combat aircraft

F-35B LATEST

LOCKHEED MARTIN F35Bs

operated by VMFA-211 ‘Wake Island

Avengers’ entered the US Central

Command and US Fifth Fleet area

of operations for the  rst time in

late August. The Lightning IIs are

embarked aboard the amphibious

assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) as part

of the 13th Marine Expeditionary

Unit (MEU). The 5th Fleet’s area of

operations includes the Red Sea,

Persian Gulf and parts of the Indian

Ocean. The 13th MEU began a two-

week theater amphibious combat

rehearsal (TACR) o the coast of

Djibouti on September 8.

The US Naval Air Warfare Center

Aircraft Division was, in early

September, also gearing up to

support F-35B  rst of class  ight

trials (FOCFTs) aboard the Royal

Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, HMS

Queen Elizabeth (R08). Testing will be

conducted by the F-35 Integrated

Test Force (ITF) and will involve two

F-35Bs from VX-23 ‘Salty Dogs’ at

NAS Patuxent River. Data collected

during the FOCFT will support

planned operational testing in the

UK next year. The FOCFTs will also

mark the  rst time the Pax River

ITF has conducted F-35  ight trials

aboard a partner nation’s aircraft

carrier. Pilots and maintenance

personnel from the Royal Navy and

Royal Air Force will be among the

ITF personnel supporting the FOCTs.

HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived at Naval

Station Mayport, Florida, in advance

of testing on September 5.

British F-35Bs operated by No

17 Test and Evaluation Squadron

recently completed initial trials

armed with the MBDA Advanced

Short Range Air-to-Air Missile

(ASRAAM). The ASRAAM was  rst

tested aboard a development F-35B

at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, in

late 2014. The  rst live  ring from

a US Marine Corps F-35B occurred

during developmental testing

in March 2017. The UK test team

at Edwards AFB, California, also

loaded Paveway IV precision-guided

bombs on external pylons as  nal

clearances are sought as the F-35B

moves towards achieving initial

operating capability (IOC) with

No 617 Squadron at RAF Marham

in December.

F-35B serial ZM136 taxies at Edwards AFB in preparation for a weapons

test with the ASRAAM missile. Lockheed Martin/Darin Russell

If the USAF is to add seven new
 ghter squadrons, it would surely be
unable to retire any current aircraft
and will need to look at additional
procurement options. Extra  ghter
capacity could come from ramping
up F-35 production, although it
would suggest that there is weight
to the story that Boeing has supplied
the USAF with proposals on the
F-15X, a single-seat version of the
Advanced F-15. A full report on the
F-15X appears in this issue.
Funding the expansion will be
extremely challenging, the table
here spelling out the enormity of
the task that is being proposed.
The two biggest areas of expansion
are in command and control and
intelligence surveillance and
reconnaissance (C2/ISR) and tankers.
The USAF’s  rst new KC-46A Pegasus
tankers are delayed and the new
plan would mean any further KC-

135R and KC-10 retirement plans

would have to be put on ice as

KC-46s are inducted to expand the

overall force size.

The message is clear: the politics

and the motivation for dramatic

expansion are in place. Cash is

 owing into new projects and

the USAF vision of the future is

becoming a very real plan rather

than an unrealistic pipedream.

ALSO

THIS

MONTH...

F-35 testing delayed

IOT&E slips to November.

See US News

NATO air policing

Canada assumes mission.

See World News

The USAF says it needs an incredible

14 additional tanker squadrons, which

is likely to kick-start follow-on efforts

such as the KC-Z competition, a follow-

on to the current KC-46 Pegasus.

USAF/SrA Philip Bryant

Air Force Secretary Heather

Wilson delivers her speech

during the Air Force

Association’s Air, Space

and Cyber Conference in

National Harbor, Maryland,

on September 17. USAF/TSgt

DeAndre Curtiss

An F-35B of VMFA-211 aboard the Wasp-class

amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) on

September 3. USMC/Cpl A. J. Van Fredenberg

F-35B test aircraft BF-

during work-ups to

prepare for fi rst of class

fl ight trials (fi xed-wing)

aboard HMS Queen

Elizabeth. Lockheed

Martin/Dane Wiedmann

HEADLINES [NEWS]

http://www.combataircraft.net // November 2018 07