes to the enlisted performance review process as well as developmental special duty assignments and the impact they can have on an Airman’s career.
“You are our future staffs, techs and master sergeants,” Mazza said. “This is the time to start setting goals. This is the time you start telling yourselves ‘You are going to make a difference in today’s U.S. Air Force,’ and these opportunities are how you are going to do it.”
Next, the general discussed sexual assault and how it destroys the core values that hold the Air Force together. For Pleus, it is unforgivable.
“I will use the Uniform Code of Military Justice against any man or woman who commits this crime,” he said. “It is an uncomfortable topic, but we need to be comfortable talking about it because it tears apart everything we stand for in the U.S. Air Force.
“This is an issue for both men and women,” he said. ” It is not a joke, it is not funny. It is horrible and it ruins lives.”
Pleus spoke about equal opportunity and that every Airman should be able to go to work free of rude behavior, inappropriate jokes or feeling less than valued in their work place.
“Each of you is here to fulfill the Luke Air Force Base mission, training the world’s greatest F-16 pilots and deploying mission ready Airmen,” Pleus said. ” There is not a single one of you I can do without.”
Pleus talked about the up-tick in drug use throughout the Air Force and that it doesn’t matter if it’s legal in a state a person is deployed to or on leave, it is illegal and has no place in the U.S. Air Force.
Pleus remarked about the F-35A Lightning II at Luke and the impact it will have over the next few years. More than 2,400 F-35 joint strike fighters will be produced for the Air Force, Marines and Navy. Of those jets, 144 will be stationed at Luke.
Pleus briefly spoke about the construction on base and that two buildings have been finished with the third scheduled to be complete by mid-September.
A surge of returning deployers from the 56th Security Forces Squadron has enabled the Kachina and North gates to reopen Sept. 2. Kachina will be open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week and North gate will be open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“I need you all to do a favor for me,” Pleus said. “When you roll through one of our gates next week, thank the 56th Security Forces Squadron personnel who are working it. Say, ‘Hey, thank you for opening the gates for us.’ They stand post each and every day to keep all of us safe, and it is the least we can do to thank them for their dedication and service.”
The general and command chief ended the commander’s call with a question and answer segment.
The general made Airmen laugh and feel comfortable while he spoke. He also touched on his priorities as commander at Luke AFB. Those priorities include ensuring the F-35 program progresses successfully, continuing to train the world’s best Viper and Lightning II pilots while deploying mission-ready warfighters, and maintaining the positive relationships the base has with the off-base community.
“Thank you very much for attending today,” Pleus said. “On behalf of the chief and me, each of you is vitally critical to the mission here, and it is an honor to be your commander.”
No, it isn’t the Program Alice from the “Resident Evil” movies. It is the Autonomic Logistics Information Systems, also known as ALIS, which enables F-35 Lightning II operators to plan ahead to maintain and sustain its systems over the life cycle of the fighter jet.
The program ALIS comes with the F-35 as a package deal. The program provides the ability to capture and analyze the F-35 fleet operational readiness, and provides support to the U.S. and its partner nations working with the F-35 program.
“It is great to see the program growing,” said Master Sgt. Heather Tufty, 56th Aircraft Maintenance Unit tactical aircraft maintenance section chief. “I arrived here from Edwards Air Force Base (California), where I saw the program grow there. I arrived at Luke when there were just two jets. To be able to see the program expand and ALIS improve with each new arrival, including our partner nations’ jets, is really impressive.”
ALIS is the conduit between the aircraft, pilots and maintainers to provide information about the aircraft’s maintenance, prognostics, technical data and training needed to keep the plane in good working condition. It also keeps humans on top of the training they need to maintain the fleet.
The information for the aircraft is contained within its personal computer. The information is stored in code format and is downloaded in a secured environment to provide up-to-date information on anything and everything with the jet.
The program also keeps track of maintenance actions, parts configuration and aircraft status.
The ALIS program’s main server does not function on a military server but is housed at Fort Worth, Texas, with each standard operating unit housed within each aircraft maintenance unit. The input of data from every F-35 is transmitted through Lockheed Martin to engineers in charge of the program to read codes from the aircraft.
“Working with ALIS is much better than going back and forth between paper forms and other software,” said Staff Sgt. William Harold Rotroff, 56th AMU F-35 dedicated crew chief. “The thinking speed is definitely one of the fastest programs I’ve used in the military. It brings more security and more coverage for maintainers as well.”
The ALIS program results in less operation and sustainment life-cycle costs and removes the guess work from repairs and maintenance to the aircraft. Upgrades are a constant with any software program and the goal of ALIS is to one day transmit data during flight to ground operations to provide accurate intel of the plane in flight and what is needed when the plane lands to continue the mission.
Australia Comes to Luke AFB in Preparation for F-35 Training
56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
5/5/14
The buildup of F-35 operations at Luke Air Force Base has begun, and the Royal Australian air force will soon be Luke’s first international partner to train here on the F-35A Lightning II.
The 61st Fighter Squadron and 61st Aircraft Maintenance Unit will house the RAAF personnel. The goal is to build a cohesive, working understanding of the F-35A program with Luke’s international partners for increased success in joint operations.
“It’s one more step in the long road to making this aircraft combat capable,” said Capt. Dan Langan, the 61st AMU officer in-charge. “The idea is, in future conflicts nobody is going to be going at it alone. We’ll have our allies with us. The idea behind this aircraft was to make it easier to operate with our multinational partners, understand the same tactics, operate with the same logistics base, and figuring out how to do that starts right here. We are laying the foundation and it’s pretty exciting to be on the ground floor of that effort.”
Luke will act as ground zero for international partners to build their expertise in F-35A operations. The RAAF is the first partner to start their spin-up operations and are expecting their first aircraft by the end of this year.
“We are really pleased to come in and be the first partner to stand up operations here,” said squadron leader Maj. Nathan Draper, the 61st AMU participant maintenance liaison officer and RAAF senior officer. “We are pretty lucky to get to come here first.”
The RAAF plans to eventually have 14 aircraft at Luke, with their goal to have a complete working picture of U.S. Air Force F-35 operations, then return to the home base they are setting up for the F-35.
“One of the biggest things I hope to achieve is the successful transition of our aircraft from the production line to the Luke training environment and the commencement of training operations alongside our Air Force colleagues,” Draper said. “If we can do that in a safe and efficient streamlined manner, leveraging the Air Force processes and systems, it will be a pretty good day.”
The RAAF expects their first pilot to arrive at Luke the beginning of next year. Draper is part of an acquisition project called Joint Strike Fighter Division, and he now considers himself a team member of the 61st AMU.
“We have a really good, close working relationship with our colleagues in the Air Force, and we are looking forward to the next few years of joint operations here,” he said.
Luke’s relationship with the RAAF goes back a long way. Air Marshal Mark Binskin, soon to be the top Australian Defence Force officer, was stationed at Luke in the late ’80s.
Follow-on squadrons are scheduled to bring in additional partner countries including Italy, Norway, Turkey and the Netherlands.
And in a 2013 article Paul Giblin of the Arizona Republic described the physical transition at Luke AFB to become the key training facility for F-35s:
Air Force executives project a $265 million, seven-year construction program to accommodate the F-35 pilot-training program at the base in west Glendale.
The buildup will allow Luke to serve as the permanent training base for 144 of the single-engine stealth jets that military analysts say will be crucial to U.S. air-defense operations for the next 40 years.
The construction is scheduled to be completed in six major phases to coincide with the arrival of six squadrons of F-35s and the departure of six squadrons of older F-16 fighter jets that are moving elsewhere.
“It’s going to be sort of a Jenga puzzle game for a while,” said Lt. Col. Scott Fredrick, who is heading Luke’s F-35 transition team.
The first F-35 assigned to Luke is expected to arrive between January and March.
Luke’s first F-35 also is expected to be the 100th production F-35 manufactured by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. in Fort Worth, Texas, ticking off two important milestones for the F-35 program simultaneously, Fredrick said.
The rest of the planes in Luke’s first 24-plane squadron are expected to be delivered in groups of one to four throughout 2014, said Lockheed Martin spokesman Michael Rein. Each plane takes about two years to assemble and costs $65 million, he said.
The high-dollar construction program associated with the jets at Luke will boost the entire Phoenix valley’s economy, said Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers.
“It’s certainly a benefit,” he said. “There will be people out there working and supplies bought from all over.”
Construction crews already are bustling to adapt the base to the newest generation of fighter planes.
Luke has 137 F-16s. The first two squadrons of F-16s are scheduled to move to Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo, N.M., in 2014 and 2015.
However, F-35 instructors, trainees and crews cannot simply move into existing facilities as the F-16s and their personnel move out, Fredrick said.
The F-35s feature more advanced technology and different equipment than the F-16s, which requires support facilities tailored specifically to accommodate them.
Some buildings and infrastructure systems are being retrofitted for the F-35s, but most of the work involves new construction.
The first phase features three major buildings – a classroom building called the Academic Training Center, a squadron headquarters called the Squadron Operations building and a workshop building called the Aircraft Maintenance Unit.
The classroom building eventually will be used by all six squadrons of pilots in training, but each of the six squadrons will get its own operations and maintenance buildings.
The Academic Training Center is budgeted for $54 million.
The building will house classrooms, an auditorium, administrative offices and perhaps most importantly, a dozen F-35 cockpit simulators.
The structure is scheduled to open with two simulators in August 2014; the remaining simulators will be added as more squadrons arrive later, Fredrick said.
The simulators are especially valuable for teaching beginning skills, such as how to start the aircraft and how to handle preflight communications with ground crews and tower personnel without burning through hours’ worth of jet fuel, Fredrick said.
Instructors can prepare trainees for a variety of flight situations by programming an array of weather conditions, in-flight mechanical malfunctions and attacks by enemy combatants.
“That’s exactly where you want young pilots to make their mistakes,” Fredrick said.
The $10 million Squadron Operations building will be the primary place where pilots prepare for flights.
The most sensitive equipment in the operations building will be housed in “the vault,” a densely constructed high-security section that’s designed to keep inquiring minds inquiring indefinitely, he said.
The $6 million Aircraft Maintenance Unit will accommodate ground crew members, who will use it to store tools, parts and electronic records.
“Those are the maintainers that actually check out a toolbox, walk out to the aircraft and get it ready to fly,” said Senior Master Sgt. Don Stroud, who serves as the maintenance group leader for the F-35 program.
The operations and maintenance buildings are positioned side by side to facilitate greater communication and camaraderie among the pilots and the ground crew members, Fredrick said.
Starting with the second squadron, the operations and maintenance facilities will be combined in new $18 million, two-story buildings. Those will come on line as the subsequent squadrons arrive.
The first F-35 squadron will consist of U.S. and Australian pilots. Italian, Turkish and Norwegian pilots are scheduled to join the mix in 2015.
And then in a story published October 14, 2014, Giblin highlighted the official opening of the training center:
Select fighter jet pilots will transition from a gleaming new building at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale to some of the grittiest locations on Earth, according Air Force Gen. Robin Rand, who visited the base to mark the completion of the $47 million Academic Training Center building late last week.
The building essentially is the Air Force’s F-35 flight school.
U.S. and foreign military pilots are expected train side by side at the building for decades to come…..
Q: Why do F-35 pilot trainees need such a sophisticated building?
A: They need training equipment equal to the planes they’ll fly. The F-35 is the most advanced fighter plane ever built. It is projected to replace a variety of older planes and to serve as the mainstay of the U.S. air defense system for decades.
It combines superior acceleration, agility and maneuverability with unprecedented and integrated sensor, targeting and communications systems, according to the Pentagon.
The key component of the training center is that it will house flight simulators that trainees will use before climbing into cockpits of actual F-35s. The simulators look, feel and react like fighter jets. Trainees will be able contend with simulated weather conditions, equipment failures and enemy attacks without ever leaving the ground.
“Those are critical for us to be prepared,” said Rand, a four-star general. “This is a single-seat airplane, a single-engine airplane. Their first ride in this airplane will be by themselves, so we’re going to be wringing out everyone here in this building before they go out and fly.”
Q: When is the first class of trainees expected to begin?
A: Cameron, the Lockheed Martin exec, assured Air Force officials that the simulators and related equipment will be installed, checked out and ready to go for a full class by May 4, 2015.
The first wave of F-35 trainees will be drawn from experienced pilots already certified on F-15s, F-16s and A-10s, said Lt. Col. Matthew “Rip” Hayden, who will oversee operations in the building.
Those pilots will need about three months to become certified on the F-35.
Starting around 2016, new pilots will train on the F-35. Their training period will take longer. In addition, the jet is still undergoing testing. Once its full portfolio of capabilities is determined, the training program will be expanded accordingly, Hayden said.
Q: Why is Luke getting F-35s?
A: Luke is projected to be the Air Force’s primary training base for F-35 pilots for 40 to 50 years. It also is slated to be the biggest F-35 base of any sort worldwide.
Luke is an ideal location because of good weather year-round and because of easy access to the vast Barry M. Goldwater Range, a gunnery range in southern Arizona where pilots can train using live weapons. Arizona also has weather and desert terrain similar to locations where F-35 pilots are likely to put their training into action.
Nine of the supersonic jets are stationed at the base now. Luke will have about 15 on site by the end of the year, according to the base’s spokesman, Capt. Ryan DeCamp.
The base is expected to have its full compliment of 144 planes within about a decade.
And from a 56th Fighter Wing video from August 2013, construction on the base for the F-35 system is viewed:
CREDIT PHOTOS in the Slideshow: 56th Fighter Wing
The first two photos show an F-35 lands Aug. 26, 2014 at Luke Air Force Base. The fighter jet had completed its historic 100th sortie at Luke. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Marcy Copeland).
In the third photo, Australia’s first two F-35s – AU-1, which was the focal point of the rollout event, and AU-2 have both completed final assembly and painting and are due to fly in coming weeks. They are due to be formally handed over to the RAAF in coming months before being delivered to Luke Air Force Base where from early 2015 they will operate as part of a training pool of aircraft there.
In the fourth photo, Senior Airman Paul Swanson, 61st Aircraft Maintenance Unit crew chief, marshals in an F-35 Lightning II at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., May 6, 2014. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jason Colbert).
In the fifth photo, Senior Airman Paul Swanson, 61st Aircraft Maintenance Unit crew chief, marshals in one of Luke Air Force Base’s F-35 Lightning II after one of its first sorties May 6, 2014. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jason Colbert).
11/17/2014: In the slideshow below are featured the winning photos of Eurofighters seen in flight.
Credit Photos: Eurofighter
According the press release from Eurofighter, dated November 17, 2014:
Catching the perfect image of something that flies faster than a speeding bullet is a challenge for any photographer. But when that something is a Eurofighter Typhoon and you are competing against some of the most talented amateur enthusiasts in the world – it’s a double challenge.
So all credit to Italy’s Mara Angelosante who caught this image of the world’s most advanced swing-role/multi-role fast jet fighter on full reheat in the azure blue skies of a sparkling air show at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom.
Mara’s image caught not just the Eurofighter in a perfect light but also the imagination of the judges of what has now become an annual fixture in the aviator’s calendar – the Eurofighter Typhoon Amateur Photography Competition. Her shot of the Eurofighter Typhoon was taken at the Royal International Air Tattoo – one the United Kingdom’s most popular air shows. What ticked the boxes for the judges was the ‘vividness’ and ‘precision’ of the photograph and its immense impact on the imagination.
The image will appear on the front cover of the popular 2015 Eurofighter Typhoon calendar and is also available for download on our website www.eurofighter.com.
The second winner of the competition was Brett Critchley whose stunning image captures the Eurofighter Typhoon from above as it shoots the valleys of the famous Welsh Mach Loop – a test pilot’s favourite hunting ground.
Third prize goes to Peter Busby’s shot taken of an RAF Eurofighter Typhoon at AIR14 Payerne Switzerland. His dramatic image shows the Eurofighter bursting through the clouds.
Last but not least the special category prize for Children goes to Jaden Shillingford aged 16. Jaden’s photograph shows the Typhoon from beneath. Well done Jaden.
Eurofighter’s Competition Judge Martina Schmidmeir said: “Many thanks for all the great entries we received this year from all around the world and stay tuned for our 2015 Eurofighter Typhoon Amateur Photography Competition which will feature a new category called “Best Digital Enhanced photograph”. We can’t wait to see what comes in. It should be exciting.”
Since delivery of the first Eurofighter Typhoon to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom end of 2003, a total of 420 aircraft have been delivered to six nations.
Seven nations (Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Austria, Saudi Arabia and Oman) have ordered the Eurofighter Typhoon.
2014-11-17 A recent article by Wendell Minnck of Defense News focused on the entrance of the J-31 as seen over the skies of Airshow China in Zhuhai last week.
As Minnck noted:
The J-31 export revelation occurred in the AVIC Exhibition Hall after personnel unwrapped its 1:2 model of the aircraft during the preshow media tour. The placard for the model said “FC-31.” Chinese fighters are designated with a “J” for fighter and “FC” for export.
This was the first time the J-31 has been referred to as the FC-31.
Larry Wortzel, a commissioner of the US congressionally appointed US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, said the first public demonstration flight of the J-31 and the unveiling of the FC-31 coincides with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing and the visit of US President Obama.
It reminded Wortzel of the same greeting that former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates got with the surprise first flight of the CAC-built J-20 stealth fighter during his visit to China in January 2011. The incident was interpreted by many in Washington as a political signal to the US delegation, though Chinese officials denied there was a connection. Regarding the coincidence of Obama’s visit to China and the appearance of the J-31 at Zhuhai, Wortzel said, “at least this time there is some advance notice.”
Export Ambitions: A Chinese J-31 stealth fighter performs at the Airshow China 2014 in Zhuhai on Nov. 11. (JOHANNES EISELE/ / AFP/Getty Images)
Second Line of Defense’s Ed Timperlake was quoted with regard to the J-31 considered as an advanced fighter.
“Chinese officials have not explained the J-31’s striking resemblance to the F-35, but espionage is the most likely explanation.”
“I have argued you always get a double bounce from [Chinese] espionage — they get the system for the [military] and also sell it,” said Edward Timperlake, former Pentagon director of technology assessment, international technology security. “The bad news/ good news is if the collectors [aka spies] were successful in getting the F-35, hopefully they did it mid-software design, so they really do not have the logic of the software as the US constantly improves the coding — much like successfully stealing a calculus midterm without being present in class — being proud of an A and then failing to steal the final…..”
The physical resemblance between the J-31 and the F-35 — despite the difference in relative size — indicates an effort by China to reproduce the F-35s stealthy external design, Timperlake said.
“If it is a success in being physically stealthy and they build a lot it could be a problem” for our allies in the region, he said.
However, stealth is simply a survivability feature and analysts must learn more about the internal systems. The real combat engagement operational and tactical question is the F-35 fusion cockpit and whether the Chinese actually have anything close to it, Timperlake said.
“Fusion will make all the difference in looking at the J-31 as a real competitor or just a linear generational development aircraft with perhaps enhanced survivability that will still need a hub spoke battle management [concept of operations] — [airborne warning and control system] or [ground-controlled interception] being essential for them,” he said.
2014-11-14 The big innovations which the USAF has done over time which have had an historical impact in combat operations often have books written about them,
But smaller innovations, often generated by small groups of innovators, get less recognition.
A case in point was the development and deployment of the Rover system which transformed ground-air and air-ground operations in the past decade.
In an interview in early 2012, one of the key officers involved in the Rover program looked back.
The program is not a program of record.
It started as a result of a demand from a Special Forces officer who saw an opportunity.
The officer saw the ability to feed video to the C-130 gunship and wondered why that capability could not inform ground operations, and to empower JTACs.
Menza:Almost 10 years ago Chief Warrant Officer Manuel saw the ability of push full-motion video initially to a AC-130 gunship which was taking a lot of fire when it was going over a target area because it had no Situational Awareness (SA).
We then sent the Predator to provide that SA and then sent full motion video of the target area back to the AC-130 gunship.
He asked: Why can we not do this directly to the ground?
Then he meets the Major and now Lt Col Greg Harbins and he thinks it’s a great idea.
Then Harbs builds a connection whereby he can talk to the Predator.
Coming from a Panasonic hard book and a collection of gear from Radio Shack, Haves took the system to the field pinned all over him to try to make this connection work.
And it works.
Harvs then goes with this idea to the Big Safari office to get the idea operational.
Big Safari is a prototype and innovation shop.
And over time, the Rover sets sold way beyond Big Safari’s wildest imaginations.
We have provided 7,000 sets so far with an additional 5,000 radios ordered by the Army recently.T
he initial Rover was a single downlink from the Predator to a single box.
In a similar vein, the 33rd Fighter Wing is working innovations to enhance survivability of F-35 pilots.
Lt. Col. Ben Aronhime, 56th Training Squadron pilot, navigates his way from one side of an IRVIN-GQ 6000 parachute to another while Staff Sgt. Edwin Portan, 33rd Operations Support Squadron F-35 Lightning II aircrew flight equipment continuation training instructor, assists him from the side of the pool during a water survival class on Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Oct. 30, 2014. Portan created a floatation device from PVC pipes that prevents the parachute from sinking to the bottom of the pool while students complete their training. The octagon-shaped floatation device creates an effective training environment that provides students with a more closely simulated water landing. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Marleah Robertson)
In a story published by the Wing on 11/13/14, this process was detailed:
Within the 33rd Fighter Wing, innovation doesn’t end at the flight line, but finds its way into a 12-foot swimming pool where new F-35 pilots are now able to seamlessly complete their F-35 water survival training.
During the F-35 aircrew flight equipment shop water survival training here, pilots are required to swim under the parachute and follow the seams to find their way out – this worked with the C-9 parachute since it would stay afloat.
With the new IRVIN-GQ 6000 parachute, a different design and thicker material at the center of the canopy would cause the parachute to quickly sink to the bottom of a 12-foot pool, creating a difficult scenario for the rest of the students who didn’t go first.
“Previously, we would spread the lines of the parachute to the sides of the pool,” said Staff Sgt. Edwin Portan, 33rd Operations Support Squadron F-35 AFE continuation training instructor. “The canopy would then sink all the way down to the bottom of the pool, making it impossible for the second student to complete their evaluation because they would be pulling about 100 lbs. of parachute canopy from underneath the water.”
This proved to be detrimental to the program since students were unable to successfully complete that portion of the training.
“This was not a good simulation of the situation that would be experienced after a fully inflated parachute landed on top of the pilot,” said Col. Christopher Niemi, 33rd Operations Group commander. “The pilot would typically end up doing a 180 degree turn and then exit from under the parachute exactly where they entered.”
Recognizing the issue, Portan, with some ingenuity and innovation, took a trip to a hardware store and came back with a solution.
“The concept started with thinking of something that floats,” said Portan. “We got some PVC pipe, created the design, tested it and it worked out very well.”
Portan’s new device has since been implemented into the training and pilots are now able to complete their required tasks.
“With the parachute being spread out with this octagon-shaped PVC pipe floatation device, it sinks to a more realistic depth,” said Portan. “It’s just enough to get that heavy parachute canopy on them for the training, but not enough to where it becomes a safety hazard and ultimately makes the training more effective.”
11/11/2014: In the first, second and fifth photos, U.S. Marines with the 1st Tank Battalion detachment, Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), are seen working to replace an M1A1 Abrams tank engine during sustainment training at D’Arta Plage, Djibouti, Nov. 6.
In the third and fourth photos, U.S. Marines with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), replace an M1A1 Abrams tank engine with the help of an M88 tank retriever during sustainment training at D’Arta Plage, Djibouti, Nov. 6.
The 11th MEU is deployed as a theater reserve and crisis response force throughout U.S. Central Command and the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.
The mission of the 33rd Maintenance Group is to deliver safe, reliable and on-time aircraft to support F-35 pilot and maintainer training. The group has oversight of all aircraft maintenance, sortie generation, weapons loading operations and logistics integration for the 33rd FW.
The group consists of two squadrons; the 33rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and the 33rd Maintenance Squadron.
The 33rd AMXS “Dragons” provide safe and reliable on-equipment maintenance for 58th Fighter Squadron flying operations with crew chiefs, weapons, and specialist support.
The 33rd MXS “Wizards” provide both on- and off-equipment maintenance and oversight supporting F-35 flying operations for the assigned Air Force, Navy, and Marine flying squadrons. Support is provided by the following flights to ensure continued aircraft availability: accessories (egress, fuels); aerospace ground equipment ; armament; fabrication (low observable, non-destructive inspection, metals tech), and maintenance (wheel and tire).
In a visit to Eglin last year, we discussed the approach with several members of the team.
In a visit to Eglin AFB in mid-June, we had a chance to talk with Senior Master Sargent Eric Wheeler, the Aircraft Maintenance Unit (AMU) lead production maintainer.
Throughout he emphasized the maintenance of the jet is a work in progress. As the software evolved for the combat systems, the software for maintaining the aircraft was evolving as well. The IOC aircraft will represent a core point for stabilizing the intersection of the two software streams to shape an operational squadron and its deployment capabilities.
The crew chief underscored that working with a maturing system is a challenge but also exciting for his team as well.
“The computerized fault resolution system is not yet mature but that is an advantage.
We have to learn ourselves hands on to troubleshoot the systems and it allows us to give feedback to the engineers as well about the systems.”
