DoD Buzz: Docs Say F-35B Too Hot, Noisy

Docs Say F-35B Too Hot, Noisy
By Colin Clark Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 3:44 pm
Posted in Air, International, Naval, Policy

When the Marine Corps commandant says equipment he is buying for his people works and is safe, we listen. So when Gen. James Conway told us the vertical takeoff version of the Joint Strike Fighter was not too hot to damage carriers or amphibious ships and was not too loud to harm crews or communities, we listened. So did some folks on Capitol Hill and they questioned whether the Marine leadership was singing too sweet a song.

Testing documents obtained by DoD Buzz, said by congressional sources to be the most recent available, raise serious questions about the effects of heat and noise from the F-35B on pilots and ships’ crews, on ship decks and on critical flight equipment.

For example, an operational assessment of the JSF says that heat from the STOVL version may result in “severe F-35 operating restrictions and or costly facility upgrades, repairs or both.” The OT-IID report says “thermal management” will “increase the number of sorties required to prepare an operational unit for deployment during summer months” at most American bases. Overall, it rates basing as red: “unlikely to meet criteria — significant shortfall.”

~snip~

We showed the documents to Winslow Wheeler, a top defense analyst at Washington’s Center for Defense Information. “The documentation makes extremely clear that the Navy and Marine Corps know they have a problem on their hands. But they don’t know the dimension of the problem and they don’t know how to address it. But the problem is very clear,” he said.

The congressional staff who spoke said they were concerned that the Marines are unwilling to address what could be fundamental problems for the fifth-generation STOVL plane and, one said, “are purposely disingenuous in their misrepresentation of facts.”



unhappycamper comment: The F-35 wars continue. At $243 million dollars a pop, you would think they could get the Navy version of this pig to work.

it tells the story of the insanity that was the development of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. I think there are many such stories, and billions of wasted dollars. :grr:

The Osprey at $100 million is a flying Bradley.

someone should form a committee to solve the problem

all their old pals support these bad designs, and everyone is happy...except the guys who have to use this shit in combat...I remember being told that we didn't have to clean our new M-16 rifles - they were "self cleaning"....


mark

the chrome. They did not have a forward assist mechanism, and had the open flash hider rather than the closed cage.

Wish I had stolen one - they are probably worth a fortune now.
(Just a joke, of course - who would steal from the Army?)

mark

The second tour I carried an M-16 with an 40mm under attachment and a M1911 when I was in Cambodia.

The ammo for the M-1 contained a lot of duds.

M-60 squad leader, though I never shot one. We had one box of ammo, and was to protect the front gate. Nobody in our squad ever shot an M-60, so it was easy to spot the dead man in our squad.

The cops on the beat had M-16's and AK-47's.

"The cops on the beat had M-16's and AK-47's." In this country?

one of the old Winchesters - I was trained on it by an E-7 who showed me how it all worked, let me handle it for 5 minutes, and said, "I now pronounce you QUALIFIED!"
I felt very comfortable carrying it, still have a pump shotgun to repel boarders.


mark