16 August 2019 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
BRINGING YOU THE LATEST TALK
FROM AROUND THE SQUADRONSBYSCOTT WOLFF16
O
VER THE PAST two years
I’ve spent a great deal of
time involved with the
F-35 Lightning II program.
Admittedly, I wasn’t the
airplane’s biggest fan;
however, I have now spent more time with
it — seeing it in action at home stations,
during operational test evolutions, at the
Weapons Instructor Course and during
large-force employment (LFE) exercises,
and it’s an aircraft that’s growing on me.
Clearly, it possesses remarkable attributes
when it comes to sensor fusion, airspace
and battle management, and lethality.
The F-35 is the subject of unprecedented
scrutiny — and criticism. Many repeat
assertions that the aircraft is wrought with
flaws in its design and in the way that
Lockheed Martin configured the program
architecture to design, build, test, and
produce aircraft in a concurrent fashion.The first F-35A
for the Turkish Air
Force (serial 18-
0001) undertook
its maiden flight at
Lockheed Martin’s
Fort Worth facility,
Texas, on May
10, 2018. The first
pair of 100 Turkish
Lightning IIs was
scheduled to
arrive in Turkey
this September.
Jim FirminHowever, the F-35 is the largest and
most expensive military acquisition
program in history, with a projected
total expenditure in the $1.5-trillion
range, with production, operations and
sustainment through 2070. While the US
is buying the largest number of aircraft
and shouldering the bulk of the financial
load, the UK, Australia, Canada, Italy,
the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and
Turkey have all agreed to contribute
significant amounts of money, resources,
and even critical components to the
effort. However, Turkey has become
a thorny issue, and therein lies a
significant problem.Divided loyalties
In early June, the US Air Force grounded
F-35 pilots from Turkey — six of them
— who were engaged in their F-
basic course (B-course) at Luke AFB,
Arizona. In addition, their access to
the squadron vault — where sensitive
data, manuals, training resources, and
other related items are stored — has
been revoked. The US has given Turkey
a deadline of July 31 to withdraw its
proposal to purchase a state-of-the-art,
self-propelled S-400 Triumf air defense
system from Russia. If Turkey fails to
comply with that instruction, it will be
phased completely out of the Joint
Strike Fighter program. Subsequently, all
personnel from the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri
(Turkish Air Force, THK) will no longer be
allowed to stay in the US.Brig Gen Todd Canterbury, commander
of the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke
positioned the grounding as an
‘operational pause’. This went against
a previous announcement from the
Department of Defense that Turkish
pilots and maintainers could continue
training until the end of July. If Turkey
decides to scrap its plans to acquire the
Russian air defense system, the pilots
— two instructors and four students
— could resume their training without
further delay.
In all likelihood, that particular
outcome appears out of reach, as
tensions between the US and Turkey
continue to build. There is the matter
of the US support for Kurdish forces
in northern Syria, as well as Ankara’s
growing associations with Moscow. The
matter of the air defense system could
also result in economic sanctions being
imposed, which could reap catastrophic
consequences for Turkey’s economy.
It’s a move that would also have a
significant impact on Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s hopes of being
re-elected.Triumf for Turkey?
The Almaz-Antey S-400 Triumf is referred
to in NATO parlance as the SA-
‘Growler’, and it is the same system
moved into Syria by the Russian military
following the downing of one of its
Su-24M ‘Fencers’ by a Turkish F-16C in
November of 2015.TURKISH F-
ON THE BRINK
S-400 DEAL
THREATENS
JSF PARTICIPATION
16-18 Ops Desk C.indd 16 21/06/2019 11: