The fighter was misdiagnosed. Contrary to the verdicts of false doctors, the fighter is young, strong and completely healthy.
Doesn't fly
Guided by unknown considerations about the beauty and correctness of the layout of the fighter, the venerable public has long ago pronounced the death sentence on the F-35. Vying with each other to quote the opinions of third-party sources and “Australian aviation generals,” experts forget to ask what Lockheed Martin itself has to say about this.
Official report on the F-35 project on April 23, 2015. Program status. Major events over the past months. Figures and facts.
These facts are such that they call into question any theses about the inferiority of this fighter and the insoluble problems associated with its commissioning.
So, as of April 2015, the total flight time of the F-35 fleet reached 30,000 hours. F-35 pilots had 200 pilots of the Air Force. For eight years of operation, not a single fighter was destroyed or lost. The tests of the Lightning were carried out in conditions far from the ideal range, and included such elements as flights from an aircraft carrier, refueling in the air, vertical take-off and landing on the deck of a landing ship in the daytime and in the dark.
Night refueling
A fantastically reliable car, whose history fundamentally contradicts the stereotype of a fighter, as if unable to fly at night and in bad weather.
Since the start of production, the Pentagon has received 120 F-35 fighters of three modifications, including 7 aircraft for foreign customers. The total number of F-35s produced at the end of April 2015 was 140 units, including 20 test aircraft owned by Lockheed Martin.
Calendar of events:
February 23 - Israel ordered an additional fourteen F-35s.
March 16 - The first F-35A for the Air Force of this country was rolled out at the aircraft plant in Cameri (Italy).
March 19 - a training center for F-35 pilots was opened at a / b Luke.
March 20 - The first Australian pilot received a permit to fly the F-35.
March 26 - A / B Edwards completed a test cycle for refueling the F-35A in flight.
March 29 - at the Eglin a / b completed the test cycle of the F-35B in a climatic chamber (-40 to +50 degrees C).
March 31 - Pilots of the 56th Fighter Wing (a / b Luke) performed their 1000th flight in the F-35.
April 13 - The F-35B aircraft took part in the Beaufort air show.
April 15 - two F-35C carrier-based fighters arrived at the Lemur naval aviation base in order to familiarize the flight and technical personnel of the a / b with the new fighter.
April 16 - The first F-35A (AM-1) for the Norwegian Air Force is assembled at the Fort Worth factory.
April 17 - Ten F-35s were temporarily airlifted to Nellis a / b in order to familiarize base personnel with new aircraft.
As of the end of April 2015, the volume of orders for the F-35 program was 2,243 fighters for the Air Force, Navy Aviation and the United States Marine Corps, of which only 353 (15%) will be capable of vertical take-off. Most of the fighters are delivered in the form of a severe modification of the F-35A, with an 8-ton fuel reserve, a built-in cannon and a classic airfield.
International contracts include the delivery of 697 fighters for the Royal Navy and Air Force of Great Britain, the air forces of Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Norway, Israel, Denmark, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Japan.
Exceptionally large-scale assembly, with volumes estimated in thousands of aircraft, should, according to all the canons of the economy, provide a radical reduction in the cost of production of the F-35. None of the existing fighters of the 4th and 5th generations, with comparable capabilities, will be able to compete in price with the Lightning-2. Competitors will have to resort to other ways to attract customers.
To date, a 1.5 km assembly line has been completed in Fort Worth, Texas, designed to produce 300 Lightnings per year. 1200 contractors are involved in the F-35 program, providing 129 thousand jobs in 45 US states.
The unknown about the known
At the suggestion of not very competent, and often engaged experts, everyone who has heard about the F-35 now knows that the Americans are involved in a crazy adventure. Their newest stealth fighter can barely stay in the air. With such difficulty that Internet resources are already full of colorful descriptions of how domestic fighters will beat the clumsy F-35: how "an uncle beats a child with a baton."
According to a popular Lockheed Martin video, the F-35 remains controllable at an angle of attack of 110 degrees. In other words, while performing aerobatics, the F-35 is able to fly "tail first" for some time, ready to return to normal flight at any time. The clumsy "Penguin" is one of the most maneuverable fighters in the world. can be made only by the latest modifications of the Russian "Sushki" equipped with engines with OVT.
Moment in the first minute of the video
A logical question arises: how does this clumsy-looking airplane with a low aspect ratio wing, equipped with a single engine without a controlled thrust vector, have such impressive maneuverability?
There are several explanations.
First, cravings! Crazy thrust of the Pratt & Whitney F135, exceeding in value the total thrust of both MiG-29 or F / A-18 Hornet engines.
And roughly corresponding to the thrust of both Su-27 engines.
As a result, "Lightning" confidently goes to supercritical angles of attack and moves in the air, relying on a roaring jet stream.
Testing the mighty "heart" of the F-35
Each new generation of fighters is driven by the creation of new, more efficient and high-torque engines. Progress is moving exponentially. The thrust of the Klimov RD-33 (MiG-29 engine) is 10 times higher than that of the German jet Messerschmitt of the war years. The new "Pratt-Whitney" toy "burns" even more, developing unattainable values for aircraft of past generations (13 tons without afterburner!). The "second stage" engine for the PAK FA promises to renew this record. What the thrust of the sixth generation fighters will be is scary to imagine.
We return to the F-35. The placement of weapons in internal bomb bays contributes to the provision of outstanding maneuverability. The absence of bulky pylons improves the aerodynamic appearance of the fighter, reduces its drag and increases the lifting force of the bearing surfaces. In addition, placing bombs and missiles along the longitudinal axis, near the aircraft's center of gravity, reduces the moment of inertia and increases the roll rate. At transonic speed, "Lightning" is able to spin the "barrel" in a second, leaving from under the blow of the enemy sitting on its tail.
By the way, the F-35's low aspect ratio wing also contributes to this.
The capacity of the internal weapons bays: four air-launched missile systems or two bombs with a caliber of up to 900 kg. Sufficient for most tasks in modern combat.
There is also a built-in sighting and navigation system for work “on the ground” (instead of a suspended container on 4th generation fighters). And 8 tons of fuel in internal tanks. Lightning does not need a PTB.
Placement of weapons and outboard fuel tanks on the French Rafal. In real combat conditions, fighters look slightly different from those used by aerobatic teams at air shows.
The creators of this bird had full knowledge of aerodynamics. You can read more about this in the most interesting articles by P. V. Bulata, Ph. D., a specialist in the field of aerodynamics. In short, the essence is this: on the 4th generation fighters, the whole range of aerodynamic improvements has been applied, which make it possible to improve the aerodynamic quality in a wide range of Mach numbers and angles of attack (significant influxes, forward horizontal tail, ledges on the leading edge of the wing, etc.). Compared to the Sushki or Rafals, the new American fighters look unusual: a trapezoidal low aspect ratio wing coupled with a stealth fuselage. However, their vortex dynamics are similar to fighters of the previous generation.
How?
Engineers of "Lockheed" make the most of the achievements of modern gas dynamics, allowing them to squeeze the maximum out where, it seemed, nothing could be done. The F-35 profile is calculated down to micron. Pay attention to the rib on the side of the flattened fuselage, which is responsible for the formation of vortex bundles. Vortex bundles from the upper edge of the air intake and the ribs of the bow section flow around the vertical keels on both sides, and the vortices from the influxes flow around the wing and horizontal tail. With the development of separation phenomena, the vortex rope turns into a vortex sheet, which prevents the development of the separation flow region and thereby preserves the effectiveness of the vertical tail at large angles of attack. A similar scheme is used on the domestic PAK FA.
The F-35 has many secrets that are overlooked by those who are used to telling tales about the poor aerodynamics of the stealth.
For example, he has a very light and small nose. A consequence of the presence of a radar with an AFAR, which, other things being equal, has a smaller mass and dimensions than a radar with a passive phased antenna. This will make it easier to turn the fighter around its lateral axis of inertia (pitch / dive entry speed). Just like the MiG-17 in its time, which accounted for most of the defeated Phantoms in Vietnam. Without any radar, he could turn up his nose with incredible speed to fire a killer burst from the cannon.
For comparison - the long heavy "beak" of the Su-27
Finally, like any modern fighter, the F-35 has an integral layout, where a significant part of the lift is generated by the fuselage itself. The limitation of its design for overloading is standard 9g - as in the domestic MiGs and Sushki. Restrictions (7g) have only a "vertical", issued in a scanty circulation. However, these are the problems of naval pilots, and the Air Force always flies on normal aircraft.
Epilogue
In terms of aerodynamics and flight characteristics (where the F-35 is fond of overshadowing), it has no flaws. Lightning will not be a melee gift for any of its many competitors. On the contrary, in a real combat situation, with several tons of combat load on board, the F-35 threatens to gain superiority over any existing fighter. In the end, the skill of the pilot will decide everything.
