MICHAEL GILMORE BEFORE THE HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE TACTICAL AIR AND LAND FORCES SUBCOMMITTEE
MARCH 23, 2016
http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS25/20160323/104712/HHRG-114-AS25-Wstate-GilmoreM-20160323.pdf
"Despite ongoing severe problems with avionics stability, sensor fusion, and other issues, the program terminated Block 3i developmental flight testing in October 2015, and released Block 3i software to the fielded units. This decision was made, despite the unresolved Block 3i deficiencies, in an attempt to meet the unrealistic current official schedule..."
"In February 2016, when the latest version of Block 3F software – version 3FR5 – was delivered to flight test, it was so unstable that productive flight testing could not be accomplished."
"A recent example is an attempted four-ship Electronic Warfare “Super Scenario” mission with Block 3F software that resulted in only two aircraft arriving at the range because the other two aircraft ground aborted due to avionics stability problems during startup. Also, when the aircraft operated in a dense and realistic electromagnetic environment, the current avionics problems caused poor detection and fusion performance, which is exacerbated in multi-ship F-35 formations."
"Cybersecurity testing on the next increment of ALIS – version 2.0.2 – is planned for this fall, but may need to be delayed because the program may not be able to resolve some key deficiencies..."
"A significant amount of weapons integration developmental testing remains in order to integrate and qualify for operational use of the full suite of Block 3F weapons, including the gun. Since my annual report, nothing has changed my estimate that the program must complete weapons employment test events at a pace three times faster than it has previously been able to do."
"One of numerous penalties associated with highly-concurrent F-35 development and production is that all the early operational aircraft now need many significant, time-consuming, and costly modifications."
"...IOT&E could be delayed well into 2019, with the combat capability of the F-35 remaining deficient."
"Block 2B deficiencies in fusion, Electronic Warfare, and weapons employment result in ambiguous threat displays, limited ability to respond to threats, and a requirement for off-board sources to provide accurate coordinates for precision attack."
"The program deferred deficiencies and weapons delivery accuracy test events from Block 2B to Block 3i and Block 3F..."
"The Air Force also conducted deployment demonstrations.....with six F-35A aircraft to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, in February 2016.....The Air Force attempted two alert launch procedures during the Mountain Home deployment, where multiple F-35A aircraft were preflighted and prepared for a rapid launch, but all failed to accomplish the alert launch successfully due to start-up problems requiring system or aircraft shut-downs and restarts."
"Many pilots consider the Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS) on the F-35 to be inferior to those currently on legacy systems"
"...training missions have shown that the Block 2B aircraft will need to make substantial use of voice communications to receive target information and clearance to conduct an attack. This is because of the combined effects of digital communications deficiencies, lack of infrared pointer capability, limited ability to detect infrared pointer indications....and inability to confirm coordinates loaded to GPS-aided weapons"
"The F-35 fuel burn rate is very high compared to legacy strike fighters, at least 60 percent higher than the F-16C, and 180 percent higher than the A-10."
"As of the end of January 2016, the program had 931 open, documented deficiencies, 158 of which were Category 1"
"Major findings are continuing in the durability test articles, particularly in the titanium bulkhead in the F-35C test article."
"Currently, only the F-35A structural test article can be tested; it is about to begin the third lifetime test phase, or the third series of 8,000 equivalent flight hours of testing. The F-35B test article is still down for repairs needed to complete the second lifetime. The F-35C test article restarted testing in mid-February but stopped three days later when strain gauges indicated cracking in a titanium bulkhead; it has not yet restarted."
"The Marine Corps and Air Force needed several days to successfully establish a new network in an austere expeditionary environment or to integrate ALIS into an existing network..."
"Although measurements of aircraft reliability, maintainability, and availability have shown some improvement over the last two years, sustainment relies heavily on contractor support, intense supply support to arrange the flow of spare parts, and workarounds by maintenance and operational personnel that will not be acceptable in combat."
"Many components have demonstrated reliability much lower than predicted by the contractor, such as fiber channel switches, main and nose-wheel landing gear tires, the display management computer for the helmet, and signal processors."
"The Marine Corps conducted an assessment of F-35B austere site deployed operations at Twentynine Palms, California, from December 8 – 16, 2015, ..... intended to fly four aircraft a day from an expeditionary landing field made of aluminum matting and with minimal permanent infrastructure, representing the type of temporary airfield that can be quickly built near the forward line of troops......Propulsion system maintenance was particularly burdensome. Two F-35B aircraft received foreign object damage to their engine fan stages, a result from operating in rugged conditions with jet wash likely blowing small rocks into aircraft intakes."
"The Air Force sent a detachment of six F-35A operational test aircraft from Edwards AFB to Mountain Home AFB from February 8 to March 2, 2016, to simulate a combat deployment.....after a released bomb hit the weapons bay door and then impacted and gouged the horizontal stabilizer"
///
On syytä huomioida, että tämä on julkinen dokumentti ja sitä myöten siitä voidaan jättää tietoja pois, jotka vaikuttavat kansalliseen turvallisuuteen. Todennäköisesti näitä on mm. tutkan suorituskyky ja häiveen toimivuus.
