US Air Force Declares F-35A Ready for Combat

[straitman]

The USAF has declared the F-35 as operationally ready with the first squadron on line.

WASHINGTON — The US Air Force on Tuesday declared its first squadron of F-35As ready for battle, 15 years after Lockheed Martin won the contract to make the plane.

The milestone means that the service can now send its first operational F-35 formation — the 34th Fighter Squadron located at Hill Air Force Base, Utah — into combat operations anywhere in the world. The service, which plans to buy 1,763 F-35As, is the single-largest customer of the joint strike fighter program, which also includes the US Marine Corps, US Navy and a host of governments worldwide.

The Air Force, which follows the Marine Corps in approving F-35s for operations, had a five-month window between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31 to proclaim initial operational capability (IOC). After notifying Congress, Air Combat Command (ACC) head Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle signed off on the declaration on Aug. 2.

In a briefing with reporters Tuesday afternoon, Carlisle stressed that although the F-35A is not perfect, the aircraft has significantly improved from the early days of the program. More importantly, its stealth, electronic warfare and sensor fusion capabilities are urgently needed for future conflicts.

"Given the national security strategy, we need it," he said. "You look at the potential adversaries out there, or the potential environments where we have to operate this airplane, the attributes that the F-35 brings — the ability to penetrate defensive airspace, the ability to deliver precision munitions with a sensor suite that fuses data from multiple information sources — is something our nation needs."

[h=1]Hill AFB F-35 Squadron Conduct Four Ship Sortie[/h]

 

[Mal]

1,763 F-35As - wow. That's a lot of planes!

 

[Gold Member]

When does award availability open up?

 

[eric2011]

1,763 F-35As - wow. That's a lot of planes!

means there is going to be a lot of retired planes sitting in the boneyard

 

[Altair]

1,763 F-35As - wow. That's a lot of planes!

A lot fewer than the aircraft they are replacing.
F35A replace USAF A10, F15 (inc. F15E) and F16
F35B replace USMC AV8 and F18
F35C replace USN F18 (as the Super Hornets replaced the A6, KA6, F14) except the EF18G Growlers will fly on.
I do not know how many F35 will be built for the US in total or over how many years. It would also not surprise me they will also replace the F22 due to its obsolescent components that make it very difficult to upgrade.
Oh IMO the F35 should not have been made to replace all these types, or at least focus on the non-STVOL planes and have a different type of fighter for the AV8/Harrier replacement as that placed to many compromises the non-STVOL airframe.

 

[jb747]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the F22 production line reopened. The F35 sounds far too much like a horse designed by a committee. I was talking about it with a test pilot the other day (and whilst he's long out of the military, he keeps his finger in the TP pie), and his impression of the F35 for many of the roles it's supposed to fill was less than inspiring.

 

[Altair]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the F22 production line reopened. The F35 sounds far too much like a horse designed by a committee. I was talking about it with a test pilot the other day (and whilst he's long out of the military, he keeps his finger in the TP pie), and his impression of the F35 for many of the roles it's supposed to fill was less than inspiring.

Members of Congress talk about it...but they also were the ones to drastically reduce the procurement order.
Anyway the production lines do no longer exist or currently working on the F35 components. Not all tooling or jigs exist either.
However the biggest issue for the F22, and why I think it will be retired by 2030 is that the avionics/systems architecture is obsolete with many components out of production even when the F22 was still rolling off the production line. Just to do updates to the system to the current block has cost $7B. The F22 product is a perfect example of poor planning and understanding of DMSMS drastically shortening the life of an expensive brand new product.
A "cheap" update say F22B would keep the airframe, but need to update engines from the out of production F119 to an uprated F135 (used on the F35) assuming the F135 dimensions fit into the airframe, and fit in the F35 sensors and systems package, use the F35 skin etc. Whether this would be better value than developing a new 6th generation fighter design, taking decades, is something I would leave to "experts".
The F35 airframe and manoeuvrability are inferior to the F22 due to the STVOL compromise, but the aircraft excels in sensor integration and battlefield network and situational awareness and with diminishing budgets I think the US will just procure more F35 until they realise their nearest competitor can defeat the F35 without being threatened.

 

[straitman]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the F22 production line reopened. The F35 sounds far too much like a horse designed by a committee. I was talking about it with a test pilot the other day (and whilst he's long out of the military, he keeps his finger in the TP pie), and his impression of the F35 for many of the roles it's supposed to fill was less than inspiring.

Members of Congress talk about it...but they also were the ones to drastically reduce the procurement order.
Anyway the production lines do no longer exist or currently working on the F35 components. Not all tooling or jigs exist either.
However the biggest issue for the F22, and why I think it will be retired by 2030 is that the avionics/systems architecture is obsolete with many components out of production even when the F22 was still rolling off the production line. Just to do updates to the system to the current block has cost $7B. The F22 product is a perfect example of poor planning and understanding of DMSMS drastically shortening the life of an expensive brand new product.
A "cheap" update say F22B would keep the airframe, but need to update engines from the out of production F119 to an uprated F135 (used on the F35) assuming the F135 dimensions fit into the airframe, and fit in the F35 sensors and systems package, use the F35 skin etc. Whether this would be better value than developing a new 6th generation fighter design, taking decades, is something I would leave to "experts".
The F35 airframe and manoeuvrability are inferior to the F22 due to the STVOL compromise, but the aircraft excels in sensor integration and battlefield network and situational awareness and with diminishing budgets I think the US will just procure more F35 until they realise their nearest competitor can defeat the F35 without being threatened.

The idea/push to upgrade and restart the F-22 line seems to be gaining momentum in the US. Theoretically it would be easier than starting a new design.

 

[Altair]

The idea/push to upgrade and restart the F-22 line seems to be gaining momentum in the US. Theoretically it would be easier than starting a new design.

Yes it is in theory, but as I said there is no production line, the physical facilities are used for other purposes.
All a restarted F22 will get you is the airframe, jigs and tools exist for most of it, but it will not go anywhere, engine rigs were destroyed by P&W. The avionics are no longer made which is based on the out of production Intel i960MX processor. The USAF bought all the remaining stock but that just put off the hardware side. the software side is supposedly more difficult/costly to upgrade as it is all closed.
If the F22 is restarted, assuming the airframe is still optimised for the, let's say air superiority, intercepts etc. you maybe able to transfer elements of the F35 into the frame. I do not know the cost/benefit over the expense of doing this over procuring more F35s, but I have a feeling that is what Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of both the F22 and F35, would push.
I was a supporter of the beautiful F22 over the ugly F35, especially over the compromises it makes, but when I looked at the issues it has over its remaining life I think it will die earlier than originally planned due to poor decision making to keep its initial acquisition cost down.

 

[straitman]

I was a supporter of the beautiful F22 over the ugly F35, especially over the compromises it makes, but when I looked at the issues it has over its remaining life I think it will die earlier than originally planned due to poor decision making to keep its initial acquisition cost down.

Unfortunately (& sadly) I believe you are correct.

 

[Renato1]

According to this writer over at Quadrant magazine, the F35 isn't a fighter plane, and we have bought a turkey.

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2015/03/gold-plated-hangar-queen/

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2016/02/f-35-costly-useless-sexist/

These links don't work in one of my browsers, but work in Firefox.
Regards,
Renato

 

[jb747]

......I think the US will just procure more F35 until they realise their nearest competitor can defeat the F35 without being threatened.

That's a big part of the entire issue, and is likely to happen sooner rather than later. My TP friend rattled off a number of current and under development ways of beating the stealth. And without the stealth, it's a poor aircraft.

My understanding is that the F22 production jigs were actually mandated to be stored. Electronics might be an issue, but given what we've seen lately, perhaps it should go 'Battlestar Galactica', and have a lot less!

 

[Flying Fox]

My understanding is that the F22 production jigs were actually mandated to be stored. Electronics might be an issue, but given what we've seen lately, perhaps it should go 'Battlestar Galactica', and have a lot less!

Now that would be cool to have the Battlestar Galactica in our defence capabilities!