Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

single-seat strike fighter

Power Plant:

One 45,000 lb st Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 two-spool axial flow turbofan with afterburning weighing 1,701 kg (3,750 lb)

Specifications:

h3>Armament:

One 25 mm (0.984 in) General Dynamics GAU-22/A four-barrel rotary cannon mounted internally with 180 rounds. Six hardpoints with a capacity of 6,800 kg (15,000 lb) total.  Two internal bays with a capacity of 2,590 kg (5,700 lb).  Total weapons load 8,100 kg (18,000 lb).  Able to carry up to 14 AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, six internally; two AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. Various AGM-88 AARGM, AGM-158 JASSM and other air to ground ordnance. Long range Anti Shipping Missile (LRASM)

History:

The Lockheed Martin F-35 – or the Joint Strike Fighter as it was initially known – represents potentially the single largest and most ambitious military aircraft development for many years and is aimed at providing one aircraft to meet the requirements of a number of military services. Initially designed for the US Air Force, US Navy, US Marine Corps and the United Kingdom Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, the collective requirements of which are over 3,000 aircraft, it has since been ordered by other air forces, and some forecasts indicate that eventually some 6,000 aircraft may be built over the life of the programme.

The design is the product of a defence acquisition reform, the principle being to produce a high performance aircraft at affordable cost. The challenge was to design a stealth fighter that met the requirements of a number of services, these encompassing conventional take-off and landing (CTOL), aircraft carrier (CV), and short take-off vertical landing (STOVL) versions. Pratt & Whitney was awarded a separate contract to design and build an engine using the F119 unit of the F-22 Raptor as a starting point, providing reliability, maintainability and survivability.

In this regard Boeing designed and built the X-32A, the prototype of which was first flown on 18 September 2000, and Lockheed Martin built the X-35, the first of which flew for the first time on 24 October 2001. The two aircraft were put through extensive trials and the US Government chose the F-35 for production. As noted, there are three basic variants: the STOVL variant, the F-35B, having a shaft-driven lift fan to produce vertical lift. A number of countries have become involved in the programme at a range of levels and production takes place at the Lockheed Martin facility at Fort Worth in Texas.

The F-35 series of strike fighters was developed to meet a variety of needs, these including air superiority and strike fighter for air forces, a variant intended to meet US Navy requirements for a survivable strike aircraft for carrier operations, and a vertical take-off aircraft for the US Marines to replace the AV-8B and F/A18C for close air support and battlefield interdiction. The plan is for the F-35 to supplement the F-22. In this regard it uses some elements of the F-22s integrated avionics architecture, having some low observable technology and some stealth performance. Design parameters included a moderate sweep of the wing leading edges to permit the highest possible subsonic cruise range performance, and a good internal fuel capacity to allow an un-refuelled radius of action of 740 to 1,110 km (460 to 690 miles).

On 26 June 2002 the Australian Defence Minister announced Australia would buy into the F-35 joint strike fighter programme with the intention to purchase enough aircraft (100) to replace the FA-18 and F-111 fleets. In late 2005 it was announced plans were for the RAAF to place the type in service in late 2012 with the first tranche, with a further second tranche 18 months later, bringing the total up to 60 aircraft. These were expected to come from Block 1 or Block 2 production batches. Planning also took place for a third tranche of about 40 aircraft in the 2017/18 time frame, this group not yet decided. That it might be replaced by a newer generation of manned or unmanned aircraft. There were also suggestions Australia may acquire a squadron of short take-off vertical-landing (STOVL) F-35Bs to support amphibious and land operations from forward locations, or to support RAN amphibious support ships.

During the first seven years of production (2006 to 2012) the manufacturer’s plans were to produce 519 aircraft, 467 of these being allocated to the US and the UK. In mid-2006 the United States Air Force named the F-35 the Lightning II. Following the change of Government in Australia in 2007, the Labor Party announced it would look at the purchase of the F-35 as it was keen to obtain the F-22 Raptor in its stead. However, later in April 2008 it announced that the acquisition may be pushed back to around 2016 thus allowing mature Block 3 variants to be obtained and thus allowing the definitive Block 4 upgrade, which included a maritime strike capability, to be introduced to coincide with a planned operational capability in 2018. It was said this would also remove much of the risk and cost from operating early low rate initial production aircraft but may also require a larger force of Super Hornets in the interim. In November 2009 the Defence Minister announced Australia had committed to buy a first batch of 14 F-35As with associated training and support infrastructure for the RAAF, to be delivered in 2014, with second and third tranches to be obtained from the multi-year production which was to begin in 2015. The first Australian unit was planned to initially convert to the aircraft at the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida before flying the aircraft to Williamtown sometime in 2017, with operational readiness planned for 2018, with three squadrons planned to be in service in 2021.

On 15 December 2006 the first flight of the pre-production F-35 (AA-1) took place, the second flight occurring on 8 January 2007, and on this occasion the undercarriage was retracted for the first time and the aircraft flew to a height of 6,096 m (20,000 ft) and a speed of 870 km/h (541 mph). Initial test flights took place at Fort Worth in Texas and was transferred to Edwards Air Force Base in California in mid 2008.

BAE Systems and Marand in 2011 in Australia were contracted to build vertical tails for the F-35 series, this involved 722 tail fins, and the companies were to undertake final assembly of titanium components machined by BAE Systems Australia in Adelaide.

In late 2011 it was announced production of the first two aircraft for Australia would commence late that year, these coming from the sixth low-rate production batch (LRIP-6) with completion and delivery expected in 2014. The second batch of aircraft, part of LRIP-7, included four for Australia, with delivery in 2015, and the remaining eight at that stage on order to be part of LRIP-8 with delivery in 2016, the latter batch to initially commence service at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona where Australian flight and ground crews would carry out type conversion before the 14 aircraft would be flown to Williamtown, NSW in 2017.

The centre fuselage section for the first RAAF aircraft (c/n AU-1) was delivered to the prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, on 23 September 2013 from Northrop Grumman at Palmdale, this aircraft when completed in 2014 to be used for pilot training. The first Australian F-35 (A35-001) made its first flight on 30 September 2014 followed by the second aircraft (A35-002) on 1 October 2014.

On Wednesday 23 April 2014 the Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, announced an order for a further 58 examples of the F-35A Lightning II to allow for the replacement of the FA-18A / B Hornet Classic fighters, bringing the total on order to 72 after a batch of 14 had been approved by the former Labor Government. The F-35As were being acquired under DMO Air 6000 Phase 2A/2B New Air Combat Capability Project, these aircraft to replace the 71 surviving FA-18s with Nos 3 and 77 Squadrons and No 2 OCU at Williamtown, and No 75 Squadron at Tindall. Full operational capability was expected to take place in 2023.

Following the order in April 2014 the Prime Minister instructed the authors of the new Defence White Paper to consider the acquisition of the STOVL F-35B variant of the fighter and consider whether it would be likely to operate from the new LHD amphibious ships; and this question of the F-35B being obtained for the ADF was flagged by the Defence Minister, David Johnston, in an interview on 17 May 2014.

In June 2014 the Australian Minister for Defence at the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) facility at Edinburgh in South Australia commissioned a full-scale replica of the F-35A, named the Iron Bird, which was designed and built in Australia to test the effects of electromagnetic compatibility and interference on the F-35 series. It was announced the replica would be tested under simulated electromagnetic conditions during the acquisition and through life sustainment of the aircraft. The United States Joint Strike Fighter Program Office sought that the DSTO undertake this research, the impact of these interferences needing to be well understood and appropriately managed, the Minister stating that data captured during testing would help in providing potential reductions in the cost of owning the JSF fleet and enhancing the aircraft’s capability.

In June 2015 it was announced a proposal had been put to the Government to operate the STOVL variant of the F-35, the F-35B, from the new Royal Australian Navy LDH amphibious assault ships HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide but the idea was not proceeded with.

Australian company Quickstep has contracted with Lockheed Martin to build vertical tail fairings for the F-35A for a period of 20 years. This included being the sole supplier for Northrop Grumman for 21 F-35 parts including doors, panels, lower skins and other composite parts. The Company stated in April 2016 it had completed 128 parts during the three months to March 2016 with production forecast to increase over the next three years. Quickstep also has a long term agreement with Marad for the supply of about 700 sets of carbon fibre composites for the F-35, including skins, spars and fairings, this contract being entered into in April 2014.

The third aircraft for the RAAF (A35-3) made its first flight at the US Naval Air Station at Fort Worth on 1 December 2017. A35-4 first flew at Fort Worth, Texas on 14 January 2018, and A35-5 on 23 January 2015. Production rate of the aircraft at that stage was expected to be two aircraft in 2017, eight in 2018, eight in 2019, 15 in 2020, 15 in 2021, 15 in 2022 and nine in 2023.

By early-2018 the F-35 flight test schedule had been completed after 11 years, 17,000 flight hours, 9,200 sorties and an outlay of approximately $US 60-billion. At that time a further three aircraft had been delivered to the RAAF at Luke AFB and a further five were expected to be received during that year. However, there was a delay at that time due to the US Government refusing to accept more F-35s from the manufacturer due to a dispute with the company after the discovery of corrosion in 200 aircraft and no agreement as to who would pay for the repairs.

On 4 June 2018 the Australian detachment at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona recorded its 1,000th sortie. On 6 June that year four F-35Bs for 617 Squadron RAF were delivered to the units base at RAF Marham two months ahead of schedule.  Since then a number have been flown to Australia and have taken up duties at their base at RAAF Williamtown, NSW.