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Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced a restructuring in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter office Feb. 1, to provide increased oversight of a program he conceded has fallen behind in meeting key benchmarks. Secretary Gates also announced that he has withheld $614 million in performance fees from the lead contractor, Lockheed-Martin, "since the taxpayers should not have to bear the entire burden of getting the JSF program on track." "We have restructured the F-35 program and believe it is on track to become the backbone of U.S. air superiority for the next generation," Secretary Gates said during a Pentagon news...

Lockheed Martin expects to be held to aggressive cost and schedule targets for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter despite the U.S. Defense Dept.’s decision for development and production based on more conservative independent estimates. The Pentagon’s decision to reject the JSF program office’s estimates and budget for the higher costs projected by the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) group has reduced planned U.S. F-35 procurement to 43 from 52 in fiscal 2011 and to 45 from 62 in FY ‘12. But Lockheed remains convinced it can outperform the independent estimates and produce more aircraft for the procurement dollars...

The program is to get new leadership and Lockheed Martin is to forgo hundreds of millions of dollars in award fees, but U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates is “not sure” whether the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can avoid breaching Nunn-McCurdy limits on cost growth. The F-35 program is being restructured in a bid to stabilize its cost and schedule, after Lockheed fell behind in delivering aircraft for flight testing. The nearly $11 billion requested for fiscal 2011 reflects the Pentagon’s decision to increase funding for development and reduce procurement in an effort to get the program back on track. In...

$4 Billion Requested For New Strategic Bombers With the dust hardly settled on the federal government's FY2010 budget, a draft of the Obama administration's spending request for next year shows a request nearly for $11 billion in the next budget round for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It also seeks $4 billion over 4 years for development of a new long-range strategic bomber. Defense News reports that the budget, due to be sent to Congress by February 1st, will cut several programs as well, such as the C-17 and the F-136 alternate engine for the F-35. But the budget nearly...

Royal Air Force officer on Tuesday became the first active-duty service pilot from the United Kingdom to take to the skies in a Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). RAF Squadron Leader Steve Long piloted BF-2, the second short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B, over Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., logging the aircraft's 18th mission.  Long departed at 9:55 a.m. EST and flew the aircraft to 20,000 feet, before landing 1.3 hours later. Both the RAF and the Royal Navy plan to operate the F-35B. "Flying the F-35 was exactly like the...

A dogfight over software is intensifying as the Pentagon reaffirmed that it will not share with partner countries the sensitive code that controls Lockheed Martin's F-35 radar-evading jet fighter, according to an article published by Reuters. Britain, which funded about $2 billion of the F-35, is among eight countries that co-financed the system. Nonetheless, no country will receive the source code or the vital electronics that control everything from weapons integration to radar to flight dynamics, according to the article. The jet, known as the Joint Strike Fighter, can switch between air-to-ground and air-to-air missions in mid-flight, thanks to some...

A letter from the Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, has appeared in The Guardian newspaper in response to an article which appeared in the paper entitled 'Stealth fighter jets to be slashed'. The Minister's letter said: Dear Sir, Your correspondent's article in Wednesday's Guardian on defence procurement, 'Stealth fighter jets to be slashed', is nonsense personified. Our new carriers are not 'under real threat'. There will not 'certainly be a big reduction in Joint Strike Fighter numbers'. The article goes on to state 'among other options being considered are: downsizing the second carrier … building both carriers...

Attack, not defense, will reshape electronic warfare. A magazine filled with electron pulses, information scrambling data streams and invasive algorithms may arm the Next-Generation Jammer (NGJ). By 2018, variants of the U.S. Navy’s NGJ likely will be carried by a half-dozen manned and unmanned aircraft—perhaps more. The service’s EP-X signals and communications intelligence aircraft—still without a final design or completed requirements—will be replacing the long-serving EP-3E. “EP-X is going to be the eyes and ears that find the signals” that NGJ will jam and manipulate, says Christopher Carlson, director of U.S. business development for ITT’s integrated EW systems. “Precisely identifying...

A testing delay for the F-35 program will prompt an increase in the per-unit cost of the stealthy single-engine fighter “for a period,” says the U.S. Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Norton Schwartz. Schwartz says the boost will not, however, be enough to breach requirements under the Nunn-McCurdy reporting law, which triggers a mandatory Pentagon review of alternatives and notification of Congress in cases of a significant cost and schedule overrun. The chief says the delay, which he only described as not lasting “multiple years,” was necessary. Government officials have indicated that completing testing could take up to 30...

The Defense Ministry has told the Pentagon that it will purchase the stealth-enabled Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) if it is allowed to replace 50 percent of the systems with Israeli-made technology, defense officials said Tuesday. According to the officials, the investment in purchasing the JSF - also known as the F-35 - would only be cost-effective if some of the money went back to Israeli defense industries. One example was the contract Israel Aerospace Industries won to produce wing boxes for F16s made by Lockheed Martin, also the primary contractor for the F-35. The F-35 will be one of the...

The U.S. Navy has been nervously watching as the costs of the new F-35C and F-35B carrier aircraft increase. It comes down to this. Currently, it costs the navy, on average, $19,000 an hour to operate its AV-8 vertical takeoff and F-18C fighter aircraft. It costs 63 percent more to operate the F-35C (which will replace the F-18C) and the F-35B (which will replace the AV-8). These costs include buying the aircraft, training and maintaining the pilots, the aircraft and purchasing expendable items (fuel, spare parts, munitions.) Like the F-22, which recently had production capped at less than 200 aircraft,...

JSF - Navy Ready To Abandon Ship? Posted by Bill Sweetman at 1/15/2010 5:17 AM CST The Navy is not happy with the new joint-service fighter. It's gained weight during development, but more importantly, the Navy isn't sure that the capabilities it provides are what they want to spend more money on. It's tempting to scrap it and go with an alternative, from a company with recent carrier-jet experience. The obstacle is a headstrong Secretary of Defense who's staked his reputation on the joint program, but the signals are clear: the moment he's gone the Navy's going to bail. Enough...

The U.S. Air Force has demonstrated the capabilities of its new F-22 in operations in the Middle East. The Air Force concluded its first deployment of the F-22A Raptors in the Middle East. Officials said the F-22s were demonstrated in a combat air exercise in the United Arab Emirates that took place in early December 2009. "This was historic because it's a new weapon system, and although we had shown we can deploy to other places, we hadn't proven we could operate here," Maj. Daniel Bunts, an F-22 pilot, said. The UAE exercise included six Raptors from the U.S. Air...

The Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter engaged its STOVL propulsion system in flight for the first time today. The successful test is the first in a series of planned STOVL-mode flights that will include short takeoffs, hovers and vertical landings. "The joint F-35 industry and government team has already shown during extended ground tests that the STOVL propulsion system performs well, and thousands of hours of component testing has validated its durability. Now we are seeing early proof that the system operates in flight as our team predicted," said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive...

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...

The United States is considering allowing Japan to take part in a multinational project to develop the F-35 next-generation stealth fighter, a press report said Tuesday. Washington may allow Tokyo to participate in the project even without assurances from Japan that it will procure the F-35, Kyodo News reported, quoting sources from both governments. The move is intended to clear the way for Japan to introduce the F-35 as its future mainstay fighter as countries not participating in the joint development would not be allowed to acquire it at an early date, Kyodo said. Tokyo's participation would be limited to...

As the JSF founding members squirm for excuses to cut projected orders, anticipating the program's soaring costs consuming growing shares of local defense budgets, Israel is expected to become the first international customer to commit to the next generation stealth fighter, although the country has not formally joined the program as one of the 'founding members'. Bowing under unprecedented financial pressure, the U.K. is moving to axe the planned construction of one aircraft carrier, along with up to 88 F-35B (V/STOL) fighters that would be operating on board, saving about £7.6 billion in out-year budget. Financial issues have also led...

Lockheed Martin has marked successful entry into low rate initial production on the F-35 Lightning II Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS). The first production units have been delivered to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, TX, for integration onto the aircraft. Embedded into the F-35's fuselage with an innovative faceted sapphire window, the low-drag, stealthy EOTS is the world's first and only sensor combining forward-looking infrared and infrared search and track functionality. The F-35 EOTS will provide Lightning II pilots with significant air-to-air and air-to-ground situational awareness in a single compact and completely passive sensor. "Our team looks forward to meeting...

Australia has given its final approval for the first group of Joint Strike Fighters, worth $3 billion for 14 aircraft to be delivered in 2014. The Ministry of Defense said the F-35 aircraft will be handed over in the United States, ready to begin initial training and test activities and are to replace Australia's F/A-18F Super Hornets. Australia's first operational squadron will be based at Royal Australian Air Force Base Williamtown and will be ready for operations in 2018, a government statement said. The acquisition in 2014 is the first of three purchases for three squadrons totaling 72 planes, all...

The Australian defense department’s uphill struggle to control acquisition programs is progressing, but it is far from reaching fruition. The government’s decision to go ahead with the purchase of up to 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters will test what lessons have been learned from delays on airborne early warning aircraft, tankers and helicopters. Schedule performance has long been a thorn in the side of the department, which in recent years has rolled out a range of reform measures to try to curb these costly failings. Even more efforts are on the drawing board, in large part out of concern that...