If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
"PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY"
Inside the Air Force - 4/24/2009
GENERAL: PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY The Defense Department and a handful of allies have launched an effort to ensure the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is capable of conducting the most devastating mission in modern warfare -- delivering a nuclear bomb. A senior Pentagon official announced the initiative, which aims to fulfill a long-standing requirement for the stealthy fighter, two days after The Wall Street Journal reported that cyber spies had successfully penetrated the $300 billion JSF program -- the most expensive weapons program in history. “We have a cooperative effort under way to move the F-35 into nuclear capability,” Maj. Gen. Donald Alston, assistant Air Force chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, said during an April 22 speech to a group of military and civilian officials in Arlington, VA. “All the right deliberate steps are under way. “This involves the nations together who are involved in that program to come together, but we’ve been working in the Pentagon -- let alone inside the Air Force -- and with the allies,” the two-star continued. “The right next deliberate steps are being made with that, and we’ll hope to see that come to conclusion here in the near term.” F-35 partners include a number of nuclear-capable NATO alliance members and Israel, an undeclared nuclear power. Four non-nuclear NATO countries -- Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy -- have a nuclear strike mission. Air Force B-2 and B-52 bombers and F-15E and F-16 fighters are the only Air Force aircraft that can currently deploy nuclear weapons. Aircraft that carry nuclear weapons require special circuity that is different from the technology used in conventional weapons. Pentagon officials declined to provide additional details about plans to add nuclear-strike capability to the F-35, such as whether all variants will be configured for the strategic mission. "Nuclear capability has been an F-35 requirement since the program's beginnings, but it is not a component of the current system development and demonstration phase," a program official said in an April 23 e-mail. In December 2008, a task force led by former Defense and Energy Secretary James Schlesinger reported that some allies “are already pursuing an option for replacing their [dual-capable aircraft] fighter forces by investing in the development of the F-35, which has an operational requirement for delivery of nuclear weapons.” The highly publicized report concluded that the Pentagon “must ensure that the dual-capable F-35 remains on schedule” and that “further delays would result in increasing levels of political and strategic risk and reduced strategic options for both the United States and the Alliance.” The F-35 is designed to carry two large 2,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions. Some nuclear weapons weigh around 500 pounds and are roughly the same size as a 500-pound JDAM. The F-35 is still several years away from entering full-rate production and only a handful of test jets currently exist. The Marine Corps jets are not expected to reach their initial operational capability until the beginning of next decade. “Usually way before this stage of the program you’re beginning to hear about that sort of thing,” Richard Aboulafia, a senior aviation analyst at the Teal Group said in an April 22 interview. Part of the certification would include the development of a mission attack profile, according to Aboulafia. “What is your plane expecting to do when it drops the bomb; there’s all kinds of performance parameters,” he said. Early-generation fighters were designed to launch and then pull straight up in order to propel the bomb away from the plane, the analyst noted. “You’ve got to make the plane technically able to get away fast after launching, so . . . there’s all sorts of calculations there,” he said. Placing nuclear weapons on the JSF would also have treaty restrictions, which limit the number of nuclear capable aircraft the United States can operate. Air Force and Lockheed Martin officials referred all questions about the JSF’s nuclear strike capabilities to the F-35 joint program office. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
"PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY"
|
#3
|
|||
|
|||
"PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY"
Mike ha scritto:
Inside the Air Force - 4/24/2009 GENERAL: PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY The Defense Department and a handful of allies have launched an effort to ensure the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is capable of conducting the most devastating mission in modern warfare -- delivering a nuclear bomb. Ugh..... let's cross well the fingers, there's already a mess, and a -D version, available to select few, has all the potential to sink the entire program...... Best regards from Italy, Dott. Piergiorgio. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
"PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY"
"dott.Piergiorgio" wrote in
: Mike ha scritto: Inside the Air Force - 4/24/2009 GENERAL: PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY The Defense Department and a handful of allies have launched an effort to ensure the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is capable of conducting the most devastating mission in modern warfare -- delivering a nuclear bomb. Ugh..... let's cross well the fingers, there's already a mess, and a -D version, available to select few, has all the potential to sink the entire program...... Why another version? It would simply be a Block X update to whatever was fielded. What after all is the difference between nuclear and non-nuclear capable aircraft? Basically some form of safety gear related to weapon fusing. IBM |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
"PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY"
Ian B MacLure ha scritto:
"dott.Piergiorgio" wrote in : Mike ha scritto: Inside the Air Force - 4/24/2009 GENERAL: PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY The Defense Department and a handful of allies have launched an effort to ensure the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is capable of conducting the most devastating mission in modern warfare -- delivering a nuclear bomb. Ugh..... let's cross well the fingers, there's already a mess, and a -D version, available to select few, has all the potential to sink the entire program...... Why another version? It would simply be a Block X update to whatever was fielded. What after all is the difference between nuclear and non-nuclear capable aircraft? Basically some form of safety gear related to weapon fusing. Indeed, but the "select few" in the end actually is a "select one" (the other reliable US ally is well-known for their penchant for indigenous solutions), and other partecipating countries have a public opinion more or less against nuke weapons, and at least a pair of said countries has serious issues with their Defence budget.... it's easy to draw the (inauspicious) conclusions, IMVHO. Best regards from Italy, Dott. Piergiorgio. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
"PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY"
Ian B MacLure wrote:
Why another version? It would simply be a Block X update to whatever was fielded. What after all is the difference between nuclear and non-nuclear capable aircraft? Basically some form of safety gear related to weapon fusing. - Installation of the PAL hardware, which (probably) means changing out the connectors at the bomb rack, installation of cabling, and installation of the cockpit panel. - Possible modifications to the mechanical systems of the bomb racks. - Probable modifications to the aircraft flight control and weapons delivery software. - Development, testing, and implementation of delivery techniques. - Updating the maintenance, operations, and familiarization manuals. - Training the pilots and ground crews on all of the above. Etc... Etc... No showstoppers certainly, but not trivial or simple - and a lot more than just 'some safety gear and wiring'. D. -- Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh. http://derekl1963.livejournal.com/ -Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings. Oct 5th, 2004 JDL |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
"PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY"
|
#8
|
|||
|
|||
"PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY"
On Apr 29, 11:20*pm, Ian B MacLure wrote:
"dott.Piergiorgio" wrote : Mike ha scritto: Inside the Air Force - 4/24/2009 GENERAL: PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY The Defense Department and a handful of allies have launched an effort to ensure the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is capable of conducting the most devastating mission in modern warfare -- delivering a nuclear bomb. Ugh..... let's cross well the fingers, there's already a mess, and a -D version, available to select few, has all the potential to sink the entire program...... * * * * Why another version? It would simply be a Block X update to * * * * whatever was fielded. What after all is the difference between * * * * nuclear and non-nuclear capable aircraft? Basically some form * * * * of safety gear related to weapon fusing. * * * * IBM Its a bit more than that. Takes a lot of work to be nuclear certified. |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
"PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY"
frank wrote in
: On Apr 29, 11:20*pm, Ian B MacLure wrote: "dott.Piergiorgio" wrote inn : Mike ha scritto: Inside the Air Force - 4/24/2009 GENERAL: PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY The Defense Department and a handful of allies have launched an effort to ensure the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is capable of conducting the most devastating mission in modern warfare -- delivering a nuclear bomb. Ugh..... let's cross well the fingers, there's already a mess, and a -D version, available to select few, has all the potential to sink the entire program...... * * * * Why another version? It would simply be a Block X update to * * * * whatever was fielded. What after all is the difference be tween * * * * nuclear and non-nuclear capable aircraft? Basically some form * * * * of safety gear related to weapon fusing. * * * * IBM Its a bit more than that. Takes a lot of work to be nuclear certified. It is however doable and the process is well understood. IBM |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
"PENTAGON WORKING TO GIVE F-35 JSF NUCLEAR-STRIKE CAPABILITY"
I think everybody overlooked the most important word he
On Apr 28, 7:06 pm, Mike wrote: The Defense Department and a handful of allies So this is not for an American nuclear capability. It's for Israel. -HJC Hey gang, let's all sing "Bomb Iran" with McCain! |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
"Pentagon Wants Kill Switch for Planes" | Jim Logajan | Piloting | 24 | June 16th 08 03:27 PM |
Spinner strobing as a "Bird Strike Countermeasure" | Jim Logajan | Piloting | 259 | December 13th 07 05:43 AM |
Spinner strobing as a "Bird Strike Countermeasure" | Jim Logajan | Home Built | 212 | December 13th 07 01:35 AM |
"British trace missile in copter strike to Iran" | Mike[_7_] | Naval Aviation | 8 | March 10th 07 08:20 PM |
"Pentagon Command Shuffle Rekindles Equity Debate" | Mike | Naval Aviation | 1 | January 26th 07 03:04 PM |