www.portierramaryaire.com

US lawmakers permit US Air Force to acquire F-35A test aircraft

"The fiscal year (FY) 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which became law on 1 January 2021, allows the US Air Force (USAF) to utilise, modify, and operate six Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) conventional variant test assets.

This is subject to written approval by the Secretary of Defence, currently Christopher Miller. The six F-35A test assets are aircraft AT-1 through to AT-6, which are currently held by the federal government in long-term storage at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California.

The USAF and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) did not return requests for comment prior to publication.

An expert believes this legislation benefits the USAF because it may be able to modify and use these aircraft in situations where using new, operational F-35As would be cost-prohibitive. A retired USAF pilot, who was given anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to reporters, told Janes on 4 January that these situations include exercises and maintenance training.

They also include using the aircraft to experiment with new technologies or to train new test pilots. Using test aircraft in these situations would be much cheaper than using “full-up” F-35As, the retired pilot said.

These original test aircraft are in long-term storage because they are the oldest version of the F-35 and do not resemble the current A-model versions. These test assets have older avionics and test instrumentation, for example, and thus have very limited utility in their current configuration."

...
NAVY

Lockheed Martin Corp., a Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $13,125,284 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00001) to previously awarded contract N00019-20-C-0052. This modification exercises an option to procure continued maintenance and sustainment operation support for Norway Italy Reprogramming Laboratory systems and consumables in support of the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft for the governments of Norway and Italy. Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and is expected to be completed in December 2022. Non-Department of Defense participant funds currently obligated on this contract in the amount of $4,214,678 will be realigned at the time of award to fund this effort, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
...

...
Jan. 8, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak
An independent academic team will assess how ready the F-35 is for full-rate production, and its findings will be integrated into a new program timeline, the Joint Program Office reported. Jan. 7.
...
Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief Ellen M. Lord, in a December memo, decided to extend the F-35 Operational Test and Evaluation phase past her most recent deadline of March 2021, giving the Joint Program Office until Feb. 28 to come up with a “new acquisition program baseline,” or timetable. That timetable is to be determined in part by an “independent review” entity, or the academic team, the JPO said.
...

champi escribió:Una comisión externa evaluará el estado real del F-35 para pasar a la producción en serie: https://www.airforcemag.com/f-35-readin ... emic-team/

poliorcetes escribió:25k/hora sería una señora bajada. No sé si llegarán a considerar cierta degradación del recubrimiento RAM

What does it mean in real numbers? Today the cost of an A model is projected to be somewhere around $30,000. To give you an idea of a comparison if you did apples to apples with an F-16 Block 50, today will be around $25–26,000 fully loaded cost…

We think that there’s at least another 15 or 20% out of that [F-35] CPFH that we can get out over the next 5 to 10 years when ALIS becomes more mature, when we refine our maintenance standards, when we finally get the global supply team built such that we’re getting parts repaired quick, easier and cheaper. We do honestly believe that we can get 30%, which is 20% on top of the 10% we’ve already taken out on the airplane.

Vorlon escribió:

champi escribió:Una comisión externa evaluará el estado real del F-35 para pasar a la producción en serie: https://www.airforcemag.com/f-35-readin ... emic-team/

Un programa donde deberán aprender lo que no hay que hacer.

No obstante, cifras del 25.000 dólares que serían unos 21.000 euros, no me parecen que las vayan a alcanzar

Serían cifras de un Gripen.

Atticus escribió:

Serían cifras de un Gripen.

Solo si de lo que hablas es de un escuadron de Gripen. ¡Que eso ya lo hemos discutido mucho!

Veranschlagt sind im Entwurf auch die Betriebskosten: 102 Millionen Franken pro Jahr (6 Millionen Franken für den Betrieb von Immobilien inklusive). Die Betriebskosten pro Stunde sind in der Vorlage nicht explizit erwähnt. Diese betragen bei Berücksichtigung der aufgeführten Jahreskosten für Personal (24 Millionen), Instandhaltung (51 Millionen) und Treibstoff (21 Millionen) deutlich mehr, als Saab in früheren ­Präsentationen Journalisten vorlegte. Der Berechnung der Betriebskosten pro Stunde legt die Schweiz eine Flug­betriebszeit von 180 Stunden pro Jahr zugrunde. Bei 22 Gripen ergibt dies Kosten von 24'242 Franken pro Flugstunde. Saab gab anlässlich einer Präsentation in Schweden einen Preis von unter 10'000 Franken an. Hier ergibt sich noch Erklärungsbedarf. (Basler Zeitung)

Teniendo en cuenta los costos anuales enumerados para personal (24 millones), mantenimiento (51 millones) y combustible (21 millones), estos son significativamente más de lo que Saab presentó a los periodistas en presentaciones anteriores. El cálculo de los costos operativos por hora se basa en un tiempo operativo de vuelo de 180 horas por año. Con 22 Gripen, esto da como resultado un coste de 24.242 francos suizos por hora de vuelo.

...
January 12, 2021

BALTIMORE – Jan. 12, 2020 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has received a contract award from Lockheed Martin Corporation to enable new functionality to protect the 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighter. As part of a collaborative arrangement between Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin, the three companies will integrate Northrop Grumman’s AN/ASQ-242 Integrated Communications, Navigation and Identification (ICNI) and BAE Systems’ AN/ASQ-239 Electronic Warfare/Countermeasures (EW/CM) system for optimal operational utility.

“This arrangement allows us to collectively provide enhanced capabilities without compromising the size, weight or power of the aircraft,” said Howard Lurie, vice president, F-35 programs, Northrop Grumman. “We are proud to be a primary partner of the F-35 team, providing our U.S. and allied warfighters superior combat effectiveness.”
...

Por lo que veo, los comentarios dan a entender que no estaba integrado el ICNI (que incluye por ejemplo los enlaces de datos) con el sistema de guerra electrónica. Sin embargo, yo creo que lo que pretende decir la noticia es que se va a llevar a un nivel óptimo.

champi escribió:
En esas patrullas armadas va con el cañón: https://twitter.com/theF35JPO/status/13 ... 3464219649


En tamaño grande: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EriuXTmXYAo ... =4096x4096

En esa foto parece un avión gigantesco, con el EOTS por cabina.