Moderadores: Lepanto, poliorcetes, Edu, Orel
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Activity
- The program completed SDD developmental flight testing on April 11, 2018, after nearly 10 years of flight testing.
- At the completion of Block 3F developmental flight testing in April, the program had 941 open deficiencies – either in work or under investigation. These included 102 Category 1 deficiencies and 839 Category 2 deficiencies.
- The Integrated Test Force (ITF) published their report on Block 3F testing in March 2018. The report documented numerous open deficiencies across the air system in the final version of Block 3F software, 18 of which were designated Category 1. The ITF recommended that the deficiencies be corrected, although the system could proceed into IOT&E.
- As of October 17, 2018, the JPO had collected data and verified performance to close out 475 of 536 (89 percent) contract specifications paragraphs. Additionally, 3,363 of 3,452 (97 percent) success criteria derived from the contract specifications had been completed.
- The program continued to address documented deficiencies in the Block 3F software by developing and flight testing additional software versions, under the nomenclature of Block 30RXX, as part of planned modernization. Throughout CY18, the program developed and tested numerous iterations, including versions 30R00, 30R01, and 30R02, and associated “Quick Reaction Cycle” versions (e.g., 30R01.02) to correct deficiencies and improve performance.
- The test centers at Edwards AFB, California, and Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland, made plans to transition test aircraft from Block 3F SDD to follow-on modernization. The status and configuration of the 18 developmental test aircraft used for SDD testing as of the end of September 2018 are as follows: 3 were retired, 2 were in storage, 5 were available for flight sciences testing, 5 were continuing missions systems testing, and 3 were returned to the Marine Corps and Navy as operational test aircraft.
- The program and stakeholders reviewed open deficiency reports between May and July, re-categorizing many of the 102 Category 1 deficiencies (as of May 2018) to Category 2, leaving 13 open Category 1 deficiencies for entry into IOT&E, which later became 15.
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Activity
- The F-35A full scale durability test article (AJ-1) completed the third lifetime of testing (one lifetime is 8,000 equivalent flight hours (EFH) on October 17, 2017. The test article was delivered to an inspection facility in June 2018, and is currently undergoing isassembly, inspections, and analysis.
- The program suspended testing of the F-35B ground test article (BH-1) after completing the second lifetime of testing in February 2017. Due to the significant amount of modifications and repairs to bulkheads and other structures, the program declared the F-35B ground test article no longer representative of the wing-carry-through structure in production aircraft, deemed it inadequate for further testing, and canceled the testing of the third lifetime with BH-1. The program secured funding to procure another ground test article, which will be production-representative of Lot 9 and later F-35B aircraft built with a re-designed wing-carry-through structure, but to date does not have the procurement of the test article on contract. The program has not completed durability testing of the aircraft with the new wing-carry-through structure to date.
- The F-35C durability test article (CJ-1) began third lifetime testing on April 4, 2017, and reached 18,792 EFH on April 12, 2018. Testing was stopped at that time following the discovery of more cracking in the Fuselage Station (FS) 518 Fairing Support Frame cracking had been discovered at the end of the second lifetime), requiring repair before additional testing could proceed. After making an estimate for the cost and time to repair or replace the FS 518 Fairing Support Frame, coupled with the need to manage other structural parts that had existing damage (fuel floor segment, FS 450 bulkhead, FS 496 bulkhead, FS 556 bulkhead, and front spar repair) via scheduled inspections, the program determined that the third lifetime testing should be discontinued. The test article was removed from the test fixture in August 2018 and prepped for shipment to the tear down and inspection facility in September. Although the program planned for a third lifetime of testing to accumulate data for life extension, if needed, the program currently has no plans to procure another F-35C ground test article.
Assessment
- For all variants, this testing has led to discoveries requiring repairs and modifications to production designs, some as late as Lot 12 aircraft, and retrofits to fielded aircraft.
- Based on durability testing, the service life of early-production F-35B aircraft is well under the expected service life of 8,000 flight hours, and may be as low as 2,100 flight hours. Fleet F-35B aircraft are expected to start reaching their service life limit in CY26, based on design usage. The JPO will continue to use Individual Aircraft Tracking (IAT) of actual usage to help the Services project changes in timing for required repairs and modifications, and aid in Fleet Life Management.
- For the F-35C, expected service life will be determined from the durability and damage tolerance analysis following tear down.
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Assessment
- Two additional factors caused readiness for the formal start of IOT&E to slip into early December. A Category 1 deficiency associated with blanking of the cockpit displays was discovered in Block 30R02.03 software, causing an additional software patch called 30R02.04 to be developed and tested prior to start of formal IOT&E. Additionally, a fleet-wide grounding in October 2018 to inspect and replace fuel pump tubes in a number of the OT aircraft added to the delay in readiness to start.
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- Sustaining multiple configurations of fielded aircraft (i.e., Block 2B, Block 3F, and the new electronic warfare (EW) system in Lot 11 and later aircraft) while managing a developmental test fleet with updated hardware to support the production of new lot aircraft will be a challenge for the JPO.
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Pre-IOT&E Increment 2: Following approval from DOT&E on March 30, 2018, the JOTT began for-score testing of limited two-ship mission scenarios with Block 3F (30R00) software and Level 2 MDFs. The scenarios included Close Air Support, Reconnaissance, Forward Air Controller-Airborne, Strike Coordination and Armed Reconnaissance, and Combat Search and Rescue, along with ship deployments and weapons delivery events. Some missions were re-flown by the A-10 as part of the planned F-35A and A-10 comparison testing
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Activity
- All three F-35 variants have the GAU-22/A cannon. The F-35A gun is internal; the F-35B and F-35C each use an external gun pod. Differences in the outer mold-line fairing mounting make the gun pods unique to a specific variant (i.e., an F-35B gun pod cannot be mounted on an F-35C aircraft)
- Through July 2018, 19 air-to-ground strafing missions had been completed to assess gun accuracy on the F-35A. Eighteen missions were flown with AF-31 and one mission with AF-80. Over 3,400 rounds were fired using a cross section of rounds, including PGU-23, PGU-47, and PGU-48.
- Through July 2018, 13 air-to-ground strafing missions had been completed using the missionized gun pod; one on BF-15, one on BF-16, six on BF-17, and five on CF-08. Overall, 2,695 rounds were fired using PGU-23 and PGU-32 rounds, including some for assessing accuracy compliance.
- Operational test pilots conducted live firings of the gun against airborne targets, including drones and towed banners, throughout CY18. These firings were often in combination with other weapon demonstration events, such as air-to-air missile employment events.
Assessment
- Based on F-35A gun testing through September 2018, DOT&E currently considers the accuracy of the gun, as installed in the F-35A, to be unacceptable.
- F-35A gun accuracy during SDD failed to meet the contract specification. Although software corrections were made to the F-35 mission systems software to improve the stability of gun aiming cues, no software or hardware corrections have yet been implemented to correct the gun accuracy errors.
- Investigations into the gun mounts of the F-35A revealed misalignments that result in muzzle alignment errors. As a result, the true alignment of each F-35A gun is not known, so the program is considering options for re-boresighting and correcting gun alignments.
- During air-to-air gun testing, F-35A operational test pilots received intermittent “unsafe gun” cockpit alerts while attempting gun attacks. These alerts occurred with two different aircraft; the root cause is under investigation.
- F-35B and F-35C air-to-ground accuracy results to date with the gun pod have been consistent and meet the contract specifications. They do not show the accuracy errors of the internal gun on the F-35A.
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Activity
- The program completed fielding of ALIS 2.0.2.4 in early 2018. Feedback from operational users included:
· The Deployment Planning Tool did not work well or significantly improve the ease of deploying F-35 units.
· Life Limited Parts Management, which includes propulsion data integration and Production Aircraft Inspection Requirements (PAIRs), requires a great deal of time with manual workarounds by maintenance personnel.
- The program rolled the capabilities planned for release in ALIS 2.0.2.5 into the next block of software – ALIS 3.0.1. ALIS 2.0.2.5 was intended to address deficiencies and usability problems, upgrade the browser to Internet Explorer 11, and include a filtering function to decrease false alarms in the Prognostic Health Management (PHM) System, referred to as Advanced Filter and Correlate (AFC).
- The program focused on testing in preparation for fielding ALIS software version 3.0.1 throughout CY18. This version of ALIS software includes the following new major capabilities:
· Support for lightning protection.
· Low Observable Health Assessment System (LOHAS) improvements.
· Security enhancements.
· The first increment of the new Training Management System for tracking maintainer qualifications.
· Improvements to address technical debt and corrections to existing deficiencies.
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Users must deal with pervasive problems with data integrity and completeness on a daily basis. Maintainers frequently have to manually enter missing or incorrect EEL data, which accompany spare parts, so they can be accepted and tracked by an ALIS Standard Operating Unit (SOU) at the squadron and installed on an aircraft. Fixing data in complex EELs, which represent an assembly such as ejection seats, requires a great deal of time from ALIS administrators. EELs problems have many sources, including vendors who have not complied with guidance on creating EELs; a lack of standardization among suppliers, contractors, and field locations for updating EELs; and a lack of automation in the EEL process. Problems with EELs are a top-5 Not Mission Capable (NMC) maintenance driver and a top-10 propulsion degrader for the U.S. Air Force.
· Users lack confidence in some ALIS functionality. For example, the problems noted above have resulted in users maintaining separate databases to track life usage in case PAIRs erroneously generates incorrect data. Users reference the external database created to determine the correct values.
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Assessment
- Cybersecurity testing in 2018 showed that some of the vulnerabilities identified during earlier testing periods still had not been remedied.
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- According to the JPO, the air vehicle is capable of operating for up to 30 days without connectivity to ALIS. In light of current cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities, along with peer and near-peer threats to bases and communications, the F-35 program and Services should conduct testing of aircraft operations without access to ALIS for extended periods of time.
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Activity
- The program continued to deliver aircraft to the U.S. Services, international partners, and foreign military sales throughout CY18 in production Lot 10. As of the end of September, 323 operational aircraft had been produced for the U.S. Services, international partners, and foreign military sales. These aircraft are in addition to the 13 aircraft dedicated to developmental testing.
- As of the end of June, the U.S. fleet of F-35s had accumulated 126,136 flight hours.
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- The fleet-wide monthly availability rate for only the U.S. aircraft, for the 12 months ending August 2018, is below the target value of 60 percent. The DOT&E assessment of the trend shows no evidence of improvement in U.S. fleet wide availability during 2018.
- Aircraft that are not available are designated in one of three status categories: Not Mission Capable for Maintenance (NMC-M), Depot (in the depot for modifications or repairs beyond the capability of unit-level squadrons), and Not Mission Capable for Supply (NMC-S).
· The average monthly NMC-M and Depot rates were relatively stable, with little variability, and near program targets.
· The average monthly NMC-S rate was more variable, and was higher (i.e., worse) than program targets.
· The average monthly utilization rate measures flight hours per aircraft per month. The average utilization rate of flight hours per tail per month increased slightly over previous years, but remains below original Service bed down plans.
· The low utilization rates continue to prevent the Services from achieving their programmed fly rates, which are the basis of flying hour projections and sustainment cost models. As of June 30, 2018, the fleet had flown 126,136 hours. This amounted to 83 percent of an early 2017 “modeled achievable” projection of 152,445 flight hours by the end of June, 2018. Similarly, for the 12 months ending April 2018, the U.S. Services had contracted for 42,836 flight hours, but the U.S. F-35 fleet logged only 33,365 hours, or 78 percent of the contracted amount over this period.
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· For three of the four specification threats, the F-35 variants meet JSF contract specification requirements to enable safe ejection of the pilot in the event of an engagement.
· For two of the four specification threats, the F-35A and F-35C variants meet JSF contract specification requirements to return safely to the Forward Line of Troops (FLOT) following an engagement. The F-35B met the requirements for only one of the four threats.
· All three F-35 variants are less vulnerable to three of the four specification threats than the legacy F-16C aircraft, both for safe ejection and for return to FLOT .
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Recordemos que en el debut en 2017 consiguieron un 20-1 en misiones A-A
DoD to begin negotiations to buy 485 Lockheed Martin F-35s
14 February, 2019
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office intends to solicit and negotiate multiple contracts to buy 485 stealth fighters from Lockheed Martin.
The negotiations are for aircraft to be built as part of production Lots 15, 16 and 17... The contracts would provide for long lead time materials, parts, components, initial spares, and labour, as well as production and testing equipment.
The anticipated award date is in the third quarter of calendar year 2021, the Pentagon says. The notice did not disclose costs and the Joint Programme Office said it wouldn’t speculate about prices during negotiations, though it expects the price of the F-35A to fall. “We are committed to having a less than $80 million F-35A by 2020,” says the office.
Lot 15 would include 116 F-35As, 29 F-35Bs, and 24 F-35Cs; a total of 169 aircraft.
Lot 16 would include 101 F-35As, 32 F-35Bs, 24 F-35Cs; a total of 157 aircraft.
Lot 17 would include 98 F-35As, 37 F-35Bs, and 24 F-35Cs; a total of 159 aircraft.
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... in-455793/
Orel escribió:DoD to begin negotiations to buy 485 Lockheed Martin F-35s
14 February, 2019
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office intends to solicit and negotiate multiple contracts to buy 485 stealth fighters from Lockheed Martin.
The negotiations are for aircraft to be built as part of production Lots 15, 16 and 17... The contracts would provide for long lead time materials, parts, components, initial spares, and labour, as well as production and testing equipment.
The anticipated award date is in the third quarter of calendar year 2021, the Pentagon says. The notice did not disclose costs and the Joint Programme Office said it wouldn’t speculate about prices during negotiations, though it expects the price of the F-35A to fall. “We are committed to having a less than $80 million F-35A by 2020,” says the office.
Lot 15 would include 116 F-35As, 29 F-35Bs, and 24 F-35Cs; a total of 169 aircraft.
Lot 16 would include 101 F-35As, 32 F-35Bs, 24 F-35Cs; a total of 157 aircraft.
Lot 17 would include 98 F-35As, 37 F-35Bs, and 24 F-35Cs; a total of 159 aircraft.
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... in-455793/
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