DefenceTalkA US fighter jet has crashed during a test flight in Florida, the air force said Wednesday, the second military air accident in a week in the state. No one was hurt in the incident involving an F-35A Stealth jet as it tried to land Tuesday night, Eglin Air Force Base said in a statement. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-fighter-jet-crashes-in-florida-second-accident-in-a-week-75615/

DefenceTalkYesterday, (Sunday), the “Enduring Lightning” exercise in southern Israel – joint training between Israeli “Adir” (F-35I) aircraft from the IAF’s 140 squadron (“Golden Eagle”), alongside F-35 aircraft operated by the USAF’s (United States Air Force) 34th Fighter Squadron, has come to an end. The IAF’s 122 squadron (“Nahshon”), which operates the “Nahshon” (Gulfstream G-500) Control […]https://www.defencetalk.com/israeli-us-air-force-f-35s-in-first-joint-training-in-israel-75015/

DefenceTalkAs the F-35 program limps toward the end of its much-delayed operational testing period and subsequent full-rate production decision, unanswered questions about its combat effectiveness and suitability for service within the fleet remain. The Pentagon weapons testing office’s 2019 annual report, released earlier this year, paints a picture of an incompletely designed and vulnerable aircraft […]https://www.defencetalk.com/uncorrected-design-flaws-cyber-vulnerabilities-and-unreliability-plague-the-f-35-program-74969/

DefenceTalkARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE: Store separation testing on a one-fifteenth scale model of an F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter in the Arnold Engineering Development Complex 4-foot Transonic Wind Tunnel, or 4T, at Arnold Air Force Base, was completed weeks ahead of a scheduled facility maintenance outage, saving the test customer more than $1 million. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/f-35a-lightning-ii-store-separation-test-completed-ahead-of-schedule-74631/

DefenceTalkLockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and the F-35 Joint Program Office delivered the 500th F-35. In February, the F-35 enterprise surpassed 250,000 flight hours. The 500th production aircraft is a U.S. Air Force F-35A, to be delivered to the Burlington Air National Guard Base in Vermont. The 500 hundred F-35s include 354 F-35A conventional takeoff and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/lockheed-martin-delivers-500th-f-35-fighter-jet-surpasses-250k-flight-hours-74584/

DefenceTalkHILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah: As capable as the F-35A Lightning II has proven itself to be on the battlefield – seeking out and evading or killing high-end threats – it can be just as capable in reliability and quick combat ‘turns’ when maintainers leverage the synergy designed into the maintenance systems. When you listen […]https://www.defencetalk.com/synergy-centered-maintenance-key-to-f-35a-reliability-high-mission-capability-rates-74515/

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nevada: Pilots and maintainers with the 421st Fighter Squadron are launching and flying the F-35A Lightning II in their first Red Flag exercise together. The exercise, which takes place from Jan. 27-Feb. 15, is meant to give at least 10 combat-representative sorties to younger pilots to better prepare them for real […]

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE: F-35A Lightning II pilots with the 421st Fighter Squadron return after flying a sortie during Red Flag 20-1 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Feb. 3, 2020. Red Flag is the Air Force’s premiere large scale combat exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo by R. NIal Bradshaw)[/caption]Airmen from the 388th Fighter Wing, […]

Five fighter manufacturers have sent their responses to the revised request for quotation that was asked by the Finnish Defence Forces’ Logistics Command. In October 2019, the Defence Forces sent a revised request for quotation to the governments of France, United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States, to be forwarded to five manufacturers of multi-role […]

Poland on Friday finalized an agreement to buy dozens of F-35 fighter jets from the US in a multi-billion dollar deal aimed at revamping its air force and further strengthening close ties with Washington. The United States in September approved the $4.6-billion (4.2-million-euro) contract to deliver a total of 32 aircraft to NATO ally Poland. […]