Krieger22

European F-35 buyers to collaborate to reduce running costs

Israel is counted as European for the purposes of this article 

Shit is going down in Basra:

http://now.eloqua.com/es.asp?s=966913078&e=388924&elqTrackId=4c85114565b64dab9d00441ca5178163&elq=53b262b2a3874aed80027b081cce41d7&elqaid=16343&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=13994#1

Non-paywalled version of Aviation Week's How F-35 Experience Could Reduce Hurdles To Developing Fighters, read and scrape while you can

VFA-125 F-35C damaged after ingesting debris from aerial refueling basket

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The engine of an F-35C from Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 125 was damaged while receiving fuel from an F/A-18F Super Hornet from VFA-103 on Aug. 22, Navy officials confirmed to USNI News. Debris from an aerial refueling basket was ingested into the F-35C’s engine intake, resulting in the damage, Naval Air Forces Atlantic spokesman Cmdr. Dave Hecht said on Tuesday.

Both fighters were able to land safely – the Super Hornet flew to Naval Air Station Oceana, Va., while the F-35C returned to Lincoln. No injuries were reported and the incident is currently under investigation, Hecht said.

Damage to the F-35C was reported as a Class A mishap – the most serious type for a military aircraft. An incident is classified as Class A when an aircraft suffers more than $2 million in damage, is totally destroyed or involves a serious or fatal injury to the aircrew. The damage to the F-35 was above the $2 million threshold, Hecht said. A new F135 engine for the JSF costs about $14 million, according to the most recent contract award to engine builder Pratt & Whitney.

The Super Hornet was also damaged but was reported as a Class C mishap because there were no injuries and the total estimated cost of damage to the aircraft is between $50,000 and $500,000, Hecht said.

USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Harry S. Truman on dual-carrier sustainment and qualification operations in the western Atlantic Ocean

What happens when you dump flares when in a spin? This:

Something exploded at Khalkhalah Air Base

Official line apparently is EOD of ISIS kit.

The Pentagon has cut aid to Pakistan over militant ties

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The so-called Coalition Support Funds were part of a broader suspension in aid to Pakistan announced by President Donald Trump at the start of the year, when he accused Pakistan of rewarding past assistance with “nothing but lies & deceit.”

 

The Trump administration says Islamabad is granting safe haven to insurgents who are waging a 17-year-old war in neighboring Afghanistan, a charge Pakistan denies.

But U.S. officials had held out the possibility that Pakistan could win back that support if it changed its behavior.

 

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, in particular, had an opportunity to authorize $300 million in CSF funds through this summer - if he saw concrete Pakistani actions to go after insurgents. Mattis chose not to, a U.S. official told Reuters.

 

“Due to a lack of Pakistani decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy the remaining $300 (million) was reprogrammed,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner said.

 

Faulkner said the Pentagon aimed to spend the $300 million on “other urgent priorities” if approved by Congress. He said another $500 million in CSF was stripped by Congress from Pakistan earlier this year, to bring the total withheld to $800 million.

 

The disclosure came ahead of an expected visit by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the top U.S. military officer, General Joseph Dunford, to Islamabad. Mattis told reporters on Tuesday that combating militants would be a “primary part of the discussion.”

Alexander Zakharchenko is dead - the cafe he was in got blown up.

https://meduza.io/en/news/2018/08/31/cafe-bombing-kills-separatist-leader-in-eastern-ukraine

This global warming thing might just be a cause for concern

Following the nose gear collapse, another F-35 had a bird strike

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"A bird strike involving an F-35A Lightning II was identified upon completion of a training mission yesterday just after 12:00 p.m.," Airman First Class Daniella Pena-Pavao, spokeswoman at the 33rd Fighter Wing, told Military.com Thursday in a statement. The Northwest Florida Daily News first reported the incident.

 

"This incident was unrelated to the ground mishap involving another F-35A assigned here," Pena-Pavao saidt.

Following the strike, maintenance personnel conducted "a thorough inspection" and determined the aircraft sustained no damage," she said. The pilot was unharmed, officials said.

I might be able to hack it as a salesman after all

It's already stanced, which is nice I guess

Russia Confirms Indian Pullout From Fifth Gen Fighter Program, Leaves ‘Door Open’

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In a first formal confirmation from either government, Russia today said that India had ‘temporarily suspended’ participation in the Su-57 fifth generation fighter aircraft program, a decision reported to have been taken by the Narendra Modi government in February this year.

 

India decided last year to go slow on the FGFA program that had been intended as a joint program between Russia’s Sukhoi, HAL and production agencies on both sides. But a large cost commitment not quite justifying the levels of India’s technological involvement and subsequent workshare in the program, a decision was taken to slow down and take a rethink. Today’s comment from the Russian arms export control chief confirms turbulence over the last 18 months that resulted in India pulling the plug.

 

Shugaev minced no words when he said he understood the ‘comprehensive issue from a financial standpoint’ but said he was hopeful still of a resolution.

 

“We have not shut any doors, and understand it is a comprehensive issue from a financial standpoint. If and when India is ready to return to this project, we are willing to negotiate terms and format. This project could see different forms of cooperation in the future — a JV or technological cooperation. The FGFA was a joint project for a joint product,” he told Livefist.

Video of the T-34 crash

USAF Chief of Staff: Light Attack Experiment is chiefly an international initiative

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Interviewed in his Pentagon office last week, Goldfein said the Light Attack experiment is most valuable as a way to partner with allies. It would provide a means to operate together and share information, he said.

“When we started” the Light Attack experiment, Goldfein said, the idea was to create a long-term response to “violent extremism,” and do it in a way that allied air forces with limited resources could still contribute to the effort.

“We haven’t had many options for them to be able” to contribute in those fights, he explained. The light attack aircraft would offer such an opportunity.

Having green force operate these instead of the USAF is pretty much what Gums was advocating on F-16.net back then. Not going to bother linking Rogoway and his peanut gallery's reactions.

The ROK Navy is considering modifying the Dokdo-class LPHes for F-35B operations

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The tender calls for a research project to explore the possibility of operating F-35B stealth aircraft aboard its amphibious landing ship following some modifications.

The ROK Navy has two Dokdo-class amphibious assault ships: ROKS Dokdo lunched in July 2005 and commissioned in July 2007 and ROKS Marado which was launched in May this year and is set to be commissioned in 2020. Both were built by local shipyard Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction (HHIC) in Busan.