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F-22 / F-35 5th Generation jets | News & Discussions.

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how can 3rd and 4th gen aircraft even compete?
 
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http://www.newsweek.com/germany-asks-us-classified-data-lockheeds-f35-fighter-610952

GERMANY ASKS U.S. FOR CLASSIFIED DATA ON LOCKHEED'S F-35 FIGHTER

Germany's interest in the F-35—the Pentagon's most advanced warplane and its costliest procurement program—may surprise some, given that it is part of the four-nation consortium that developed the fourth-generation Eurofighter Typhoon, which continues to compete for new orders.

The Eurofighter is built by Airbus as well as Britain's BAE Systems and Leonardo of Italy.

Germany will need to replace its current fleet of fourth-generation warplanes—Tornadoes in use since 1981 and Eurofighters—between 2025 and 2035. The F-35 is considered a fifth-generation fighter given stealth capabilities that allow it to evade enemy radars.

Berlin's letter also comes amid growing tensions between the West and Russia over Moscow's support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, with NATO officials saying that Russian naval activity now exceeds levels seen even during the Cold War.

Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey and Italy—key NATO allies of Germany—are already buying the F-35 fighter jet to replace their current aircraft, and other European countries such as Switzerland, Belgium and Finland are also looking at purchasing the fifth-generation warplane.

Germany's gesture may be aimed at strengthening its hand in negotiations with its European partners over the scale and timing of development of a next generation of European fighters. Any moves to buy a U.S. built warplane could run into political resistance in Germany, which has strong labor unions.

But military sources say buying the F-35 could make sense for Germany given steady declines in the cost of the U.S. jets, and technical challenges with the Eurofighter.

Eight-hour briefing
In the letter, the Air Force said a small team of air force officers was gathering data to prepare for a detailed analysis of alternatives for a new warplane.

The group was working closely with the ministry's "Task Force Future Air Combat System," which aims to make a recommendation for a political decision in mid-2018, the letter said.

"In order to understand (the) F-35's cutting-edge technologies, the German Air Force is requesting a classified brief of the F-35's capabilities in general and especially concerning sensor suites, information management and operational capabilities," the letter said.

The letter said a video conference suggested by U.S. officials in Bonn would help speed up the process.

A source familiar with U.S. weapons programs said the classified briefing requested by Germany would likely last around eight hours.

Since Germany is not part of the international consortium that funded development of the stealthy new fighter, the request for classified information must first be approved by the U.S. government, but U.S. officials said they did not expect any problems securing the needed marketing license.

The Pentagon's F-35 program office said it had received the letter and was "working to support the German Air Force request."

Lockheed referred questions to the State Department, which oversees foreign military sales, and the Pentagon. Spokesman Michael Rein said it would be inappropriate for Lockheed to comment since any potential sales would be negotiated between the two governments.

The F-35 is in operational use by the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force, which last month carried out its first operational deployment of a small number of jets to Estonia for training with other U.S. and NATO military aircraft.

The U.S. Air Force this month also announced this month that it plans to bring the F-35 to the Paris Air Show in June
 
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Some of my own personal pics.

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From aviationweek...

Inside The Cockpit: Flying The F-22 Against Islamic State In Syria
Aviation Week & Space Technology
Lara Seligman
Tue, 2017-05-23 04:15

Cruising in the midnight sky above western Syria, “Crash” could scarcely believe the lethal Soviet air defenses below had no idea he was there. It was September 2014, the opening salvo of U.S.-led airstrikes on Islamic State group targets in Syria, and Crash was flying the stealth F-22 Raptor on its first combat mission.

Crash, a lieutenant colonel who told his story on the condition that Aviation Week identify him by his call sign, was not supposed to be there. It was the last week of his six-month deployment to the Middle East, and the F-22s were configured to go home with external tanks loaded. Crash and his squadron had spent the previous months on standby, waiting for orders as the U.S. and coalition partners weighed whether to move forward with airstrikes in Syria.

Since that night almost three years ago, the F-22 has been crucial to U.S. and coalition operations in the volatile country. The Raptor’s integrated avionics allow pilots to focus on making tactical decisions instead of trying to gather information, while its unique supercruise capability lends added flexibility, say pilots. And of course, the aircraft’s stealth abilities enable the Raptor to fly with impunity into the denied air space above western Syria, where the regime has robust integrated air-defense systems (IADS)—primarily Soviet surface-to-air missiles—that can potentially track and kill allied aircraft.

But that first night did not go smoothly. The mission was broken up into four strike packages assigned to four different target areas in the Middle Eastern country. Crash was one of four Raptor pilots designated to help take out targets in western Syria, where the IADS posed the biggest threat. He and his wingman were to sweep the area for surface and air threats, then take out an Islamic State group command-and-control facility; the other two-ship was to escort the F-15 Strike Eagles to and from their targets. The Raptors were loaded with both air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles.

From the start, things did not go according to plan. The first Strike Eagle slated to take off had an engine malfunction, shutting down the runway for 20 min. Trying to compensate, all the aircraft took off immediately, causing congestion above the airfield. The winds were stronger than expected, making it difficult for air traffic control to guide the F-22s up to altitude, so they were burning gas and flying slower at a lower altitude than planned.

“All these things snowballed, so by the time we got into Iraq, approaching Baghdad, we realized there was no way we’d make our planned time on target,” says Crash.

He knew he and his wingman had to make up for lost time. They decided to supercruise, climbing to 40,000 ft. and Mach 1.5 without using afterburners. The stealth aircraft cruised across Iraq and Syria for 15 min. to the target and released their bombs—GBU-32 1,000-lb. GPS-guided JDAMS—right on time.

“We went from being last in the train, furthest behind, farthest to go, to first people on station, thanks to the capability of the F-22,” says Crash.

But the night wasn’t over. Crash and his wingman headed out to gas up back at the Iraq-Syria border for the return trip to base. About halfway home, they got an unexpected call from the air battle managers: “We need you to fly back into Syria.” The Strike Eagles had not struck all their intended targets, and the Raptor was needed to escort a B-1 back into enemy territory in just a few hours to finish the job.

Crash hadn’t planned for this. The Raptors had just enough gas to make it home, but not a drop more. And on top of the fuel problem, he now had to deconflict from the next planned strike package that was already rolling in for another round of airstrikes.

“All of our fuel planning consisted of getting to and from the airspace. We had some contingencies in case we needed to fight in the airspace, but the reroll portion of it was completely off script,” says Crash of those nerve-racking few hours. “We had no idea where our gas was going to come from, where our tankers were located, who we were escorting, and we didn’t know where the target was.”

After some coordination, Crash sent the other two-ship of Raptors home, and he and his wingman headed back to the tanker. They had to hit three tankers before they could get all the fuel they needed, and then they flew back over the border into Syria.

Mercifully for Crash and his wingman, the rest of the night was uneventful. The B-1 hit the target and the package headed home. The surface and air threat was quiet. Any time Crash got worried about deconfliction, he and his wingman would climb up to 40,000 ft. where they could be out of the way. In all, what was planned as a 6-hr. mission ended up clocking in at 9 hr.; it was almost midday on Sept. 24 before Crash made it back home.

“There were a lot of emotional roller-coasters throughout the flight, but in general it went much smoother than we anticipated,” Crash says of the mission.

The Raptor pilots from his unit flew a total of three missions into Syria before they got orders to pack up and go home, soon to be replaced with another F-22 squadron. But though Crash’s time in Syria was brief, the impact of his mission was felt worldwide. Almost a decade after the Raptor entered service, its performance in combat did not disappoint—the fighter hit its intended target on time, and went undetected throughout the entire flight.

“It’s a little nerve-racking as well, because stealth is not always 100%, so you have to be very cognizant about what’s going on around you,” says Crash. “But once you get in, there the jet’s telling me exactly who’s looking at me, and the reality was I didn’t have to worry about anybody.”

Overall, there have been no major surprises during the Raptor’s few years in Syria, says Col. Pete Fesler, commander of the 1st Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis. The Raptor pilots’ extensive training program has served them well in combat, and the more missions they fly the more comfortable they get, he notes.

“Because we train to these incredibly complicated, high-end, contested, degraded environments, when you go to a more permissive environment like they were on in that first combat mission in 2014, they had excess capacity in their brains to be able to work through those new challenges,” says Fesler.

But as technology advances, the Air Force and Lockheed Martin have plans to modernize the 1990s-era airframe. Lockheed has developed a new low-observable (LO) coating that is expected to last longer and reduce maintenance on the aircraft, and is currently repainting the fleet’s engine intakes. At the same time, the company is working on enabling the Raptor to transmit Link 16 signals—currently the aircraft can only receive Link 16—and fielding Increment 3.2B, a new software load that will allow the F-22 to take full advantage of the AIM-9X and AIM-120D Amraam missiles.

The cockpit itself is “pretty modern,” says Fesler, and he sees no need to change it to look more like Lockheed’s newer stealth aircraft, the F-35. The F-22 may eventually get a helmet-mounted display, much like the F-35’s, which projects information on the helmet’s visor rather than on a traditional heads-up display.

“This is a fundamentally different airplane—the LO portion of it changes the game significantly, the integration of the sensors changes the game significantly,” says Fesler. “I wouldn’t want to go to war with any other airplane.”

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Looks like all those Russian and Chinese 'anti-stealth' radars are for naught.
 
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Some more recent ones.
From aviationweek...
At the same time, the company is working on enabling the Raptor to transmit Link 16 signals—currently the aircraft can only receive Link 16—and fielding Increment 3.2B, a new software load that will allow the F-22 to take full advantage of the AIM-9X and AIM-120D Amraam missiles.

Wasn't the upgrade for the AIM-9X and AIM-120C7/D done a while back? I thought I read that somewhere. Hard to believe the Raptor hasn't been upgraded for those two important missiles, yet. Considering it's the ultimate air superiority platform and they've already completed it's MOAB capability. That seems VERY strange, TBH.

Looks like all those Russian and Chinese 'anti-stealth' radars are for naught.

Well, in all fairness, I don't think either the Russians or the Chinese will willingly shoot downs any US aircraft over Syria or Iraq, let alone a Raptor and none of those capable systems are being fielded and operated by the Syrians. And even if they were, they'd be the last to shoot down an American jet and bring on the mighty US' wrath upon themselves! :-)
 
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Well, in all fairness, I don't think either the Russians or the Chinese will willingly shoot downs any US aircraft over Syria or Iraq, let alone a Raptor and none of those capable systems are being fielded and operated by the Syrians. And even if they were, they'd be the last to shoot down an American jet and bring on the mighty US' wrath upon themselves! :-)
The pilot 'Crash' was commenting about the radar detection of his flight. Whether you are interested in shooting down an F-22 is a different issue, but Syria is effectively a war zone and as such, there WILL be radar activities. His RWR detected none.

Take note of what the article said: '“Crash” could scarcely believe the lethal Soviet air defenses below had no idea he was there.'

This does not mean there were no radar activities. Big difference. Most likely, there were the usual volume search activities that we, via SIGINT, know exist and recorded. But if the F-22 was detected, there would be an increase in unique tracking and detection freqs that are different from volume search signatures. So most likely, his RWR informed him that no unique higher freqs and pulse characteristics directed his way. Detection alone would bring a huge PR coup, let alone actually shooting at a DETECTED flight of Raptors.

You need to work harder in bringing bad news about the F-35 considering the amount of good news inevitably coming. We were starting to miss you, little buddy. :lol:
 
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The pilot 'Crash' was commenting about the radar detection of his flight. Whether you are interested in shooting down an F-22 is a different issue, but Syria is effectively a war zone and as such, there WILL be radar activities. His RWR detected none.

Take note of what the article said: '“Crash” could scarcely believe the lethal Soviet air defenses below had no idea he was there.'

This does not mean there were no radar activities. Big difference. Most likely, there were the usual volume search activities that we, via SIGINT, know exist and recorded. But if the F-22 was detected, there would be an increase in unique tracking and detection freqs that are different from volume search signatures. So most likely, his RWR informed him that no unique higher freqs and pulse characteristics directed his way. Detection alone would bring a huge PR coup, let alone actually shooting at a DETECTED flight of Raptors.

Well, I certainly don't mean to argue about the effectiveness of the Raptor's stealth attributes, but it would be more impressive if there was a believable SAM threat of any kind. I just find the story a bit lacking and not deserving of the accolades it's giving itself, considering the playing field. Not once does this Crash fellow mention any of the Strike Eagles getting detected, or when they ended up flying higher to 40K feet, it was when they were possibly worried about 'deconfliction,' and nothing concrete about actual, SAM or EW radars being deployed, even by any US EAWACS. Just being worried was no indication that any ground radars were active, otherwise they would've picked up the F-15E's, but no mention of that. Plus, why wouldn't the US be constantly warning the Russians that they'll be conducting missions at X hour so they don't conflict? The Syrians are simply not deploying any S-300 or better radars so it wouldn't seem that any substantial anti aircraft radar threat would be deployed in that particular arena and under those specific conditions that would be worthy of this chest pumping, no offense to the USAF. It seems like a bloated story, lol. :D Are all these fair arguments?

You need to work harder in bringing bad news about the F-35 considering the amount of good news inevitably coming. We were starting to miss you, little buddy. :lol:

You should've seen the story I got yesterday on another thread about how the J-31 will destroy the F-35. That was a beauty. :D
 
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Well, I certainly don't mean to argue about the effectiveness of the Raptor's stealth attributes, but it would be more impressive if there was a believable SAM threat of any kind.
From my yrs in the USAF, it does not matter if there was a SAM in the air. For all pilots, the unique tracking/detecting freqs are enough. This article is not meant to impress civilians. If the civilian reader is inclined to be impressed -- great. If not, his apathy does not one iota affects how military pilots feels about their jobs.

I just find the story a bit lacking and not deserving of the accolades it's giving itself, considering the playing field.
Ahhh...Do not care. We fly not to earn accolades but to fight when necessary.
 
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Elbit to Develop Panoramic Cockpit Display Units for F-35
Elbit Systems of America announced that it was awarded a contract by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics to develop a cockpit display replacement for the F-35 aircraft



IsraelDefense | 6/06/2017

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The F-35A in flight (Photo: Lockheed Martin)

Elbit Systems of America announced that it was awarded a contract by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics to develop a cockpit display replacement for the F-35 aircraft. The development contract is for the Technology Refresh 3, Panoramic Cockpit Display Unit. The value of the award was not in a material amount.

The award further expands Elbit Systems of America’s work on the F-35, which already includes power amplifiers, structures, and sustainment work. In addition, Elbit Systems of America, together with Rockwell Collins, also supplies the F-35 Helmet Mounted Display System, through their joint venture Rockwell Collins ESA Vision Systems (RCEVS).

"Elbit Systems of America continues to demonstrate that we are a trusted and highly-capable partner for the F-35 program," stated Raanan Horowitz, president and CEO, Elbit Systems of America. "We are committed to ensuring the success of our customer and the pilots who depend on our equipment to accomplish their mission."

http://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/29879
 
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