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12Alfa

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Hmm. I read today in another military news site that regardless of the v. poor availability described in this report, the aircraft has been cleared for operation use worldwide. Let's hope serviceability improves over time; it usually does.

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Hmm. I read today in another military news site that regardless of the v. poor availability described in this report, the aircraft has been cleared for operation use worldwide. Let's hope serviceability improves over time; it usually does.

Operational readiness rate of the F-35 on the test deployment was already better than that of the F/A-18E OR during the first three years of the Superhornet's "fully operational" period.

60% may sound bad... but that's just when taken out of context; if you don't have anything to compare it against. Typical of the media to throw out numbers that *sound* bad, without actually quantifying anything.... Also, it was while deployed on a vessel not really intended to for that class of aircraft, being maintained and handled by personnel new to the airframe.

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Operational readiness rate of the F-35 on the test deployment was already better than that of the F/A-18E OR during the first three years of the Superhornet's "fully operational" period.

60% may sound bad... but that's just when taken out of context; if you don't have anything to compare it against. Typical of the media to throw out numbers that *sound* bad, without actually quantifying anything.... Also, it was while deployed on a vessel not really intended to for that class of aircraft, being maintained and handled by personnel new to the airframe.

Source?

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Source?

A former Marine radar tech I'm friends with, who now works for the aerospace industry (and before you claim bias, he works for BOEING)

And if you are dying to verify, how about this 2003 GAO report: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04112.pdf

Page 70, and I quote: "We assessed the condition of the F/A-18 as yellow because it consistently failed to meet mission capable and fully mission capable goals of 75 percent and 58 percent, respectively. "

F-35, with newly-trained crew and maintainers, on a vessel not set up to support it properly, for which proper SOPs and TTPs need to be developed, managed 60-65% OR on their first try. F/A-18E at land basing and dedicated fixed-wing carriers, with crews that had three years Superhornet experience (and many more on legacy hornet) struggled to manage 58%. Please, tell me again what a hangar queen the F-35 is.

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A former Marine radar tech I'm friends with, who now works for the aerospace industry (and before you claim bias, he works for BOEING)

And if you are dying to verify, how about this 2003 GAO report: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04112.pdf

Page 70, and I quote: "We assessed the condition of the F/A-18 as yellow because it consistently failed to meet mission capable and fully mission capable goals of 75 percent and 58 percent, respectively. "

F-35, with newly-trained crew and maintainers, on a vessel not set up to support it properly, for which proper SOPs and TTPs need to be developed, managed 60-65% OR on their first try. F/A-18E at land basing and dedicated fixed-wing carriers, with crews that had three years Superhornet experience (and many more on legacy hornet) struggled to manage 58%. Please, tell me again what a hangar queen the F-35 is.

Well, as the piece says, company reps were there, and the vessel is, or should be set up to accept the system they are validating one would think.

Would it be fair to say the ppl from the company did not know the aircraft they were sent to maintain?

And was the ship not equipped to handle VT and landings, and the maintenance as it was designed, and has operated so far?

Both of theses seen to me be not quit on. After all the plane was sent to a ship that reportedly made to carry out such operations, and would I think (I may be wrong here) to validate whether a system is going to work as advertised.

I'm not saying the airframe is poor, how ever the data we have seen from various sources up to now does not do it well.

Never said it was a Queen :icon_frown:glad we(CAN) are re-thinking it though, one engine and all.:c:

Something more current would have been nice also :c:

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a579732.pdf

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Well, as the piece says, company reps were there, and the vessel is, or should be set up to accept the system they are validating one would think.

Well, you're just full of strawmen, aren't you? The company reps weren't providing the entire force, and the fact remains that on the FIRST test cruise, you cannot expect all the techniques to be worked out. That's literally the entire purpose of a shakedown cruise: to figure out what you need to do to operate efficiently.

And was the ship not equipped to handle VT and landings, and the maintenance as it was designed, and has operated so far?

Dude. A cleared patch of dirt is "equipped to handle VT and landings". No, that vessel is not designed to maintain 6 high-performance fighters, it is designed to handle helicopters and no more than 6 low-performance Harrier (and indeed, the Wasp had to be redesigned from the Tarawa-class specifically to handle the Harrier). And even if the repair and maintenance shops *were* large enough and with sufficient tool compliment, do you think it had a full compliment of F-35 parts? No? Yeah, me either.

Something more current would have been nice also :c:

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a579732.pdf

Something more current would not be relevant to comparing the initial operating rates of the F/A-18E versus the initial operating rates of the F-35. I proved my claim: three years after IOC, the F/A-18 had a lower OR rate than the F-35 has BEFORE IT HAS EVEN HIT IOC.

I mean, unless you REALLY think it's fair to compare PRE-operational OR rates for the the F-35 to OR rates for an aircraft that's been in inventory for over a decade (the report you linked is data from March 2007 through June 2012) and has had all the bugs worked out? I mean, sure, if you think that's logical, right? Personally, I think that comparison is a bag of horseshit. It seems to me that you are willfully ignorant and have an axe to grind.

*edit* also, did you actually READ the 2015 report you just posted? It doesn't seem to disagree with my contention: from the Executive Summary (thanks for citing a specific paragraph, by the way //sarc), "Of 74 deployed observations, 28 achieved the FMC standard of 0.63 (37.8%), while 97 of 219 non-deployed observations attained the non-deployed FMC standard of 0.53 (44.3%)."

So... ok, over half the time, they couldn't even manage 44% OR? Wow, great job, Superhornet. Sure showed that F-35 who's boss *rolls eyes*

*edit 2* oh, also, before you try to argue from the RFT data rather than the FMC; that is, again, apples to orangutans: The F-35 was assessed on ALL six aircraft to be available for some unknown mission set at ALL TIMES, while the RFT for the F/A-18 in the 2015 report only requires... well, some unknown portion of the aircraft to perform some missions at some times. RFT is compared on operational NEED versus operational READINESS. IE, if the squadron has 12 A/C and only required 2 of them to fly at any given time, as long as it had two FMC at all times, it would have an RFT of 100%... which would be a really miserable FMC rate. It's not a logical comparison between FMC and RFT (which, by the way, is precisely the thesis of the paper!). And even if we DID accept RFT data as a valid comparison (it's not!), the F/A-18, after a DECADE IN SERVICE, only managed a WHOPPING 78.6% RFT (table 3, page 14)!!!!

*edit 3* By the way, the single/ double engine thing is a red herring. There have been less engine-failure-related losses of block 42/ 52 F-16 in the past decade than there have been of twin-engine F-15, despite both using the same series of engines (P&W F100). Studies have shown that the likelihood of loss of an aircraft due to engine failure is about the same for single or twins, because while modern turbines are extremely reliable, when they DO fail, the failure mode is catastrophic: they blow up pretty violently, often causing enough secondary damage to force abandonment of the aircraft even if the other engine was not shredded in the failure.

...oh, but wait, speaking of survivability: unlike legacy fighters, the F-35 has completely isolated electrohydraulic systems for each control surface. So unlike all the other aircraft that would bleed their hydro system dry and be lost if anything punctured a line anywhere in the A/C, they can be brought home. Not even the A-10 has isolated control surfaces: it has a manual cable connection that can be used for minimal control to get the A/C back over friendly territory if the hydro system is perforated, so the pilot is not captured when he/she subsequently punches out. The only A-10 pilot that ever attempted to actually *land* in manual reversion mode cartwheeled the aircraft, totally destroying it and killing himself in the process, because manual reversion control mode ISN'T intended to get the aircraft home. The F-35 control system *is*.

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Well, you're just full of strawmen, aren't you? The company reps weren't providing then entire force, and the fact remains that on the FIRST test cruise, you cannot expect all the techniques to be worked out.

Dude. A cleared patch of dirt is "equipped to handle VT and landings". No, that vessel is not designed to maintain 6 high-performance fighters, it is designed to handle helicopters and no more than 4 low-performance Harrier. And even if the repair and maintenance shops *were* large enough and with sufficient tool compliment, do you think it had a full compliment of F-35 parts? No? Yeah, me either.

Ok you build a ship for the F-35's instead of using the wasp class, makes more sense not that you put it that way. And DUDE I never stated that I thought it had all the spare parts, unless I'm reading my post incorrectly.

So what we have is a new system tested on a ship not designed or equipped in repair facilities invaliding the new F-36 to go operational , got ya, I guess I was confused.:c:

Something more current would not be relevant to comparing the initial operating rates of the F/A-18E versus the initial operating rates of the F-35. I proved my claim: three years after IOC, the F/A-18 had a lower OR rate than the F-35 has BEFORE IT HAS EVEN HIT IOC.

Right that make perfect sense and now I see the relevancy of compairing both A/C at the testing stages:heu:

I mean, unless you REALLY think it's fair to compare PRE-operational OR rates for the the F-35 to OR rates for an aircraft that's been in inventory for over a decade (the report you linked is data from March 2007 through June 2012) and has had all the bugs worked out? I mean, sure, if you think that's logical, right? Personally, I think that comparison is a bag of horseshit. It seems to me that you are willfully ignorant and have an axe to grind.

I haven't called you names. In my experience when a party resorts to this type of behavior they loose/ lost their creditability, is this the case here, or am I reading this wrong?:confused:

*edit* also, did you actually READ the 2015 report you just posted? It doesn't seem to disagree with my contention: from the Executive Report (thanks for citing a specific paragraph, by the way //sarc), "Of 74 deployed observations, 28 achieved the FMC standard of 0.63 (37.8%), while 97 of 219 non-deployed observations attained the non-deployed FMC standard of 0.53 (44.3%)."

I never said I disagreed, you are putting that forward, I merely posted the link for current info, you seem annoyed by it for some reason:confused:

So... ok, over half the time, they couldn't even manage 44% OR? Wow, great job, Superhornet. Sure showed that F-35 who's boss *rolls eyes*

*edit 2* oh, also, before you try to argue from the RFT data rather than the FMC; that is, again, apples to orangutans: The F-35 was assessed on ALL six aircraft to be available for some unknown mission set at ALL TIMES, while the RFT for the F/A-18 in the 2015 report only requires... well, some unknown portion of the aircraft to perform some missions at some times. As RFT is compared on operational NEED versus operational READINESS (IE, if the squadron has 12 A/C and only required 2 of them to fly at any given time, as long as it had two FMC at all times, it would have an RFT of 100%... which would be a really miserable FMC rate. It's not a logical comparison between FMC and RFT (which, by the way, is precisely the thesis of the paper!). And even if we DID accept RFT data as a valid comparison (it's not!), the F/A-18, after a DECADE IN SERVICE, only managed a WHOPPING 78.6% RFT!!!!

All that over a link. I think I'll move on to another axe, clearly any report that not place the F-35 in a positive light is wrong. In the future I shall disregard all such reports. You really convinced me of the merits by your well mannered logic.

Edited by 12Alfa
Placing someone on my disreguard list....
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Well, this is a perfect example of what's wrong with some people on this forum. The moment their opinion is challenged they resort to personal insult. Such as: Well, you're just full of strawmen, aren't you? How ANYONE can imagine personal abuse strengthens their argument, totally evades me - and most others I suspect.

Hopefully, if this sort of behaviour occurs in any of the main sections it will be dealt with by the mods according to the new doctrine. Down here in Ground Zero, I suppose it matters less; but it's still a bit sad. :sad2:

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I mean, we all know that poking moderators in the eye, and jumping in the middle of every disagreement is how you fix these things... ;)

Sorry, RogueSnake - not sure if the 'poking moderators in the eye' comment is for me, but if it is, how so? Certainly not my intention; my support and sympathy for the mods is well documented in other threads.

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All that over a link. I think I'll move on to another axe, clearly any report that not place the F-35 in a positive light is wrong. In the future I shall disregard all such reports. You really convinced me of the merits by your well mannered logic.

Well, I think that its important to remember that the F-35 is one of the most complex machines yet made by man. And that no Fighter, Bomber, Cargo aircraft in recent memory came in on time, and under budget.

Of course a difference with the F-35 is that some comity decided that development should be spread across the worlds largest defense contractors.

Anyone who follows these things could see red flags with this idea from the other side of the planet.

Its also important to remember that the F-35, the whole thing, is the brainchild of bean counters. Everything about it is.

Multi-role? save money

multi-service? save money

shared development, and production, across the world? save money

And what do we get for all that effort in trying to save money?

1.45 Trillion dollar price tag for R&D, and a level of complexity approaching that of the space shuttle(209 billion R&D cost)

Turns out that trying to turn 4 aircraft in to one, makes the one very complex and expensive.

As hard as it is for you 12alfa, you must except that Bean counters played a major role in what is the F-35. And that all the blame for its shortcomings certainly cannot be placed at the feet of the "Military Industrial complex".

I just owned you AGAIN on the internet 12alfa!

Clearly I'm better at the internet than you.:men_ani:

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Well, this is a perfect example of what's wrong with some people on this forum. The moment their opinion is challenged they resort to personal insult. Such as: Well, you're just full of strawmen, aren't you? How ANYONE can imagine personal abuse strengthens their argument, totally evades me - and most others I suspect.:

That's not a personal insult; it's an accurate statement: his argument was, twice consecutive, a strawman. He had not refuted my claim, nor addressed the issue with any evidence to the contrary. I am sorry if you feel that pointing out the gaping logic flaws in an argument is a "personal attack"

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That's not a personal insult; it's an accurate statement: his argument was, twice consecutive, a strawman. He had not refuted my claim, nor addressed the issue with any evidence to the contrary. I am sorry if you feel that pointing out the gaping logic flaws in an argument is a "personal attack"

Your response can be summarised as 'I am right; he is wrong. Period'. But he would undoubtedly beg to differ. But let's suppose you are correct. Effectively telling the other person he is an idiot isn't going to encourage him to calmly consider the points you make - only to dig in and defend his position. It's therefore counter productive - unless, of course, you are actually looking for an argument as opposed to a rational debate. In other words, why use provocative language and a combative style when it's unnecessary?

In fact, I made exactly this error when I wrote: 'Well, this is a perfect example of what's wrong with some people on this forum'. If your reaction was to take offence and not really listen to anything beyond that, you were quite justified; it was a very poor opening sentence and totally counter-productive. So please accept my apologies.

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Ok, let me refute.

If I may in a few questions so that we all can understand your points clearly.

And to make sure we don't input bias or internet chatter, he said, they said.

When I asked for a source I was expecting a report from a creditable source, IE dept of the Navy/USMC, or the contractor, also a QA,MOI,MOE,AAR, ect form any of those source we can agree is a credible source. I would put it to you a friend who has or may have worked in the field at another company is not what one would consider creditable, we just don't know this person or who/what he represents.

So lets begin..

First question, were you part of the Defense Department’s director of operational testing team?

2- You stated "deployed on a vessel not really intended to for that class of aircraft" please state your source (see above)

3-You stated "being maintained and handled by personnel new to the airframe" again state a official source (see above)

4-"You stated "on a vessel not set up to support it properly" source

5-You stated "that's literally the entire purpose of a shakedown cruise: to figure out what you need to do to operate efficiently." ..the report states it was a reliability in a 12-day exercise at sea, according to the U.S. military’s top testing officer, and the declaration of “initial operational capability”

Can you provide a source where you are correct in a cruse and not the above, again (see above)

6- You stated "No, that vessel is not designed to maintain 6 high-performance fighters" source

7-You stated "do you think it had a full compliment of F-35 parts? No? Yeah, me either." Source?

8- You stated "The company reps weren't providing the entire force" yet the report says "Marine maintainers had rapid, ready access to spare parts from shore” and “received significant assistance” from Lockheed and subcontractor personnel."

So you of course have proof that they did not right, source (see above)

You are stating a lot as we can see, now it's time to back up with credible sources

And to make it a easy read please if you will answer with the source or personal on-board knowledge in the testing, or no credible sources.

It will make it easy to ascertain the answers to the questions I have provided for us to read

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Ok, let me refute.

If I may in a few questions so that we all can understand your points clearly.

And to make sure we don't input bias or internet chatter, he said, they said.

When I asked for a source I was expecting a report from a creditable source, IE dept of the Navy/USMC, or the contractor, also a QA,MOI,MOE,AAR, ect form any of those source we can agree is a credible source. I would put it to you a friend who has or may have worked in the field at another company is not what one would consider creditable, we just don't know this person or who/what he represents.

So lets begin..

First question, were you part of the Defense Department’s director of operational testing team?

2- You stated "deployed on a vessel not really intended to for that class of aircraft" please state your source (see above)

3-You stated "being maintained and handled by personnel new to the airframe" again state a official source (see above)

4-"You stated "on a vessel not set up to support it properly" source

5-You stated "that's literally the entire purpose of a shakedown cruise: to figure out what you need to do to operate efficiently." ..the report states it was a reliability in a 12-day exercise at sea, according to the U.S. military’s top testing officer, and the declaration of “initial operational capability”

Can you provide a source where you are correct in a cruse and not the above, again (see above)

6- You stated "No, that vessel is not designed to maintain 6 high-performance fighters" source

7-You stated "do you think it had a full compliment of F-35 parts? No? Yeah, me either." Source?

8- You stated "The company reps weren't providing the entire force" yet the report says "Marine maintainers had rapid, ready access to spare parts from shore” and “received significant assistance” from Lockheed and subcontractor personnel."

So you of course have proof that they did not right, source (see above)

You are stating a lot as we can see, now it's time to back up with credible sources

And to make it a easy read please if you will answer with the source or personal on-board knowledge in the testing, or no credible sources.

It will make it easy to ascertain the answers to the questions I have provided for us to read

See, now this is why I took an aggressive stance to you, and why I think you have an axe to grind: you hold me to a level of evidenciary standard that is WAAAAY above what you hold for sources that argue the opposite ("F-35 sucks!") side of the argument. You also have yet to provide one shred of evidence to counter either my primary argument, nor my supporting claims. So, let's see here:

1) When you asked for a source, you were asking for the source that the F/A-18E's IOC OR rates were as low as I claimed, because *that* was the claim I made. Actually, I guess you were asking for a source for whatever bit of information I *wanted* to provide a source for, because you didn't actually clarify what you wanted a source for. That's a very intellectually lazy demand right there: you have not provided any sources to prove your own assertions- despite demanding doctoral thesis style citations of mine- but didn't bother to clarify the information you wanted beyond a single word: "source?".

But ok, I'll indulge: the 65% F-35 OR rates were straight out of the media reports in the OP. The F/A-18E OR rates for the first three years after F/A-18E IOC were from a friend of mine that worked with an F/A-18E squadron, as well as the GAO report I attached as written verification. You are welcome to the opinion that neither a Marine radar tech who worked on F/A-18Es during the first three years of their deployment, nor a GAO report for those years, are credible sources for that claim. Yet you seem from all appearances perfectly happy with a *Bloomberg* news report as a credible source for your opinions. I will respectfully disagree with your stance on source credibility.

2) Source is simple logic: The Wasp-Class Amphibious Assault Ship was designed before the F-35 was developed. It could not possibly have been optimized for that class of aircraft. Also, a basic understanding of the design purpose of the Wasp-class Amphibious Assault Ship. The clue should be in the name. Not the "Wasp-class carrier", oh no. The Wasp class AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP. The primary purpose of the Wasp-class is to put a Marine Expeditionary Unit ashore, and to support the operations of the MEU. A MEU is a Brigade-sized unit. That takes up a lot of space aboard. It should be blindingly obvious that this entails certain design compromises that affect the efficiency of the vessel in operating high-performance fixed wing strike aircraft.

The Wasp itself had to be redesigned from the Tarawa to accommodate Harriers: this shows that the introduction of a new VTOL aircraft may require design changes (the Tarawa was already designed to operate rotary-wing VTOL. This logically means that, unlike your assertion, not all VTOL aircraft have the same operating needs). The F-35B has 1.5 meter wider wingspan, 1.17 meters greater length, and 208% (over twice) the empty weight. It also has RAM coatings, which are notorious for requiring additional maintenance (with associated special tools and workshops). An obvious example of the vessel not being optimized: the landing deck needed reinforcement and thermal shielding to prevent damage from the F-35 engine. Cogent to this discussion: they did not discover this was an issue until they started testing the aircraft on Wasp decks.

So, no, I don't have a convenient single quote to indicate a handy quantifiable number of how perfectly or imperfectly the Wasp is optimized for the F-35, or how far from complete are the SOPs for handling and maintenance of F-35 on Wasp-class. I *do* have a wide selection of indications that they are still working out the bugs to find the most efficient ways, and enough knowledge of SOP development to know that it is virtually never perfect in the first iteration. How much modification is necessary is up for debate, but the vessel was not optimized for it. ...Am I required to now source the source for each and every one of those contributing bits of information? Also: show an article that claims that they are NOT still working on developing the SOPs and optimizing the vessel. Provide proof to the contrary. Prove that the Wasp is the perfect vessel from which to operate F-35, and that therefore the OR of the F-35 is not affected by any limitations of the vessel. Provide sources.

3) Again, basic logic: The aircraft is new. There are not that many trained maintainers. What maintainers there are, do not have extensive experience. I would think this went without saying. You have implied that the inexperienced Marine crews are irrelevant, considering that company reps were aboard. However, I have had plenty of experience with New Equipment Training in the US Army: in my experience, the company reps are there to teach the servicemen; the servicemen do all the work. That's the point of having the reps aboard; they teach the people that will actually do it in wartime. In the big picture, no one cares how good the company reps are at repairing things, because in wartime, it's the servicemen that do it. So in the contracts, they explicitly limit the company reps to an advisory-only role. Is that speculation on my part? Sure. But it's speculation backed up by repeated personal experience, and by the statement in the OP article that " 'Marine maintainers ...received significant assistance' from Lockheed and subcontractor personnel," which would indicate that the servicemembers were, in fact, the primary workforce, and company reps merely *assisted*. I could link you to USAF Public Affairs Office video reports about the beginning of the first classes training maintainers (in the past several months) to illustrate that the maintainers are new to the airframe, but that seems a bit needless to me.

4) See 2), above. Among other things, the Wasp did not have F-35B spare parts aboard. That alone seems, to me, pretty poorly set up to operate F-35Bs. You claim that the vessel *is* set up perfectly to operate the F-35B. What's your source?

5) .....are you really arguing the semantics difference between a "shakedown cruise" and "a 12-day exercise" to declare IOC? Wow, ok. You're right. It was a "12-day exercise" cruise. Intended to shake down the processes and procedures for operating the F-35B from the deck of Wasp-class vessels and determine if the system as a whole (IE, aircraft, vessel, maintainers, and supply) was ready for IOC. :heu:

6) Re-hashing of the same point for the third time. Again, see 2) and 4)

7) Even in the OP article, it is stated that "Lieutenant General Jon Davis, the head of Marine Corps aviation, told reporters on Monday that the service wants to achieve that rate eventually, but doing so depends on how much funding is provided for spare parts.", which heavily implies that spare parts ARE indeed in shorter supply than needed. It also said, as you handily point out, "Marine maintainers had rapid, ready access to spare parts from shore”. I would contend that even with the rapidest (that's a word now, I swear!) shore access, this lowers OR. While waiting for an aircraft to be dispatched for a trip to shore, gather up the required parts, and return (a process that could take many hours), the maintainers are NOT replacing the part and fixing the fault on the aircraft. This would, I contend, result in a significantly lower OR rate, because the AC in question would spend much, much longer out of service awaiting parts than if they were already aboard. You know, like they would be if the vessel was actually equipped for the AC (as it will be in the future when F-35B is standard onboard compliment). Reference above re: "Wasp-class is not currently optimized to handle F-35 operations"

8) Yes, you're right. There was "significant assistance" from company reps. Not "company reps conducted all repairs on the aircraft". Not "the entire maintenance crew was provided by company reps". This, in turn, means that the *bulk* of the maintenance crew were Marines. Now, the company reps' experience may have been critical in ensuring maintenance and repairs were done CORRECTLY, but that does not mean they were done QUICKLY. The company reps can provide as much advice as they like, but if they have to talk maintainers through unfamiliar processes, it is going to take longer. Period. I'm not even quibbling about how MUCH longer. It will take some unknown variable longer. The longer a repair or maintenance procedure takes, the more time the aircraft is on the deck NMC and the less time it's airborne, which detracts from OR rating.

Now then... none of your points actually matter at all, because those were all just supporting points to reinforce my main argument, which is, AGAIN, that the F-35B OR rate on this "12-week exercise" was higher than the average OR rate of operational squadrons of F/A-18E in the first three years of Superhornet operations. The WHY of how the F/A-18E OR was so low, or the F-35B so high (or, I guess in your perspective, so low), is immaterial. My contention was simply that the F-35B OR rate is already comparable to that of other fighter aircraft, and that 65% OR is actually really quite good in comparison.

Now, let's assuming that you're right on all your quibbles, and the Wasp is already as optimized as it can possibly be, and is the perfect vessel to operate the F-35, and that all the spare parts, tools, and workshops were aboard, and that the maintenance crews had perfect familiarity with the aircraft. Even *if* that was all true, the F-35B *still* had a 65% OR rate, which was *still* higher than that of the F/A-18E in it's first three years of operations.

The only way that your argument can hold up (at least, what *seems* to be your argument: that the F/A-18E is inherently more reliable/ has a better OR than the F-35B) is if the F/A-18E, three years after IOC, had more room for improvement in OR than does the F-35B. This would implicitly mean that three year into IOC, the F/A-18E maintainers were less adept on the airframe than F-35B maintainers now, that F/A-18E parts availability on land basing and dedicated aircraft carriers was worse than that on this USS Wasp, and/or that land bases and dedicated aircraft carriers have worse maintenance and repair facilities than a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, despite the primary design goal of land basing and Nimitz-class (the locations from which the F/A-18E operates) being the operation of fixed-wing combat aircraft, while the PRIMARY design goal of the Wasp is NOT to operate strike aircraft, but rather to put ashore and support a 2,000-man Marine Expeditionary Unit, including 30 armored vehicles, two artillery batteries, 70 utility trucks, and the LCAC landing craft to get them all ashore. If nothing else, that's a lot of on-board volume on the Wasp being used for things other than supporting the embarked air wing (and the Wasp at 40,000 tons displacement already has a lot less internal volume than a Nimitz at 106,000 tons, and CERTAINLY a lot less volume than a land base!)

You still have not disproved or addressed my actual, fundamental claim: that the F-35B OR rate is already better than that of the F/A-18E three years after F/A-18E IOC, and that therefore, 65% OR for the F-35B is, in context, rather good.

That makes thrice now that you have predicated your argument purely on straw men. You have explicitly picked out select components of what I said, in the attempt to redirect attention from my ACTUAL argument, to bits of it that you think you can discredit. Even if you *do* discredit them by claiming that my sources aren't "official enough" (and by the way, requiring that I cite every source of every contributing bit of data does not actually discredit any of them, and CERTAINLY does not do so when you fail to provide any sources of your own to *show* that I'm wrong), you have provided no sources to counter my argument. Zero. None. Nothing whatsoever. So, even if you manage to completely discredit all my contributing points, we are, at best, back at a zero sum game: even if I have no credible sources, neither do you. But that's beside the point, because my original contention still stands: the F-35B OR rate cited in the OP article is comparable to, or greater than, the early OR rate of the aircraft it's set to replace.... or at least, than ONE of the aircraft it's set to replace; the F/A-18E. If you really want to compare it with the AV-8B Harrier, I guess I could look up the data on the OR rate of that one, too, but I *very* strongly doubt the results would strengthen your argument any. (actually, you know what? Here you go. Figure 29, page 82: http://www.gao.gov/assets/250/248242.pdf . Surprise, surprise, 60-70%, exactly on line with that of the F-35B)

So... what're your sources? A Bloomberg news report? Please. What are your sources that 65% is worse than 58%? Or that those are not accurate OR rates for the respective aircraft? Please, prove to me that the F/A-18E, in it's initial three years of operations, had a higher operational readiness rate than the F-35B on this exercise.

Edited by outontheop
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