₦airaland Forum

US Air Force grounds F-35 fighter jets


Washington (CNN)The US Air Force said Friday it has grounded 10 of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, just over a month after they were declared "combat ready."

The decision affecting the most expensive weapons system ever was made "due to the discovery of peeling and crumbling insulation in avionics cooling lines inside the fuel tanks," the Air Force said in a statement, describing the action as a temporary pause in flight operations."
The faulty cooling lines affected a total of 57 aircraft, the statement said. Only 15 of those planes had been fielded with the remainder still on the production line and will be fixed there.
The plane's manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, has delivered 108 F-35As. The Air Force plans to buy 1,763 of the jets.
Of the 15 grounded aircraft already in the field, 10 had been declared combat ready, one was being used in testing, and the final four were for training, with two of those four training aircraft belonging to the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
"While nearing completion, the F-35 is still in development and challenges are to be expected," the Air Force said.
Representatives from the Air Force and Lockheed Martin's F-35 program told CNN that the defective cooling lines were not found in all the aircraft. They said the use of the faulty part was limited to one sub-contractor that did not work on all the planes.
"Safety is always our first consideration and Lockheed Martin is committed to resolving this issue as quickly as possible to return jets to flying status," Michael Rein, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin, told CNN in a statement.
The F-35 jet has been described as the most expensive weapons system in history with a program cost estimated to be $400 billion.
The F-35A is the Air Force's version of the jet, the US Marines and Navy will also have their own F-35 variants. Neither of the latter services' aircraft were affected.
Upon the Air Force F-35's receipt of initial operational capability status in August, Gen. Hawk Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, said: "The F-35A will be the most dominant aircraft in our inventory because it can go where our legacy aircraft cannot and provide the capabilities our commanders need on the modern battlefield."
The grounding of the planes was first reported by Bloomberg News.

Brooklynsouth:
hMmmmm afonja is that you ?if I hear ogun state ehhhh industrialised what? Shame on you pathetic lair does this really run in your tribes blood ? No woNder buhari lost his integrity the moment he surrounded hImslef with men from your tribe sorry yoruba travel and see and that your useless reasoning don't make me say I hate you cos your Life ll turn anti clock smell out

Are you really this dumb not to know Ogun state is the most industrialized state in Nigeria? Oh you never knew most places called as Lagos are actually Ogun state?

Zimbabwean and bear are like bread and butter. They didn't even mention a coke bottle but a bear bottle again

I DON VEX SEF. NA ONLY ONE PERSON GET ALL THESE HOUSES? Corrupt humans.

giles14:
so u believe d Chinese can hack into Pentagon and steal sensitive file of d F22 n F35 but didn't steal d d engines blueprints or file,dis really funny

All those things are physical characteristics in which to me could have been performed just by looking at the picture of a RAPTOR or F35. Hacking doesn't need to come in to achieve all that.

giles14:
so u believe d Chinese can hack into Pentagon and steal sensitive file of d F22 n F35 but didn't steal d d engines blueprints or file,dis really funny

LOL bro. I am neutral about this o. I am not accusing the Chinese even if they did. According to the news I have read, the hacking was performed by Chinese Nationals who then passed the documents to the Chinese government.
The hacking, their business lol.

J10 Notice the Inlet?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/J-10a_zhas.png

Notice the difference on the J10B?
https://www.ausairpower.net/PLA-AF/Chengdu-J-10B-AESA-Demonstrator-1.jpg

J20
- It has the DSI ducts from the F-35
- It has the twin engine configuration of the F-22
- It has the Canted vertical trapezoidal tail of the F-22
- The wing uses the F-35A style configuration, but is closer to the F-35C in size
- The rear horizontal tail uses the F-35A design
- The rear exhaust nozzoles are standard turkey feather style designs that are on most 4th gen fighters
- The internal bomb bay is reminiscent of the F-22
- The canopy is very similar to the F-35, but made with a two piece design instead of a single bubble canopy
- The overall size is even very similar to the F-35C

Henry240 Chinese pentagon files at work

If DSI was used for F22 it won't be able to reach mach 2.


DSI principle;
https://i42.tinypic.com/dnysuq.jpg

Odunayaw:
Allah...I don taya

Hy bro, Happy Sunday.

giles14:
I strongly advice d RSA not to fall into dat Chinese trap.dey just wat to steal ur technology

LOL. what is it with this technology stealing ish? The Chinese really lost their respect.

Secure Data Link, EW Capability, Guided Weapons Planned For Pakistan-China JF-17 Fighter.
I hope we keep upgrading our JF-17 too when they arrive .

Chinese Poly Technologies Partners With Denel To Build Naval Vessels For South Africa


https://www.defenseworld.net/uploads//news/big/denel_sig_1474438884.jpg
Denel and Poly Technologies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to join forces in SA’s maritime rejuvenation.
Poly Technologies aims to take a stake in the Simons Town shipyard and join Denel in constructing three naval vessels. The strategic alliance was signed on 16 September by Denel’s acting Group CEO Zwelakhe Ntshepe and the Vice President of Poly Technologies Inc, Liu Jianmin at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition at Air Force Base Waterkloof.
Poly Technologies is likely to make an investment in the recapitalization of the Simons Town dockyard as part of its management takeover by Denel Integrated Systems and Maritime (Denel ISM). Denel officials declined to give the figure of the Chinese investment and a press statement from Denel only said that the two state owned companies would combine to collaborate in the rejuvenation and growth of the local maritime sector. More immediately, the two companies will collaborate in the construction of three naval vessels for the SA Navy.
Poly Technologies is involved in almost every defence sector including dockyard construction, ship building, tank and armoured vehicle manufacturing, and fighter aircraft production.
Denel did say that it would build three vessels for the South African navy with Poly Technologies in either Simons Town or Durban. This will presumably be if Poly Technologies wins the SA Navy’s Projects Biro and Hotel for hydrographic, inshore and offshore patrol vessels.
The designs Poly Technologies is offering include a Hydrographic Survey Vessel (HSV43 4300T), which will have an overall length of 100.9 m and a displacement of 4 300 tons.

[img]http://media.defense.gov/2016/Sep/19/2001636445/670/394/0/160919-F-YZ001-003.JPG[/img]

The B-21 has a name: Raider

chkil:
Algeria have a very good maintenance capacity for most their equipment , aircraft , tanks, ship, submarines ect .... their is a facility for su30MKA maintenance , ( on the pic )
https://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/8395967ypcjjcagsrhxfqgvbl59kk276v0.jpg

another news that i read today

All I see is a beautiful engine. Engineering is indeed beautiful.

Henry240:

If it were just coating or studying shapes both the F-22, T-50, J-20 and J-31 won't be taking this long or as long as they did to begin production. I'm not an expert in stealth, however what i do know is the use of composites and alloys or shapes doesn't really reduce any RCS as long as more powerful radars continue to enter the market.

J20 and J31 development stealth development has been around for years. F22 and F35 started with increasing development from have blue.

The Gripen is a significantly smaller aircraft when compared to the MIG-29 or F-15. Lower RCS on the Gripen is blown out of proportion, radars still detect aircrafts like the Gripen from over 100km.

Stealth is about shape, edge configuration and not size. A Boeing 737 aircraft can be constructed to give out a RCS as small as a cart by designing it in a way that reflects off Radar waves from the receiver or making use of active cancellation. Gripen can be detected at 100KM due to lack of Radar absorbent materials

JF-17's airframe is constructed from aluminium alloys to keep both costs and weight down while providing high
structural strength. High strength steel and titanium alloys are partially adopted in some critical areas.

Jf-17 was constructed based on cost. If Pakistan had wanted something better they would have used composites to reduce weight and also go for AESA radars.

Nope, i beg to differ. Stealth is quite hard to achieve, if this wasn't the case we wouldn't be seeing Chinese hackers always prying hard on Pentagon files and an F-22 look alike flying in an AVIC test center.

The issue is Americans are far ahead both in Research. Just like Petr Ufimstev studied about the scattering of Em waves, If the soviet Union had considered it classified and taken research serious on it, they will be ahead in terms of stealth. Stealth principles are almost unclassified. China hacking into Pentagon doesn't mean they stole the shape and composite materials alone. They most definitely stole information they never knew contributed to high RCS.
We all know F22 obtuse angle and F31 DSI are increases stealth characteristics. I have a single patent on stealth technology( RAM).If anyone can help with where it can be applied kindly PM me. I would have loved to post a patent copy here but a global release will be out in few weeks. Edit: It's under the secrecy order so it wont be possible. There's a huge increase and development in stealth technology. I am still anticipating for Russia's plasma stealth, but till then US remains the king.

Henry240:
The re-engineer old American( Tomcats and F-5s) and keep them air-worthy. That's quite decent, but that's it. They don't have the capability to build an aircraft or apply stealth tech.

The Russians are yet the have a production model stealth aircraft, how are they now supposed to help the Iranians?

Simplest of them all. It's just about learning and studying the principle and scattering of EM waves. Coating depends if they are ready to perform enough research on nano materials and composites. Enough shaping will do well in reducing an aircraft RCS. Take a look at gripen, Super hornet compare with Migs, F15,F16 it is obvious a low rcs was going to come out. The issue is lower RCS means you are giving out speed, maneuverability. JF-17 has no stealth design at all to me and its air frame were not made up of composites mechanically-steered planar array antenna is also a nono. Those are good energy reflectors. Stealth isn't hard it's just about studying, learning about the working principles of Em waves. Effective RAM/MAGRAM may be hard to study. It's just physics.
Enough shaping, use of composites and high tech MAGRAM will achieve aRCS close to that of F22. They should also contain energy emission.

People with existing technology make it look like it's a big deal/mystery. Stealth technology isn't big again. It was.

Henry240:
No, they don't.

they don't have the capability for stealth or the aircraft? If it's stealth, then they sure do.. If it's avionics they may not be too capable but since IRAN has some locally designed trainer, they should be able to produce a full stealth aircraft with the help of Russia.

MikeCZA:
Plastic stealth jets?

Not operational yet so that's why. At least they've got the capability.

SUPOL:
Who told u that?
If a police officer has any reason to suspect u of any crime. He has d reason to search ur pockets, bags, phones and other belongings. Say wat u know please

I think A POLICE only has the right to detain you till a search warrant is ready. My dad is a CSP and he frowns at that. Yomi shogunle said the same thing too so I don't get what you are saying.

SUPOL:
Shut ur mouth!
What does d Law say?

Sorry bro, are you saying it's legal to search someone's phone without a warrant?

giles14:
I disagree.

a flanker

A tomcat

Even IRAN. henry I think we need someone to talk to those oga at the top about the need for homemade manufacturing. Even if it is a fast development on our UAV.
https://blog.tankpedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/309994_10151267004923603_758702725_n-thumb-560x373-171921.jpg

Youngzedd:
You're not far from the truth.

About 60% of Samsung phones you will see have broken screen and they users never bother to fix it because of the cost.


The question is, why is Samsung unnecessary expensive

Because 60% of Samsung you ve seen are S4 or others that fall withing that range.

I know Samsung has screen issues with S4 but starting from S5-7 note 3-7, C5, C7 they don't really have screen issues.

Nigerians should learn to use the glass screen protector too.

Nice work from Sunday idajili.

andrewza:
5 to 10m USD for a war ship. add some zeros

haha yea I know. I'm just trying to let him know our government won't do that.

Henry240:
I can count 7 ships docked. I think for an African nation, we have quite a large fleet. Also apart from the donated ships, the oldest ship in our fleet is just 34 years, that's mid-life of the ships. If we can increase serviceability to 85%, that would be fantastic.


It would be nice if we can build proper fighting ships in the Cyclone class (52 meters) to add to our fleet. Armed with surface to air, anti-ship missiles, powerful radar and a 76mm super-rapid gun.

Build? Do you think the government is willing to spend up to $5-10 million on R& and production on a Nigerian product?

andrewza:
Ships cant be at sea all the time. You only need a few at sea at any one time and some on stand by

I asked due to the amount of ships Nigeria has but henry already clarified that. Remember Nigeria has a busy water and naval assets are not like Airforce that can be deployed withing minutes hence the reason for my question.

[b]China has tested quantum radar that will be able to detect stealth aircraft and other objects within the range of 100 km.

The radar uses quantum entanglement photons, which means it has better detection capabilities than conventional systems, so it can more easily track modern aircraft that use stealth technology or baffle enemy radar, various Chinese media reported. The method would be useful for tracking targets with a low radar cross section, such as modern aircraft using stealth technology or targets employing active countermeasures to jam or baffle enemy radar.

The radar, which was tested in mid-August, was first developed by the Intelligent Perception Technology Laboratory, a branch of defense and electronics firm China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC).

According to defenseworld.net, The technology is also beneficial in bio-medicine, since quantum radar requires lower energy and can be used to non-invasively probe for objects with low reflectivity, such as cancer cells.
[/b]

jakeporeshenko:
Manning that S.K 40mm AGL

so who's patrolling our seas with all those ships there?

jakeporeshenko:
So somebody posted this some threads ago, what's going on here and Who else noticed the Nigerian Air Force personnel ?

I noticed it too..

Toyosi: Like a friend would say, I left Nigeria without combing my hair. I initially came here for a Master’s degree in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering in 2014 and I have been around since then. I have led a lot of inventions and innovations in Nigeria, for which I couldn’t find any support or funding. I initiated a lot of Startups. Some of them include: a pounded yam making machine that pounds two man-size meal in 20 seconds; conversion of Jatropha seed oil to make diesels; making of tiles from sawdust and used pure water sachets, among many others. But as you know, no one was ready to support. Nigerian society and multinationals only fund upcoming dancers, musicians, models and the likes.

The truth is SA is far ahead when it comes to Research, because the government, the industries and the universities are on top of their games and working together. I promise you, we have the population who are willing to go to school in Nigeria but there is very little support. The reverse is the case in SA.

You all can see the origin of Nigeria problem? Alot of talented Nigerians but nothing to show off due to the govt inability to encourage research and development. To all damn tribalist on this thread, better learn to reason well. The guy doesn't even give a damn about tribe what he cares about is where to suucesfully.

nkemdi89:
DIA has no business with internal security.

You are wrong. DIA deals with internal security while NIA foreign intelligence.