(Luft) Lockheed Martin F-35 - Lightning II

[Quintus Fabius]

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Hierzu noch eine andere Perspektive respektive Darstellung der Informationen aus diesem Interview:

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USAF Plans for Radical F-35 Upgrade Reveal Obsolescence

Foreign buyers of the F-35A may not be aware that the US Air Force is already looking to upgrade its radar, avionics and engine because – a year before its IOC - the current aircraft already cannot match “rapid technology development by potential adversaries.” USAF

US Air Force plans to replace the F-35 fighter’s avionics, radar and engines are an implicit admission that the current aircraft is already obsolete and that, despite a unit cost of over $250 million, it cannot match the latest foreign fighters coming into service.

This is the first time a customer acknowledges that the obsolescence of the F-35’s sensors has degraded the aircraft’s still unproven nominal capabilities to the point that a radical upgrade is necessary, more than a year before it enters service.

The upgrade plans were revealed by Major General Jeffrey Harrigian, the USAF’s F-35 program chief, in an April 7 Reuters interview.

"We are already considering and thinking through what are some of the technologies that will be part of the F-35," Reuters reported Harrigian as saying. "This is not the time to rest on your laurels." Reuters added that “Harrigian gave few details but said potential upgrades could include new avionics systems, radar, laser weapons and a new more fuel-efficient engine,” and quoted him as saying "I don't think we would take anything off the table at this point."

In reality, Harrigian’s statements mean there will be little left of the F-35 that is now being procured under Low-Rate Initial Production contracts once its engine, avionics and radar are replaced by new systems.

Critics will no doubt question the wisdom of spending nearly $400 billion to develop and produce an aircraft that, years before it enters service, already needs an upgrade to all of its major components and systems.