The Japan Times has reported that the Japan Air Self-Defense Force has a plan to increase the number of airbases which will host newest F-35 fighter jets. According to Japan’s largest English-language daily newspaper, Defense Ministry is looking at deploying new F-35A state-of-the-art stealth fighters to Air Self-Defense Force bases other than the current host, the Misawa base in Aomori Prefecture. The ministry sought ¥40.2 billion in its budget request for fiscal 2021 to acquire four F-35As in fiscal 2025. – ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW – “When the number of F-35s increases, new fighters may be deployed to bases other […]
F-35
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The Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced this week that the U.S. State Department recently approved the potential sale to Finland of more than $12.5 billion worth of stealth fighters. On October 8, the DSCA, the Pentagon’s top arms broker, announced that the U.S. State Department has cleared a $12.5 billion purchase by Finland for 64 F-35 stealth fighter jets with air-to-air missiles and air-to-ground precision guided munitions and related equipment. The official notification from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) reads: – ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW – sixty-four (64) F-35 Joint Strike Fighter CTOL aircraft; sixty-six (66) Pratt & Whitney […]
The U.S. Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said Monday it had notified Congress of a possible sale of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft to Switzerland. On September 30, the Pentagon’s top arms broker, announced that the State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Switzerland of 40 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft for an estimated cost of $6.58 billion and 40 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft for an estimated cost of $7.452 billion. “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping […]
Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the title and employer of Aram Nerguizian. He is a senior associate with the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. BEIRUT — Analysts are looking forward to potential cooperation among the defense industries of Israel and the United Arab Emirates, following the Aug. 13 announcement that the two countries are establishing full diplomatic relations in a U.S.-brokered deal. “It is monumental for both Israel and the UAE that they are now on an unprecedented path to normalization. How this might or might not affect the […]
President Trump said at a news conference on Wednesday that the United Arab Emirates is seeking to buy an unknown number of F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation fighter jets. According to Trump, the UAE was interested in buying advanced F-35 Lightning II fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin Corp. “They’d like to buy F-35’s, we’ll see what happens, it’s under review,” said Trump. – ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW – The announcement comes just days after the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize diplomatic ties and forge a broad new relationship. U.S. defense journalist and commentator Steve Trimble […]
HELSINKI – The Finnish government’s budget proposal for 2021 has allayed concerns of delays or reduced funding for the Armed Forces’ (FAF) HX Fighter Program. The plan will effectively increase the military’s budgetary framework in 2021 by $2 billion to $5.8 billion to meet phase one of the project’s procurement costs. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced Finland to significantly increase international borrowings and further load national debt, was feared to have a negative bearing of the fighter replacement project, particularly against the backdrop of a potential economic recession and grim forecasts of an 8 to 10 […]
MELBOURNE, Australia — Singapore has told the U.S. Air Force it wants to co-locate its Arizona-based F-16 training detachment with its future F-35 training unit, with five locations in the U.S. shortlisted as potential sites for training international F-35 operators. In a statement to Defense News, U.S. Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said the service “plans to establish an F-35 Foreign Military Sales training Center in the Continental United States which could accommodate up to 36 F-35 aircraft.” “Based on negotiations with our foreign military sales customers as well as airspace and weather considerations, the Air Force is considering five candidate […]
MELBOURNE, Australia — In its latest whitepaper, Japan has discussed its impending acquisition of F-35B fighter jets and highlighted efforts by regional militaries to expand their influence and activities despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The full document, released July 14 in Japanese, contains a section on the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant of the Lockheed Martin aircraft, noting that with regional countries making “remarkable progress” in air power modernization, the country needed to respond in kind.. The whitepaper highlighted the operational flexibility of the F-35B, noting the jet’s ability to operate without the need for long runways, which would enable the Japan Air Self-Defense […]
The approved package includes 63 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing aircraft and 42 F-35 short takeoff and landing variants, and essentially green-lighting the procurement plans spelled out by Japan in 2018. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sale, which is worth about $23 billion, although that number could change during negotiations between the country and Lockheed Martin, which would start after Congress approves the sale. Also included in the arms deal is: 110 Pratt & Whitney F135 engines, associated electronic warfare and communications systems, the Autonomic Logistics Information System, training gear, infrared flares, a performance-based logistics package, […]
MELBOURNE, Australia — Japan has created a timeline for the development and fielding of its locally made next-generation fighter jet, with serial production set to start at the beginning of the next decade. The Japanese Ministry of Defense presented the draft development plan for the fighter program to a group of lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday, which showed that full-scale production is due to begin in 2031. The ministry added that the prime contractor for the program will be selected by early next year, although it could happen as soon as October 2020. This is to allow […]
The committee’s version of the FY21 spending bill, which its defense subcommittee will deliberate Wednesday in a closed hearing, would allocate $344 million for 16 MQ-9 Reaper drones. The language is a good sign for the aircraft’s manufacturer, General Atomics, which stood to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in sales if the Air Force stopped buying the aircraft. The service in FY20 had planned to buy nine MQ-9s in FY21, 17 in FY22, two in FY23 and three in FY24, but zeroed out all plans to buy additional Reaper drones as part of its FY21 budget request. However, the Reaper […]
WASHINGTON — Deliveries of a new precision-guided bomb under development by Raytheon for the F-35 and other fighter jets have been at a standstill for about a year as the company struggles to correct a technical problem involving a key component. A fix for the issue, which brought production of the Small Diameter Bomb II to a halt in July 2019, could be approved by the government as soon as July, said Air Force spokesman Capt. Jake Bailey in response to questions by Defense News. However, a June report by the Government Accountability Office pointed out that continued technical issues have […]
WASHINGTON — The Senate Armed Services Committee wants to give the Air Force more F-35s and drones, but its version of the 2021 defense policy bill leaves many questions open about the future of the service’s legacy aircraft. In the Air Force’s FY21 budget request, the service proposed retiring a number of its portion of its B-1 bombers, A-10 Warthog attack planes, RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drones, KC-135 and KC-10 tankers and C-130H planes. Air Force leaders said the controversial reductions were necessary in order to free up the money needed for key investments in future technology areas like space and […]
WASHINGTON — The Air Force is on track to finalize a business case for its ambitious next-generation fighter this summer, its top acquisition official said Tuesday, and the results could be a make or break moment for the program. The Air Force wants to radically shift its future fighter program — also known as Next Generation Air Dominance — to a model that the service’s acquisition executive Will Roper calls the “Digital Century Series,” which would use new development techniques like digital engineering, open architecture and advances in software development techniques like DevSecOps to field advanced aircraft more quickly and cheaply. […]
Four B-52s from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota carried out a long-range training mission that flew through the Arctic to Europe on Wednesday. The Stratofortress bombers, from the 5th Bomb Wing, trained with F-16s and F-35s from the Norwegian Air Force during the Bomber Task Force mission, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa said in a release. They flew over the Arctic Ocean and the Laptev Sea, off the northern coast of Siberia. “The Arctic is a strategic region with growing geopolitical and global importance, and these Bomber Task Force missions demonstrate our commitment to our […]
The Navy has been flirting with the idea of smaller carriers. What’s the advantage and the objective here? Source link
The Navy plans to curtail Super Hornet production in fiscal 2022. It remains unclear, however, whether that effort will be successful. Source link
Lorenzo Guerini said he “confirmed that the program would continue,” after calls from Italy’s Five Star party to halt F-35 purchases for a year to pay for a coronavirus rebound. Source link
According to the GAO, the number of F-35 parts delivered late skyrocketed from less than 2,000 in August 2017 to upwards of 10,000 in July 2019. Source link
One of the Air Force’s fighters had a lower mission-capable rate in 2019 than the year prior. Source link
Dennis Goege previously worked for the German Aerospace Center, DLR, based in Cologne, where he oversaw defense and security research programs. Source link