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In the first photo, two MV-22B Ospreys sit on the runway after transporting personnel displaced by Typhoon Haiyan at Villamor Air Base Nov. 12.
The Ospreys have been employed to assist in the humanitarian aid and disaster relief abroad the Philippines.
The Osprey provides a unique capability in this type of operation due to its vertical takeoff and landing capabilities and its ability to convert quickly to fixed wing configuration, giving it increased speed and range.U.S Marines of the 3d Marine Expeditionary Brigade are here supporting Armed Forces of the Philippines efforts in offering relief to the people in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.
In the second photo, U.S. Marines guide a Filipino woman off an MV-22B Osprey and toward the terminal at Villamor Air Base Nov. 12. Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest typhoon recorded to make landfall has displaced hundreds of thousands in the Philippine Island
In the second photo, U.S. Marines guide a Filipino woman off an MV-22B Osprey and toward the terminal at Villamor Air Base Nov. 12. Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest typhoon recorded to make landfall has displaced hundreds of thousands in the Philippine Island
In the third photo, U.S. Marines guide personnel displaced by Typhoon Haiyan off an MV-22B Osprey toward the terminal at Villamor Air Base Nov. 12.
11/12/2013: Marines and Sailors from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, III Marine Expeditionary Force, are deploying to the Philippines to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in the wake of typhoon Haiyan.
At the request of the Government of the Philippines, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has directed U.S. Pacific Command to support U.S. Government HADR operations in the Philippines.
To date, approximately 300 personnel from 3rd MEB have deployed to the Philippines to support the HADR operations. The aircraft is with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152, Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III MEF.
11/08/2013: The B-52 is truly one of the most amazing aircraft ever built.
Besides being one of the meanest looking planes to look at, and to suffer under its percussion bombs whether in Iraq or Vietnam, the venerable plane has evolved with technology into a close support aircraft, or with the small diameter bomb into a very lethal multiple target killer.
This slideshow shows various views of the B-52H during an exercise at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., Nov. 3, 2013.
The exercise tested the ability of the aircraft’s crew and the base crew chiefs to successfully launch all aircraft involved, in rapid succession, safely and effectively.
As the USAF thinks about its bomber future, the lessons learned from the B-52 should not be forgotten.
2013-11-05 A core advantage of having a global manufacturing system like the F-35 (from Cameri to Fort Worth to Japan) is that improvements in one move through the whole manufacturing chain.
Here is one improvement in process manufacturing which the Office of Naval Research is shaping:
A faster, more precise way to create cockpit enclosures may end up saving the F-35 Lightning II program a significant amount in manufacturing costs.
Through its Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) program, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has invested in an automated thermoforming process that could cut costs by as much as $125 million over the course of the Joint Strike Fighter program.
“This is a great example of how the naval science and technology community delivers affordability along with cutting-edge results,” said Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin, deputy chief of naval operations for Warfare Systems.
“Research like this also can produce a high return on investment across other warfighting domains.”
An F-35 canopy—the term used to describe the transparent enclosure over the cockpit—has an unusual shape and specialized material that make the manufacturing process more complex than that for other aircraft.
Now what used to take up to six days to make will take only four days or less.
The new automated process also will require fewer tools and help avoid costs when aircraft require replacement canopies.
Currently, skilled technicians load a preformed acrylic shell into a forming tool and put it in an oven where it heats at 200 degrees or more for up to six days. During that time, workers regularly enter the oven to observe the canopy’s progress and manually adjust positioning clamps to control the forming process.
Managing this process is critical for optimal canopy performance.
The new cost-effective method employs a control system with four cameras that can see inside the oven to calculate the rate at which the canopy’s shape is forming. The clamps then automatically adjust to ensure the shape remains uniform throughout the process to meet the F-35’s stringent performance requirements.
“We took an intensive, manual, time-consuming process and improved it to be more precise and efficient,” said Neil Graf, program officer for ONR ManTech.“That’s what Navy’s ManTech program does: We look at ways to reduce manufacturing costs on aircraft, ships and submarines to save the taxpayer money.”
The new method supports the Chief of Naval Operations’ Navigation Plan that calls for the service to continue efforts to make investments to address near-term challenges and develop future capabilities even in the face of budget constraints.
ONR ManTech led a team of experts from the F-35 Program Office, Naval Air Systems Command, GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems and Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory to develop the automated system.
GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, in coordination with the F-35 Program Office, plans to implement the new process as early as 2014, producing initial and spare canopies for more than 2,000 planned and delivered aircraft.
During my visit to Cameri in October 2013, I had a chance to visit the Cameri facility with Fred Napurano, the Italian Program In-Country Operations Lead for Lockheed Martin.
Napurano is the key person interacting with Alenia Aermacchi (AAeM) to assist in the standup of the facility.
The visit as well as the discussions with Napurano underscored the sense of enthusiasm at the facility in shaping a new US-European approach to building military aircraft and shaping a future sustainment facility for the F-35 operating in the region.
While visiting the plant, I saw several interactions among the Italian workers as well as between the Lockheed and Alenia worker, which clearly demonstrated the interest in working together in shaping a futuristic venture.
Napurano noted several examples of such enthusiasm and noted, “several workers had volunteered to come from Torino (an Alenia Eurofighter facility) and to work on the program. This means that whether by car or car pooling or by train, workers are coming 60 to 90 minutes each way from Tornio to work at the plant.”
Napurano highlighted that the Italian government had taken a broader view when building the facilities in Cameri. “Rather than just standing up a limited facility focusing simply on assembling their own planes, the Italian government took the broader view and built out capacity for other Europeans and to shape an infrastructure able to encompass fleet sustainment as well.”
The facilities at Cameri are designed to be very flexible in terms of providing for future sustainment engagements by allies.
The 22 Building F-35 Facility at Cameri: Credit: Italian Ministry of Defense
“The facilities are very flexible for maintenance. There are no fixed bays but are open areas where the client can figure the support area as they might wish to support their combat aircraft.”
And it is obvious as well that as LM personnel teach Alenia personnel that it is not a one-way street.
“Alenia has been making airplanes for a long time. And the adaptation of techniques transferred from Fort Worth is seeing changes as the Alenia personnel not only improves on these techniques but also suggest different approaches.
And these approaches can provide significant future benefit to the global program as well.
An important aspect of the manufacturing process is digital thread manufacturing and with the time differences between Fort Worth and Cameri, a key challenge is to translate digital changes being made in Fort Worth into changes on the Italian line as well.
“We communicate daily with Fort Worth to ensure synergy in the process of manufacturing. It is a challenge. They become much more detailed as the process continues.”
There obviously is a learning curve involved in the process.
“Translating from Fort Worth to Cameri is a two way process. And we have to adapt the Italian process to EU laws and regulations which is an additional challenge we deal with here.”
Napurano highlighted the importance of building relationships in the production process of trust and mutual understanding.
“It is not just a question of getting to yes; it is about getting to good quality finished product. That will only happen with demonstrated success in working through the problems on a day-by-day basis.”
Located on an Italian Air Force base used for logistics, the Italian government under the management of Alenia Aermacchi (AAeM) has built a 22 building facility to support the F-35 program.
The support comes in three parts.
First, there is a Final Check Out and Assembly facility, for assembling Italy’s As and Bs, as well as other European F-35 partners, initially the Netherlands.
Second, there is a wing construction facility with Italy building a minimum of 835 full wings for the F-35 global program.
Third, with the 22 buildings of more than a million square feet of covered work space comes significant space to build out support for F-35s operated by the US and allies in Europe.
With the Mediterranean and the Middle East as a busy operational area, the Cameri facility can provide significant operational support to the F-35 fleet operating in the area.
These photos show workers at the FACO working on the first jet.
The workforce is a mix of older and younger workers, and provides a significant boost to the future of Italian aerospace and defense.
[slidepress gallery=’cameri-and-the-f-35′]
Credit Photos: Alenia Aermacchi (AAeM)
According to Finmeccanica CEO Alessandro Pansa, in a recent comment during an audit at the Chamber of Deputies Defense Commission:
With the participation in the F-35 program “the Italian industrial system brings home potential returns for $ 10 billion” and occupational returns will exceed 5,000 units.”
The development of these potentialities “depends on our capability to use the infrastructure which have been created to build components and to provide maintenance related to avionics and electronics both for the European aircraft and the US aircraft based in Europe.
There’s no other European plant with the same requisites as our plant in Cameri”
Pansa underscored that 90 Italian companies are involved in the program and so far contracts have been subscribed for $765 million.
In the first photo, a retrograde pallet from the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq makes its way to a 737th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-130H Hercules crewed by Alaska Air National Guardsmen at Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, Oct. 28, 2013.The 737th EAS is assigned to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing and is a tactical airlift hub responsible for transporting passengers and cargo across U.S. Central Command.
In the second photo Senior Airman Casey Hill, 737th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-130H Hercules loadmaster, guides a forklift with rolling cargo on board during a retrograde mission out of Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, Oct. 28, 2013.
In the final photo, Maj. Erin Kelley, 737th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-130H Hercules pilot, looks out over rural Baghdad during a cargo mission to Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, Oct. 28, 2013.
During my October 2013 visit to Italy, I spent two days at the Cameri F-35 facility.
While there, I had a chance to discuss the facility and the approach of the Italians with Debra Palmer, Lockheed Martin’s General Manager at the facility.
Palmer comes from a military family and herself served in the US Army. She has many years of experience in the defense business, first with General Electric and then with Lockheed Martin. Her position at Cameri is the first that she has held with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
We discussed the standing up of the facility, the role of Lockheed Martin in the process, and the Italian approach to the facility within a European context.
Palmer: The project is a green field project, meaning that it is a new build facility. The actual construction began on February 2011 and we were able to start our first F35 production line at the new facility in about 18 months.
The Japanese will configure their F-35 facility within existing plants for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), but here the Italians built from the ground up.
Laird: How would you describe your job in terms of your key interfaces?
The 22 Building F-35 Facility at Cameri: Credit: Italian Ministry of Defense
Palmer: As the LM GM at Cameri I have several key relationships within which to work.
First, LM works in a Joint Venture-like arrangement with Alenia Aermacchi (AAeM) to assist in the standup of the facility.
Second, I am the primary LM interface with the Italian MOD and play a role in representing their interests at LM and to the Joint Program Office (JPO).
And I interface with the JPO; for they are the contracting customer for all planes built in the program.
I also focus on ensuring that Italian companies are in position to have opportunities within the F-35 program, by championing their designation as a qualified supplier.
Italian companies are well positioned within the program and will be in position to receive anywhere from 8 to 12 billion dollars worth of work during the production phase of the program.
Sustainment presents a whole additional set of opportunities for Italian industry as well.
A snapshot of Italy and the F-35 program. Credit: Lockheed Martin
Laird: Might you describe the facility and the process of standing it up?
Palmer: There are 22 buildings with more than one million square feet of covered work area.
The plant mirrors the processes followed in Fort Worth. It is really to be viewed as an extension of the FACO and Wing production lines to provide capacity and flexibility to the F35 program.
The Italian commitment is to ensure that the planes built and maintained here would be to the same quality as if they were built in Fort Worth and for the same price; and not one penny more.
We have three types of Lockheed personnel at the plant.
The first encompasses the expats who are here to work and advise, in partnership with Alenia Aermacchi, for the standup of the entire project and system. There are over 30 expats at Cameri.
The second encompasses long-term TDY personnel and these are technicians and process specialists who are in the plant for several months at a time to train specialized tasks.
The third involves surge support from technicians from the US for generally less than a month to provide support with regard to a very specific task.
In reverse, Alenia Aermacchi has sent supervisors to Fort Worth for orientation and training in the F-35 program for up to two years at a time.
We start by recalibrating the processes within Fort Worth at Cameri but as we do so we learn from the Alenia people as well so that processes get better.
On July 10, 2013, Northrop Grumman loaded the center fuselage for Italy’s first F-35 Lightning II onto a C-5 aircraft, destined for the newly commissioned Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility at Italy’s Cameri Air Base. Credit: NG
We can take that learning back to Fort Worth as well.
And many of the LM personnel who have been involved at Cameri will work with the Japanese next.
In other words, we are part of building out a world wide manufacturing process at Cameri.
Laird: The plant and facilities have been built from the outset to provide for F-35 sustainment in Europe and the Mediterranean.
Indeed, one might look at the facility as a Fleet Sustainment Centerfor the F-35 fleet in the region.
What is your take on this?
Palmer: The JPO has not decided on a final worldwide logistics strategy but it is obvious that Cameri provides important capabilities.
And from day one of operations it meets requirements for US forces.
US certifications are built in; we do not need to go through a long process of additional certifications and costs to meet those certifications.
Why would you want to fly your planes all the way back to the US if you are in the region and are operating within the region?
Laird: Could you go over the roles of the facility?
Palmer: There are three roles.
First, the FACO assembles Italian planes and those of Europeans who wish to have their planes assembled here.
Second, the plant will build a minimum of 835 wing sets for the global enterprise.
Third, extensive warehousing, an ATF facility for testing stealth and a paint facility support the sustainment efforts.
I should mention that for other European nations, there is an advantage of building the planes here as well due to EU requirements. Obviously, planes built here are built to EU standards, built in so to speak.
Laird: Let us go back over the last point.
In effect, by having the combination of a F35-tooled facility, an ATF (Acceptance Test Facility) and an Aircraft and Component Finishes paint facility, Cameri can function as the aviator’s “dry dock” to provide for battle damage repair within a regional context?
The Italians are committed fundamentally to partnering.
They look at the warehouses and support facilities here as locations where allies could establish secure facilities with their own data systems, which can be isolated for security purposes.
They understand the importance of sovereignty and national security but within an allied context.
Laird: Clearly, a key component of standing up such a facility is the human capital in such an enterprise.
How has Alenia Aermacchi gone about doing so?
Palmer: Human capital is crucial.
The plant is located in the industrial heartland of Italy; in addition to aeronautical companies like Alenia Aermacchi (AAeM), there are cutting-edge high performance automative manufacturing operations such as Maserati and Ferrari located nearby. A very rich environment for hiring a technical work force.
Alenia Aermacchi has built a blended workforce.
They have brought in experienced workers from other parts of AAeM as well as hiring new workers. There are several colleges specific to engineering and aerospace in the area from which to draw.
In addition, there are agreements with local high schools, which then teach students techniques applicable to airplane manufacturing.
AAeM has set up 90-day training sessions at the plant as well. LM has provided engineers and technicians at Cameri and we are training with both classroom and on the job techniques specific to F35 manufacturing.
I should note that the Italians are paying LM to provide this expertise. But it is also the case that AAeM has been building airplanes for over a 100 years, longer than LM and its heritage companies.
Their ability to produce is excellent so far. In fact, they have performed at the same level, or better on some parts, as the US-based production processes.
Laird: I went with Ed Timperlake and Secretary Wynne to Eglin last month. The sense of enthusiasm from the maintainers and pilots was clearly evident. I see the same around the Cameri campus.
Palmer: I came here because I wanted to be part of something which could form an important legacy for the future.
This plant will be supporting the F-35 program for the decades to come.
It is gratifying to be here and to be part of the process and I think the Alenia Aermacchi and Lockheed Martin personnel feel as I do.
It is an adventure to build out a 21st military aerospace process and to lay the foundations for the F-35 global enterprise.
These photos show workers at the FACO working on the first jet.
The workforce is a mix of older and younger workers, and provides a significant boost to the future of Italian aerospace and defense.
During my trip to Italy in October 2013, I was able to spend two days at the Cameri F-35 facilities and to then discuss my visit with two senior Italian Air Force officials, intimately familiar with the program and the Cameri effort.
I sat down with Lt. General Domenico Esposito and Brigadier General Giuseppe Lupoli to discuss the Cameri effort.
Lt. General Esposito is the head of Air Armaments procurement and has an extensive background in logistics, which is really central when discussing Cameri. BG Lupoli is the head of fixed wing aircraft procurement issues within Esposito’s directorate. In this capacity, he also functions as the Italian MOD’s FACO program manager.
Lt. General Domenico Esposito and Brigadier General Giuseppe Lupoli after the SLD interview. Credit: SLD
Lt. General Esposito kindly signed a book after the interview, which is entitled, Defence Procurement: The Italian Way.
It was clear both after the two day Cameri visit and the discussions with the two generals that the F-35 procurement way for Italy is quite visionary: the focus is upon establishing an Italian located European support facility for the F-35 global enterprise.
The Cameri Air Base is a logistics facility where Eurofighters and Tornados are currently maintained.
The Italian government under the management of Alenia Aermacchi (AAeM) has built a 22 building facility to support the F-35 program.
The 22 Building F-35 Facility at Cameri: Credit: Italian Ministry of Defense
The support comes in three parts.
First, there is a Final Check Out and Assembly facility, for assembling Italy’s As and Bs, as well as other European F-35 partners, initially the Netherlands.
Second, there is a wing construction facility with Italy building a minimum of 835 full wings for the F-35 global program.
Third, with the 22 buildings of more than a million square feet of covered work space comes significant space to build out support for F-35s operated by the US and allies in Europe. With the Mediterranean and the Middle East as a busy operational area, the Cameri facility can provide significant operational support to the F-35 fleet operating in the area.
Lt. General Esposito underscored that the establishment of the FACO has been a challenge.
And it has been difficult as well to get other Europeans to understand fully what is behind the Italian approach: it is not just about assembling Italian planes but it is about taking a new look at the European approach to shared support.
We certainly hope other European nations, besides the Dutch, will look to the FACO to assemble their planes. For this facility is much closer to them physically than is Fort Worth.
Esposito highlighted that the Italian way with F-35 was to build a facility not simply targeted on Italian needs.
Cameri is in Italy but it is a well located facility open to significant European participation and to support to the European and American operational fleets in Europe. We have seen Cameri as part of a global solution, and not just a narrowly understood Italian focus.
BG Lupoli added that he believed that there might be facilities built to support manufacturing in the Far East as well.
This would mean that there would then be at least three centers of excellence in support of the F-35 global fleet, rather than having just one located in the United States.
We look at Cameri as a key facility in such a global enterprise and able to support the F-35 fleet operating in the region without having to look at the flag on the plane.
In effect, the two generals argued that Cameri should be looked at as an Italian-based facility for the F-35 global enterprise.
And as such would be part of the next thirty years of innovation associated with the F-35 program.
The two generals added three other points of note as well.
First, Cameri is well located within Europe to operate as a sustainment facility. It is located close to Milan and its commercial airports. And there are significant port facilities as well.
Second, Cameri has been the aviation business for a long time and there are many smaller companies in the region, which could support a build out of the sustainment facility over time as well.
Third, Cameri can be a key warehousing facility for the F-35. The support facilities are completely compliant with NATO and American safety and security standards. For example, the USAF could operate within Cameri as a sustainment facility quite easily as the security standards for doing so are ALREADY in place.
And it is the only European base where a testing facility for stealth and ability to paint aircraft are both present.
It should be remembered that because the F-35 is built with common parts identifiers for every plane built, nations will already have commonality in parts identification built in.
And with a common IT system, the ability to identify those parts and move them within multinational fleets is historically unprecedented for military aircraft.
In other words, the Italians have recognized the global fleet reality of the F-35 and have built in its anticipation.
This certainly highlights the commitment of Italy to 21st century innovation.
The photos below show workers at the FACO working on the first jet.
The workforce is a mix of older and younger workers, and provides a significant boost to the future of Italian aerospace and defense.
[slidepress gallery=’cameri-and-the-f-35′]
Credit Photos: Alenia Aermacchi (AAeM)
According to Finmeccanica CEO Alessandro Pansa, in a recent comment during an audit at the Chamber of Deputies Defense Commission:
With the participation in the F-35 program “the Italian industrial system brings home potential returns for $ 10 billion” and occupational returns will exceed 5,000 units.”
The development of these potentialities “depends on our capability to use the infrastructure which have been created to build components and to provide maintenance related to avionics and electronics both for the European aircraft and the US aircraft based in Europe.
There’s no other European plant with the same requisites as our plant in Cameri”
Pansa underscored that 90 Italian companies are involved in the program and so far contracts have been subscribed for $765 million.
