F-35B Lightning II: Everything you need to know about Britain's new £70m stealth fighter
By Allan Tovery - 7-8-16
RE:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/...s-it-any-good/
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What is the F-35?
A new “fifth generation” fighter that is set to form part of the core of offensive capabilities of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force of the future.
The F-35 is a single-seat, single-engine supersonic jet with the most advanced computers and networking abilities yet to take to the air, and stealth capabilities designed to make it hard to pick up on enemy radar.
It comes in three versions: the F-35A, the “standard” aircraft; the F-35B, which has a lift fan mounted behind the cockpit giving the jet short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) capabilities, meaning it can hover like a Harrier; and the F-35C, a beefed-up, navalisedversion for use on American aircraft carrier.
How fast can it go?
The F-35's top speed is 1199mph - or 1.6 times the speed of sound. It can also pull 9G while packed full of bombs and fuel.
Earlier generation fighter jets carry bombs and missiles on the exterior of the aircraft which create drag that slows them down, while the F-35 stores its weapons internally. Hanging missiles, bombs and external fuel tanks off the outside of the aircraft also create a large radar signature.
Can it really land vertically?
Yes - well the F-35B can. It can also take off in a very short distance. The F-35A will take off on conventional runways, and the F-35C via catapult from the deck of an aircraft carrier. The first of Britain's new supersonic 'stealth' strike fighters accompanied by a United States Marine Corps F-35B aircraft, flies over the North Sea.
Who makes the F-35?
A lot of companies.
The main contractor is US defence giant Lockheed Martin, and Britain’s is the only tier one partner in the international project, with BAE Systems making about 15pc of each airframe. Rolls-Royce makes the lift fan for F-35B, and many other British companies make sub-systems for the aircraft.
Who is buying it?
We are. F-35s will become a core part of Britain’s defence capabilities and will enter service with the RAF and the Royal Navy in 2018.
It will form the backbone of the America’s future military fleet, with the US air force, marines and navy all using the various versions. Nine other countries are also buying the jets.
The UK government’s 2015 defence plan includes:
£178bn - to be spent on equipment in next decade
£7bn - efficiency savings expected from defence chiefs
2 new RAF Typhoon squadrons
2 new rapid reaction strike brigades of 5,000 troops by 2025
9 new Boeing P-8 maritime patrol planes £2bn more on special forces
1,900 more spies for MI5, MI6 and GCHQ
450 new sailors for the Royal Navy
42) F-35 stealth fighters bought by 2023
Which type of F-35 is Britain buying?
The F-35B and its STOVL capabilities mean it can operate from the Royal Navy’s two new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, which are smaller than US carriers, and unlike the American vessels do not have the expensive catapults and trapping wires needed to operate the F-35C.
How many are we buying?
The 2015 defence review said about 140 of the jets will be purchased.
Military insiders say that it might not be worth buying solely F-35Bs, and that once we have 60 or so of them, which will be enough to equip the Queen Elizabeth carriers which will each on average accommodate 24 jets, that Britain should buy the F-35A, which is slightly cheaper.
The F-35 is the most expensive weapons system in military history. Each F-35B has an estimated 2015 cost of $104 million (frame without engine or electronics) or $251m fully operational).
The F-35 is a fifth generation jet fighter which, as defined by the manufacturer, means it has:
Stealth capabilities
Low-probability intercept radar
High-performance flight
Advanced networked electronics for situational awareness
Role:
Stealth multirole fighter
In service
(F-35B): 2015 - 2070 (projected)
In use by
(testing and training): United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Norway, Netherlands
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin
Performance Max speed (F-35B): Mach 1.6
Max altitude: 15km
Combat radius (F-35B): 833km
Typical armament (Varies by mission):
GAU-22/A 25mm cannon,
two internal bays for bombs up to 450kg,
two internal bays for air to air missiles (eg. AIM-132 ASRAAM),
two wingtip mounts for air to air missiles as above,
four other wing-mounted pylons for air to surface missiles, air to ground missiles or additional fuel tanks.
How much is the Lightning jet going to cost?
A lot. As with any defence project the actual price of the jets makes up only a fraction of the total cost, with servicing and training making up the bulk of the cost.
But how much?
The overall cost of the entire project is estimated at $1.5 trillion over its entire lifetime, though that’s for about 3,000 jets among all the different customers. That makes it the single most expensive military project in the world, ever.
It’s reckoned by suppliers and buyers to cost around $100m a copy but the contractors are working hard to reduce this, though don’t expect it to go down too much. However, critics of the programme say the true cost is much higher.
That’s a lot of money
Yes, especially when the original concept was for a low-cost jet that could be modified to suit different requirements, keeping costs down.
Why all the song and dance?
Well, the jet is making its first public appearance in the UK at the 2016 RIAT airshow, having flown over from its home base in the US where Britain has taken delivery of its first jets and UK pilots are training to fly them.
Rather embarrassingly, especially with the UK so heavily invested in the F-35, the jet failed to show at the 2014 Farnborough airshow, where it had been due to headline.
The reason it didn’t show up was because of an engine fire that caused all F-35s to be temporarily grounded, giving critics of the project yet more ammunition.
Is it any good?
It depends who you ask.
Recent stories from test pilots have raved about its abilities and there are reports of it performing very well in training exercises, shooting down adversaries before they were even aware it was nearby. Other defence experts hint at classified powers and abilities that they can’t talk about but make the F-35 a very capable warplane.
However, more mainstream reports list constant problems with technologies that have caused huge delays - it’s about five years behind schedule - and cost overruns.
One of the most high-profile attacks came in 2015 when a test pilot revealed that in a training dogfight, the F-35 was unable to manoeuvre well enough to shoot down a 1970s-era F-16 jet - one of the aircraft the F-35 is due to replace.
However, others pointed out that F-35’s stealth capabilities and computers mean it should have shoot down an adversary long before getting into dog-fighting range and if a pilot found himself having to make hard manoeuvres, then he had done something wrong to get himself in that position in the first place.
Is it the right plane for the job?
It’s hard to say. The US sees the F-35 as a replacement for the vast majority of jets in its arsenal, while Britain will mix its F-35Bs with older generation, non-stealthy Typhoons.
Whether it is the right plane for the job depends on the kind of wars that are fought in the future. Dropping bombs on Afghanistan doesn’t require a hi-tech stealth jet when there is no enemy air force to face, but if we find ourselves up against an adversary of equal technical capability then the F-35’s capabilities will be vital.