Stealth Saga #56

6th Generation Fighters:

Leonardo has developed new radar tech for the Tempest.

Airbus wants to absorb the British Tempest project into FCAS.

The US Navy is still mulling over the 6th gen planes.  It is unsure if the next gen fighter will actually fly from its carrier decks.

The USAF NGAD received almost $1B.

The Navy's FA-XX/Next Gen Fighter had its funding slashed.

The Japanese unveiled its latest version of the Next Generation Fighter.  It is far, far bigger than the F-22.

KF-X:

(again) the KF-X will get the Meteor missile.

TFX:

Turkey says Britain has agreed to accelerate the TFX program.

J-XY:

The Chinese are developing a 5th gen fighter for the new carrier decks, probably derived from the FC-31/J-31.

Su-57:

Is this missile intended for the side bay of the Su-57?

An Su-57 has flown 16 times with the new engine.  Testing continues.

The Su-57 supposedly was redeployed to Syria for testing.

An Su-57 crashed.  It was the first serial production aircraft.  This is a serious blow to the Russian efforts.

A report claims the Algerians are buying 14 Su-57s.  Or not.

B-21:

The contract for the B-21 has been structured to allow for buying more B-21s, faster, should the need arise without renegotiating.

An Australian think tank proposed buying B-21 bombers from the US.  There is little chance of that.

F-117:

A video of an F-117 at the Reagan library makes for interesting observations.

An F-117 has been spotted acting as a stealthy aggressor against F-15s and F-22s at Nellis AFB.

AGM-129:

The saga of the first stealth cruise missile.

LRSO:

Congress may have just cancelled the conventionally armed stealthy LRSO cruise missile.

F-22:

Lockheed got a $7B contract for F-22 sustainment.

F-35:

Congress has blocked the creation of an F-35A aggressor squadron.

Congress approved the buy of 62 F-35As, 16 F-35Bs and

JSOW integration was days away.

F-35 deliveries were halted for quality control issues.

F-35s can call for artillery fire to suppress air defenses if necessary.

The 588th FW's F-35s are headed back to the Middle East for another combat deployment.

Outgoing F-35A demo pilot "Dojo" gets interviewed.

Hill AFB is getting its last F-35As.

The F-35B sporting USS America reaches Japan.

Congress has told the USN to get the USS Kennedy, the newest carrier, ready for the F-35C immediately.

Lockheed has been given contract to deliver 15 F-35As to Australia.

Australia has approved procuring 24 more F-35.

British F-35Bs have launched from the HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Denmark wants more F-35s.

Lockheed is pressing for 75 F-35Is to be sold to Israel.

Lockheed is working on an Israel F-35I specific upgrade.

South Korea has declared IOC for its F-35As.

Lockheed has been given the first contracts for long lead items for the full rate production of the F-35A and for special tooling for the F-35.

Pratt & Whitney just got a $500M contract mod for the F135 engine for the F-35 and another, smaller $50-odd million contract for the engine as well.

Stealth Saga #48

Sixth Generation Fighters:

The USAF successfully shot down multiple missiles using a laser meant for self defense of fighters at WSMR.

The US Navy next generation fighter may not be 6th gen and will DEFINITELY not be developed with the USAF.

Lockheed thinks the 6th gen may have lasers as weapons.

Airbus expects the Franco-German FCAS to be delayed due to export issues.

The Swedes are negotiating to join the British Tempest jet project.

F-3:

Lockheed and the US gov has offered Japan the source code to the F-35 avionics as part of the F-3 deal with Lockheed.  The tech transfer offer is pretty deep, actually.

MAGMA:

The flapless UAV has flown.

Hunter-B/Ohotnik-B:

The Hunter-B was present for Putin and to be seen by the US.

Supposedly, the Ohotnik-B's first flight has been delayed a year, but it is a rumor rather than citable.

OTOH, Tass claims the Ohotnik-B did a 'hop.'

Su-57:

The Russians are claiming the engine for the Su-57 has entered serial production.

Russia is willing to offer Turkey the Su-57 if the F-35 deal falls through.

Putin was escorted by 6 Su-57s on the way to Astrakhan.

Putin says Russia will buy 76 Su-57 by 2028.

J-XY:

The engine for China's new carrier aircraft under development apparently has been completed.

J-20:

The Chinese are in the midst of their own budgetary wars: the J-11 and J-20 programs are apparently fighting over funding.

The J-20 may have FOC declared this year.

Model 401:

Could the Model 401 be used as a (partial) A-10 replacement?

B-21:

There has been a big burst of construction at the facility at Edwards AFB where the B-21 will soon start testing.

B-2:

The cockpit of a B-2 was filmed and here are some callouts.

Watch a B-2 drop the MOAB.

F-22:

F-22s intercepted Russian nuclear bombers off the coast of Alaska multiple days in a row.

The 24 F-22 elephant walk was only doable because of a checklist change.

F-22 shots at an airshow are impressive.

Watch from inside an F-22 cockpit.

Lockheed won an $18.5M contract for the F-22.

F-35:

The US House of Representatives appropriation committee added 12 F-35As to the budget.  The SASC bill wants another 2 35Bs and 2 35Cs on top of that.

The F-35 AGCAS has been cleared for introduction.

Parts problems are delaying F-35 production.

The GAO has released a report on the F-35 sustainment: the low F-35 mission readiness is due to a lack of spare parts.

The Lot 12 production contract is expected to be final this summer.

The Pentagon is looking for replacement parts for those made in Turkey.

USAF F-35As have deployed to the Middle East for the first time.

USAF F-35As have conducted air strikes for the first time.  They did so with radar reflectors and external missiles mounted to increase their RCS.

USAF F-35As participated in a prolonged air defense exercise.

The 65th Aggressor Squadron will be stood up at Nellis AFB and use the earliest F-35s.

The standup of the 5th F-35A wing at Luke AFB has been delayed by 18 months.

A USAF F-35A was spotted in the Middle East with a single missile on a wing.  An odd configuration.

The F-35A will probably go to the Paris airshow.

USAF F-35As have deployed to Aviano in Italy.

USAF F-35As in the Middle East are shown deployed in 'beast mode.'

The USS Essex acted as a mini carrier with its load of F-35Bs.

The USS America (LHA-6) will forward deploy to Japan alongside the USS Essex.

The USMC Commandant talks about the 'lightning carrier' concept, using the LHD and LHAs as light carriers.

The USMC is folding the F-35B into its island hopping strategies.

The USMC has conducted its first elephant walk with 20 F-35Bs.

A USMC F-35B suffered a bird strike in Japan.

US Navy F-35Cs are finding new roles.

The USN's new anti radiation missile is making good progress and the USAF F-35As will also get the weapon.

The US Navy has deactivated the VFA-101 Grim Reapers.

British F-35Bs will fly at the Yeovilton airshow.

British F-35Bs deployed to Cyprus for their first overseas training.

Because Canada is already a partner in the F-35, their requirements for workshare for their CF-18 replacement may exclude the F-35 from the competition: Canada wants more local industry participation in the new fighter, but the agreement for who gets what work share in the F-35 is not renegotiatable.  Canada may bend the rules for the F-35.

Greece is considering the F-35 to replace the F-16.

Israel will "share" its operational experience with the F-35 with Britain and the US.

Japan is reassuring the US they will continue buying the F-35.

Japan stated its F-35s made 7 precautionary landings prior to the loss of its fighter.

The US Navy's blackbox hunter has joined the search for the downed Japanese F-35A.  The US and Japan are confident the F-35 lost will not be recovered by China or Russia.  The US military walked back the claim the F-35A wreckage had been found.  The canopy and the blackbox were found.  The US Navy has stopped looking for the wreckage.

The Japanese Izumo and Kaga are being converted to being F-35B aircraft carriers.  Some oppose this.

There has been no further word on the F-35A Japan lost.  A sub rescue ship and a USAF U-2 joined the search when it was happening.

The F-35 program has been coming under fire in South Korea over the offset portion and induction of the first F-35 has been delayed as a result.

Turkey is claiming if they will not participate in the F-35 program, the program will collapse.  Turkey is eying its options if it does lose the F-35 and have announced they are starting to jointly develop aircraft with the Russians.  The US House of Representatives has an early spending bill barring Turkey from buying the F-35.  The crisis is deepening because Turkey is supposed to take delivery of their first S-400 missiles by July.  Erdogan claims Turkey will eventually get the F-35.  the US Senate bill will ban Turkey from getting the F-35 ever if they receive the S-400.  Turkey had claimed they thought the negotiations were getting better.

Turkey's TCG Andalou, an amphibious ship intended to carry F-35Bs, has had a fire in its bow on April 29.

Lockheed has developed a new missile rack to allow the F-35 A and C models to carry 6 AMRAAM missiles internally compared to the four now.

Lockheed is hoping that new suppliers for the F-35A will help reduce the aircraft price significantly.

Lockheed saw its bottom line increase in large part due to the F-35.

Lockheed got a $117 million contract for spare parts for the F-35.

Lockheed has received a $1.1 billion contract from the US Navy for the F-35.

Lockheed is pitching F-35Cs armed with hypersonic missiles.

Northrop has benefited from the increased F-35 work.

Pratt & Whitney got a $200M contract for long lead items for the F-35 engines and another contract for another $53M.