Just so you know what might bring down production rates and bring up costs:
(Reuters) – The U.S. Air Force will have to curtail its orders for Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 fighter jet, restructure a $52 billion tanker deal with Boeing Co and reduce its flying hours by 18 percent if lawmakers do not avert impending across-the-board spending cuts, the service told Congress on Wednesday [Feb. 6]…
The impact of sequestration would be exacerbated, the Air Force said, if Congress did not pass a budget for the current fiscal year and stuck with the stop-gap spending measure currently in place, known as a “continuing resolution,” or CR…
The Air Force said orders for several Lockheed weapons – new missile warning satellites, C-130J transport planes and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter – were already being delayed…
Very relevant:
LockMart on F-35 LRIP 6, 7 [note flat-lining of production numbers for US]
F-35: How Much Less Bang for the Buck (how many?)? [and if production rates go down?]
Mark Collins, a prolific Ottawa blogger, is a Research Fellow at the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute
Meanwhile back in Canada, no shoot:
“Possible cut in U.S. F-35 orders ‘key’ concern for aerospace industry”
http://www.globalnews.ca/possible+cut+in+us+f-35+orders+key+concern+for+aerospace+industry/6442804642/story.html
Then there’s that work the Japanese might snatch:
http://cdfai3ds.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/mark-collins-japan-and-the-f-35-wheres-all-that-work-for-partner-countries/
Mark Collins
Ah, those “economies of scale” (over what budget rainbow?)–LockMart keeps boldly going…the energizer company:
“Lockheed Martin’s top sales guys pitch F-35s in Ottawa; Canuck test pilot says fighter jets have 50 per cent further range than CF-18s [what about Super Hornets, eh?]”
http://www.hilltimes.com/news/politics/2013/02/07/lockheed-martin%E2%80%99s-top-sales-guys-pitch-f-35s-in-ottawa-flynn-says-jet-fighters/33625
Mark Collins
Yet another one of those pesky glitches:
“Pentagon Mulls Restoring F-35 Safety Gear to Reduce Risk”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-07/pentagon-mulls-restoring-f-35-safety-gear-to-reduce-risk.html
All about weight:
http://cdfai3ds.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/mark-collins-f-35-how-much-less-bang-for-the-buck-how-many/comment-page-1/#comment-339
Mark Collins
More from LockMart on an important matter–and some disputation, at Flightglobal (lengthy piece with lots more links):
‘IN FOCUS: Lockheed claims F-35 kinematics ‘better than or equal to’ Typhoon or Super Hornet
Lockheed Martin is claiming that all three versions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will have kinematic performance better than or equal to any combat-configured fourth-generation fighter. The comparison includes transonic acceleration performance versus an air-to-air configured Eurofighter Typhoon and high angle-of-attack flight performance vis-à-vis the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet…
But the Lockheed claims are strongly disputed by other sources, including one veteran Super Hornet test pilot with thousands of hours in that aircraft. “These claims are technically inaccurate from my point of view as a professional test pilot,” he says. “An aircraft with small control surfaces intended for stealth cannot produce such fantastical results in maneuverability; a little wing cannot produce a lot of lift period.”..’
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/in-focus-lockheed-claims-f-35-kinematics-better-than-or-equal-to-typhoon-or-super-hornet-382078/
Read on.
Mark Collins
As for Typhoon:
“Typhoon test pilot responds to Lockheed F-35 claims, Northrop adds ground fire detection capability to DAS cameras
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2013/02/typhoon-test-pilot-responds-to.html
Mark Collins