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F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sharpey
  • Start date Start date
Strangely, we now have that capability again...does that make the Chinook Nuclear Capable...???

 
An update regarding the RAF/RN's own F35 orders:

UK orders near for F-35 'stealth’ jet

Demand for new F-35 fighter jet of vital importance to UK manufacturers, with more than 500 British companies working on the project


Quote:
Britain's Ministry of Defence is close to placing its first major tranche of orders for the F-35 fighter jet, with an award for about 14 of the “stealth” warplanes due in the next few weeks.

The orders for the new plane, being built in an international project led by US defence giant Lockheed Martin, will signal the increasing role of the British military in the controversial F-35 programme.


Telegraph link
 
Total order still much in the air--at AW&ST earlier:

...
When the U.K. entered the program, it announced it would buy as many as 138 aircraft, although the commitment so far is for 48. A Main Gate 5 decision—due around 2017—is expected to approve the remaining balance of the first tranche of F-35 procurement. Thompson [head of the Lightning II project team in the U.K.'s Defense Equipment & Support organization], says no decisions would be taken before the next Strategic Defense and Security Review in 2015, in which officials are expected to firm up the final number of JSFs the U.K. will buy. He would not comment on whether the U.K. would purchase more than 48....
http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_08_05_2013_p34-602592.xml

Mark
Ottawa
 
Including IP rights is a fairly nice carrot from Dassault.
French fighter-jet maker pushes Ottawa for decision on fleet
DANIEL LEBLANC
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
22 January 2014

A French fighter-jet manufacturer is urging Ottawa to quickly launch a competition to find a replacement for its fleet of CF-18s, stating billions of dollars of work in Canada are at stake.

Yves Robins, a vice-president at Dassault Aviation, said the Canadian government’s evaluation of the options to replace the CF-18s is nearing completion, meaning Ottawa could decide this year whether to launch a full and open competition. The alternative for the government would be to continue with its previous choice – stalled by a 2012 report by the Auditor-General – to buy a fleet of F-35 fighter jets directly from Lockheed-Martin.

“The only reason for procrastinating for the opening of a competition might be an internal policy reason,” Mr. Robins said in an interview, pointing to potential political considerations. “I think that nowadays, the Canadian government has enough information to make its judgment within four to six months.”

In addition to the F-35, the Canadian government is looking at the cost and capabilities of three other fighter jets: Dassault’s Rafales, the Boeing SuperHornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon. Government officials said they will look closely at the economic spinoffs when they decide how to proceed, while keeping in mind that Canada’s current fleet of CF-18s is set to be phased out between 2017 and 2023.

“Making sure that Canadian military procurements benefit the Canadian economy and create Canadian jobs is crucial to making sure that Canada’s aerospace and defence industries can continue to prosper,” Public Works Minister Diane Finley said at a speech to the 2013 Canadian Aerospace Summit. “Simply put, we will do business with companies who bring jobs to Canada.”

Lockheed-Martin said $10-billion in high-tech work in Canada will be lost if Ottawa abandons its initial plans to buy F-35 aircraft. However, Dassault is arguing that if it wins the competition, it will ensure that the full value of the project, estimated at $40-billion over the lifetime of the selected aircraft, will be spent in Canada.

Mr. Robins said Dassault is willing to provide a full and unrestricted transfer of technologies to the federal government, meaning the Canadian Forces could go on to “Canadianize” the French-built Rafales to its own specifications. The offer has shaken up the competition, with the French offer going beyond the firm’s U.S. rivals in terms of potential transfers of intellectual property.

“Our aim is to give Canada the capability to be fully autonomous in the support of the aircraft throughout its lifetime. Our proposal aims at providing Canada with the means to follow the Rafales throughout its operational life, not only through its maintenance and support, but also through its upgrading and eventually its midlife modernization,” Mr. Robins said.

He added that in his view, the twin-engine Rafales would offer greater range and capabilities in defending Canada’s sovereignty in the North than the single-engine F-35.

“The F-35 has been designed with a maximum emphasis on stealthiness, which implies that some drawbacks were accepted in terms of payload, range, dimensions and so on,” Mr. Robins said.

Last fall, the head of Boeing’s defence division argued that Lockheed-Martin’s massive F-35 program has suffered a series of technological challenges that increase the risk to the Canadian government.

Lockheed-Martin has asserted that its new fighter jet, with leading-edge technology, simply cannot be compared with any of its existing rivals.

“Quite frankly, [rival] airplanes don’t have the computing power or the data links to keep up,” Lockheed-Martin vice-president Stephen O’Bryan said. “To say that [the F-35 is] orders of magnitude better than fourth-generation airplanes is a huge understatement.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/french-fighter-jet-maker-pushes-ottawa-for-decision-on-fleet/article16444480/


 
[quote author=French fighter-jet maker pushes Ottawa for decision on fleet ]
meaning the Canadian Forces could go on to “Canadianize” the French-built Rafales to its own specifications.
[/quote]

Just what does our special little snowflake Air Force need that so unique to Canada that the Rafale doesn't currently have? Cup holders?
 
I doubt we go with the Rafale but makes it more interesting, as an option.  Does Canadianize mean make compatible with US missle systems, etc?  They were working on the 90Kn engine but it originally flew with an F-18 engine, so would there be options, such as one of the more advanced F-18 engines, like the 414?  I expect we still buy the F-35.

Go with the F414-EPE 120Kn engine, if it would fit. 
 
More on the RAAF's F35 program:

Defense News


Confidence Grows in Australian F-35A Program

Jan. 27, 2014 - 02:00PM  |  By NIGEL PITTAWAY

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA AND FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Australia’s program to replace its F/A-18A/B Hornet fleet with F-35A joint strike fighters will achieve a significant milestone in July when the first aircraft rolls off the assembly line, followed by the second four weeks later.

On Dec. 13, that first aircraft transitioned from the Electronic Mate and Assembly System to the final assembly line at Fort Worth. It marked the first time the aircraft had stood on its own wheels.

The weight on wheels milestone came as confidence grows in Australia that, from a technical standpoint at least, the New Air Combat Capability (NACC) program will deliver under the latest timeline.

Retiring at the end of 2013, the outgoing head of the NACC program, Air Vice Marshal Kym Osley, said that from a hardware point of view, he saw the F-35A developing well. The Australian assessment, however, is that there is still about seven months of risk in the final software development, known as Block 3F (Final).

“All software presents a risk, and this is the most complex software ever, but I’m very pleased that the metrics are indicating it’s heading in a positive direction. We now have a number of different reviews and independent analysis that indicates that the software is being developed in a very robust way and is making good progress,” he said.

“There is always the risk it is late or the capability deferred, and we’re very keen to keep a good eye on software and make sure we don’t see capability deferred and we don’t see any regression in the quality of software that we’re seeing being developed at this point.”

Osley said Australia is looking to declare initial operating capability (IOC), representing one operational squadron and a training unit, in Australia by the end of 2020. The military must retire the older Hornet fleet entirely by the end of 2022 if it wishes to avoid the cost and risk of a major structural refurbishment program. However, he said the minimum software requirement for IOC was the earlier 3I version, which the US Air Force plans for its IOC in 2016.


(...)
 
Lockheed F-35 Develops Cracks, Pentagon’s Tester Finds

Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)’s F-35 jet developed cracks in testing of the fighter’s durability and wasn’t sufficiently reliable in training flights last year, the Pentagon’s chief tester found.

On-ground testing of the Air Force and Marine Corps versions of the fighter revealed “significant findings” of cracks on five occasions in fuselage bulkheads, flanges, stiffeners and engine mounts “that will require mitigation plans and may include redesigning parts and additional weight,” according to an annual report on major weapons by Michael Gilmore, director of operational testing.

Gilmore has repeatedly raised questions about progress of the $391.2 billion F-35 program, the most expensive U.S. weapons system. This year’s report, released today, may draw particular scrutiny because the Pentagon will propose increasing purchases to 42 planes in fiscal 2015 from the 29 Congress authorized this year.

Bloomberg
 
DOT&E report is here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/202741252/2013DOTE-F-35-Report

Marine Corps Times:

Report: Software issues may delay F-35 for Marine Corps

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is often touted as the most advanced fighter in the world, whose complex systems are held together by millions of lines of code. So when the Pentagon’s top weapons tester declares the current software “unacceptable,” it tends to make waves in the defense world.

That’s what happened this week, as the Department’s Office of Test and Evaluation (OT&E) released its annual report on the status of the F-35 with a strong rebuke of the progress F-35 supporters touted in 2013, including a warning that software development has lagged so far behind that it may cause the Marines to miss their initial operating capability (IOC) date in 2015.

“The program plans to complete Block 2B fight testing in October 2014; however, there is no margin for additional growth to meet that date,” the report found. “Projections for completing Block 2B fight testing using the historical rate of continued growth ... show that Block 2B developmental testing will complete about 13 months later, in November 2015, and delay the associated feet release to July of 2016.”

The Marines intend to go to IOC with the Block 2B software; the Air Force is scheduled to follow with its F-35A in December 2016 with Block 3I, which is essentially the same software on more powerful hardware. The Navy intends to go operational with the F-35C in February 2019, on the Block 3F software...
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20140128/NEWS04/301280032/Report-Software-issues-may-delay-F-35-Marine-Corps

Lots more.

Mark
Ottawa


 
Wonder how long it'll take before the Chinese PLA-N conducts carrier trials with their twin-engined copy of the F-35, called the J31?

Navy F-35 Set For Sea Trials After Tailhook Redesign

Quote:

The naval version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is due to start flight tests on an aircraft carrier at sea in October after Lockheed Martin Corp. said it had fixed the tailhook used to arrest the plane's landing on a ship's deck.

Lockheed was forced to redesign the tailhook, and said Wednesday that the naval version of the advanced jet—known as the F-35C—was "on schedule and progressing well for sea trials" after a test plane successfully landed 36 times with the new version during trials on land.

The problems with the tailhook and a pricey new pilot helmet become symbolic of broader issues with the F-35 program as the complexity of trying to develop three different models simultaneously with a high level of shared parts led to a cascade of technical problems and cost overruns.


more: Wall Street Journal
 
If this does come about, wouldn't this also mean less JSF's for the air groups of Italy's 2 aircraft carriers, Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi?

Defense News

Italian Lawmakers Consider New Cuts to JSF Purchase
Feb. 9, 2014 - 10:47AM  |  By TOM KINGTON

ROME — Eight months after the Italian parliament suspended new orders of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), members of the country’s biggest political party may try to halve the total purchase.

A source within the center-left Democratic Party said the members were preparing a policy document for approval in parliament which could seek to cut Italy’s planned purchase of JSFs from 90 to around 45
.
The country has already reduced its total buy from the originally planned 131 aircraft.

But a second source said that debate inside the party is still continuing, and that the final document may merely threaten a cut if Italy does not obtain better conditions on the U.S.-led program.

Both sources said the document — which could be ready this month — would strive to make Italy invest in the multirole, ground attack version of the Eurofighter. Italy, a partner in the Lockheed Martin JSF program, has hitherto shown relatively little interest in the European plane.

(...)

 
An overview of some major Pacific allies of the US and their plans for F35 acquisitions:

Defense News

All Eyes on F-35
Threats from China Shape Conflicting Priorities Throughout Asia-Pacific

TAIPEI — Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation multirole joint strike fighter has all of the problems one could expect from a program with 11 total partner/participant nations: cost overruns, technical difficulties, espionage, delays and persistent rumors of desertion by various members.

Pentagon cost-cutters might be forced to save the F-35 program by wounding others, which could mean the defunding of the US Air Force’s combat avionics programmed extension suite (CAPES) program to upgrade radars and avionics on 300 F-16 fighter jets, and the end of production for Boeing’s F/A-18E Super Hornet.

“We really need [CAPES],” said Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, commander of US Pacific Air Forces, in an interview. “I will tell you that as we looked at trying to make decisions, there were cases where to keep the new procurement systems like the F-35 and KC-46 [aerial refueling plane] on track … we may have to slow the upgrades on some of our legacy platforms to make sure we get the proper investment in procuring the new systems, i.e. the F-35.”

Despite these issues, Asia-Pacific nations appear set on procuring the single-engine stealth fighter for a variety of reasons: as a guarantor of interoperability with US forces; a hedge against the rise of China’s military and its own stealth fighters, the J-20 and J-31; and fears the US is losing its security grip on the Asia-Pacific region as China continues to push forward on plans to dominate its near seas and break through the first island chain into the Pacific.

“China has turned into Lockheed’s greatest salesman ever,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis with the Virginia-based Teal Group.

The Chinese military’s aggressive posturing and the leadership’s rhetoric, coupled with the Chinese Air Force’s and Navy’s somewhat premature efforts to field stealth fighters and an aircraft carrier, have highlighted East Asian interest in fifth-generation fighters
.




Australia

Following earlier signs that Australia might reduce its F-35 order, the government is expressing growing confidence in the program. In December, the program achieved a milestone with the transition of the first aircraft from the electronic mate and assembly system to the final assembly line at Fort Worth, Texas.

Australia’s first two F-35s, AU-1 and AU-2, are currently being assembled in Fort Worth and deliveries are scheduled for this year, said Eric Schnaible, F-35 international communications manager.

The milestone increased confidence in Australian military circles that the New Air Combat Capability program will deliver under the latest deadline. The combat capability program was created in 1999 to find a replacement for Australia’s F/A-18 Hornet and the now-retired F-111.

Still, Australia has only two F-35As on order, both of which are due to go to the international F-35 training center being established at Arizona’s Luke Air Force Base next January.

There, they will be used to train the initial cadre of Australian pilots before delivery to Williamtown Royal Australian Air Force base in late 2018.


This is a relatively disappointing number, as Australia is the only partner nation involved in the development of the F-35 with Lockheed. The only other nation in the region that comes close is Singapore, which is a participant nation.

A further 12 aircraft have been committed to, commencing with low-rate initial production lot 10 (LRIP-10) in mid-2015. But if the Hornet is to be retired on schedule, three squadrons and a training unit are required by the end of 2022. This will require purchasing 72 aircraft, with a further decision to be made sometime in the next decade on a final batch of 28 to replace Australia’s newer F/A-18F Super Hornets.

“The next lots deliver in LRIP-10 [eight aircraft for delivery in 2018] and LRIP-11 [four aircraft for delivery in 2019],” Schnaible said. “The Australian government reaffirmed its commitment to procuring up to 100 aircraft.”

The Royal Australian Air Force will submit its recommended purchase profile for government consideration early this year, with a decision expected around April. Options include a single tranche of 72 aircraft or a phased approach, which will require a series of government approvals.

“The hardest part of the F-35A is not the development program, it is getting a competent workforce to be able to operate an F-35A. The critical aspect is actually the pilot and maintenance training,” said Air Marshal Geoff Brown, Australia’s Air Force chief. “If we go for one tranche, we will better be able to plan out the retirement of the ‘classic’ F/A-18A/B [Hornet] and the transition of those personnel.”

Japan
If one country in the region has been shaken to the core by Chinese military activity in the East China Sea, it’s Japan.

China declared an air defense identification zone effective Nov. 23 over a group of disputed islands. The announcement took Tokyo and the US by surprise, as leaders in both countries breathed in details of the new identification zone map that overlapped Japan’s and covered the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which China claims as its own.

Despite a 2011 decision by Tokyo to procure the F-35A to replace its 1960s-era F-4EJ Kai Phantoms, Japan has made little progress on a buy that would include 28 to 42 fighter jets by 2021.

Lockheed’s Schnaible said that for Japan, “contractual agreements were completed, and we’re progressing toward the construction of their final assembly and check out facility.”

Under a June foreign military sales agreement with the US, Japan committed to purchase the first four F-35As at US $124 million each, when the exchange rate was 82 yen to the dollar. Since then, the yen’s value has fluctuated between 95 and 105 to the dollar.

The price of the first two fighters climbed to ¥29.9 billion, and the cost for the next four for fiscal 2014 has risen to ¥63.8 billion, representing a price of nearly 160 billion yen per fighter.

Added to this are plant and tooling-up costs as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Mitsubishi Electric and IHI establish assembly and production lines. Japan plans to assemble 38 F-35s in country.

Bearing in mind the rising costs of the F-35 program, the Defense Ministry is still figuring out what it can do about the long-term replacement of about 200 F-15J and 90 F-2 fighters.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that the MoD still purchases fighters based on an annual budget, meaning that it cannot lock in a price.

“The first four Japanese F-35A aircraft will be delivered from Lockheed Martin’s aircraft production line in Fort Worth, Texas, beginning in 2016 as part of [LRIP] lot 8,” Schnaible said. “The subsequent deliveries of 38 aircraft, beginning in 2017, will come from MHI’s Nagoya [final assembly and check out facility], which will deliver aircraft exclusively for Japan.”

Despite actions by Lockheed to help lower costs, the Japanese media has come out opposing the F-35A by retelling the classic Japanese victimization story, which is deep in the Japanese psyche, of how Japanese are misled by foreign intruders.

Some in the Japanese military are comparing it to a “bottakuri bar,” in which customers are lured in, only to be charged heavy fees later.

Defense analyst Shinichi Kiyotani said the ministry is being vague about the F-15J replacement program because it genuinely does not know if Japan could afford more F-35s, especially as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and IHI will be assembling and producing parts locally.

Pointing out that locally produced versions of US gear generally cost double their original versions — for example, Kawasaki Heavy Industry’s version of the MCH-101 airborne mine countermeasures helicopter costs about $60 million per unit compared to $30 million for the UK version — Kiyotani said the F-35’s costs could climb.

Singapore
Singapore is a participant nation in the F-35 development program and has special rights to the procurement of the stealth fighter not shared with Japan and South Korea
.


“Singapore joined the F-35 program in 2004 as a security cooperation participant, which has enabled Singapore to receive detailed program status and performance information,” Lockheed’s Schnaible said. “The government of Singapore has not announced their specific F-35 acquisition plans or timelines.”

A decision to procure the F-35 is expected to be made in the immediate future, with the possibility the announcement could come at the Singapore Airshow.

In December, Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen visited Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., where two F-35Bs belonging to the US Marine Corps were on display. Singapore has one squadron of F-16 fighters permanently based at Luke for training. Upon his return to Singapore, Ng said the city-state was considering the F-35 to replace its F-16s, but was in no hurry.

On Jan. 14, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced the decision to sell Singapore a program to upgrade 60 F-16C/D models for $2.43 billion. The program would include 70 active electronically scanned array radars.

However, with reports that the CAPES F-16 upgrade program might be defunded by the US military in the fiscal 2015 budget, Singapore could delay a decision on whether it goes with the CAPES framework or chooses the F-16 upgrade program selected by South Korea, which includes the Northrop Grumman scalable agile beam radar with BAE Systems as the integrator.

If the F-16 upgrade plan falls apart, Singapore could go forward more quickly with the procurement of the F-35.

South Korea
South Korea is moving forward on its initial purchase of 40 F-35A fighters amid growing worries over stories about the fifth-generation fighter’s technical glitches.


The country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff met Nov. 22 in Seoul and formally approved an updated set of required operational capabilities for its F-X III competition, Lockheed’s Schnaible said.

“The [Joint Chiefs] also announced a plan to move forward with an initial procurement of 40 aircraft with deliveries from 2018-2021, followed up with a possible order of 20 more aircraft in the 2023-2024 timeframe,” he said.

The updated requirements state that South Korea needs an aircraft with “the most advanced stealth capabilities possible.”

South Korea was planning to buy 60 F-15 Silent Eagle fighters from Boeing to replace its aging fleet of F-4 Phantoms and F-5 Tigers. But citing stealth as the priority, the military decided to procure the F-35A. However, due to the higher costs, South Korea could afford only 40.

“The F-35A is available to meet the Republic of Korea’s 2018 delivery requirements and is offered in a Block 3F configuration,” Schnaible said. “Korea’s acquisition process, however, first requires a feasibility study to approve this new acquisition plan before the F-35 can be formally source-selected through their acquisition board.”

In terms of interoperability with the regional and US military’s F-35s, “I think the F-35 decision for the Koreans was the right one,” Carlisle said. “Purchasing the same fifth-generation advanced capability will pay great dividends for the Koreans.”

However, some in South Korea’s defense establishment are not sold on the F-35. Kim Dae-young, a research member of the Korea Defense and Security Forum, is skeptical about the plane’s technical problems.

“The F-35 technical glitches are not expected to affect the deal set for the third quarter immediately,” Kim said. “But if the technical problems are raised continuously, we can’t rule out the possibility that the Korean government may delay the deal or have a second thought on the procurement of the F-35, especially when the public sentiment on the Lockheed Martin jet is getting worse.”

Taiwan
Though Taiwan has a fighter requirement that includes fifth-generation jets, the US appears reluctant to sell the self-governing island new fighters, despite repeated requests since 2006 for 66 F-16C/Ds.

Taiwan officials must contemplate a reversal of a decision to upgrade its remaining fleet of 146 F-16A/B fighters under the US Air Force’s CAPES program, as news spreads that CAPES could be defunded in the next Pentagon budget.


In the past, Taiwan has voiced interest in the F-35B, a short takeoff and vertical landing version of the fighter, to cope with the projected destruction of conventional runways by China’s arsenal of 1,300 short-range ballistic missiles aimed at the island.

In 2002, Taiwan submitted a letter of intent for a briefing on future price and availability data for the F-35. In the letter, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office requested data for 120 F-35B aircraft. The office is Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington.

The letter said China’s missiles threatened Taiwan’s air superiority.

“The primary purpose of this acquisition is to provide a credible response capability in the event that our air bases become non-functional due to initial air, missile and special operations force attack,” the letter said.

In 2004, Taiwan military sources indicated a bolder request was made for 60 F-35Bs and 150 F-35A conventional fighters. The F-35B would help to overcome the damage caused to runways by China’s missiles in case of an attack.

Ed Ross, a former principal director of Security Cooperation Operations at DSCA, said he doubted the US would risk selling Taiwan the F-35 due to concerns over technology theft by China. Ross also cited the betterment of cross-Strait relations between Beijing and Taipei as another reason the US would be wary of selling them to Taiwan. ■

Nigel Pittaway in Melbourne, Jung Sung-ki in Seoul, Paul Kallender-Umezu in Tokyo and Aaron Mehta in Washington contributed to this report.
 
little bit old of a video but still a goodie for the upgrade to the super hornet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inN8zSrr8OA
 
From Reuters: F-35: UK, LRIP 9, Canada mentioned at end of quote (usual copyright disclaimer):

UK F-35 order seen next month, U.S. orders seen down: sources

Britain is still expected to order 14 F-35 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp although the $5 billion deal may not be finalized until next month, several sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The UK deal, which includes fuel, hangars, training and operational support for the jets, was initially expected this week but British authorities put off the announcement to avoid overlapping with the release of a major assessment of weapons systems by Britain's National Audit Office, the sources said.

A spokesman for Britain's Ministry of Defense said the agency expected "an announcement relating to future investment" in the F-35 program soon. "It is not appropriate to comment on speculation while negotiations are ongoing," he said.

The United States is counting on orders from Britain and other countries that helped pay for development of the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to offset a series of delays in U.S. orders caused by mounting pressure on military spending.

The U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps had been slated to order a total of 42 jets in fiscal 2015, which begins October 1, up from 29 in fiscal 2014. But mandatory budget cuts will force the Pentagon to scale back those orders once again, according to the sources.

Several sources said they expected the fiscal 2015 budget request to call for three to six fewer F-35s than expected.

The Pentagon's top arms buyer Frank Kendall told reporters at the Singapore air show earlier Tuesday that tighter budgets would force tough decisions about research and procurement, but the F-35 fighter and other key arms programs remained a top priority...

Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Japan and Israel are also ordering F-35 fighters in fiscal 2015 as part of the ninth batch of jets to be built. Turkey is expected to order two jets in coming weeks.

U.S. and foreign orders were initially expected to swell the ninth batch of jets to a new high around 70 planes, but the number will likely come in closer to 65, said one of the sources who was not authorized to speak publicly...

Canada was initially slated to order 4 F-35s as part of the ninth production batch, but officials are rethinking the decision after procurement controversies. Ottawa has also been talking with the makers of four other fighters, including Boeing Co and Dassault Aviation .

Canada is wrestling with the need to extend the service life of the aging fleet of F/A-18A fighters that it bought from Boeing in the early 1980s.

Ottawa is expected to decide in coming weeks whether to proceed with an F-35 order or launch a fresh competition...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-lockheed-fighter-britain-20140211,0,397938.story

LRIP 8 looks like 35 so almost doubling of production next lot with many more non-US--US gov't doc:
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=0f7413f0ea9d59f4c934a71c08447485

But LockMart says 43--p. 3 here:
https://www.f35.com/assets/uploads/downloads/13567/f-35fast_factsjanuary2014_2.pdf

Anyone know exact situation?  LockMart lists Italy, Israel, Japan in LRIP 8 but Reuters puts them in 9--have they been moved from 8?

Mark
Ottawa
 
Gen. Michael Hostage, head of USAF Air Combat Command, says the F-35 is irrelevant without the F-22 to fight the air-to-air battle.  Does this mean anything for Canada?
… the current upgrade programs to the F-22 I put easily as critical as my F-35 fleet. If I do not keep that F-22 fleet viable, the F-35 fleet frankly will be irrelevant. The F-35 is not built as an air superiority platform. It needs the F-22. Because I got such a pitifully tiny fleet, I’ve got to ensure I will have every single one of those F-22s as capable as it possibly can be.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20140202/NEWS04/302020005/Air-Combat-Command-s-challenge-Buy-new-modernize-older-aircraft
 
MCG said:
Gen. Michael Hostage, head of USAF Air Combat Command, says the F-35 is irrelevant without the F-22 to fight the air-to-air battle.  Does this mean anything for Canada?http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20140202/NEWS04/302020005/Air-Combat-Command-s-challenge-Buy-new-modernize-older-aircraft

Sounds like he is complaining about lack of F-22s rather then the F-35s capabilities. Does the US really need more Raptors?
 
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