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Shots taken at Davis-Monthan during the Heritage Flight Training Course. There were three F-86s, a P-47, a P-40 (British markings), a P-38, two F-22s (Langley), two F-35s, three P-51s, and three F-16s (Shaw, including the 50th Anniversary Wild Weasel).

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Edited by Trigger
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FIRST ARRESTMENT OF AN F-35C WITH EXTERNAL WEAPONS LOAD

2016-03-05 Lt. Cmdr. Daniel “Tonto” Kitts, an F-35 Lightning II test pilot assigned to the Salty Dogs of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23, landed in the history books Feb. 10, 2016, when he performed the first arrestment of an F-35C with external weapons.

Flight 282 of aircraft CF-03 from the F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) was based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Dane Wiedmann).

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In our interviews earlier this year at Pax, Ed Timperlake highlighted a key comment from “Tonto.”

The cross learning from the USMC F-35B, the service’s first T/M/S to achieve IOC, to the USAF F-35A to the USN F-35C model — with the preparation of the first RAF F-35B squadron — has meant that the USN can operate its Cs more rapidly and with more confidence and capability than in a traditional single-model aircraft test program.

This fact was brought out five years later in early 2016, at Pax when “Dutch” a very accomplished Navy fighter pilot with over 600 cats and traps in the F/A-18 stressed how stable the F-35 will fly around the boat.

During the Vietnam War, there were tests done of carrier pilots’ heart rates which we actually higher when landing on a carrier than when being shot at over Hanoi:

“The flying qualities are excellent and the machine systems built into the plane significantly enhance the ease of landing and taking off from the carrier.

Basically with the F-35 you get your mission cross-check time back.

Normally once you start the approach your scan is solely meatball, line up, and angle of attack. Your mission cross-check time behind the ship is zero because you’re just doing that scan.

With the F-35 and its enhanced flight controls and superb handling, the aircraft doesn’t deviate much from the desired flight path, which greatly eases the workload on the ball and frees up your scan. —It almost makes flying the ball a relaxing task!”

The fact that the Navy Test Pilots will rotate back into combat was not lost when Tonto made a seminal combat point about the generational shift from F/A-18 Hornets to the USN F-35C:

“How do you see the F-35 affecting tactical training?

Answer: With the current air wing (i.e, with the Super Hornet and Hornet as the tip of the spear), we are wringing out our tactics for a tactical advantage, which is also, at the same time, at the edge of the envelope for survival.

We are spending a lot of time making sure that we have the right tactics and the mastery of those tactics by pilots to survive and succeed.—It is about keeping a level of competence and capability where you’re not going to die.

There are points where you have a twenty second window.—You miss that window and you might be blown up!

When you’re traveling at those speeds, we are talking really only a couple of seconds that you have. And, if you’re not performing tactics exactly as they’re prescribed, you put yourself in a kill zone.

With the F-35, we are jumping a generation in tactics and now looking at the expanded battlespace where we can expand our impact and effect. You need to take a generational leap so we are the ones not playing catch up with our adversaries.”

While test pilots are wringing out the F-35 and ignoring critics, senior officers are constantly challenged to fly top cover against know-nothing second and third order derivative critics whose only contributions are creating crossed referenced ignorant public articles written by cubical commandoes whose only real skill is creating google search interlocking fields of fire.

Edited by Trigger
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Imagine lines of these F-86's reflecting the sun back in the 50's...must have been a sight to see. Great pictures Trigger :thumbsup: !

:cheers:

Don.

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2016 F-35A Lightning II Heritage Flight Schedule

April

2-3 – Luke AFB, AZ

22-24 – Langley AFB, VA

May

7-8 – Ft Lauderdale, FL

28-29 – Jones Beach, NY

June

18-19 – Ocean City, MD

25-26 – Hill AFB, UT

July

8-17 – RIAT/Farnborough, United Kingdom

August

19-21 – Chicago, IL

September

3-5 – Cleveland, OH

14-18 – Reno, NV

October

14-16 – Air Force Memorial/Baltimore, MD

12-13 – Nellis AFB, NV

Edited by Trigger
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The point I take away from all this "superb handling" crap is the F-35 will make the next generation of pilots wah wah babies. So easy to land on a carrier, a caveman could do it. What happened to REAL flying??!

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The point I take away from all this "superb handling" crap is the F-35 will make the next generation of pilots wah wah babies. So easy to land on a carrier, a caveman could do it. What happened to REAL flying??!

"it sucks! No wait! Hey it should suck more, you kids are so spoiled! back in my day... stick and rudder....computers didn't.... yada yada"

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In tandem with the defence review, Sajjan’s department will issue a new statement of requirement for the CF-18 fighter jet replacement. Insiders suggest the campaign commitment not to buy Lockheed Martin’s F-35 remains written in stone, even if it’s not clear how you conduct an open and transparent tender process while barring one competitor.

There are two or three European fighter jet options available to the air force but government officials concede it will be problematic to buy a plane not operated by Canada’s NORAD ally, the U.S. So, it looks as if we will have a lengthy, expensive competition that will end up choosing Boeing’s Super Hornet.

In their campaign platform, the Liberals said they would buy a cheaper option than the F-35 and re-direct the savings to the navy, since there is not enough money left in the capital spending pot to fund all the ships on order under the Canadian Surface Combatant program.

But the only way significant savings are likely to manifest themselves is if the Forces buy a far smaller fleet than the 65 jets planned in the original F-35 contract.

That might be exactly what the Liberals envisage.

The party’s election platform suggested Canada will no longer participate in the kind of air-to-ground campaigns we witnessed in Iraq. If we are no longer in the business of sending our jets overseas, and their sole focus is on continental defence, we can afford a far smaller fleet.

The platform also committed to implement the recommendations of the 2011 Report on Transformation, a controversial effort led by none other than the current Liberal whip, and former lieutenant-general, Andrew Leslie.

While the platform is explicit in endorsing Leslie’s roadmap to a more “modern, efficient and effective military” – less tail, more teeth – mention of the report was conspicuous by its absence in Sajjan’s mandate letter.

Leslie appears to have known that his recommendations to reduce headquarters overheads, including the $2.7 billion spent annually on consultants and contractors, would face resistance. “Very few of the recommendations to get where we think we have to go will be easy, popular or risk free,” he wrote.

He concluded with a quote from Machiavelli: “The innovators have for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions.”

But he did not perhaps anticipate the virulence with which the advocates for the status quo would fight back against his call to fundamentally restructure the Canadian Forces.

It seems the uniforms, whose livelihoods may have been impacted by the recommendation the Forces adopt a single, streamlined command structure, are still fighting.

People familiar with the current review say that many of Leslie’s suggestions for addressing the bloating bureaucracy (the tail grew by 40 per cent from 2004 to 2010; operational or deployable jobs by 10 per cent) are not likely to see the light of day.

Yet “leaner and more agile” – even smaller – may not necessarily be a bad thing. Rick Hillier, the former chief of the defence staff, has advocated reducing the size of the military as the only way to ensure it remains strong and stable. He has said the number of full-time members could fall to about 50,000 from the current 66,000.

An internal Department of National Defence review conducted by the Conservative government also recommended cutting one infantry company from each of Canada’s nine battalions.

But the crucial metric is budget. As David Perry at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute points out, the Liberals promised to find $3 billion in savings in an expenditure review during the election.

If the defence review is geared to finding savings that are re-invested in new capability areas such as space and cyberspace, a reduction in numbers may be politically marketable.

But if it turns out to be a cash grab, designed to free up funds to flow back into general revenues and fluff the deficit, the Liberals will deserve all the opprobrium that comes their way.

Whatever the granular detail, it seems certain Canada will emerge with a military more geared to fighting famine than war.

Oh Canada :doh:

How does one pick the Super Hornet after it is out of production?

Edited by TaiidanTomcat
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Rangers exercise CAS with F-35A

"[This] was the first time these guys have worked with the F-35A," said Maj. Christopher Collins, a pilot in the 33rd Operations Support Squadron. "It was a great opportunity to share tactics and showcase some of the unique capabilities we have with this jet."

In a CAS mission, Rangers are responsible for setting up and operating communications systems to encode and decode messages, assist in the preparation of fire support plans with target coordinates, operate laser range finders and target devices and determine target locations using computers or manual calculations.

For the Rangers, this exercise allowed them to familiarize themselves with the F-35A and how it can support ground troops in a deployed environment in the future.

"It's important for a special operations task force to understand the capabilities of assets available and how they can be employed prior to arriving in theater," said a 3rd Ranger Battalion soldier. "This [exercise] will maximize the effectiveness of the aircraft and our task force when it goes into active service. Additionally it allows us to provide intelligent feedback to senior leadership on what will make the plane more effective in CAS mission set."

After the exercise, Collins reiterated the importance of training in a joint environment to maximize the capabilities of the joint force.

"It really shouldn't matter which aircraft [or] branch of service is acting as the controlling party," said Collins. "The common guidelines of the joint doctrine allow us to operate seamlessly across a broad spectrum of different scenarios in the safest, most efficient manner."

The soldiers said the exercise was successful because it allowed them to test the capabilities and limitations of the jet as a part of their mission set.

"The F-35 was designed to fight in a different environment, specifically an environment we could face if hostilities broke out in another portion of the world. Assuming we would be among the first there, this would be critical information," said a Ranger. "Along with that, we learned what other assets and capabilities we would need to augment the F-35 on our current missions to meet our commander's intent."

As the F-35 progresses to initial operational capabilities, the aircraft and its Airmen continue train to execute suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses, air interdiction missions and basic close air support.

http://www.eglin.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123469938

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That's about all their good for.

Steve

It must be nice as an A-10 fan to be able to use that quip, instead of receiving it :thumbsup:

Is this yet another job the F-35 is taking from an A-10?

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Edited by TaiidanTomcat
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