"For military, 'Lightning' strikes again"

For military, 'Lightning' strikes again
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published September 18, 2006

http://www.washingtontimes.com/natio...4702-8767r.htm

FORT WORTH, Texas -- The World War II P-38 Lightning fighter ruled the
skies over the Pacific, producing the most aerial combat kills in that
theater during the war.
Its new namesake, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, recently
christened the Lightning II, is being developed to be just as dominant
and the first-ever fighter produced in three mission-specific versions
for the Navy, Air Force and Marines.
The radar-evading family of Lightning II, which Lockheed Martin is
expected to test fly in the next two months, has been designed to
enable the pilot to concentrate on fighting and tactics.
"Takeoffs, landings and getting from point A to point B need to be
easy," said Marine Lt. Col. Arthur "Turbo" Tomassetti, a former test
pilot for the fighter's experimental version (the X-35).
"Mission stuff -- killing things and blowing things up -- should be
what is most challenging. You don't need to complicate a pilot's life
by making the hardest part of his combat mission getting back aboard
ship."
The F-35, military and Lockheed officials say, will be highly
maneuverable, stealthy, and when armed, capable of tracking and killing
as many as eight enemy aircraft and 16 ground targets simultaneously.
And its engine will generate more thrust than any fighter
propulsion system ever produced.
It is going to need those capabilities because in less than six
years, it will begin replacing several of the top existing fighter
aircraft in the U.S. arsenal, including the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the
FA-18 Hornet, the AV-8 Harrier "jump jet," even the "tank-busting" A-10
Thunderbolt.
All three U.S. services with fighter air arms will fly a version of
the F-35, as will the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and Navy, a
unique plan to make it more cost effective in terms of operational
logistics.
The three versions a
-A conventional takeoff-and-landing (CTOL) variant for the Air
Force.
-A short takeoff-vertical landing (STOVL) variant for the Marine
Corps.
-A carrier takeoff-and-landing variant for the Navy.
"I see this one aircraft as a family of three airplanes that are 70
[percent] to 80 percent common," says Lockheed spokesman John Smith.
"The percent not common is used predominantly to tailor the airplane
for the specific mission of the [military] service it will provide
service to."
Having three variants of one aircraft will help keep costs down by
eliminating the need for individual assembly lines and individual
development programs, but it's still not a cheap airplane, costing
between $45 million to $60 million each.
On Tuesday, U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said that
cutting funding to the F-35 program could delay its production and
increase costs already projected at $276.5 billion for some 2,400
aircraft by 2027, Reuters reported.
Mr. Wynne was responding to reports that senior Pentagon leaders
are weighing a Navy plan to cut the number of F-35s it plans to buy
from fiscal 2008 to 2013, which could free up more than $1 billion for
other priorities.
The first test flight for the F-35, slated for October or November,
will be launched out of Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base Fort
Worth, and Lockheed hopes to begin production on the first five
aircraft next year.
The F-35 will eventually join the already operational F-22 Raptor,
an equally stealthy air-supremacy fighter that currently is
outperforming all comers.
Nothing on the planet can see the F-22, much less outfight it. But
when the F-35 comes online, the two will literally dominate the skies.
The F-35 will be able to see virtually hundreds of airplanes at
distances far exceeding the scope of previous fighter systems. Tracking
distances are classified, but the new aircraft's sight range is said to
be twice that of existing fighters (about 40 miles in every direction
for existing aircraft).
The pilot may pick and choose what targets to engage first, and his
onboard tracking systems will actually make recommendations.
"There are very few switches and knobs in the cockpit," says Col.
Tomassetti, who commands the Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23
at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. "Instead, there is a big TV screen
that shows you a greater range of things than ever before."
"A pilot in the F-35 cockpit will focus more on being a tactician
and less on things like keeping the airplane airborne and going in the
right direction."
Besides the United Kingdom, countries that have become vested
partners in the F-35 program include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy,
the Netherlands, Norway and Turkey. Israel and Singapore are also
participants.