September 19, 2018 | International, Aerospace
SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM, BY: GARRETT REIM
After completing static, drop and durability testing on the F-35A, Lockheed Martin believes that early results indicate potential for an increased service life certification of the stealth fighter.
The F-35's service lifetime is designed to be 8,000h, but each test airframe is required to successfully complete two lifetimes of testing, the equivalent of 16,000h. The F-35A exceeded the requirement by completing three full lifetimes of testing, 24,000h, prompting Lockheed to moot the potential service-life extension.
“We look forward to analyzing the results and bringing forward the data to potentially extend the aircraft's lifetime certification even further,” said Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin's vice president and general manager of the F-35 program. “Already certified for one of the longest lifetimes of any fighter, an increase would greatly reduce future costs for all F-35 customers over several decades to come.”
The USAF plans to fly the F-35A until at least 2070, so a longer lifespan per aircraft may allow the service to reach that goal without having to purchase new fighters. However, as aircraft age they become more expensive to maintain and operate, making it unclear if a service life extension of the F-35A would be economical.
The F-35A airframe completed its testing at BAE Systems in Brough, England. The F-35B and C variants were tested at Lockheed Martin's facility in Fort Worth, Texas, though the company did not release the results for those variants. All variants will eventually undergo final teardown inspections at the National Institute for Aviation Research in Wichita, Kansas.
August 7, 2024 | International, Land, C4ISR
The Army's Space and Missile Defense Command is working on a new air and missile defense strategy for 2040 that will be informed by current conflicts.
February 4, 2019 | International, C4ISR
By: Ben Werner Defense officials routinely tout the hypersonic weapons they hope to develop and field, but Raytheon's leadership sees anti-hypersonic defensive technology as the better long-term business bet. Raytheon is very interested in expanding its hypersonics business, especially hypersonics defense capabilities, Raytheon chief executive Tom Kennedy said during a Thursday conference call with Wall Street analysts. “We think the hypersonic defense market is larger than the hypersonic market,” Kennedy said. There is a market for creating an offensive hypersonic attack system, Kennedy said. However, developing a hypersonics defense system involves creating the sensors used to track incoming hypersonic weapons and creating a vehicle that can successfully intercept the incoming projectile. Raytheon considers developing hypersonic technology a crucial part of its Missile Systems business's ability to compete for future government contracts. With 2018 sales of $8.3 billion, Raytheon's Missile Systems business is the largest division by sales, representing about 30 percent of Raytheon's total $27.1 billion in sales for the year, according to the company's recently filed fourth quarter financial report. In 2019, Raytheon expects the Missile Systems business to record sales of between $8.9 billion and $9.1 billion. In the meantime, Kennedy said Raytheon is pleased with the rollout of its new Naval Strike Missile (NSM). The Navy awarded Raytheon a $14.8-million contract for the first order of NSM, which will be used by both the Freedom and Independence variants of the Littoral Combat Ship. The contract has options that would total $847.6 million. “Our goal with NSM is to replace the existing domestic and international inventory of Harpoon and other international surface-to-surface missiles, making this another multi-billion franchise opportunity for the company,” Kennedy said. Raytheon also is marketing its Standard Missile-3 Block IIA missiles, which Kennedy said are the only such missiles that can be fired from land or sea and intercept a missile in space. The SM-3 Block IIA was jointly developed by the U.S. and Japan. “The SM3 Block IIA is ready for production,” Kennedy said. https://news.usni.org/2019/02/01/40831
May 2, 2022 | International, Aerospace