JSF news you may have missed

From ARES Blog

JSF News You Might Have Missed

Posted by Bill Sweetman at 9/8/2008 8:15 AM CDT

The Joint Strike Fighter program is so vast that a week can hardly go by without some JSF-related news.

Air Force Magazine secured an interview with ousted Air Force secretary Michael Wynne, including this comment about the JSF:

He argues that it is too early to halt F-22 production and rely on the F-35 as the sole fifth-generation fighter in production, mainly because "I’m afraid the F-35 will fail a test." [CV32: Emphasis mine.]

If that line doesn't appear in every third Gripen PowerPoint for the next several months - if the USAF doesn't want to bet its future on JSF, why should you? - I will buy you a beer, even at Norwegian prices.

Meanwhile, August's Naval Institute Proceedings (not online) carries a piece by a Marine aircraft maintenance officer, Maj Gregory Beisbier, outlining a plan to extend the life of the Marines' most potent combat aircraft, the F/A-18D. Beisbier's idea is to field mixed squadrons of D-models and single-seat Cs. The idea is to use the C-models for most air combat maneuvering and low-altitude tactics training, thereby slowing the rate at which the Ds reach the end of their wing-root fatigue life.

Underlying the proposal is the fact that age and OPTEMPO are wearing out the F/A-18Ds. There is already a projected three-and-a-half-squadron shortfall in the Marine fighter inventory lasting from 2009 until 2014, when JSFs - the only new fighters in Marine planning - are due to replace them. But unless something is done to extend the life of the Ds, says Beisbier, any slippage in JSF will leave the Marines with "little choice but to decommission four more F/A-18D squadrons." Ouch.

The same situation is emerging in Australia, where there are reports that - if there is a further slip in the JSF program - the country may order more Super Hornets, beyond the 24 jets already on order, possibly as part of a defense review to be announced around the end of the year. In Australia's case, if the JSF slips, the choice is to add to the Super Hornet buy (with EA-18G Growlers, Super Hornets or both) or to attempt more life-extension on the classic Hornets. See these notes from Eric Palmer.

And over on Pprune, a thread on shipboard rolling vertical landing (SRVL) for the JSF rolls on. Interesting point: the UK is still maintaining an exit strategy in case of problems with the short take-off, vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B.

The UK's new carriers are designed to accept catapults and arrester gear if necessary, and the first ship will be equipped with Harrier GR.9s when it goes to sea. Until about 2010, the UK has the option of completing the second carrier with catapults and arrester gear; in that case, the first ship would continue to embark GR.9s until its first major refit. It's not the preferred solution because it undermines the idea of a joint RN/RAF STOVL force - which depends on the fact that the STOVL jet is easier to land on deck, requiring much less recurrent training - but it is still on the table. The Marine Corps, however, has no such option because the decks of the Navy's amphibious-warfare ships are too small.

In other UK carrier news, the UK MoD has let the contract for one of the most revolutionary features of the new ships: an automated weapons handling system. It's one of a number of features that should allow the new ships to operate with a crew not much larger than that of the much smaller Invincible-class carriers, sharply reducing through-life costs.