Norway's first F-35 is lifted by an overhead crane in Lockheed Martin's assembly plant in Fort Worth in April 2015. LOCKHEED MARTIN
Defense One: F-35 Production Set to Quadruple As Massive Factory Retools
After years of delays, the Joint Strike Fighter program is finally ready to hit the afterburner.
FORT WORTH, Texas — As green-skinned, half-assembled F-35 Joint Strike Fighters take shape, this massive factory that once cranked out thousands of World War II bombers is preparing to get real busy again.
F-35 production is slated to hit full steam in 2019, and Lockheed Martin is reshaping its final assembly line to get ready. Not far from the nine assembly stations where the stealthy jets are coming together, wooden walls and plastic sheeting rise dozens of feet to the ceiling, blocking off large portions of the plant where new laser-leveled concrete is being poured. Lowered air pressure behind the screens helps keep dust and debris away from the sensitive airframes. Elsewhere, scaffolding is being erected for seven new assembly stations to come.
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More News On The F-35
F-35 production rate will quadruple by 2019 -- Next Big Future
Did Lockheed Martin's F-35 Stealth Fighter Just Get Cheaper? -- The Motley Fool
Lockheed Martin Gets $1.3 Billion For F-35 Plus-Ups -- Defense News
Air Force test pilot shares if the F-35 or A-10 is better for close air support -- Business Insider
Israel's 'Custom' F-35 Stealth Fighter: A Lethal, High-Tech Wonder Weapon? -- National Interest
Israel starts weapons testing for F-35 Adir -- Flight Global
Maariv: US pledges not to sell F-35 fighter jets to Arab countries -- Middle East Monitor
Canadian bureaucrats gave Liberals different view on F-35 jets immediately after election -- Toronto Star
The RAF and Royal Navy Prepare for the F-35 (Video) -- Second Line of Defense
Could MV-22 Ospreys Really Refuel the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter? -- National Interest
Testimony on the F-35 was all over the place -- Business Insider
USMC Air still living the F-35 lie -- Eric Palmer Blog
A-10 set to be tested against the F-35 in Close Air Support, Search & Rescue...other battlefield tasks.. -- SNAFU!
The F-35 And 21st Century Defence: Shaping A Way Ahead -- Second Line of Defense
7 comments:
This news must hit countries like China and Russia who fancy themselves rivals of the US like navies of the world received the news of the first ironclads meeting in the 1860s, realizing that thier expensive wooden fleets had become obsolete. When the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters becomes deployed in numbers, it will extend the US air wings already large lead over the rest of the world's Air Forces. As they will also be deployed on aircraft carriers, their reach will extend over most of the world. New Russian integrated surface to air defense is lethal to most generation 4 fighters, it is ineffective against stealth aircraft like the F-22 and F-35. Turning on their radar with an F-35 in the area could be lethal to the air defense crew. Naval surface vessels or subs in port will have a short life span. Aircraft will be destroyed in short order if they take flight before they even know they are targeted. On the ground they will be ineffective and slowly destroyed. Ground units will be at the mercy of these US F-35s. US allies like NATO, Japan, and Taiwan will also be flying these fighters and China/Russia will also meet the same fate with them, all be it on a smaller scale. Until new detection systems are created and deployed, this reality will continue.
really? the airplane with less than 4 seconds of machine gun ammo? also with sick pilots because the breathing apparatus is a pos?
4 seconds is enough.
Really. Can't shoot what you can't see, but it can kill you. That's what it is designed to do. The F-35 and F-22, particularly the F-22 with its exhaust vectoring, are the most manuverable fighters in the ski. Even Russia and China's new generation 5 under powered fighters can't maneuver with the American fighters. But though they would be excellent and aerial combat, they are designed to kill at a distance, before the enemy ever knows it's there or sees it coming. So the guns are irrelevant. But if needed there there. This is difficult to accept if you're a Russian or Chinese nationalists, but again it's reality.
All stealth aircraft are visible on K-band radar, and the F-35 in particular, run "hot" in the IR spectrum,
When the F-35 can actually fly.
http://fortune.com/2016/04/28/f-35-fails-testing-air-force/
K-band didn't used to be a problem, because in the past, the wavelength was too wide to guide a missile close enough to target, at BVR ranges. So while you could "see" a stealth aircraft, you couldn't "shoot" it.
The new Russian and Chinese AARAM's and SAM's however, can use K band guidance to get close enough and then their multiple seeker heads "finish" the job.
The Saab Gripen, with it's ESA radar and sensor suite, and integrated datalinks, "see's" an F-35 about 75 miles before the F-35 "see" the Gripen.
"
Saul: I saw you at the paddock... before the second race, outside the men's room when I placed my bet.
Saul: I saw you before you even got up this morning. "
Right now, the Gripen has nothing to "shoot" but the Meteor II will take care of that problem.
Good luck with that.
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