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USA: Our F-35 will easily repel Russian fighters

The US Air Force began to update the F-35 fighter database, introducing new threats in them. With the update, pilots will be able to accurately determine enemy vehicles in different regions of the world. Representatives of the Air Force Command reported that among these aircraft are the Chinese stealth fighter J-20 and the Russian multipurpose aircraft of the fifth generation T-50 PAK FA (Su-57).

Packets of flight data files are loaded with a large amount of information, among which there are data on commercial aircraft, Russian and Chinese fighter jets. For example, the flight data system will allow the pilot to accurately identify the Russian MiG-29, detected by F-35 detection devices.

The flight data files are called the brain of the aircraft. These airborne systems introduce information about airspace, geographical conditions and potential threats, where F-35 can take part in hostilities.

They work in conjunction with the on-board radar warning receiver, which identifies and recognizes approaching missiles and enemy aircraft. At F-35, long-range radar sensors are used, which, comparing information with the available data in the database, will quickly determine the approach of the enemy threat. The idea is that it will all happen instantly - F-35 will have time to identify and destroy the approaching targets even before it is in the zone of their fire reach.

The Air Force is already developing the fourth flight data file update package, which is projected to be ready for 2020 or 2021. After the installation of the first package, the changes will be introduced gradually over a two-year period in order to be ready for new threats.

Block IV will include data on the unique weapons systems of partners, including the British systems, Turkish and some European weapons that their aircraft will be equipped with.

Also, "Block IV" will increase the reach zone of weapons designed for an American-made fighter. The plans of the works make it so that "Block IV" can withstand the enemy systems of weapons and air defense, with which US aviation can collide in the period from 2020 to 2040.

Concerning weapons, Block IV will eventually allow the F-35 fighter to strike it with the most modern varieties, including the controlled GBU-54 air bomb and the SDB II small-caliber bomb. Both these bombs are designed to defeat the enemy's moving targets.

Based on materials from The National Interest, USA

"The result of the test: in the US there is no fifth-generation combat fighter.All the F-35s built for combat are not suitable: testing three samples of the main American fighter has revealed critical problems"



"... Strange as it may seem, even a scandal with the results of the audit of the program by the US Congress Commission did not stop it, from which it follows that in all the cars released there were over 1700 various important deficiencies, 900 of which are critical. errors in the code and logic surfaced in the software, a number of engine fires took place, and design flaws were revealed, for example, in the version with vertical take-off, engine exhaust led to accelerated wear of the chassis tires.

But all this seemed to be mere growth diseases, generally eliminated with time. That all changed in the first week of June 2018 after conducting the strength tests of three machines from the last batch of F-35A at ​​the National Institute for Aeronautical Research in Wichita. According to the technical task, the airframe of all models should have a guaranteed service life in 8000 flight hours, and generally more. It was supposed to simulate the flight load on the airframe corresponding to three motor resources, that is, the 24000 flight hours. 

Tests have shown that the design of the planet does not withstand even the mandatory warranty period. A number of reports mention the identification of critical fatigue strains after the first third of the time. Moreover, the measures taken by the developers to physically strengthen the elements of success do not.

Simply put, this means that absolutely all of the more than 240 F-35 of all types released at the moment are suitable only for unhurried flight by the parade during some holiday. Sharp maneuvering is dangerous for them, and combat regimes and loads are directly contraindicated. 

Typically, such tests are carried out well before the start, not that serial production, but even preparation for it. For example, the test of PAK FA identified similar problems and led to a complete redesign of the central part of the fuselage. But this was done long before all other tests, especially, before the start of mass production.

Americans went the other way. They first "drew" the car on a computer, then assembled at a stand and then found out that the result does not go through mass-size characteristics. The glider was too heavy and it should be urgently eased. For example, in models A and C "removed" 546 kilogram of "metal" from load-bearing structures, and the design of model B had to "facilitate" in general for 1161 kilograms. Then Lockheed Martin was very pleased with the constructive solutions found. Now the attitude has changed, but time has passed.

As the manufacturer intends to solve the problem, it is still unclear. But it will be interesting to see. However, the budgetary management of the Pentagon has already prepared a request for 240 million dollars "for urgent R & D." What can I say, F-35 Lightning II, for the manufacturer is a very good aircraft. Because it is profitable.

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