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posted by martyb on Monday June 12 2017, @08:42PM   Printer-friendly
from the Zoom!-Zoom!-Boom! dept.

The US Air Force's 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona today cancelled "local flying operations" for F-35A fighters after five incidents in which pilots "experienced hypoxia-like symptoms," an Air Force spokesperson said in a statement. Hypoxia is a deficiency in oxygen reaching the body through the circulatory system.

"In order to synchronize operations and maintenance efforts toward safe flying operations we have cancelled local F-35A flying," said 56th Fighter Wing commander Brigadier General Brook Leonard. "The Air Force takes these physiological incidents seriously, and our focus is on the safety and well-being of our pilots. We are taking the necessary steps to find the root cause of these incidents."

The cancellation of F-35A operations is currently restricted to Luke Air Force Base, the primary pilot training base for the F-35A. The Air Force also trains F-35A pilots at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The 56th Fighter Wing's squadrons at Luke train pilots from the US Air Force as well as from other nations buying the F-35A, including Norway, Italy, and Australia. All the pilots training at Luke will be briefed on the incidents and on the procedures the pilots affected used to successfully restore oxygen and land the aircraft safely, a 56th Fighter Wing spokesperson said. The 56th's Air Operations Group will also hold a forum with pilots to discuss their concerns.

Source: ArsTechnica

According to Wikipedia:

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole fighters. The fifth-generation combat aircraft is designed to perform ground attack and air defense missions. It has three main models: the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, the F-35B short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) variant, and the F-35C carrier-based Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) variant. On 31 July 2015, the United States Marines declared ready for deployment the first squadron of F-35B fighters after intensive testing. On 2 August 2016, the U.S. Air Force declared its first squadron of F-35A fighters combat-ready.

The F-35 development program has been plagued with cost overruns and delays. Current estimated costs per unit vary from $95m for the F35-A to $120m for the F35-B and F35-C.


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  • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday June 12 2017, @10:42PM (2 children)

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Monday June 12 2017, @10:42PM (#524696)

    Here's another article [time.com] from 2013 showing the flight-hour costs of many more AF planes. Looks like the F-35 is cheaper than the F-15, but not the F-16. The F-18 isn't listed here (it's not Air Force) but a google search comes up with around $25k.

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  • (Score: 2) by NewNic on Monday June 12 2017, @10:58PM (1 child)

    by NewNic (6420) on Monday June 12 2017, @10:58PM (#524703) Journal

    All those numbers do is support my premise that, by flying the A10 instead of the F35 for missions where the A10 is suitable, more A35 can eventually be fielded should the time come that we need to field F35s.

    I also think that you have to take the F35 numbers with a very large pinch of salt. I suspect that, once actually deployed in significant numbers and any fudging of the numbers become more difficult, the per-hour flight costs may increase, although I will concede that a single engine design may help to contain costs in comparison to a twin-engine design.

    --
    lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2017, @12:04AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2017, @12:04AM (#524723)

      You have entirely missed what the metaphor is saying.
      (Where I'm from, we say "with a grain of salt", which makes the point more clearly.)

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]