Boy talk about a buried story!USMC Expect First F-35B In Service Early 2015
Jun 19, 2011
By Amy Butler abutler@aviationweek.com
The U.S. Marine Corps expects to get its version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter into service in late 2014 or early 2015, a two-to-three-year slip, says Lt. Gen. Terry Robling, the commandant for aviation.
He is confident the short-takeoff vertical-landing (Stovl) F-35B will be ready for use by then if the fixes in place for technical issues proceed as planned, he tells Aviation Week during a June 19 interview in advance of the Paris air show.
As a contingency plan, the general showed no interest in procurement of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, which are being bought by the Navy. “Plan B is to try harder” at JSF, he says.
In the meantime, Robling says that the current AV-8B Harriers and F-18 Hornets can continue to handle the attack mission. These can undergo service-life-extension programs only “to a degree,” he says. In the middle of the next decade, it is “not viable” to continue extending the lives of these aircraft.
“SLEPs are not easy and they are expensive,” Robling says. Taking the existing Marine Corps Hornets to about 10,000 hr. of service extends the life by two to four years depending on how the aircraft are used. He notes that a Stovl capability is needed for the Marine operational concept.
Recently, Harriers were used for strikes in Libya owing to the lack of availability of a refueling tanker for other aircraft suitable for the mission, he adds. The Harriers, though, aren’t without their problems. Extra water is needed for takeoff in Stovl mode for these missions, he said.
The two-to-three-year slip was brought on by outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ decision this year to put the Stovl JSF on“probation.”“That is a poor choice of words,” Robling says. “This is a time for us to get these fixes done.”The general reports that the testing of the B continues faster than expected this year, after a lackluster showing last year. As a result, the Marines have opted to remove two Bs from the test schedule earlier than planned to undergo modification in preparation for shipboard testing on the Wasp amphibious assault ship this fall. Robling says this accelerated modification plan “takes out risk” from the program.
But I won't complain too much. At least Amy reported the news.
The Marine Corps is planning on an initial operational capability by 2015.
In Marine land that means that it better be ready by mid 2014 or you'll see an adverse fitness report inserted into your SRB.
I wonder what the haters, spinners and bullshitters have to say now?
I expected this as the F-35B is kicking a$$ with the schedule. Link
ReplyDeleteFor anybody thinking Harriers can have their life extended, one only need to look at the fact that the US is buying up the UK's retired Harriers for spare parts. In other words they're already doing everything the can just to get the AV-8B to last long enough to be replaced. There is no room to extend them beyond that.
ReplyDeleteif the B is going to be their plane it would be stupid to buy F18s. buying a plane thats suppose to last 15-20 years just so you can close a gap thats only going to exist for a few years, if that because of the SLEPs of current aircraft. its stupid to even consider the 18s. The best thing is to just keep the harriers flying until the B's come online.
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ReplyDeletedo you think sol they may not put them as "operational" but put one or two on a ship on deployment to see how it works in maybe 2013 or 2014? it may not be in "service" but could see how it does on deployment.
ReplyDeletei really expect it.
ReplyDeletei'm looking for this Commandant to push to get these programs up and going as fast as possible.
expect that across the board.
i havent heard much recently but what blocks of software will they want to have before sending it out to sea on more than just trials? i know they have block one installed now, how much do the future blocks add? will they want another block installed before ship deployment?
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