February 4, 2020 | International, Aerospace

Lord Says F-35s Safe Despite Fastener Problem

By John A. Tirpak

The F-35 fleet is safe to fly, despite an unknown number of under-strength fasteners being used to build critical areas of the jet, Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief Ellen Lord said Jan. 31.

Lockheed Martin workers mixed up titanium and Inconel bolts during manufacture of the F-35, and the Defense Contract Management Agency told Air Force Magazine neither the company nor the Joint Program Office knew how many aircraft were affected, or how far back the problem started. It said the whole fleet of 400-plus F-35s could potentially be affected. The titanium fasteners are lighter than the Inconel parts, and also have less shear strength.

Lockheed is to present its 70-day root cause analysis of the “quality escape” to the government in February.

At a press conference to discuss cyber security rules for Pentagon contractors, Lord said she had “looked at samples of that issue”—meaning the mixed-up fasteners—and said “right now we have assessed that there is no structural compromise of the aircraft.” She said the root cause analysis continues.

“The JPO is working closely with Lockheed; we will continue to asses if there are any issues, but we have confidence in the integrity of the aircraft at this point.”

Deliveries of the F-35 were halted briefly in November when the issue was discovered. A Lockheed spokeswoman said barrels of the two fasteners, which are visually similar and differ only in a number stamped into them, were mixed up at the company's Ft. Worth, Texas, factory, as well as the Final Assembly and Check-Out facility in Italy, though not at the FACO in Japan.

Titanium fasteners were installed in places where the Inconel parts were specified, and vice versa. An inspection of some number of aircraft—it did not disclose how many—led the company to conclude the problem is not widespread, and there is no plan in the works to conduct fleetwide inspections. Each F-35 has some 50,000 fasteners, of which about 1.7 percent are supposed to be made of Inconel. The F-35C Navy version requires 3.5 percent Inconel fasteners because of the greater size and loads on that airplane.

Lord said she's looking for “continuous improvement” in F-35 production, and reported seeing “incredible strides” in its quality over the last two-and-a-half years. However, “I think this is a journey that we will be on for the entire life of the F-35.” She expects Lockheed will continue to improve, “month over month, quarter over quarter, and year over year.”

https://www.airforcemag.com/lord-says-f-35s-safe-despite-fastener-problem

On the same subject

December 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, C4ISR

Lockheed Martin: AI, Data Analytics Will Transform Navy Ship, Aircraft Repairs
Posted on December 9, 2020 by Seapower Staff BETHESDA, Md. — Sailors will soon spend more time focused on the mission and less on aircraft and ship repairs with a new information system driven by artificial intelligence and predictive analytics, Lockheed Martin said in a Dec. 9 release. Digitally re-engineering more than 20 standalone applications into one integrated system, this new tool enables Sailors and Marine Corps maintainers, to anticipate and resolve potential maintenance issues or part failures on aircraft, ships and other systems. The U.S. Navy is digitally transforming its legacy maintenance systems with a fully modernized, responsive logistics information systems solution developed by Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin partnered with the Navy to rapidly develop and test the integrated logistics information systems solution, emphasizing simplified user interfaces, streamlined workflows, and time-saving features such as auto-population and smart searching. “Lockheed Martin's solution is both intuitive and streamlined to maximize end user efficiency,” said Capt. Allan Walters, former program manager of the Navy's Command and Control Systems Program Office. “The ability to execute rapid and flexible changes to the software is impressive and designed to improve Navy readiness both ashore and afloat through reduced failure rates and improved repair times.” The solution's advanced software capabilities use the latest Department of Defense-approved DevSecOps tools, so software updates can happen in days or weeks instead of months and years, enabling the Navy's vision of “Compile to Combat in 24 Hours.” Navy maintainers can create, view and complete maintenance work orders from a mobile device. Instead of referencing a paper or digital manual, sailors can view 3-D models of objects and see where they're located in the context of an entire ship or aircraft. “Our logistics solution provides a digital twin capability, integrating 3-D model visualization with material data, maintenance history and the entire operational environment,” said Reeves Valentine, vice president of Lockheed Martin Enterprise Sustainment Solutions. “Sailors can simulate a maintenance action and see its results before doing it on the real thing. Having this capability will result in a greater ability to predict part failure, resulting in optimized maintenance actions to improve asset readiness.” Smart searching and auto-population functionality help identify proper parts and common issues when creating work orders, which eliminates work and reducing errors. Lockheed Martin partnered with non-traditional vendors IFS – an enterprise software developer – and Beast Code, a Florida software start-up, to create the logistics information systems solution, which will be initially fielded at 10 Navy sites with about 10,000 users. The delivered solution is part of the U.S. Navy Naval Operational Business Logistics Enterprise (NOBLE) family of systems providing enhanced situational awareness, planning, execution, and management of maintenance and supply logistics and business functions for more than 200,000 sailors. https://seapowermagazine.org/lockheed-martin-ai-data-analytics-will-transform-navy-ship-aircraft-repairs/
October 1, 2018 | International, Aerospace

Critics point out holes in Swiss government’s $8.2 billion ‘Air 2030’ plan
By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — The Swiss are choosing sides over how to shepherd an $8.2 billion package of new combat aircraft and air-defense equipment through the country's unique political process. Defence Minister Guy Parmelin favors subjecting the “Air 2030” program to a public referendum, eyed for 2020. If approved, that step could secure the population's thumbs-up for a blank check covering the cost of the entire project while leaving the administration to sort out the details of which planes to buy and how to split the aerial and ground components. This course of action is still preferred, a defense department spokesman told Defense News on Thursday, even though opposition to the plan became increasingly evident as the public feedback period ended Sept. 22. For now, there appears to be support across the major political parties for the main objectives of Air 2030, which aims to replace the country's aging fleet of F-18 and F-5 combat aircraft and install new ground-based weapons against aerial threats. But critics in parliament contend that the risk of a referendum defeat is too high, arguing nothing less than that the very future of the Swiss military is at stake. Depending on which political party is asked, some prefer putting the project out for separate votes for the larger aircraft portion, estimated at roughly $6 billion, and the ground segment. But others want the government to proceed without any referendum at all, arguing that the program — despite its hefty price tag — should be treated like other critical government purchases. The government's strategy of seeking popular approval only for the broad contours of Air 2030 follows the still-fresh memories of a failed attempt to replace the Swiss air-policing fleet. The population in 2014 voted against a measure to buy 22 Saab Gripen planes in a referendum that some analysts said was muddied by questions over the aircraft's specific capabilities and drawbacks. Swiss defense procurement agency Armasuisse on Monday invited bids for the ground-based program segment from the military sales offices of the United States, France and Israel. Those countries' anti-missile systems — Raytheon's Patriot, Eurosam's SAMP/T and Rafael's David's Sling — are expected to go toe-to-toe in a competition. For the aircraft portion, the Swiss in July invited bids from the Airbus Eurofighter, the Dassault Rafale, the Saab Gripen E, the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Lockheed Martin F-35A. Armasuisse requested pricing proposals for a fleet of 30 or 40 planes. Meanwhile, government officials will sift through the fresh feedback from Swiss stakeholders — including political parties, regions and trade unions — in the coming months and formulate a measure for parliamentary debate by year's end, defense department spokesman Renato Kalbermatten told Defense News. And while the course of putting the entire investment plan out for a referendum remains the goal, there appears to be a willingness to adjust in case the risk of rejection is deemed to high. “We will put forward the best solution,” Kalbermatten said. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/09/28/critics-see-big-holes-in-swiss-governments-82-billion-air-2030-plan
October 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

Boeing Australia confirms Loyal Wingman production centre
Jon Grevatt Boeing Australia has announced that Queensland, Australia, will be the manufacturing hub for the Loyal Wingman unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) it is developing in partnership with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The company said in a joint statement with the Queensland government that the two parties have entered a partnership that will leverage Boeing's 1,700 staff in the state and its partnerships with 400 Queensland-based suppliers. Since 2018 Boeing has also undertaken a joint project with the Queensland state government to develop autonomous technologies that are supporting the Loyal Wingman programme. Boeing's regional president Brendan Nelson said the partnership will help support the development of capabilities in technologies, such as robotics, as well as facilitate investment in local companies and create export opportunities. “This investment could unlock global defence and aerospace opportunities for Queensland to gain future work share in other Boeing programmes,” he said. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said investment in the new aerospace facility could see the Loyal Wingman produced in the state by the middle of the decade, with prototype testing and certification taking place before that. She added, “Our investment in this advanced manufacturing project will provide critical skills for suppliers, academia, and Boeing, and culminate in Queensland becoming the primary final assembly facility for the Boeing Airpower Teaming System (ATS), conditional on orders.” Boeing rolled out the first Loyal Wingman prototype in early May and its first flight is scheduled before the end of 2020. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/boeing-australia-confirms-loyal-wingman-production-centre

All news