F-35 marks 200 flights as test program ramps up

After a surge of flight test activity the F-35 program completed its 200th test flight last week. On May 5, Graham Tomlison piloted BF-1 for 44 minutes evaluating the jet's flying qualities and airframe loads. The uptempo flying means the program has regained the flight schedule and is well on its way to fulfill the target of 394 flights this year.

If not slightly improving on it. At the turn of the month 60 flights had been recorded of 58 planned. In two weeks in April the test teams at Fort Worth and NAS Pax River chalked up no less than 27 flights between two aircraft. The second air force jet, AF-2, phased through its first 12 flights in just 10 days. It follows an impressive reliability trend displayed by the test aircrafts. About 70 percent of the flights have landed Code One with no maintenance issues. Both AF-1 and AF-2 will leave for Edwards AFB in California to continue flight testing, possibly next week.

It's a hint of things to come. Lockheed Martin is confident it will uphold the tempo and meet the year-end-goal of 394 flights. "Our current flight tempo will get us to that mark by the end of the calendar year, and we still have more aircraft poised to enter flight testing", says company spokesman John Kent by email. The first jets for the training wing at Eglin AFB in Florida are set to arrive in the 4th quarter of this year.

Calling it that would be quite shortsided.

The F-35 greatly improves survivability via its stealth capability.

There are three main variants, including a vertical takeoff/landing version that will replace the Marine Corps and RAF/FN Harrier variants which are based around 1960’s designs.

The naval version can be launced off carriers.

Airforce version will replace the F/A-18Cs and eventually the F-16s.. The lead service of the F-35 will be the airforce.

It will also render almost all European fighter offerings totally uncompetitive in the F-16 and F-18 replacement markets.

The Joint Strike Fighter’s central design optimisation is in-theatre strike, battlefield interdiction and close air support, reflected in forward sector stealth, internal weapons/fuel capacity and cruise efficiency in clean configuration.

As a bomb truck, the Joint Strike Fighter falls into a similar payload class to these players (F-16C and F/A18A/C, but with the important distinction that it carries its bombs or missiles internally, and it has an internal fuel capacity similar to that of these competing aircraft loaded up with external fuel tanks. In practical terms this means that the Joint Strike Fighter can carry a similar load of fuel and bombs without the critical transonic regime drag penalty of external stores. Therefore it can carry the same bomb load further using a similar fuel load.

These design requirements are looking towards the future of air combat roles for the US and its export customers. The evolution of the F-16 occured during the coldwar, and while still one of the best fighter planes ever produced, its getting very dated.

Thanks for the LockMart commercial, how long have you worked for them?

F-35 is a pig in a poke, a jack of all trades that does none of them well.

And you might be interested to know that we have an Air Force, that the Marine version is STOVL, not vertical takeoff, F/A-18C's have been replaced with F/A-18E/F/G's that are not launced from anything.

Many of the countries that signed up for the F-35 program are getting nervous for many reasons..soaring costs, long delays, weight, industrial offsets, technology transfer issues, and poor program management.

The program is just another example of poor military procurement. After all, it IS a child of, and beholden to, Congress.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.