Woops! Lockheed forgot the Tailhook on the F-35C

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Platapus

One of the issues is that in order to improve its LO capability, the tail hook retracts into a compartment with a door (similar to how some landing gear works).

Honestly they should not be bothering to stealth the back of the plane so much. No point in being invisible to someone you just bombed.

[TarJak]

And how much will this cost to fix? Gotta love the DOD.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by TarJak

And how much will this cost to fix? Gotta love the DOD.

Lets see to fix it they need....

1 roll of duct tape... DoD cost $900
1 length of pipe... DoD cost $1,500
1 metal coat hanger... DoD Cost $11,000

Total cost of repair: $13,400 per aircraft
480 F-35Cs to be built so $13,400 * 480 = $6,432,000

Far less than it would take to fit them with a cup holder and pez dispenser that has been suggested.

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

Lets see to fix it they need....

1 roll of duct tape... DoD cost $900
1 length of pipe... DoD cost $1,500
1 metal coat hanger... DoD Cost $11,000

Total cost of repair: $13,400 per aircraft
480 F-35Cs to be built so $13,400 * 480 = $6,432,000

Far less than it would take to fit them with a cup holder and pez dispenser that has been suggested.

I just can imagine pilots faces when they see this "poorman's tailhook"!

[TarJak]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

Lets see to fix it they need....

1 roll of duct tape... DoD cost $900
1 length of pipe... DoD cost $1,500
1 metal coat hanger... DoD Cost $11,000

Total cost of repair: $13,400 per aircraft
480 F-35Cs to be built so $13,400 * 480 = $6,432,000

Far less than it would take to fit them with a cup holder and pez dispenser that has been suggested.

You forgot the labour 3500 man hours per aircraft at $1500 per hour so an additional $5,250,000 per aircraft.

[Catfish]

I take it the F-35"B" does not need a hook:
(Good video i think)
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Ki86x1WKPmE
But then it is an expensive system, to say at least.

" ... The F-35 is designed to be the core tactical fighter aircraft for the U.S. military, with three versions for the Air Force, Navy, and the Marine Corps.
Each plane clocks in at around $90 million ..."

"The F-35 is meant to be the future of U.S. tactical airpower, but the program harks back to the Cold War, when we faced an aggressive great power rival."

" ... Washington intends to buy 2,443, at a price tag of $382 billion. ..."

The jet's initial cost has now risen from 90 million to 130 million per unit.
Military cuts ? Really ?
For that money, you might have bought Australia. The continent.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/...stralia/72454/

[Blood_splat]

That's a lot of money just to bomb the shat out of the Taliban.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Blood_splat

That's a lot of money just to bomb the shat out of the Taliban.

Lol

"In a decade's time, the United States plans to have 15 times as many modern fighters as China, and 20 times as many as Russia."

And then it's time to pay back the US debt, to China.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Platapus

The people you just bombed are not the threat. The threat is the people you did not just bomb.

Solution: bomb everyone.

Originally Posted by Catfish

I take it the F-35"B" does not need a hook:

Yes the B is the VTOL version the C is the conventional carrier based version. But the B has shorter legs and a lower max payload.

[soopaman2]

Or just drop a bomb on congress.

I forgot, you can't get all of them in the building at one time ever...

Only job I know, where showing up is optional...

[Aesthetica]

Originally Posted by Catfish

I take it the F-35"B" does not need a hook:

Yeah F-35-A is the standard land based version, the B is the STOVL version with a back end designed by BAE, lower payload, shorter range, but it can take off from old RN style ski-ramp short carriers, and land vertically on same, makes it ideal for the Gator Navy, like a stealthed 5th generation super Harrier (that was the theory behind us ordering 80 of them). The C is the CATOBAR version for use on the US's super carriers, it has a beefier airframe, and larger wing area, to withstand the shock of a tailhook arrested landing, and lower it's stall speeds etc.

Problems however, reports about cracks in the airframe's structural components, not enough to ground it, but enough to shorten the life span of each craft, and push up maintenance costs, the tail hook scandal, etc.

Worst thing about the whole concept... As was mentioned in an earlier post, you can only upgrade an airframe so much before it becomes obsolete, 20-30 yrs tops, but the F-35 program is claimed to have a 50 yr upgradability program, despite the fact that technological progress is accelerating.

They are justifying the massive cost of this program by claiming that they will still be in service (albeit later varients, F-35-M's etc.) in 2070!

It's become less about making something that works right, and more about corporate fingers in the cash pie. They even talked about changing the engines used, at a very late date, that was canceled saving $3 billion, but they are not done messing yet it seems. I get a feeling that either these things will arrive in 2020 with a whole host of defects, or they will be put back to 2025-2030.

Meanwhile it's struggle on with desperate late model rebuilds of existing airframes like the F-15, 16 and 18.

I'm dreading the howls of laughter from "Crab Air" when they finally see what WAFU are getting for their new flattops.

SNAFU...

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Aesthetica

Meanwhile it's struggle on with desperate late model rebuilds of existing airframes like the F-14, 16 and 18.

Rebuilds of F-14s? I though all the F-14s in the Free World were taken to the desert and chopped in to little pieces.

[Gargamel]

But honestly, IMO, we won't know the answer for another 30 years. Well just have to wait and see if it turns into one of those great success stories, or another dod flop.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

Honestly they should not be bothering to stealth the back of the plane so much. No point in being invisible to someone you just bombed.

The people you just bombed are not the threat. The threat is the people you did not just bomb.

[krashkart]

Originally Posted by Platapus

The threat is a ferret wielding an automatic rifle.

Fixed.