2016/17 TOTAL Baseline m Work will take place at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada; Edwards AFB, California; and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. This will ensure that the project has a more robust bases of cost estimates, is aligned to the latest programme and has a more appropriate approvals and commercial strategy. The JASDF has an approved Foreign Military Sale request for 42 F-35As, and has committed to 4 so far. August 13/18: Upcoming updates Lockheed Martin is receiving a contract modification for the development of F-35 Lighting II upgrades. January 27/16: Despite recent successful testing of missiles on the F-35, a DoD weapons expert has expressed concerns over the fighters software development. Tom Dunlop. However, significant milestones were reached including the signing of the PAC (Project Allenby Connaught) Contract, the appointment of a preferred bidder for the SPTA housing project amongst others. BAE Systems has been awarded a 3 million ($4.1m) contract to provide technology for Kongsbergs Joint Strike Missile system for the F-35. It was not a contender for Indias M-MRCA buy, however, and prospects for a future sale seem dim due to competition from a range of existing naval (MiG-29K, Tejas naval) and air force (SU-30MKI, SU-50i FGFA) program commitments. These include Boeings Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and GPS-guided Small Diameter Bomb, and Raytheons AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder. Since the last reporting period, there has been a maturing of the infrastructure plan, with an information note describing the approach to approvals (submitted 9 Dec 16) and leading to a review note to be submitted during Q2 17/18. A comprehensive Transformation Implementation Plan for FY 16/17 was approved by the DE&S Executive in September 2015. These kinds of concerns have already led to pushback in Australia, Britain, and Israel. The cumulative effect of delays to aircraft deliveries and fleet-affecting technical issues (most notably in the Propeller Gearbox) have compressed timescales for testing of UK aerial delivery equipment. Web2021: F-35s participate in Carrier Strike Group 2021 deployment. November 13/17: TestingBAE Systems announced the successful conclusion of durability testing of its F-35A airframe. April 17/18: Tracking ballistic missiles from 2025? A summary of the key statistics & challenges can be found above, in the Testing section, but 2 issues deserve special mention. Singapores RSIS points out that the country has traditionally been cautious in its defense buys, restricting themselves to proven platforms. (including Non-Government costs), Departmental narrative on budget/forecast variance for 2016/17 The proportion of funding to the various branches is: $315.5 million for the USAF; $128 million for the USMC; and $43.5 million for the Navy. They were taking delivery every two to three months. While rumours continue over the fate of Canada and the F-35 program, Denmark is expected to confirm an order for the aircraft this December. The F-35 Joint Program Office has stood behind Martin-Baker in sticking with its selection, however this is in part due to the potential cost overruns it could cause to an already notoriously expensive program. Berns armaments director Martin Sonderegger and F-35 program manager Darko Savic signed the procurement contract on Monday,per a government release. September 17/21: RN Operations The Royal Navy currently has two aircraft carriers at sea, both flying F-35 jets. The comments were made by Deputy Commandant of the Marine Corps for Aviation Lt. Gen. Jon Davis as he appeared in front of the US Senate Armed Services seapower committee. She added that any attempt by the Trump team to implement such a plan would be met with resistance from the Air Force. Overall affordability remains the programmes key challenge. Id say six to seven years to essentially work out the Concept of Operations (and) develop the capabilities (whether) its sensor-based or a new fast missile thats hung on the bottom of an F-35 for the BMDS (Ballistic Missile Defense) mission integrate those capabilities, test them, and deliver them into a theater of operations, Greaves said. Thats a lot, but its a decision that touches on the next area they examine: what happens if some countries dont buy, or the USA buys fewer? The conclusions of the re-baselining work are scheduled to report back to the iAC in mid-2017. The operating system is Green Hill Softwares Integrity DO-178B real-time OS, as used in a number of (mostly American) aircraft, both civil and military. The increase would see Israel commit to selecting the Boeing KC-45A tanker which is currently undergoing advanced testing under its Milestone C demonstration. Work will take place in Texas. iii. This gives a more accurate view of the pipeline, but presents a significant, but artificial, change from last years report. Patrick Jeanes of the Air Forces Air Education and Training Command disclosed that Singapore will relocate its 12 F-16s from Luke Air Force Base to Ebbing in June 2023. The firm-fixed-price delivery order provides for the manufacture of T-1687/ALE-70(V) countermeasures at a cost of $70.4 million. Bringing test points forward from future years can keep the numbers even. They will buy 46-52 F-35s, with an initial 4 training aircraft slated to begin delivery in 2015. July 20/21: Radar ExpertiseAccording to the UK Defence Journal. Denmarks parliament approved a recommendation by the MoD to buy 27 F-35As in June after the fighter beat out the F/A-18 in the military, strategic, economic and industrial judging categories. A report by Janes quoted a spokesperson from the Japanese Ministry of Defences (MoDs) Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) as saying the unit price of the F-35s depends greatly on the foreign exchange rate of each fiscal year [and] the difference in procurement methods between importing completed F-35s from the US and assembling F-35s in the Japanese FACO facility. Airbus Defence and Space are working to design an aircraft modification to rectify this issue. The Pentagon DOT&E report is quite specific about the planes delivered software being unsuitable for any combat-related training or test. Known as the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), the prgram will see about 50 legacy Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 Eurofighter Typhoons upgraded to network with a fifth-generation aircraft; a new fifth-generation aircraft (type and numbers to be decided); and an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (type and numbers to be decided). This belief has been given further weight after US Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work indicated such a move was unlikely, saying that right now, we do not have any expectation for selling the F-35 in the near term, beyond the countries that have already bought into the program.. Work will take place across the United States, as well as in the Netherland and United Kingdom. July 22/16: Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $241 million US Navy contract modification for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Lockheed Martin says that there are 88 F-35s of all versions in various stages of completion on the programs production lines. A pair of F-35As were seen entering the alert shed that is located next to Misawa airport on March 22, according to news reports. Equipment re-capitalisation programme has serious generic problems, compounded by complicated and parallel activities. April 19/22: Product Support Maintenance Lockheed Martin Aeronautics won a $23 million deal, which provides initial product support maintenance of the F-35 Lightning II chase aircraft necessary to support F-35 aircraft acceptance and delivery at the final assembly and check out facility, to include all pre and post-flight activities, the removal and replacement of failed components, and return the aircraft to a clean and compliant condition suitable for first-time delivery of the operational F-35 aircraft to the Air Force, Navy, non-US Department of Defense participants, and Foreign Military Sales customers. September 21/22: Switzerland Switzerland has inked a deal to procure three dozen F-35A fighter jets, dodging a proposed popular referendum in the hopes of receiving the new jets by the end of the decade. 138 F-35Bs will be bought for use by the RAF and Royal Navy. Separated by 7,000 miles, HMS Prince of Wales in the North Sea and HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Pacific have been launching and recovering the stealth strike fighter on round-the-clock sorties. These modifications are in support of F-35 aircraft for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers, and non-US Department of Defense (DOD) participants. A meeting of the CSAT led by the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, was held on April 11, 2023, to discuss the security situation in the Black Sea region and Romanias position in the context of Russias aggression against Ukraine. The bill in question is the US National Defense Authorizations Act valued at $717 billion. Beyond the initial competition between Lockheed Martins X-35 and Boeings X-32, the Joint Strike Fighter was envisioned from the outset as a program that would make sense using either interpretation. June 4/18: Engines Go! June 1/22: Lapland Finland will initially bed down its F-35As at Rovaniemi airport in 2026, the country declared on May 26. Several emergent issues have added more pressure to timely delivery of the Programme, but mitigation plans are being developed to treat these increasing risks and issues. April 19/23: MCAS VMFA-311, also known as the Tomcats, was recently reactivated at US Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar, California, on April 14. The contract combines purchases for the US Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, as well as to FMS customers. This includes a lighter helmet to ease strain on the neck during the first phase of an ejection, a lightweight switch on the seat to delay deployment of the main parachute, and a fabric panel sewn between the parachute risers that will protect the pilots head from moving backward during the parachute opening, called a head support panel or HSP. The Netherlands is planning to assemble most of its F-35s at the line at Cameri in northern Italy, where Italian Air Force and Navy F-35s are already being assembled. Expected completion is in March 2024. Recently updated, the ALIS system saw problems earlier this year which built on persistent schedule delays in 2014. Under the terms of the deal, Lockheed will carry out weapons capabilities technology maturation and risk reduction pre-engineering, manufacturing and development activities for dual-capability F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter aircraft and small-diameter bomb 2 (SDB-II) in support of the Marine Corps and Air Force.