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Posted on 01/04/2010 12:48:22 AM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The second Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter arrived today at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.
U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Joseph T. "O.D." Bachmann piloted the aircraft nonstop from Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth, Texas, plant to Patuxent River, successfully completing aerial refueling en route. Bachmann departed at 11:07 a.m. EST and arrived in Patuxent River at 2:26 p.m. EST.
"Pax River is ready to begin the extensive four-year flight test campaign to help field the future of Marine Corps and Navy Aviation," said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and F-35 program general manager. "Over the next year, an integrated government/industry test team will ramp up the flight test at Pax River for the F-35B STOVL variant and F-35C carrier variant, and at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant."
Like the first F-35B that arrived at Patuxent River in November, this aircraft also is supported by the F-35 Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) and monitored by the F-35 Autonomics Logistics Global Sustainment (ALGS) Operations Center in Fort Worth. F-35 sustainment is based upon the principles of Performance-Based Logistics (PBL), involving extensive partnering agreements between government and industry. The F-35 team has developed an advanced sustainment system capability with designed-in sustainability that will reduce overall life-cycle costs and ensure mission readiness.
The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations, advanced sustainment, and lower operational and support costs. Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Two separate, interchangeable F-35 engines are under development: the Pratt & Whitney F135 and the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team F136.
(Excerpt) Read more at defpro.com ...
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I think the picture above the F-35 has better thrust to weight ratio!
As a former Navy guy, I felt compelled to include necessary artwork. The F-35 was just an excuse for a good way to start the week!!
Yes, I much prefer the roll nozzles on that first photo.
To quote a famous scottish engineer...”I’d like to get my hands on her nacelles...”
Was this just an exercise or is the unit that much of a gas hog?
Ft. Worth, TX to Patuxent River, MD is approximately 1,500 miles. The F-35B has a 900 NM range on internal fuel.
All high performance fighter aircraft are "gas hogs."
There is no hybrid jet fighter.
its navy predecessor the F/A-18 has a range of supposedly 1,275 miles, ‘clean’. i would not expect the nextgen fighter to have better legs. efficiency usually gets worse with each generation, just like the accompanying federal bureaucracy.
The F-35C, which is the successor to the F/A-18, has an unrefuelled range of 1,400 NM on internal fuel.
The F-35B, reported on in this post, is the successor to the AV-8B, which has an unrefuelled range of 900 NM on internal fuel, and a ferry range of 1,800 NM with external tanks.
I cannot find specs for the F-35A/B/C ferry range which would include external fuel tanks.
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4 years to test this thing? I am sure glad we aren’t in a shooting war. That is the major problem I have with todays weapons systems; to long from concept to first model; and then too long to test.The designers kids might be the first ones to actually use a system after acceptance. And I don’t have an answer to shorten the process in this high tech age.
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