Netherlands Decides It Will Buy 37 F-35A Fighter Aircraft

The Netherlands has said that it will buy 37 F-35A Joint Strike Fighter aircraft to replace existing F-16 aircraft in its Air Force. It has budgeted €4.5 billion or $6 billion for the aircraft and €270 million for annual operational costs.

The Netherlands has already paid €1 billion to help develop the F-35 as one of the eight partner countries of the United States and purchased two F-35A development aircraft for use in the operational test and evaluation phase.

The F-35A from Lockheed Martin is expected the become operational in 2019 and by 2023 all F-16 aircraft should be retired. All will be the F-35A Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL) variant.

While the selection of the F-35 is a win for the US because of the possibility that the Netherlands would have selected a different fighter from somewhere else, the number of aircraft committed to is far less than originally expected.

F-35 Orders From The Netherlands May Have To Be Reduced

The Netherlands may have to reduce the number of F-35 fighter aircraft by 17 to 33 from the 85 it originally planned to acquire. The F-35 is supposed to replace the F-16 currently in service in the Air Force.

However, a number of factors have made the role of the F-35 in the Netherlands uncertain, including:

• The F-35 program is plagued by technical problems
• The F-35 program is 7 years behind schedule
• The cost of the F-35 is now 70 percent above initial cost estimates
• Defense budgets are being reduced
• There is uncertainty over the Netherlands future defense strategy

Some Dutch politicians are of the opinion that the F-35 may not be ideal for Dutch needs and that the Netherlands would be better off with a different aircraft such as Saab's Gripen, Boeing's F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, or the EADS Eurofighter.

Even though the Netherlands is one of the 8 partner countries of the United States and it has already spent $1.59 billion on the development of the F-35, it is unlikely to buy the 85 F-35A, which is considered unrealistic.

It currently has a budget of $5.82 billion to replace 68 F-16 aircraft, which is enough for about 33 to 35 F-35 aircraft. The target now is to acquire about 52 to 68 F-35 fighter aircraft.

Although the Netherlands has yet to make any firm decision about the F-35, the worry is that reduced purchases of the F-35 will raise the price for everyone else.

Already other countries, such as Canada and Australia, have signalled their intention to acquire fewer F-35 aircraft due to the same reasons that the Netherlands has cited.

Lockheed Martin, in charge of development of the F-35 program, has stated in response to criticism that technical difficulties will be resolved. The cost estimate for the F-35 may be reduced from as high as $137 million to $90 million by 2018.

As a fifth-generation fighter, the F-35 can offer capabilities that other fighters cannot match. For now, the Netherlands remains active in the development of the F-35 and has ordered 2 test aircraft for this purpose.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/21/lockheed-fighter-dutch-idUSL6N0CBJX620130321

By DoD [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

US Report Details Unresolved Issues With F-35 Program

An 18 page Pentagon report recently sent to the United States Congress has provided some details about the current state of the F-35 fighter Lightning II program, which at $396 billion makes it the most expensive weapons program in the history of the United States.

Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor, is to build 3 different models of the F-35 fighter for the United States, which plans to purchase 2443 of the aircraft. In addition, the plane will likely be acquired by eight other nations that helped pay for its development, including:

• Australia, 
• Canada, 
• Denmark, 
• Italy, 
• the Netherlands, 
• Norway, 
• Turkey,
• the United kingdom 

While Lockheed Martin has reported the F-35 plan overall remains on track with continued progress on flight tests, software development, and was demonstrating exceptional stability, the highlights of the report include the following:

• the program has completed a third or 20,000 of all planned test flights and has 39,579 left to go
• certain tests planned for 2012 by Lockheed Martin were not accomplished, but overall the number of tests completed in 2012 of 1092 exceeded the number planned of 927 by performing some future tests earlier
• the F-35A completed 30 percent less tests than planned due to problems with the weapon bay doors, operating limits of the aircraft and problems with the air refuelling system, which required new instrumentation
• the F-35B for the Marine Corps has issues with the engine lift fan built by Rolls Royce, a supplier to the engine maker, Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp
• durability testing of the F-35B had to be halted after multiple cracks were found on the underside of the plane's fuselage
• the F-35C has problems with the ability to transfer video and imagery data to ships and a potentially serious problem with the coolant system
• during high-speed, high-altitude flights, the stealthy coatings peeled off on horizontal tail surfaces due to higher-than-expected temperatures
• software packages from Lockheed Martin needed to support flight tests were delayed or not complete when delivered
• both the advanced helmet and the computerized logistics system have issues that remain unresolved 
• weapons integration testing has been delayed by numerous factors, including problems with radar performance
• flight operations are currently banned within 25 miles of known lightning conditions due to issues with the system that protects the plane from fuel tank explosions caused by lightning
• the mean time between critical failures has increased and the aircraft weight has remained steady, but the aircraft's performance remains below the level expected at this point in time

Overall, the report revealed the F-35 fighter aircraft has yet to mature due the continued developmental problems of the program, which has already been restructured 3 times before to slow down production and allow continued development.


http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-report-cites-lack-maturity-lockheed-f-35-012237872--finance.html

By U.S. Air Force [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By Ahunt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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