F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base 2014 Highlights 

Makai Laititi No F-35 fighters lost in flight. The only major incident was that engine fire last year while it was on the ground. None of the previous 4th generation fighters or the F-22 have fared as well.

+zoobyzoob It was.

***** Why would we bother? We have a far more superior aircraft in the Typhoon? And that can swing roles mid sortie from A2A to GA / CAS. The F35B is what we have chosen for specific roles for our multi-role carriers (think Harrier) and we will fly them alongside the Typhoon. Two are already over in the USA testing Link 16 data systems and other interop. functions. F35 can do many things but to think its an air superiority fighter is stretching imagination. But then we have seen YOUR imagination at work haven't we? And I have had the pleasure of knocking you down every time. Got any more 'creative thoughts'?

***** Oh dear oh dear... Look let me help you with your spelling. See the aircraft retiring in 2019 is the T O R N A D O. Not the T Y P H O O N. (I know spelling can be a bastard..) But anyway there we are. Oh and in the same piece: archive.defensenews.com/article/20141003/DEFREG01/310030034/To-Boost-Strike-Force-UK-Delays-Retiring-Jets You will notice that today some 100 Tornados are in service, including about 46 in the forward fleet and available for operations. That sort of makes a mockery of you and your best mate Muppet saying there are just 16. Once again I have knocked you down without even trying and just using your Yank ignorance! As always you're just a Yank fuckwit gobbing off about us Brits and talking utter shite. But it gets better... Part II follows...

***** Now what was it you just said? Oh yes..... "Knocked me down in your dreams maybe". Quote: "Can't use meteor" Wrong: Upgrade started June 2013. Part of the Phase 1 Enhancements B (P1EB) package being rolled out since May 2014. www.gov.uk/government/news/raf-typhoons-to-get-weapons-upgrade Quote: "Can't use AIM-120" WRONG: This missile has been part of the FGR4 upgrade since 2008. www.raf.mod.uk/equipment/amraam.cfm Quote: "Can't use Brimstone" WRONG: Already fitted and trialled under final integration as part of Tranche 3 manufacture. Awaiting Brimstone 2 upgrades to replace Dual Mode Brimstone as fitted to Tornado. www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/typhoon-tries-brimstone-2-missiles-for-size-407154/ Quote: "Can't use Stormshadow " Not 'Can't'; 'its no need to' and 'will' as Storm Shadow is deployed on Tornado. www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/typhoon-tries-brimstone-2-missiles-for-size-407154/ Quote: "Can't use JSOW, " We did this earlier. The key 'Link 16' systems are already on Typhoon. But JSOW doesn't achieve more than weapon suites already available. And its only just been fitted to the F35! And Europe doesn't need US weapons so much now. read and enjoy: www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monograph.../MR1235.chap10.pdf Quote: "Can't use a whole host of other weapon" RIGHT: No aircraft can use every weapon. Not your beloved aged F18s, F15s, Rafale... NONE! Desperate need to make subjective statements again Smiter? Quote: "No AESA" RIGHT / WRONG: Typhoon has had the radar it needed to date but has now jumped the US and French systems with CAPTOR-E AESA. Now fitted and implementing and demonstrated at Farnborough June 2014! Rafale only got its basic RBE2 AESA 18 months ago. US aircraft use a fixed platform basic AESA with about 1,000 transmit-receive modules. The Captor-E will contain about 1,500 modules. www.defensenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2014303180028 Quote: "zero stealth" And your point is exactly? Typhoon is a 4.5 Gen aircraft and carries weapons externally so its no F22 but being built of more composites than any other aircraft its radar profile is minimal. The F22 relies on not being seen but Typhoon's IRST can see its heat at 100Kms. F22 has no IRST. Quote: "no super cruise" WRONG: Typhoon can supercruise marginally slower than an F22. (Mach 1.5 vs Mach 1.7) and that is with external weapons. We need NO lectures from a Yank about Supercruise. You only invented the word. We invented the technology when the UK built the first (Lightning) and has built more Aircraft with Supercruise than the USA (4 vs 2)! Hell we even built a Supercruising airliner, Concorde, that went faster than an F22. Quote: "poor range" WRONG: Typhoon has a higher combat range and 'loiter' ability than most multi role aircraft and has significant ferry range capability. F18F Typhoon F22 Range (km): 2,346 2,900 2,960 Combat radius (km): 722 1,389 760 Ferry range (km): 3,330 3,790 3,220 Quote: "high cost" This from a Yank whose country spent $ Billions on the F22 and got 187 aircraft? And while you and your best mate Muppet quote all up costs in one area you don't have a clue what offset revenue there is from export sales or what the final costs will be after all aircraft are built. Given some 700+ will be built I think the unit cost will look better than the F22, F35 or even Rafale. Quote: "parts shortages, and supply lines stretched across Europe" WRONG: You scrabble for a long gone problem from 4 years ago? How sad! And who the hell are YOU to say anything about where we source whatever we need? European logistics systems are years ahead of the US and always have been and given our European 'supply lines' are about 1/6th the distance of the US ones I think you have just about underlined your ignorance of the subject matter. So Smiter. 12 items and you are wrong or irrelevant on every one! Well done! 0 from 12. Way to go Yank. And its been done with FACTS not OPINIONS and with SOURCES! Now just go away. You are dismissed.

1chish Good to see someone who knows their stuff! Some quick corrections: The F-22 has heat dispersion panels, and is probably closer to a 65 km detection range for the PIRATE. Although, the PIRATE system can detect a missile flare from much longer (when a missile is released). This is handy, as the Raptor's APG-77 is almost un-detectable by an RWR. The Eurofighter also has a reduced RCS, but external weapons don't help maintain that. The CAPTOR will be the most powerful radar once it comes out. Sophistication and capabilities are all classified, but the range combined with the Meteor makes the Eurofighter one powerful fighter. In all, the Eurofighter and F-35 will only compliment each other. The F-35 is an amazing aircraft, hosting more sensors, better fusion and better data relaying capability over any other platform. Anybody who uses the F-35, Eurofighter, F-22, Gripen, Rafale, etc in conjunction with each other will become an absolute monster of a force. To adress your concern about it's air to air ability, the F-35 will have the third most powerful radar when it comes out (assuming it beats the CAPTOR), and fourth once the CAPTOR comes out. The F-35's APG-81 also sports more capability though, which helps make it one of the best multi-role fighter around. The APG-81, ECM suite (one of the best every), DAS system, and stealth make the F-35 no slouch in air to air combat. Probably not as maneuverable as a Eurofighter though. Last thing I do want to make clear, no plane is 'better' than another, only better in certain areas. F-35 data (most complete compilation I've ever seen): comprehensiveinformation.wordpress.com/, radar ranges: www.ausairpower.net/XIMG/FA-22A-Radar-2005-APA.png (note the APG-79 is missing from there, it's between the APG-77 and APG-81, closer to the APG-81. The N011 is Russia's most powerful at the moment, but not Russia's most advanced fighter radar). The day when all these beautiful aircraft fly in one giant formation will be awesome!

SealFredy5 Excellent piece there my friend. I believe Typhoon will come to be seen as a very adaptable and efficient platform. OK it had a very lengthy, expensive and troubled gestation but such is the way of multi-national projects but once we started building them they have never failed to impress. And the multi role aircraft coming into service now are very different from the original fighters. I also believe the F35 will develop along similar lines. Complex systems take a long time to create and bed in but with BAE Systems building the horizontal and vertical tail sets, rear fuselage, carrier wing tips for the 'C' variant, Nozzle Bay Doors for the 'B' variant and a key role in vehicle and mission systems, life support system and prognostics health management integration much of the capabilities learned on Typhoon have been migrated across. (I still think the Typhoon helmet system is better than the Rockwell Collins system now adopted for F35). BAE Systems in the States also supply electronic warfare, advance apertures, advanced counter-measure systems and active inceptor systems. So that side of things is in very good hands. With the USMC getting to IOC this Summer and the UK RAF 17(R) Squadron operating independently (albeit in the States) to our own regulations for operational development I think the F35 (at least in 'B' form) will make huge strides forward from now on. And on a personal note I worked on Harriers in the RAF in '82 and it will be a sweet moment to see 617 (Dam Busters) Squadron arrive at RAF Marham (some 30 miles from here) in 2017 / 18 with our new F35s.....

Knots Calibrated AirSpeed. Indicated Airspeed after position and instrument error correction. KCAS is a primary airspeed reference point for aircraft control and navigation, regardless of dynamic aerodynamic pressures acting on the aircraft at any given altitude and atmospheric condition.

Thanks a lot, Sir!

+Hendra Djokam The F-35s are not chasing anything. That is for the F-22.

why would it need to catch them...they won't know where the F35 is.

I agree with every think u said , but I do not agree with the ageing engine on the gripen the new gripen E has the motor from the super hornet giving the gripen E a power to weight ratio 1.2 and super cruise at mach 1.3 . The super hornet has a PtW ratio of only .98 and no super cruise . oh the f35 doesn't have super cruise either and no one can tell u what the PtW ratio as it keeps dropping as this fat turkey keeps gaining weight. One more thing I just heard the f35 has a software fault that will take 4 years to fix ( pentagon release statement )

It's about the requirements the Pentagon wanted. The F-35 was not designed to be an air superiority fighter so it doesn't need blistering speed or "maneuverability beyond the F-16". And lets not forget that previous generation fighters were far from perfect while they were testing. Some were deadly to their pilots even after they entered service. This kind of thing isn't easy! Let us not pretend that just because something works now means it always will. There is a reason why we don't use P-51's instead of F-22's for our nations deference.

FrakU2 The Gripen and the F-16 are both speed limited when armed and would be lucky to break the sound barrier where as the F-35 can hit mach 1.62 while armed as it is flying squeaky clean.

It will do just fine. Especially since that Gripen won't know its there in the first place.

Strap 4 missiles and 2 fuel tanks on a Typhoon and it will struggle getting to Mach 1.5

You have a lot to learn about air combat. Mach 1.6 is plenty. No WVR combats take place above 800 knots and no combat configured fighter except the F-22 does over mach 1.6. The faster you go the harder it is to maneuver.

Jakob Moller A more powerful engine would not increase the F-35's speed. You would have to redesign the nose and chine intakes. The problem is when a plane approaches Mach 2 its harder for it to breathe. Its shock-wave cone narrows. The F-35 can actually go faster than Mach 1.6. Its max speed was set by the DoD requirements before the plane was even designed.

Jakob Moller _No perhaps not,(it's not an absolute though), but a more powerful engine will help it claim faster, that was the main motivation that I suggested a more powerful engine was appropriate._ *Why does it need to climb faster? It already out climbs most fighters especially the F-16, the F-18 and the Gripen. It uses the P&W F-135 engine which is the most power jet engine put in an aircraft ever.* _And that is why the F-35 has a delta wing? So it can maneuver better at high speeds?_ *It does not fly with a delta wing. It flies with a trapezoid wing similar to the F-22 and its also an unstable design just like the F-22 and F-16.*

Mikael Smith There are a lot of factors you are not considering. One cannot compare aircraft based on wikipedia specs. An F-16s can only do Mach 2 when they are "clean" configured which means no weapons loads, EFTS and less than half fuel in the internal tanks. A completely useless configuration in all cases except perhaps a quick circus stunt at an airshow. A combat loaded Viper is around Mach 1.3 max. Most combat aircraft cannot do Mach 1.6 and pull 9Gs when dragged down with combat loads. Even an F-15 struggles to reach Mach 1.6 when combat loaded. An F-35 has hit more than Mach 1.6 with internal weapons and a full load of fuel. The total internal fuel load of the F-35A and F-35c is equivalent to an F-16 or F-18 carry two to three EFTS. So the F-35 gets more range without carrying extra external draggy tanks. So it gets much better performance than a combat loaded F-16 and F-18. When F-35 test pilots have cranked full military power on the F-35, F-16 chase planes have had to go afterburners just to barely keep up.

+Mikael Smith You are all WRONG about your understanding of speed and weapons load.

your talking 200 mph...not a big deal

+Mikael Smith F-35 is mainly for multirole fighter and lower maintenance + operation cost consideration, not air superior role. The speed is not mainly considerable for F-35. F135 engine can have good oil consumption and that's what F-35 needs!