However, he did say that the 13 flaws were all already well-known, and their solutions would be introduced into all the planes built from 2014.
This is possibly a more likely result.
However, he did say that the 13 flaws were all already well-known, and their solutions would be introduced into all the planes built from 2014.
6 comments:
The REALLY troubling part of this QLR report is that there are so many (what I would consider Major) problems that are going to take so long (in the future schedule) to test to even see if the fixes are going to work! When are we going to cut bait and minimize our losses?
The tail hook design sounds like pre-WWII cut & try engineering. One can merely look at the position of the hook vis-a-vis the main gear and note that there is something strange there.
Well, the good news for the proF35 crowd was that the QLR didn't recommend outright cancellation. I guess they have to take their victories where they can.
The growing problem is that you are in a vicious cycle of changes/mods when so much of the testing hasn't been started like AoA, weapons,....there is still a lot of ground testing that hasn't been finished....So LMT has to make changes when further down the road they will find out (more than likely) that they need to make even more changes, like that's not doing to add more delay to the right and require more money...
I was disappointed to hear that the IPP wasn't working out so well. Up until now, I thought that the IPP was one of the brighter points of the program. Now we find out that they are having reliability problems and that is seems that it is more complicated to replace than a freaking F135.
Notice how proF35 crowd is trying to bury that little blurb about some "classified" issue...not that it really matters since the freaking helmet is a dude so that whole 5th gen networking/DAS looks like a waste...
Can't wait for a F35 to show up here at LUKE AF and watch it melt when he hit 118*F becaue it seems that LMT still has a small issue with heat disposal....
Nothing to worry about though since we all know that everthing will be fixed by 2014!
The attached links further demonstrate in so many ways the level of engineering and programmatic incompetence exhibited by Lockmart and the JSF Program to date.
That the "Quick Report" findings should be released just about the time the last Raptor rolls off the production line puts into serious doubt the future of US air power.
Considering that the SECDEF recently stated that he still supports the F-35 seems to indicate that at a rarefied and senior level the JSF still is considered the future for the US and her allies. This attitude is simply baffling with these recent revelations.
Going forward into 2012 with the now accelerated level of flight testing of the F-35 and the aforementioned and numerous serious design flaws, one has to wonder how long it will take before this plane starts killing test pilots?
Meanwhile as a backdrop to the dysfunctional JSF, in China the 60th successful test flight of the J-20 occurred, and in Russia the first weapons/systems PAK-FA flew with a second scheduled to fly mid-year.
The clock of US air superiority is ticking down along with all those nations that have decided to partner in what has become the laughing stock of the military aerospace world, the F-35.
Tick, tick, tick, tick.....
To Cocidius:
Where did you get the info about PAKFA already looking into weapons testing? Got a link? Can't seem to find anything about that. Thanks.
Nico:
Sorry - no weapons testing yet, just the first aircraft with full systems and weapons capable.
Prototypes T-50-3 and T-50-4 will both fly with the Tikhomirov NIIP N035-01-01 AESA, and the full 101KS electro-optical suite of sensors.
Two new AAM's are in development for the internal weapons bays of the T-50 and are scheduled to come on line sometime around 2014.
T-50-3 looks quite different then the other prototypes with a nose ready for the large new AESA. Note the now functional IRST and a good shot of the moving LEX in the attached photo:
http://www.knaapo.ru/rus/popup.wbp?picpath=/media/rus/gallery/aircrafts/combat/t-50-3_1st_flight/t-50-3_21_big.jpg
Here's a youtube video of the latest test flight of the J-20 with a nice look at the various control surfaces and the aircraft in reheat on take off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE9KSihpIPk&feature=player_embedded&noredirect=1
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