'F-35 warplane facing turbulence at home and abroad'- What will Turkey do?

[anon45]

More bad news to NATO countries, more reductions and triple prices...

Ottawa officially scraps F-35 purchase as audit pegs F-35 costs at $45-billion

"The 19 F-35As that the U.S. will acquire in fiscal year 2013 will cost $197 million each. In 2001, the projected cost for these jets was $69 million.

Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/turkey-defence/223256-f-35-warplane-facing-turbulence-home-abroad-what-will-turkey-do-4.html#ixzz2EzBSKHqR"

That cost is for the LRIP (Low Rate initial production) models, they aren't the full production models or the models we will be exporting. The full production models will be cheaper, closer to the 69 million projected cost (due to economies of scale and relatively tested design) and make up a good majority of the US' 2000+ Fighter purchase, as well as all the purchases of other countries.

Just another case of a know nothing media trying to make a storm in a teacup.

 

[Quasar]

An undated handout photograph provided to the media on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011.

 

[Anony]

$161 mn is the older cost. It will cost you $190 mn per craft at today's price. Rafale is costing us $115 mn per aircraft, and Rafale is 4.5gen+ aircraft so from that cost of $160 mn - $180 mn per aircraft is not that bad for 5th gen fighters.

But again Rafale is very close in performance to F-35. Only thing where F-35 beats Rafale is stealth. RCS of Rafale is 0.2m2 where that of F-35 is 0.002 m2 from front but from sideways RCS is same. Again we are getting almost full ToT of Rafale but I don't think USA will provide any technology transfer of F-35.

 

[Ir.Tab.]

RCS of Rafale is 0.2m2 where that of F-35 is 0.002 m2 from front but from sideways RCS is same. Again we are getting almost full ToT of Rafale but I don't think USA will provide any technology transfer of F-35.

Would you please provide your sources about RCS values?

any technology transfer of F-35

"Center Fuselage" is produced by TAI. Other work-packages are "Composite Components, Air Inlet Ducts and Air-to-Ground Alternate Mission Equipment Pylon Manufacturing".

Production activities at TAI started in 2008 and planned to continue until 2036. More than $ 4 billion of sales is expected.

Some of the Technological Capabilities gained in the program are as follows;

High Precision Advanced Technology Composite Part Production,
Composite And Metal Bonding Techniques By Using High Technology,
Fiber Placement Techniques With Automatic Machining For Sophisticated Structures,
Robotic Controlled Precise Coating And Painting Applications,
High Level Digital Integration Between Design And Production Period,
Robotic Controlled Drilling, Cutting and Integration Processes,
High Standard Quality Applications Required For 5th Generation Fighter Aircraft

On the other hand, TAI and Pratt & Whitney (USA) signed a "Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for F-135 Engine" powering the JSF/F-35 aircraft to assess the establishment of a partnership on the "F135 Engine Program".

The MOU addresses;
– "FACO - Final Assembly and Check-Out" and,
– "MRO - Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul" work

for the F135 engines in country.

Source

 

[Ir.Tab.]

$161 mn is the older cost. It will cost you $190 mn per craft at today's price. Rafale is costing us $115 mn per aircraft, and Rafale is 4.5gen+ aircraft so from that cost of $160 mn - $180 mn per aircraft is not that bad for 5th gen fighters.

But the last news about the cost tells us something else. This is from Reuters (Dec 14, 2012)

(Reuters) - The Pentagon will pay about $107 million apiece, or about 4 percent less than the previous contract, for each of the 22 conventional takeoff and landing jets in the deal, sources familiar with the agreement said this week.

It paid $111.6 million for the Air Force version of the plane in the previous contract.

Loren Thompson, a defense consultant with close ties to Lockheed, said in a blog on Friday that the cost of the Air Force variant of the plane should fall to $64 million apiece by the 10th lot if the ramp-up in production unfolds as now planned.

(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Will Dunham)

 

[Hobo1]

Perhaps will go with Chinese answer to F35. Or if they want to keep it cheap they may go for JF17 MK3 which it stated on this forum will have many stealthy feature.

 

[AUz]

Perhaps will go with Chinese answer to F35. Or if they want to keep it cheap they may go for JF17 MK3 which it stated on this forum will have many stealthy feature.

First , Pakistani JFT would be JF-17 Thunder block 3....indian tejas are in MK designation.

Secondly, There is hell lot of a different between a 5th generation "stealth" fighter vs a 4.5+ multi-role aircraft with "stealthy features" ....

Turks would go with F-35s as they already operate American hardware...Chinese J-31s would be more suitable for countries like Pakistan , Egypt etc