some F35 info

[GreenKnight121]

I just ran across a neat article about a recent USMC exercise in SoCal involving an F-35B, a MV-22B, UH-1Ys, and a USN MH-60R: https://www.twz.com/sea/how-f-35s-deployed-to-a-narrow-highway-in-california

What tickled me was one particular comment in the article by VMX-1's Operational Test Director, Lt. Col. Robert 'Champ' Guyette... ""I'm really excited. One of the things I didn't anticipate coming to this job was how excited I would be to learn how to kill submarines. Marines just like killing everything, you know, I mean, it's what we do. And so the opportunity to kill something new is exciting. And so submarines are on the menu now for the Marine Corps."

One of the postings in the comments said "This might be just about the most Marine thing I have ever read. So this is why they gave space to the AF instead of the Navy... Can't trust the Marines not to initiate a hostile "first contact" when presented with the opportunity to put a new species on the menu.".

Here is where this exercise took place - look in the upper left of the area shot between the Provost Marshal's Office access and Vista Point , then note the area in the red box in the close-up:

 

[GrauGeist]

They've used that old section of Pacific Coast Highway for Ops in the past.

Back when I lived in SoCal, they staged AV8s and CH53s along that stretch of old highway during exercises.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

The U.S. Air Force would receive enough money to buy 51 F-35A fighter jets in fiscal 2024 under the compromise Pentagon spending bill lawmakers released Thursday — three more than the service originally requested.

If enacted, the allotment would mark the most Joint Strike Fighters the Air Force has bought in a single year since 2021, when it procured 60. The service had included 48 F-35As in its fiscal 2024 budget request.

The FY24 defense appropriations bill would provide the Air Force more than $5.2 billion for F-35A procurement, an increase of nearly $361 million over the original budget request. The program increase of three additional F-35As would account for $277 million of that growth.

The purchase would still remain far below the minimum annual buy of 72 F-35s the service argued for years it needed to modernize its fighter fleet, while keeping up with the pace of older jets leaving the inventory. The Air Force plans to buy more than 1,700 F-35As, totaling nearly $250 billion, over the life of the program, according to FY25 budget documents.

Congress in FY24 also looks to give the Marine Corps and Navy funds for 16 short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing F-35Bs as well as 19 F-35Cs, which can take off and land from aircraft carriers.

Congress offers procurement boost for F-35 jets in FY24 spending bill

The U.S. Air Force would receive enough money to buy 51 F-35As in fiscal 2024 under the compromise defense spending bill lawmakers released.

www.airforcetimes.com

 

[cvairwerks]

And in the proposed 2025FY budget, they are wacking 18 a/c for the Navy and Marines.....

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Metal shavings in contaminated fuel, incorrectly assembled parts, and a plastic scraper protruding from a wing fold were among the faults discovered in five new F-35C Joint Strike Fighters delivered to a U.S. Marine Corps fighter squadron in California in 2023, according to a memo obtained by Defense News.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 311, or VMFA-311, at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego discovered an array of problems with its Lockheed Martin-made F-35s that ultimately required more than 700 hours of work to fix and wasted more than 169,000 pounds of fuel, the Jan. 7 memo said.

On Dec. 7, for instance, a plastic scraper was discovered protruding from the wing fold of one of the squadron's jets, after the jet had flown, the memo noted. The 5.5-inch scraper was discovered during a post-flight inspection on the jet and fell to the ground.

[...]

All five jets had fuel contaminated with Krytox, a high-temperature lubricating grease, the memo said, and three jets also had metal shavings in their fuel. The jets had to be defueled and refueled two or three times to get the fuel quality up to an acceptable level, with the jets that had metal shavings requiring an extra defueling cycle, the memo added.

[...]

And multiple parts in the jets — including power and thermal management system controllers, electronic units, and an electric-hydrostatic actuator on a jet's trailing edge flap — failed, forcing the squadron to remove and replace them, the memo added.

One jet's left main gear brake assembly also failed, another fighter's panoramic cockpit display failed and yet another jet's backup oxygen system bottle was leaking, the memo stated. All components also needed to be removed and replaced.

Marine unit found metal shavings in F-35 fuel, plastic tool in wing

In a memo obtained by Defense News, a Marine Corps squadron commander raises the alarm about the quality of Lockheed Martin's new F-35C jets.

www.marinecorpstimes.com

 

[buffnut453]

Metal shavings in contaminated fuel, incorrectly assembled parts, and a plastic scraper protruding from a wing fold were among the faults discovered in five new F-35C Joint Strike Fighters delivered to a U.S. Marine Corps fighter squadron in California in 2023, according to a memo obtained by Defense News.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 311, or VMFA-311, at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego discovered an array of problems with its Lockheed Martin-made F-35s that ultimately required more than 700 hours of work to fix and wasted more than 169,000 pounds of fuel, the Jan. 7 memo said.

On Dec. 7, for instance, a plastic scraper was discovered protruding from the wing fold of one of the squadron's jets, after the jet had flown, the memo noted. The 5.5-inch scraper was discovered during a post-flight inspection on the jet and fell to the ground.

[...]

All five jets had fuel contaminated with Krytox, a high-temperature lubricating grease, the memo said, and three jets also had metal shavings in their fuel. The jets had to be defueled and refueled two or three times to get the fuel quality up to an acceptable level, with the jets that had metal shavings requiring an extra defueling cycle, the memo added.

[...]

And multiple parts in the jets — including power and thermal management system controllers, electronic units, and an electric-hydrostatic actuator on a jet's trailing edge flap — failed, forcing the squadron to remove and replace them, the memo added.

One jet's left main gear brake assembly also failed, another fighter's panoramic cockpit display failed and yet another jet's backup oxygen system bottle was leaking, the memo stated. All components also needed to be removed and replaced.

Marine unit found metal shavings in F-35 fuel, plastic tool in wing

In a memo obtained by Defense News, a Marine Corps squadron commander raises the alarm about the quality of Lockheed Martin's new F-35C jets.

www.marinecorpstimes.com

Hmmm...I didn't know the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation made the F-35!

 

[GrauGeist]

This almost sounds deliberate.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

This almost sounds deliberate.

Not at all. This is what happens when schedule is king.

 

[cvairwerks]

Also happens when both the customer and the producer get complacent.....