Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning and F-22 'Raptor' : News & Discussion

SNAFU!: F-35A price soars for Japan...

The estimated per-plane cost to Japan of acquiring a single US F-35A stealth fighter soared by about 53 percent to US$137.6 million (14.7 billion yen) in FY 2017 from an estimated US$90 million (9.6 billion yen) in FY 2012, according to a report by the Asahi Shimbun.​
No rant. I just wish someone somewhere could give me a no bullshit price for this jet.​
You can do all the Google searches in the world and you're just gonna be caught in a hall of mirrors.​
Some say its dropping, others say its rising...the public is just left confused.​
Well done Program Office.​
With your accounting practices no one has any real idea how much this plane costs.​

Whenever anyone gives you a price for the F-35, remember that it's a bullshit price. Lockheed Martin and the JPO are doing everything they can to make it look smaller than it really is. To that end, since all export sales are negotiated through the US Foreign Military Sales system, they may even subsidize the first few, then recouping on auxiliary systems and on the next sales.
 
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Lockheed Not Cooperating Enough On F-35 Contract: Vice Adm. Winter

Perhaps the most ground-shaking news of the press briefing today is that the program will, with Lot 11, put concurrency behind it. The program will no longer be building, testing and fixing aircraft all at the same time, Winter said. Last week an audit of production was finished, setting a production design standard. “Concurrency will be over,” he said.

Lockheed Not Cooperating Enough On F-35 Contract: Vice Adm. Winter

Whaoooo! the end of concurrency!!!
 
None of you could become pilot so now discussing about planes :p

If all the posters start discussing only those points which they could do, then imagine what would be your posts.........

Do not troll unnecessarily
 
If all the posters start discussing only those points which they could do, then imagine what would be your posts.........

Do not troll unnecessarily

Oh bhai I know you since pdf days lol so I know things ;)
did they ban you?
please move it to members corner.
 
SNAFU!: F-35A price soars for Japan...

The estimated per-plane cost to Japan of acquiring a single US F-35A stealth fighter soared by about 53 percent to US$137.6 million (14.7 billion yen) in FY 2017 from an estimated US$90 million (9.6 billion yen) in FY 2012, according to a report by the Asahi Shimbun.​
No rant. I just wish someone somewhere could give me a no bullshit price for this jet.​
You can do all the Google searches in the world and you're just gonna be caught in a hall of mirrors.​
Some say its dropping, others say its rising...the public is just left confused.​
Well done Program Office.​
With your accounting practices no one has any real idea how much this plane costs.​

Whenever anyone gives you a price for the F-35, remember that it's a bullshit price. Lockheed Martin and the JPO are doing everything they can to make it look smaller than it really is. To that end, since all export sales are negotiated through the US Foreign Military Sales system, they may even subsidize the first few, then recouping on auxiliary systems and on the next sales.

The aircraft has to hit FRP with IOC aircraft before we know the actual price.
 
F-35C Under pression by the f-18 Super Hornet BlockIII:

""The initial focus of this program will extend the life of the fleet from 6,000 to 9,000 flight hours,” said Mark Sears, SLM program director. “But SLM will expand to include Block II to Block III conversion."
http://boeing.mediaroom.com/2018-03-01-Boeing-Receives-U-S-Navy-Contract-to-Modernize-F-A-18-Super-Hornet-Fleet


"In fiscal 2016, Congress approved 12 when none were requested and another dozen when the administration only asked for two the following year. Even this year, Congress tacked 10 more on to the original 14 Super Hornets requested."
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/big-military-budget-refuels-st-louis-built-super-hornet/article_50cac932-0c7e-5fa7-910f-3618aeec8a0a.html


"Following Trump's praise of the F-18, the Navy said in its fiscal 2019 budget outline that it plans to buy 110 Super Hornets over the next five years. Those jets won't completely erase the need for the F-35 -- the Navy wants to buy nearly 200 F-35s for it and the Marine Corps during the same period -- but contentious discussions could limit the fighter's upside.

Given that the F-35 already accounts for more than 25% of Lockheed sales, and that that percentage is expected to only rise in the future, this sort of uncertainty makes shares of Lockheed Martin less appealing than those of rivals like Raytheon or General Dynamics. "

Pentagon Gets Antsy Over Pace of Lockheed Martin F-35 Negotiations
 
Sigh, they need hornets for the tanking capability. 6 hornets lifespan per year are used on tanking duties alone.
 
please quote a source for this. as of now the numbers are not even close.
how is it not close? we're still in LRP. I think Lot 12 is like 100+ planes? That's not too far off given that development will only finish this year.

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Peak production capacity for the F-35 based on current supply chain is probably 250. Italy can pump 3 a month if ABSOLUTE needed. Japan is probably capped at 1.5-2 a month.
 
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F-35 Finally Can Use All Its Weapons In Combat

Mar 5, 2018 Lara Seligman | Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
The newest U.S. Air Force F-35s, both stateside at Hill AFB, Utah, and overseas in the Pacific, finally can employ the stealth fighter’s full suite of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons in combat.
The F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) has delivered the flight clearances, simulators, threat information, and logistics system required for the Air Force’s F-35As equipped with the latest software load to employ all of its weapons throughout the full flight envelope, according to the JPO, Lockheed Martin and Air Force officials.
This milestone gives the Block 3F-configured F-35As assigned to the 34th Fighter Squadron stationed at Hill and those forward-deployed to Kadena Air Base, Japan—on North Korea’s doorstep—some lethal capabilities. The aircraft now can fire Raytheon’s short-range AIM-9X Sidewinder missile, the GAU-22 25mm gun, and Boeing’s precision-guided Small Diameter Bomb, all while flying up to 9Gs at 1.6 Mach.
The F-35A touched down in Kadena for its first operational deployment to the Pacific in November, a highly anticipated milestone that underlines the U.S. military’s commitment to allies in the region amid tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
The “Rude Rams” F-35As join the “Green Knights” F-35Bs of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121, which is permanently stationed at Iwakuni, Japan, significantly increasing the number of stealth F-35s in the region.
The 12 F-35As from Hill will be deployed to Kadena until May, a six-month rotation, as part of U.S. Pacific Command’s theater security package.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Marine Corps short takeoff, vertical-landing F-35B and U.S. Navy F-35C carrier variant configured with the 3F software will be able to deploy with their full operational capability in May and June, respectively, F-35 Program Executive Officer (PEO) Vice Adm. Mat Winter said during a Feb. 28 media roundtable. For the F-35Cs, this means the aircraft will be able to deploy Raytheon’s AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) in combat and fly to 1.3 Mach.
There is one caveat—the final 3F simulator capability has been broken into two releases, Lockheed’s Executive Vice President for Aeronautics Orlando Carvalho said in a March 5 interview. The first release has been delivered for the 3F F-35As, he said.
Even though the F-35’s long development phase finally is drawing to a close, the JPO and Lockheed will continue working to modernize the aircraft with an updated threat library, logistics system and simulators, Winter said.
“We have warfighting capability today that is effective against the current threats and the ability to fight the fight for our U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force,” Winter said. “Is that good enough? It is absolutely effective and good enough for today, but as we look from our intelligence reports and the threat growth in 2025 [we must] ensure that we stay ahead of that growing threat so that the F-35 air system will remain technologically advanced on the battlefield well into the [century].”

3F is done.