Flying Pig Update for 6.5.2014

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/government-mum-on-when-f-35-decision-will-come



Government mum on when F-35 decision will come
Lee Berthiaume
Published on: June 3, 2014 Last Updated: June 3, 2014 6:45 PM EDT

The government’s commitment to transparency on the F-35 is being called into doubt amid questions over its refusal to release a “public” report, and suggestions it plans to announce a decision over the controversial stealth fighter in the dead of summer.

Cabinet ministers are reviewing the information they received in April after ordering military officials back to the drawing board to reassess the F-35 and its main competitors, Public Works Minister Diane Finley said Tuesday.

Yet with less than three weeks until Parliament rises for the summer, Finley is refusing to provide a timeline for when a decision will be made on whether the government will move ahead on purchasing the F-35 without a competition.

The government is also refusing to release a report that was intentionally stripped of sensitive material so it could be read by Canadians. That document was key to the promise of more openness in the process for replacing Canada’s aging CF-18 fighter jets.

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http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2014/06/can-canada-can-f-35-plan/



Can Canada can F-35 plan?
By Craig Hoyle on 1 June, 2014 in Defense With an 'S'

Things are hotting up in Canada over the nation’s F-18 replacement options, with the key question being whether Ottawa will go forward with previous plans to buy the F-35, or enter into a competitive process.

Clearly worried by the prospect of the second option, the pro-F-35 ‘Canadian JSF Industry Group’ published an open letter ahead of the CANSEC show, which took place in Ottawa from 28-29 May. Further delaying a firm commitment to the Lockheed Martin type (US Air Force image below) would be “a costly exercise in terms of personnel, resources and life extension for the existing fleet”, the partner companies warn, while also adding that “current Canadian F-35 contracts and jobs will very soon start going to countries that are today buying the aircraft”.

Sensing that the door might be slightly ajar, representatives from the Eurofighter consortium were at the Ottawa show, in a bid to raise the profile of the Typhoon. I spoke to a senior sales official from the company at the recent ILA show in Berlin, and he said that they had previously completed a questionnaire resulting in only ticked boxes from Canada. However, there’s no clarity yet on whether a competition will be launched – or that if it comes, that the requirements might not be put down in a way that would result in an F-35 purchase anyway.

Arguing their case, the more than 35 companies behind the Canadian JSF Industry Group argue that a competition would take three years to run, “and the only significant outcome will be hundreds of millions of dollars of more lost opportunities for companies across Canada”. They add: “This should not be about politics. It should be about our national capability and determining what is best for the country.”

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http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/06/04/365479/us-f35-jet-juicy-target-for-hackers/



The US military's newest and most expensive fighter jet, F-35, might be susceptible to hacking through its $500,000 helmet, according to a report.

US F-35 fighter jet susceptible to hacking: Report
Wednesday Jun 04, 2014

The sophisticated computer-driven helmet will give US fighter pilots new capabilities when the aircraft enters the American fleet in the coming years, CBS News reports.

The helmet is run by a computer named ALIS which functions as the “brain” of the fighter jet.

“She looks basically like a laptop computer, and the pilot carries it out to the plane and sticks it in a slot right next to him in the cockpit. That contains all the information about the mission he's gonna fly," said correspondent David Martin who tried on the helmet for “60 Minutes” program.

But ALIS has a security problem. “This is a juicy, juicy target for a hacker,” said Martin. “If your adversary can hack into all that software that's running (the mission}, then they've essentially defeated the plane.”

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http://gizmodo.com/the-f-35-fighter-plane-is-even-more-of-a-mess-than-you-1584580246



The F-35 Fighter Plane Is Even More of a Mess Than You Thought
Pranav Dixit
Sunday 8:07pm

The US military's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft is proving to be a pain in the neck in more ways than one.

Not only did the Pentagon spend almost $400 billion to buy 2,400 aircraft—about twice as much as it cost to put a man on the moon—the F-35 program is 7 years behind schedule and $163 billion over budget. This at a time when cuts in the defense budget are forcing the Pentagon to shrink the size of the military.

CBS 60 Minutes took a closer look at the troubled fighter plane a few months back, but their rebroadcast tonight seems like as good a reason as any to revisit one of the biggest ongoing budget debacles in U.S. military memory.

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http://www.news.com.au/national/raaf-chief-hits-out-at-defence-bureaucracy-warns-f35-fighter-may-not-be-properly-integrated/story-fncynjr2-1226937616404



RAAF chief hits out at defence bureaucracy, warns F-35 fighter may not be properly integrated
May 31, 2014 12:30AM
By IAN McPHEDRAN national defence writer

RAAF chief Air Marshal Geoff Brown has slammed a “hamstrung” Defence bureaucracy and warned that without radical change the nation’s most expensive weapon’s system — the $12 billion Joint Strike Fighter — might never be properly integrated.

In a frank assessment of the state of the cumbersome Defence organisation he said it was dominated by archaic structures that had created ‘silos’ not related to capability.

He said the Government’s “first principles” review of the bureaucracy, due to be take place this year, would provide a great opportunity to change the way Defence did business.

Speaking to an audience of military and industry leaders at a Williams Foundation air power dinner, Air Marshal Brown said getting something done in Defence was like dealing with a bucket of corks. He said each cork had to be held down, but if one popped up it was back to square one.

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So much for "Made in America"

http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/138200/factory-in-turkey-to-build-f-35-jet-engine-parts



Factory in Turkey to build F-35 jet engine parts
16:11, 04 June 2014 Wednesday

Turkish President Abdullah Gul will inaugurate an engine factory in western Izmir province on Friday which will produce engine parts for the world's most advanced aircraft, the U.S. fighter jet F-35.

The factory, a joint enterprise with Turkey's Kale group and American aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, is expected to employ around 700 to 750 people.

Turkey’s Under-secretariat for Defense Industries and Pratt & Whitney signed a letter of intent last month for the establishment of an F-35 engine center for the fighter jets in Turkey.

F-35s are a family of advanced fighter jets with the capability of avoiding radar detection. The A-variant is built for traditional air force bases. The factory will produce critical engine components for the F-35 Lightning II aircraft - the world's most advanced aircraft. The aircraft's components will be produced in Turkey and in other countries and will be assembled in the U.S.


unhappycamper comment: I seem to recall an article a few months ago about Chinese rare earth magnets in the F-35. IIRC, they were too expensive to take out AND rare earth is called rare earth because it is rare.

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http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/06/03/ramp-up-in-f-35-production-rising-international-sales-will-help-return-lockheeds-top-line-to-growth-trajectory-after-2014/

Ramp Up In F-35 Production & Rising International Sales Will Help Return Lockheed's Top Line To Growth Trajectory After 2014

Lockheed Martin‘s top line rose steadily from $44 billion in 2009 to $47.2 billion in 2012, but fell sharply to $45.4 billion in 2013 due to the negative impact from across-the-board government spending cuts, called sequestration. In the current year, the company anticipates its top line will decline further to around $44.8 billion, at the mid-point of its revenue forecast range. However, as Lockheed Martin started 2014 with a record backlog of $82.6 billion, we figure it is possible for the company to return its top line to growth trajectory 2015 onward. Given that nearly a quarter of Lockheed’s current backlog is comprised of international orders, which will likely rise in the coming years driven by rising military spending from the Middle-East and Asia, we figure the chances of Lockheed’s top line returning to growth after 2014 are significant. The planned ramp up in the company’s F-35 production will also support growth in its top line. At the same time, the threat from sequestration remains for fiscal 2016 and beyond unless the Congress replaces them with a less severe mechanism.

We currently have a stock price estimate of $164 for Lockheed, approximately in-line with its current market price.

In the near term, we figure Lockheed’s high current backlog will provide resilience to its top line, especially as the U.S. government’s defense spending is likely to remain flat or decline marginally through this decade. Lockheed is highly dependent on the U.S. government as it gets more than 80% of its revenues from the government including around 60% from the Department of Defense (DoD). So, any major dips in the government’s spending like the one last year caused by sequestration will weigh on Lockheed’s results. Additionally, the defense spending environment in the U.S. has improved drastically from last year. The government has eliminated sequestration in its budgets for fiscals 2014 and 2015. Instead, it has increased limits on discretionary spending in line with the Bipartisan Budget Act, which was passed in December last year. This act provides for additional defense funding of approximately $22 billion and $9 billion for fiscals 2014 and 2015, respectively, according to figures reported by Lockheed. We figure this additional funding along with greater flexibility for government agencies in allocating these funds will aid growth in Lockheed’s top line.

Hike In The F-35 Production Rate Will Help Lift Lockheed’s Top Line

Apart from an improved near term defense spending environment, we figure the biggest growth drivers for Lockheed’s top line growth will be the planned hike in its F-35 production and rising international military sales of the company.