6 nov. 2014 US Navy

7 nov. 2014 Lockheed Martin

20 oct. 2014 Lockheed Martin

13 oct. 2014 LockheedMartinVideos

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 8, 2014 -- Lockheed Martin & Northrop Grumman

Prime contractor Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and payload provider Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) have delivered the payload for the fourth Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite of the U.S. Air Force's Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS).

The payload, delivered on Sept. 30, will now be integrated with the SBIRS GEO-4 satellite bus in final assembly, integration and test at Lockheed Martin's Sunnyvale, California satellite manufacturing facility.

The SBIRS program delivers timely, reliable and accurate missile warning and infrared surveillance information to the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, combatant commanders, the intelligence community and other key decision makers. The system enhances global missile launch detection capability, supports the nation's ballistic missile defense system, expands the country's technical intelligence gathering capacity and bolsters situational awareness for warfighters on the battlefield.

The SBIRS GEO-4 payload includes highly sophisticated scanning and staring sensors, which will provide the satellite with improved infrared sensitivity and a reduction in area revisit times over the legacy constellation. The scanning sensor will provide a wide area surveillance of missile launches and natural phenomena across the earth, while the staring sensor will be used to observe smaller areas of interest with superior sensitivity.

"The completion of this payload is a critical milestone keeping us on schedule for delivering the SBIRS GEO-4 satellite to the Air Force in 2016," said Louie Lombardo, director of Lockheed Martin's SBIRS Follow-on Production (SFP) program. "This payload delivery -- the third of four payload deliveries for the SBIRS SFP program in the past 15 months -- further demonstrates that SBIRS is in the regular cadence of full production."

"This is an unprecedented production rate of sophisticated infrared payloads for operational deployment," said Anne Ostroff, vice president of the Military/Civil Space and Ground business area, Northrop Grumman. "The performance of payloads on-orbit has been excellent and demonstrates unique capabilities that are needed to address current and evolving threats."

The SBIRS architecture includes a resilient mix of satellites in GEO, hosted payloads in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO), and ground hardware and software. The GEO-1 and GEO-2 satellites have been launched and both received Air Force Space Command Operational Acceptance in 2013, with performance that matches, and in some cases exceeds, requirements. GEO-3 recently completed acoustic testing and is currently undergoing thermal vacuum testing. In June 2014, the Air Force contracted Lockheed Martin for full production of GEO-5 and GEO-6.

The SBIRS team is led by the Remote Systems Directorate at the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. Lockheed Martin is the SBIRS prime contractor, while Northrop Grumman is the payload provider. Air Force Space Command operates the SBIRS system.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2013 were $45.4 billion.

7 oct. 2014 Lockheed Martin

Australia's first F-35A joint strike fighter taking flight from Fort Worth, Texas, US. Photo Liz Kaszynski - Lockheed Martin.

1 October 2014 airforce-technology.com

The Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) first F-35A Lightning II joint strike fighter completed its inaugural flight at a facility in the US.

Designated AU-1, the aircraft reportedly took off from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Texas, the US, for a two hour flight, which included a series of functional checks.

Australian Defence Minister David Johnston said the first flight event represents a significant step towards acceptance of the aircraft.

"Australia's first aircraft AU-1 and AU-2 will undergo further flight testing in the lead up to acceptance and ferry to Luke Air Force Base in 2015.

"The fifth generation JSF is the most advanced fighter in production anywhere in the world and will replace our fleet of Classic Hornets, which by 2020 will be more than 35 years old."

Australia is acquiring a total of 72 F-35A conventional take-off and landing aircraft from Lockheed Martin for an estimated cost of more than $12bn.

The first two aircraft were rolled out by Lockheed in Fort Worth, Texas, on 24 July.

At Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, US, the aircraft will be used in Australian and partner country pilot training programmes.

The first F-35 aircraft is scheduled to enter service in Australia in 2018, while the first operational squadron would be established by 2020.

Under development in three variants, the F-35 is a fifth generation multirole fighter jet designed to carry out a wide range of ground attack, reconnaissance and air defence missions with stealth capability.

Australia joined the F-35 programme during the development phase, bringing more than $355m worth of contracts to the domestic defence industry.

In addition to this, the Australian industry is on course to win in excess of $1.5bn in JSF-related production and support work over the life of the programme.

23-09-2014 Par Dominique Desaunay- RFI

Le Premier ministre israélien a annoncé le week end dernier la création d’une Autorité nationale pour la cyber-défense, une autorité chargée de la protection des systèmes informatiques des sites militaires et civils. Mais selon les autorités, les menaces et les attaques se font plus précises, certaines pouvant entraîner l'arrêt des feux rouges ou la paralysie des banques. Le secteur de la cyber-défense en Israël s’est donc fortement développé.

Lire l’article

16 sept. 2014 LockheedMartinVideos

September 9, 2014: Strategy Page

In August 2014 the U.S. Air Force grounded 82 F-16D jets after cracks were discovered in longerons (metal support beams inside the forward fuselage, which hold the cockpit in place). The D version of the F-16 is the two seater used for training. Some 16 percent of the 969 F-16s in the U.S. Air Force are the D model and these are all at least 24 years old with more than 5,500 hours in the air. The longeron design for the D model is different than that for the single seat models because the D model has a longer cockpit canopy. The air force is making repairs and replacements to put the grounded F-16Ds back in service.

There was a similar problem in 2013 with some older F-15s. In this case the longerons in question were eventually discovered to be defective, not suffering from old age. The inspections of the older F-15s found substandard parts in 182 aircraft. Boeing (the manufacturer) eventually admitted that it had built over a hundred F-15s using longerons that were not 2.5mm thick, as specified, but in some cases only one millimeter thick. That apparently worked when the F-15s were new but age was not kind to the thinner metal and it eventually broke. Thicker stuff apparently would not have failed because of age.

The U.S. F-16 fleet is rapidly aging. The average age of existing F-16s is over 25 years, and the average aircraft has over 6,000 flight hours on it. Back in 2009 the first Block 40 F-16 passed 7,000 flight hours. In 2008 the first of the earliest models (a Block 25) F-16 passed 7,000 hours in the air. The F-16C was originally designed for a service life of 4,000 hours. But advances in engineering, materials and maintenance techniques have extended that to over 8,000 hours. Because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, F-16s sent to these areas will fly over a thousand hours a year more than what they would fly in peacetime.

The U.S. F-16 is one of the most modified jet fighters in service. The most numerous F-16 is the C model. The first version of this, the F-16C Block 25, entered service in 1984. The original F-16, as the F-16A Block 1, entered service in 1978. While most F-16s still in service are the F-16C, there are actually six major mods, identified by block number (32, 40, 42, 50, 52, 60), plus the Israeli F-16I, which is a major modification of the Block 52. Another special version (the Block 60), for the UAE (United Arab Emirates) is called the F-16E. The various block mods included a large variety of new components (five engines, four sets of avionics, five generations of electronic warfare gear, five radars and many other mechanical, software, cockpit and electrical mods.)

The F-16 is the most numerous post-Cold War jet fighter, with over 4,200 built, and still in production. During The Cold War, Russia built over 10,000 MiG-21s, and the U.S over 5,000 F-4s, but since then warplane has plummeted about 90 percent. One exception, since the end of the Cold War, has been the F-16, which has been popular enough to keep the production lines going.

The F-16 can also function as a bomber and ground attack aircraft, although not as effectively as the air force folks would have you believe. It can carry four tons of bombs, and has been very effective using smart bomb. In air-to-air combat, F-16s have shot down 69 aircraft so far, without losing anything to enemy warplanes. Not bad for an aircraft that was originally designed as a cheaper alternative to the heavier F-15.

Read more

01 August 2014 Eric Schnaible - RAF

Fort Worth, Texas, July 30, 2014 – In an important program milestone enabling U.S. Marines Corps Initial Operational Capability (IOC) certification, the Lockheed Martin F-35B recently completed required wet runway and crosswind testing at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

“This testing is absolutely critical to 2B flight software fleet release and the Marine Corps’ IOC,” said J.D. McFarlan, Lockheed Martin's vice president for F-35 Test & Verification. “Collectively, the results support clearing the 20 knot crosswind envelope for Conventional Take Off & Landings (CTOL), Short Take Offs (STO) and Short Landings (SL), with ideal handling quality ratings and meaningful improvement over legacy 4th generational fighter aircraft.”

The testing, completed in 37 missions during a 41-day period, achieved 114 test points, including 48 of 48 wet runway test points, four of four performance STOs, 12 of 18 unique flight test conditions for STO, 19 of 23 unique flight test conditions for SLs and all directional control and anti-skid wet runway testing. All testing was performed with BF-4, based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.

In other achievements, four aircraft surpassed flight hour milestones, demonstrating program maturity and reliability: F-35C aircraft CF-1 and F-35A aircraft AF-4 achieved 500 flight hours, and F-35C aircraft CF-5 achieved 100 flight hours.

The F-35 Lightning II, a 5th generation fighter, combines advanced low observable stealth technology with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least 10 other countries. Following the U.S. Marine Corps’ planned July 2015 IOC, the U.S. Air Force and Navy intend to attain IOC in Aug. 2016 and 2018, respectively.

Group Captain Paul Godfrey, the Royal Air Force officer responsible for entry into service of the aircraft, which will be known in the UK as Lightning II said: ‘’The achievement of yet another important milestone within the F-35B programme continues to cement the foundations of the UK Initial Operating Capability in 2018. Although crosswind limits and runway conditions do not often get attention outside of specialist forums, the ability to be able to land and take off in a range of weathers is critical to the operational capability of the aircraft. To be at this level early in the development of the aircraft is a huge step forward and has already surpassed legacy STOVL aircraft limitations, which is testament to the next-generation flight control software on the F-35 and the ease of operation for the pilot.’’