Posted on May 19, 2010 by Fighter Country
If you missed Wednesday April 21, 2010′s NewsHour on PBS, watch Kwame Holman’s report on the controversial fighter below in five chapters. The Pentagon’s forthcoming warplane, the Joint Strike Fighter, is intended for use across the different branches of the military but has come under fire in Congress for skyrocketing costs and delays. Skeptics and defenders of the aircraft, which will be called the F-35, express their views in the following extended interviews. Author and journalist Bill Sweetman says for the first time the re-equipment plans of the U.S. fighter force is reliant on one program and one manufacturer: Chapter…
Posted on May 18, 2010 by Fighter Country
May 18, 2010 – Two Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters flew nonstop from their final-assembly site in Fort Worth, Texas, to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., signaling a further expansion of F-35 flight test operations. The arrival is the first in a series that will increase the Edwards F-35 test fleet to at least eight aircraft. U.S. Air Force Test Pilot Lt. Col. Hank “Hog” Griffiths and Lockheed Martin Chief Test Pilot Jon Beesley flew the jets, known as AF-1 and AF-2, nonstop in the first multi-ship, long-range F-35 flight. “The ferry flight went very smoothly, and reflects…
Posted on May 17, 2010 by Fighter Country
The Navy may not receive its first F-35C Lightning II joint strike fighter until 2012, but a simulation-based training program will be ready for the first pilots who arrive at the training wing next year. The Navy plans to begin sending pilots in early 2011 to the training squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Lockheed Martin, which makes the F-35, is developing the training program for the first cadre of experienced pilots, who will in turn train a broader group of Navy pilots. The F-35C community will be limited to experienced pilots — mostly those with at least 1,000…
Posted on May 3, 2010 by Fighter Country
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. shuffled three executive positions Monday, promoting Dan Crowley to chief operating officer of its aeronautics unit. The company said Crowley will be responsible for day to day functions of the division. For the last five years, he was general manager of Lockheed’s F-35 program. Taking over for Crowley on that program will be Larry Lawson. Lawson had been general manager of the F-22 Raptor program since December 2004. George Shultz, who had been the deputy manager of the F-22 program, will take over as general manager. The changes are effective…
Posted on April 30, 2010 by Fighter Country
If you missed Wednesday April 21, 2010’s NewsHour on PBS, watch Kwame Holman’s report on the controversial fighter below in five chapters. The Pentagon’s forthcoming warplane, the Joint Strike Fighter, is intended for use across the different branches of the military but has come under fire in Congress for skyrocketing costs and delays. Skeptics and defenders of the aircraft, which will be called the F-35, express their views in the following extended interviews. Author and journalist Bill Sweetman says for the first time the re-equipment plans of the U.S. fighter force is reliant on one program and one manufacturer: Chapter…
Posted on April 28, 2010 by Fighter Country
Yuma, Arizona BY JOYCE LOBECK – SUN STAFF WRITER The future for Marine Corps Air Station Yuma is rapidly approaching as development of the F-35, the nation’s new joint strike fighter, moves forward. The air station is slated to become the first base to receive the very first of the new aircraft in spring of 2012, according to the “preferred option” and current time line, said Maj. James Combs, community plans and liaison officer for MCAS Yuma, during Greater Yuma Economic Development Corp.’s quarterly investors luncheon Tuesday. It all hinges on the record of decision, scheduled for December. In the…
Posted on April 27, 2010 by Fighter Country
Lockheed Martin, Magestic Systems, Nikon Metrology Win Innovation Award for F-35 Program FORT WORTH, Texas, April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), jointly with Magestic Systems, Inc. (MSI) and Nikon Metrology, has won a first-place JEC Innovation Award in composites manufacturing for technology used in the production of the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter. The 2010 JEC Innovation Award was presented in Paris in recognition of the cured laminate compensation (CLC) process – an innovative composite manufacturing solution for achieving precision, as-built laminate thickness without costly post-cure machining. This new metrology-assisted process is used in the production of composite…
Posted on April 27, 2010 by Fighter Country
In response to cost overruns and schedule delays in major weapon programs, The Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 was signed into law to mandate competition through the entire life of major defense programs — including funding competing sources. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program creates the perfect opportunity — a multi-role aircraft replacing numerous tactical fighter aircraft, with potential production for the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marines and international customers to reach 5,000 to 6,000 aircraft over 30 years. Without competing engines for the fighter, a $100 billion monopoly will be handed to a single supplier. The…
Posted on April 23, 2010 by Fighter Country
If you missed Wednesday April 21, 2010’s NewsHour on PBS, watch Kwame Holman’s report on the controversial fighter below in five chapters. The Pentagon’s forthcoming warplane, the Joint Strike Fighter, is intended for use across the different branches of the military but has come under fire in Congress for skyrocketing costs and delays. Skeptics and defenders of the aircraft, which will be called the F-35, express their views in the following extended interviews. Author and journalist Bill Sweetman says for the first time the re-equipment plans of the U.S. fighter force is reliant on one program and one manufacturer: Chapter…
Posted on April 23, 2010 by Fighter Country
If you missed Wednesday April 21, 2010’s NewsHour on PBS, watch Kwame Holman’s report on the controversial fighter below in five chapters. The Pentagon’s forthcoming warplane, the Joint Strike Fighter, is intended for use across the different branches of the military but has come under fire in Congress for skyrocketing costs and delays. Skeptics and defenders of the aircraft, which will be called the F-35, express their views in the following extended interviews. Author and journalist Bill Sweetman says for the first time the re-equipment plans of the U.S. fighter force is reliant on one program and one manufacturer: Chapter…
