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The US Air Force today announced that its first operational squadron of F-35A Lightning II fighters is ready for combat duty. The announcement was made just a day into the five-month period that the Air Force had been given to reach operational levels with the 34th Fighter Squadron, based at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
The "initial capability" declaration comes after two Air Force F-35As joined two Marine Corps F-35s at July's Royal International Air Tattoo at the United Kingdom's Fairford Royal Air Force base and after an accelerated pace of operational tests for the 34th over the past few months. The first F-35A aircraft were delivered to the 34th in September of last year. They've been modified several times after delivery, including getting software updates to the avionics that have eliminated some of the "instability" problems previously experienced (including radar system crashes that required reboots while in flight). Since the most recent software upgrades, the squadron has flown 88 individual aircraft sorties without a software problem, according to an Air Combat Command statement.
[...] However, as stealthy as it is, the F-35A currently has a limited punch. The aircraft won't be able to carry the full suite of weapons used by the F-16—the aircraft it is intended to replace—until 2020, when the Air Force begins accepting aircraft at full-rate production of 150 per year.
Eventually, the Air Force plans to purchase up to 1,800 F-35As at a final price tag of $100 million per aircraft (plus the buried costs of the long-delayed development of the aircraft). The total cost of the program to the US and its allies is expected to exceed $500 billion (~£375 billion).
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday August 03 2016, @10:36PM
Beyond the MIC goals, It's ready for military duty, if the duty is one of the following:
- Taking a pilot from point A to point B.
- Shooting down enemy aircraft.
That's about all you get so far for your 100 million. Better find some enemies with planes soon.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday August 03 2016, @10:52PM
Bad idea if you want to live: [news.com.au]
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(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday August 03 2016, @11:00PM
But it the Bad Guys are flying a B-29 at 20000 ft (or a 767 at 500ft), they're toast, for sure!!!!!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @11:08PM
That's why the next war will go nuclear very quickly. NATO can't win anymore by conventional means.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by driverless on Thursday August 04 2016, @05:27AM
The next war, and the one after that, and the one after that, will be against insurgents with AK47s and IEDs and the will to take more casualties than the US (or whoever) ever can. Whether you have an F35 in that situation is irrelevant. In fact the only thing you really need is not enough infrastructure for an opponent to have anything to target.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mhajicek on Thursday August 04 2016, @01:18AM
Lighting II, more like Lame Duck. It's a jack of all trades, master of none. It has no strengths to play against an enemies weaknesses. Even it's stealth is of limited advantage and has a shelf life; radars are already being deployed by some US enemies that can see it clearly.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 04 2016, @01:34AM
Sixth generation stealth fighters better be covered with metamaterials. Flying Harry Potter invisibility cloaks.
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(Score: 3, Redundant) by driverless on Thursday August 04 2016, @05:21AM
Beyond the MIC goals, It's ready for military duty, if the duty is one of the following:
- Taking a pilot from point A to point B.
- Shooting down enemy aircraft.
You forgot the primary priority:
- Provide employment for voters/money for campaign contributors in the state(s) of the senator(s) who's supporting it.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday August 04 2016, @04:12PM
MIC: Military-Industrial Complex.
Check your TLAs before stating the obvious.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Thursday August 04 2016, @07:17AM
If we decide to hire Trump as our fearless leader, those enemies will magically appear everywhere.
Of course, we'll have to nuke some of them, just to show we really mean business.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 04 2016, @02:24PM
Nuke them and make them pay for it.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 04 2016, @05:50PM
Makes sense. I mean, we did do that to Japan.