From Defense Aerospace

 

Setting the Record Straight on F-35

(Source: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company; issued September 19, 2008)

 

FORT WORTH, Texas --- U.S. Air Force analyses show the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is at least 400 percent more effective in air-to-air combat capability than the best fighters currently available in the international market.

 

The Air Force's standard air-to-air engagement analysis model, also used by allied air forces to assess air-combat performance, pitted the 5th generation F-35 against all advanced 4th generation fighters in a variety of simulated scenarios. The results were clear: the F-35 outperformed the most highly evolved fighters in aerial combat by significant margins.

 

"In all F-35 Program Office and U.S. Air Force air-to-air combat effectiveness analysis to date, the F-35 enjoys a significant Combat Loss Exchange Ratio advantage over the current and future air-to-air threats, to include Sukhois," said Maj. Gen. Charles R. Davis, F-35 program executive officer.

 

Recent claims that Russian fighters defeated F-35s in a Hawaii-based simulated combat exercise are untrue, according to Maj. Gen. Davis.

 

"The reports are completely false and misleading and have absolutely no basis in fact," Maj. Gen. Davis said. "The August 2008 Pacific Vision Wargame that has been referenced recently in the media did not even address air-to-air combat effectiveness. The F-35 is required to be able to effectively defeat current and projected air-to-air threats. All available information, at the highest classification, indicates that F-35 is effectively meeting these aggressive operational challenges."

 

The Pacific Vision Wargame was a table-top exercise designed to assess basing and force-structure vulnerabilities, and did not include air-to-air combat exercises or any comparisons of different aircraft platforms.

 

Other erroneous allegations about the program were recently made in a letter distributed and written by industry-watchers Winston Wheeler and Pierre Sprey.

 

"It's not clear why they attacked the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program," said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin executive vice president of F-35 program integration. "It is clear they don't understand the underlying requirements of the F-35 program, the capabilities needed to meet those requirements or the real programmatic performance of the JSF team."

 

Here are the facts:

 

-- The F-35 is a racehorse, not a "dog," as Wheeler/Sprey suggest. In stealth combat configuration, the F-35 aerodynamically outperforms all other combat-configured 4th generation aircraft in top-end speed, loiter, subsonic acceleration and combat radius. This allows unprecedented "see/shoot first" and combat radius advantages.

 

-- The high thrust-to-weight ratios of the lightweight fighter program Wheeler/Sprey recall from 30 years ago did not take into consideration combat-range fuel, sensors or armament, which dramatically alter wing loading, thrust-to-weight ratios and maneuverability. We do consider all of this in today's fighters.

 

-- The F-35 has the most powerful engine ever installed in a fighter, with thrust equivalent to both engines today in Eurofighter or F/A-18 aircraft. The conventional version of the F-35 has 9g capability and matches the turn rates of the F-16 and F/A-18. More importantly, in a combat load, with all fuel, targeting sensor pods and weapons carried internally, the F-35's aerodynamic performance far exceeds all legacy aircraft equipped with a similar capability.

 

-- When the threat situation diminishes so that it is safe for legacy aircraft to participate in the fight, the F-35 can also carry ordnance on six external wing stations in addition to its four internal stations.

 

Other important facts:

 

-- External weapon clearance is part of the current F-35 test program.

 

-- The government has already proven that no other aircraft can survive against the 5th generation stealth that only the F-22 and the F-35 possess; it is impossible to add this stealth to fourth-generation fighters.

 

-- The F-35's data collection, integration and information sharing capabilities will transform the battlespace of the future and will redefine the close air support mission. The F-35 is specifically designed to take advantage of lessons learned from the F-117 stealth aircraft. Unlike the F-117, the ability to share tactically important information is built into the F-35, along with stealth.

 

-- F-35 is developing, testing, and fielding mature software years ahead of legacy programs, further reducing development risk. The F-35's advanced software, already flying on two test aircraft with remarkable stability, is demonstrating the advantages of developing highly-common, tri-variant aircraft. The software developed span the entire aircraft and support systems including the aircraft itself, logistics systems, flight and maintenance trainers, maintenance information system and flight-test instrumentation.

 

-- Rather than relying exclusively on flight testing, the F-35 is retiring development risk through the most comprehensive laboratories, sensor test beds, and integrated full-fusion flying test bed ever created for an aircraft program. Representing only 25% of our verification plans, still the F-35's flight test program is comparable in hours to the combined flight test programs of the three primary U.S. aircraft it will replace.

 

-- The F-35 is one aircraft program designed to replace many different types of aircraft around the world -- F-16, F/A-18, F-117, A-10, AV-8B, Sea Harrier, GR.7, F-111 and Tornado -- flown by 14 air forces.

 

-- In addition to 19 developmental test aircraft, the F-35 is producing 20 fully instrumented, production-configured operational test aircraft. No program in history has employed this many test vehicles.

 

"Simply put, advanced stealth and sensor fusion allow the F-35 pilot to see, target and destroy the adversary and strategic targets in a very high surface-to-air threat scenario, and deal with air threats intent on denying access -- all before the F-35 is ever detected, then return safely to do it again," said Burbage.

 

The F-35 is a supersonic, multi-role, 5th generation stealth fighter. Three F-35 variants derived from a common design, developed together and using the same sustainment infrastructure worldwide will replace at least 13 types of aircraft for 11 nations initially, making the Lightning II the most cost-effective fighter program in history. Two F-35s have entered flight test, two are in ground test, and 17 are in various stages of assembly, including the first two production-model jets scheduled for delivery to the U.S. Air Force in 2010.

 

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion. (ends)

 

***

 

F-35: Delivering on the Promise to Redefine National Strategic Capabilities

(Source: JSF.mil; issued September 12, 2008)

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- A Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter executive said today that the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is living up to the originally conceived ideal of a tri-service combat aircraft that leverages stealth technology, introduces multi-service interoperability, achieves economies of scale to drive down costs and strengthens important international alliances.

 

Tom Burbage, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company and general manager of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program Integration, reviewed the F-35 operational requirement and provided his thoughts on the game-changing technologies that are ensuring the delivery of dramatic improvements in fighter capability envisioned when the program was conceived more than a decade ago.

 

“The F-35 is designed to satisfy a very challenging operational requirement — to go deep into enemy territory against the most lethal surface-to-air missile threats. The aircraft is also designed to destroy targets through any weather while outnumbered by the most advanced current-generation fighters equipped with highly sophisticated air-to-air missiles,” Burbage said. “The F-35 can perform that mission from any base and at a lower cost than legacy programs. It’s a daunting expectation but we are on the way to fulfilling it.”

 

The intent of the program was to leverage recent major national investments in technology, introduce true service interoperability and achieve economies of commonality and scale as legacy combat aircraft fleets were replaced, according to Burbage.

 

In addition to its strategic military importance, the F-35’s integrated global production structure will promote worldwide allied collaboration and significant maturation of the global industrial base.

 

“The ongoing National Security strategy to require coalition based operations had also exposed significant capability gaps between U.S. and allied forces equipment,” said Burbage. “To address these gaps, a decision was made to allow participation by selected nations in the development and procurement of the JSF. The sharing of the technology capability with allied nations implies that future coalition combat operations will be more synergistic and much less expensive from a logistics standpoint.”

 

Drawing upon global supply resources and strategically positioning parts and services around the world enable our allies to expand their local economies. The F-35 will strengthen international relationships and fortify political ties among the United States and its allies.

 

The F-35 is a supersonic, multi-role, 5th generation stealth fighter. Three F-35 variants derive from a common design. Developed together, they use the same sustainment infrastructure worldwide. The fighter will replace at least 13 types of aircraft for 11 nations initially, making the Lightning II the most cost-effective fighter program in history. Two F-35s have entered flight test, two are in ground test and 17 are in various stages of assembly, including the first two production-model jets scheduled for delivery to the U.S. Air Force in 2010.

 

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion.

Man, they are as sensitive about JSF as I am about HC some days <_>

Man, they are as sensitive about JSF as I am about HC some days

 

LOL. That's about as good an analogy as I can think of.

From Flight International

 

F-35 programme officials bash critics, suspect hidden agenda

By Stephen Trimble

 

Lockheed Martin and the US Department of Defense are attacking the motivation behind a recent barrage of criticism aimed at the basic combat abilities of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

 

Such “false claims” published in separate reports a few days apart have become a significant business risk for the programme, said Maj Gen Charles Davis, chief of the F-35 joint programme office.

 

Each of the eight international partners must make acquisition decisions for the F-35 within the next year, said Tom Burbage, a Lockheed vice president.

 

Some of partners, including Norway and The Netherlands, face controversial decisions within the next four months. Meanwhile, Israel has also launched a process to begin buying at least 25 F-35s in 2009.

 

The frequency and timing of the published attacks, as well as their “completely” errant content, prompted Davis to suspect foul-play.

 

“It’s disappointing and I guess not surprising that these articles come when they do,” Davis told reporters on 19 September. “When articles show up that are just flat false there’s got to be a reason for that.”

 

Davis declined an opportunity to specify the source of the attacks, saying only that there is “money involved and companies involved”.

 

In July, Davis accused Boeing outright of spreading lies and half-truths about the F-35 in order to bolster the international sales campaign for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. He specifically called out Boeing for publicly predicting future cost overruns and delays for the F-35. Boeing responded: “People with greater insight [into the F-35 programme] than I are looking at the offerings available. Let people draw their own conclusions about why.”

 

More recently, a commentary written by Pierre Sprey, widely considered the conceptual father of the Lockheed F-16, claimed the F-35 would be an aerodynamic “dog” and outclassed in combat by the fighters it is replacing.

 

Davis shot back that the F-35’s turn-rate and manoeuvring is no different than the F-16, and the latter has stealth and far more advanced sensor fusion capability.

 

Another article appearing in the Australian press claimed the F-35 was “clubbed like a baby seal” in a classified US Air Force exercise.

 

Davis replied that the “basic wargame did not even involve an air-to-air scenario.” Some “excursion” scenarios did involve F-22s, but the F-35 was mentioned only tangentially.

 

“How that got translated into ‘clubbed like a baby seal’ I have no idea other than somebody used a comment made in the room or in a dinner that night and brought that back to Australia,” Davis said.