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F-35 News
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US should consider F-35 fighter cuts - study
Lockheed Martin | Jun 21, 2007
WASHINGTON: The United States should consider slashing the number of Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 fighter aircraft it plans to buy, largely because it does not have the reach needed to fight well in Asia, a leading military research group said in a report Wednesday.
The private Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments voiced fears the F-35, the Pentagon's costliest arms acquisition ever, might crowd out what it called needed investments in longer-range strike capabilities.
"China in particular has the strategic depth to locate key facilities beyond the reach of short-range systems," said the study titled U.S. Fighter Modernization Plans: Near-term Choices.
Currently, the radar-evading F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, or JSF, is at the heart of plans for modernizing U.S. air power. At $299 billion for 2,443 aircraft to be produced through 2034, it is designed to replace the F-16 and a range of other aircraft.
Acquiring so many F-35s "now seems neither affordable nor needed, and the U.S. buy can probably be reduced by as much as 50 percent without driving unit costs through the roof or abandoning close allies," the study said.
Eight countries -- Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway -- have joined the United States to fund development of the F-35.
The chief reason to consider cuts is the short range of all three models being built -- conventional for the Air Force; a short take-off, vertical landing one for the Marine Corps; and a carrier-borne version for the Navy's aircraft carriers, the study's authors said.
Even with the addition of external fuel tanks and radar- evading standoff munitions, the F-35's unrefueled reach is unlikely to extend beyond 1,500 nautical miles, the study said.
U.S. strike aircraft setting out from Kadena Air Force Base on Japan's Okinawa Island would have to fly some 1,600 nautical miles to reach Jiuquan, site of China's first spaceport, on the southern edge of the Gobi Desert. All but 200 miles of this distance would be through Chinese air space, the study said.
Responding to Beijing's Jan. 11 demonstration of an antisatellite weapon, Pentagon officials have voiced concerns about the vulnerability of U.S. eyes and ears in space.
"What Jiuquan does illustrate is just how deep inside China some of the targets are located that the United States might wish to hold at risk for purposes of dissuasion and deterrence," the study said.
The report was written by Steve Kosiak, a defense budget expert, and Barry Watts, the Pentagon's director of program analysis and evaluation from May 2001 to June 2002.
They said there was "reason to worry that the JSF's funding requirements will crowd out future investment in long-range strike capabilities," given scare Air Force procurement dollars.
The authors did not make specific proposals for restructuring the F-35 program. Instead, they hoped to spark debate over the aircraft, which flew for the first time in December and is due to be delivered to U.S. forces starting in 2010.
Cheryl Limrick, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon's F-35 program office, said it would be inappropriate to comment on the report. A Lockheed Martin F-35 spokesman did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
Key F-35 subcontractors include Northrop Grumman Corp. and BAE Systems Plc. Interchangeable engines are being built by United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney unit, on the one hand, and a team of General Electric Co. and Britain's Rolls-Royce Plc, on the other.
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F-35 Lightning II Pushing Ahead on All Fronts
Lockheed Martin | Jun 21, 2007
With 11 test aircraft on the assembly line, nine nations signed onto the program's production and sustainment phase, one aircraft deep into flight testing and another nearing completion, the F-35 Lightning II program is meeting its schedule and budget targets, and is on track to begin deliveries to the armed services in 2010.
"The Lightning II is a sophisticated machine and the program is extraordinarily complex, but the absolute commitment demonstrated by our international team is driving success after success, from the aircraft's first flight last December to the phenomenal accuracy and quality shown in the manufacturing process," said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager of F-35 program integration. "We're proud that these and other remarkable achievements are the result of a global effort from our friends all over the world."
The first F-35, a conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, has completed 19 test flights to date and has shown unusually high reliability for a first-article aircraft. The second F-35, a short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) version, is on schedule for completion later this year and flight testing in 2008.
Assembly quality of the first two aircraft already is surpassing that of fighters whose production processes are mature. Critical Design Review (CDR) for the carrier variant, designed for the catapult launches and arrested landings of a large aircraft carrier, is under way. CDRs for the CTOL and STOVL variants were completed successfully in 2006 and underscored the F-35's design maturity. Software development, historically a challenge on highly complex aircraft like the Lightning II, remains on track six years into the F-35's System Development and Demonstration phase.
In late 2006 and early 2007, all of the F-35 partner nations signed an agreement to extend their participation into the program's Production, Sustainment and Follow-On Development phase. Those countries are the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway. Each country is involved in the design and production of the F-35.
Funding for the first two production-model Lightning IIs is approved, parts fabrication for these aircraft is under way and component assembly will begin later in 2007. The pair of F-35A aircraft are the first of 1,763 scheduled for delivery to the U.S. Air Force, beginning in 2010. The U.S. Marine Corps and Navy together are planning to operate 680 F-35Bs and F-35Cs, and the United Kingdom plans to place 138 F-35Bs into service with the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. The remaining F-35 participant countries plan to acquire from 600 to 700 aircraft, and further international sales are expected to create a demand for hundreds more Lightning IIs.
The F-35 is a supersonic, multi-role, 5th generation stealth fighter designed to replace a wide range of existing aircraft, including AV-8B Harriers, A-10s, F-16s, F/A-18 Hornets and United Kingdom Harrier GR.7s and Sea Harriers.
Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 Lightning II with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Two separate, interchangeable F-35 engines are under development: the Pratt & Whitney F135 and the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team F136.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2006 sales of $39.6 billion.
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Acquiring so many F-35s "now seems neither affordable nor needed, and the U.S. buy can probably be reduced by as much as 50 percent without driving unit costs through the roof or abandoning close allies," the study said.
Corta-se a produção em 50% e os custos mantêm-se baixos
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