F-35 Lightning II
F-35 Lightning II
F-35 Lightning II
Lightning II
The World’s Most Advanced Strike Fighter
Lethal Arsenal
Arming the F-35
Ultimate Detection
APG-81 AESA Radar
Powering the F-35
F135 Engine and Liftsystem
Supreme Sensors
AAQ-37 DAS and AAQ-40 EOTS
M uch has been written in the media and ‘blogged’ on websites about Mark Ayton spoke with Jon Beesley, Lockheed Martin’s Chief Test Pilot, before his retirement.
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 II Joint Strike Fighter. And much of that 10 Powering the F-35 Lightning II
coverage has been highly critical, even controversial; focussing on Chris Kjelgaard reports on the Pratt & Whitney F135, the most powerful production jet
programme delays and budget overspends. engine ever made and the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem, which enables the F-35B to perform its
unique STOVL-to-supersonic mission.
Highly important as those aspects are, coverage of that nature overlooks one
point – the aircraft itself. 18 Cockpit and Electronic Warfare Systems
Davis Isby describes the ASQ-239 Electronic Warfare system and Mark Ayton explains the
AIR International has been on the road, visiting production and flight test
cockpit and helmet-mounted display.
facilities around the world to compile this 48-page supplement.
Its intention is to explain how the aircraft and its major systems work, and how 20 Ultimate Detection
Northrop Grumman produces the APG-81 AESA radar for the F-35. Mark Ayton describes
the F-35 handles in flight based on accounts from the test pilots who fly it.
the system.
The F-35 is undoubtedly unlike any fighter aircraft built to date, and is bristling
with complex and revolutionary systems.
24 Targeting Revolution
Mark Ayton details the F-35’s revolutionary AAQ-40 Electro-Optical Targeting System.
In April 2010, the flight test programme under way at three test sites appears
to be gathering pace with a significant increase in the total number of flights
28 When All Else Fails
UK company Martin-Baker produces the US16E ejection seat for the F-35. Mark Ayton
scheduled and more systems under test. finds out more about this life-saving system.
Certainly the aircraft still has hurdles to overcome, but once clear of those, the
30 Spherical View
F-35 Lightning II looks set to become the world’s most advanced strike fighter. The F-35 has extraordinary detection capability provided in part by the Northrop Grumman
AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System. Mark Ayton describes how the system works.
32 Complex and Robust
Mark Ayton Mark Ayton explores the highly complex landing gear systems used on the F-35.
EDITOR 36 Lethal Arsenal
Nigel Pittaway outlines the arsenal of weapons set to arm the F-35 Lightning II.
40 Blue Sky Ops
Mark Ayton spoke with Peter Wilson, a former Royal Navy Sea Harrier pilot and now STOVL
Editor: Mark Ayton
Designer: Dave Robinson lead test pilot at NAS Patuxent River.
Sub Editors: Sue Blunt, James Forsyth Published by Key Publishing Ltd, 44 Made in the UK
Advertising Manager: Ian Maxwell PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire, David Willis reports on the enormous amount of work under way on the F-35 by BAE
Production Manager: Janet Watkins PE9 1XQ, UK
Commercial Director: Ann Saundry Telephone: +44 (0)1780 755131 Systems at Samlesbury in Lancashire.
LOCKHEED MARTIN
I
n November 1994 the United States merged the Joint Advanced Strike Technology 2001, Lockheed Martin was selected to enter the system development and demonstration
and Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter programmes to create the JSF (SDD) phase, and the designations F-35A, F-35B and F-35C were allocated to production
programme. Low observable technology, powerful sensors, net-centric capabilities, CTOL, STOVL and CV variants respectively. In addition to the baseline versions, an electronic
internal weapons carriage, a high-thrust engine and manoeuvrability would enable the attack variant of the F-35C – the ‘EF-35B’ – is required (but currently unfunded) by the
resultant aircraft to undertake both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions with a high Marines. In mid-2006 unmanned and optionally manned versions were proposed by
degree of survivability. Equally important was affordability, allowing the US military Lockheed Martin.
to replace its existing inventory on a one-for-one basis. To fund development, the US Department of Defense offered foreign nations involvement
A conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) version would replace most of the US Air in the programme at different levels, depending on their financial contributions. Those at
Force’s inventory of fighter-bombers, while a carrier variant (CV) would supplant the US Level 1, funding 10% of the costs, and Level 2 (around 5%), could directly receive contracts
Navy’s F/A-18 Hornets at sea. The US Marine Corps would replace its AV-8B Harrier IIs with related to the F-35, while Level 3 (1 to 2%) could look forward to contracts from Level 1/2
a short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the JSF. Currently the US Air Force nations. Security Co-operation Participants (SCP) are entitled to data on the programme
plans to acquire 1,763 examples, and the US Navy and Marine Corps 760, while exports are in exchange for approximately $50 million. The only Level 1 nation is the UK, with Italy and
likely to raise production to more than 3,100 by 2035. the Netherlands at Level 2, and Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Turkey at Level 3.
Industrial interest in JSF was high from the start given the numbers involved and Israel and Singapore joined as SCP nations.
most of the major players submitted proposals for a four-year weapons system concept
demonstration (WSCD) phase, requests for which were released in December 1995. WSCD Flight Testing
sought two competing teams to build two demonstrators and later modify one into the third SDD was due to involve 15 (later reduced to 13) instrumented test aircraft and seven
variant to prove the commonality between the CTOL, STOVL and CV variants. In November ground test airframes, two of each variant plus another for radar signature evaluation.
1996 Boeing was informed it would produce two X-32s, and Lockheed Martin two X-35s. In addition the co-operative avionics testbed (CAT-bird), a modified Boeing 737-300,
Subsequently Northrop Grumman and British Aerospace joined Lockheed Martin’s team. would test the F-35’s mission systems. Flight trials are undertaken by Lockheed
Martin at Fort Worth, and by industry and service teams at Edwards AFB, California,
Demonstrators and NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.
The X-35A CTOL demonstrator (Article 301) first flew from Palmdale, California, on AA-1, the first F-35A rolled off the production line at Fort Worth, Texas, on February
October 24, 2000, and was tested at Edwards AFB, California, until November 22, when 19, 2006, and was formally unveiled on July 7 at a ceremony during which the
it returned to Palmdale for installation of a lift fan during its conversion to become the aircraft was named the Lightning II. It completed its maiden flight on December
X-35B STOVL demonstrator. It commenced hover pit trials in February 2001 and made 15, 2006. Weight reduction measures and other redesigns made AA-1 non-
its first vertical take-off and landing on June 23, 2001. The X-35C (Article 300) was representative of the planned production standard, but were incorporated into the
the CV demonstrator and first flew on December 16, 2000. others produced for SDD.
After the US Department of Defense evaluated both the X-32 and X-35, on October 26, The second to fly was the first F-35B (BF-01) on June 11, 2008, followed by BF-02 on
ightning II
capability, while Block 3 will be the initial operating capability (IOC) standard.
F-35A AA-1 took off on its initial test flight from Fort Worth, Texas at 12:44 local time on December 15, 2006 piloted by Jon Beesley. The aircraft was airborne for 35 minutes on its maiden flight during
which it climbed to 15,000 feet allowing Beesley to perform a series of manoeuvres to test aircraft handling and the operation of the Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan and subsystems.
L
ockheed Martin began initial flight testing of the F-35 in 2006 with aircraft AA-1, (1,360kg) and the changes that were made had beneficial effects to the aircraft in the
the first F-35A CTOL variant. The primary role of AA-1 was to prove the feasibility conventional and STOVL modes of flight.
of major new systems integrated on the F-35 as part of a risk reduction effort. “We done a lot of ground testing in the STOVL mode with the lift fan engaged and spent
Systems include the electro-hydro static actuator (see Electric Muscle), the electrical several months on the instrumented hover pit to measure force and moments,” said Beesley.
system and the integrated power pack: “All of which have new and unique things that no “We found that the force from the aeroplane was a bit better than we had thought, so
one has done before, so we had to reduce the risk on all of them,” said Beesley. a nice surprise. We also looked at the mechanical issues associated with controlling the
Other systems flown on AA-1 as part of the risk reduction effort included the engine aircraft in the STOVL mode. Making the aeroplane transform from conventional flight mode
control system, the panoramic glass cockpit and the helmet mounted display. Speaking into STOVL mode is really incredible and requires a lot of complex mechanization.
about the flight testing, Jon Beesley told AIR International: “We undertook aero strut
testing, flew supersonic, opened the weapons bay doors during flight and flew the Electric Muscle
aircraft with a full internal combat weapons load, all of which were undertaken to discover One revolutionary system on the F-35 is the electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA), which are
problems and reduce the risk to the programme.” used to power the flight controls. Jon Beesley is enthusiastic about the use of the EHA:
AA-1 also completed a series of cable engagements to verify the design of the tail hook “The F-16, Typhoon, even Raptor all have ‘electric brains’ and ‘hydraulic muscle’, but the F-35
before its retirement after 90 flights. has electric muscle. Nobody has really done that before. We flew AA-1 and learned how to
F-35s currently being used in the flight test programme for the system development improve on the original design that was incorporated into the other aeroplanes.”
and demonstration (SDD) phase were modified or built to a revised gross weight But the electric nature of the F-35 also includes the integrated power pack (IPP), a new
configuration. This design change followed the SWAT (STOVL Weight Attack Team) weight type of system that removes the need to have an APU (auxiliary power unit, a turbine) as
optimization effort launched by Lockheed Martin in February 2004. typically used by a legacy aircraft, to start the engine(s). Similarly the environmental control,
This effort sought to reduce the gross weight of the original F-35B design by 3,000lb pressurization and air conditioning systems on legacy jets are also powered by another
turbine run on bleed air, and in the case of single engine aircraft like the F-16 a third turbine the F-35B with the doors open provided data that allowed the engineers to study the
run on hydrazine is used as an emergency power unit. “On the F-35 we have the IPP and use changes and in the way the computer controls the aeroplane. This analysis led to a better
it to start the aeroplane (like an APU) and switch it over to the environmental control system understanding of the aerodynamic effect with the doors in the open position that allowed
and then we can run it either off the engine and use bleed air as an air emergency tighter flight control to be achieved.
generation system, or we start it in the air in the fuel mode and run it that way. The flights were all undertaken without the lift fan engaged; “Which is clearly
Nobody has done that before, and quite honestly those three systems [APU, the worst situation, with the upper lift fan door up, you get a tremendous
environmental control and emergency power] were the biggest problem in amount of effect, which only turns beneficial when you start to flow a lot
the first two or three years of flying the Raptor,” said Beesley. of air through the fan. Before that, the air has no place to go and tends
to degrade aerodynamic performance,” said Beesley.
STOVL Trials
BF-01 first flew its airworthiness flights in June 2008 a process that Pit Testing
continued for longer than planned while modifications took place In late March 2009, Lockheed Martin commenced hover pit
ahead of the hover pit testing in October. testing using a purpose built facility at its Fort Worth plant. Jon
Using flight test aides fitted on the aeroplane, Beesley and his test Beesley explained: “It is a graded pit so there are no ground effects
pilot colleagues were able to open the doors in various sequences primarily for and the air exits at another place, so it is really a free airborne test.
structural reasons to determine the loads induced upon the doors in flight. As a result “We chained the aircraft down on the load measurement system [a large equivalent of
Beesley and his team found the aerodynamic effect was worse than originally thought. bathroom scales] and ran the aircraft all the way to full power with the thrust pointed at
Lockheed Martin engineers adjusted the flight control laws applied to the aircraft to various angles to simulate all of the various facets of flying. The obvious ones are vertical
accommodate the aerodynamic differences encountered during the early flights. Flying lift, but we also simulated short take-off and short landing profiles.
should to achieve the best take-off. As part of the SWAT effort, the landing gear was canted or eight small diameter bombs) inside.
forward by 5 inches (125mm), which “makes a world of difference,” said Beesley. Most of the test flights are flown at 30,000-32,000ft (9,144-9,753m) but the aircraft
The F-35C CV variant has a bigger wing so the main handling difference is felt during has a 50,000ft (15,240m) ceiling and will be optimized for the block 20,000-40,000ft
take-off and landings, which are 15-20 knots (28-37km/h) slower because of its heavier (6,096-12,192m).
weight, bigger stabilators and greater down force. Other differences are associated with,
and specific to carrier operations. Challenge for the Fifth Generation
But the design goals of all three variants remain the same: “We want an aeroplane that a There are people who maintain that the F-35 is an unnecessary weapon system. When
pilot could [in theory] go from flying a CTOL in the morning to a STOVL in the afternoon and the the author discussed this with Jon Beesley he shared his own view: “Lockheed Martin
CV in the evening and would be comfortable in all three because of similarity,” said Beesley. was asked to build a combat aircraft to address a very real need. Sometimes people
“We have gone to great lengths to make the aeroplane easy to perform STOVL conjecture, typically without much knowledge, that threats will evolve to negate the
I
n the convoluted development history of the F-35 Lightning II, no issues have drawn inlet diameter (46 inches/1,168mm), larger
more public attention than those involving the aircraft’s propulsion systems. These fan diameter (50 inches/1,270mm) and larger
have been among the most contentious aspects of the F-35’s development, from the overall engine diameter (51 inches/1,295mm)
long political battle over whether it is to have one engine type or two, to the threat of than does the F119, so it can achieve a higher airflow.
programme cancellation hanging over the STOVL F-35B. Like the F119, the F135 has a three-stage fan (in military-
But whatever political challenges the F-35 faces, the technological advances achieved by engine parlance, the fan is the entire low-pressure compressor
Pratt & Whitney in developing the F135 – the engine of record for the F-35 Lightning II – and assembly). Each fan stage comprises a one-piece integrally bladed
by Rolls-Royce in developing the STOVL F-35B’s extraordinary LiftSystem have been immense. rotor (or ‘blisk’, short for bladed disc) featuring a solid titanium hub with
titanium blades welded on to it. The first fan stage has hollow titanium blades
The Pratt & Whitney F135 and each of the subsequent two stages has solid titanium blades. Aft of the third fan
Chosen on October 26, 2001, by the US Department of Defense (DoD) for a $4 billion stage the accelerated airflow is split, 57% of it going through the fan duct as bypass air and
system development and demonstration (SDD) contract which decided the Pratt & the remaining 48% entering the core to be compressed, mixed with fuel, ignited and then
Whitney F135 would be used for all F-35 development flight-testing, the F135 is a exhausted as hot gas to turn the turbine stages and produce up to 28,000lb (124.55kn) of
bigger-diameter, higher-airflow derivative of the company’s F119 engine powering the dry thrust before afterburner.
F-22 Raptor. The F135 was chosen for the SDD contract because both Lockheed Martin The F135 has a six-stage high-pressure compressor (HPC) and again each stage is
and Boeing had selected it (in the form of augmented F119s) to power their respective comprises a blisk. Some of the initial HPC stages are made from titanium but because
X-35 and X-32 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) demonstrators, Lockheed Martin winning the the airflow becomes hotter as it passes through each stage of compression, one or more
JSF contract with its X-35. The Pentagon also found attractive the fact that the F135 later HPC stages are made from nickel-based alloy to be able to withstand the high air
shared a high degree of commonality with the F119, two of which power each F-22 temperature. In conventional F-35 flight, air exiting the HPC into the combustor is at 28
Raptor. times the pressure it was when entering the fan and it is at 29 times the pressure when the
The F135 and F119 are both axial-flow engines (air goes through the core of the engine F-35B is in hover mode.
in a straight line) and they share a “highly common core”, according to Ed O’Donnell, The engine’s single annular combustor features removable liners and a series of fuel
Business Development Director for Pratt & Whitney’s F135 and F119 programmes. From nozzles, all housed within a diffuser case. O’Donnell says the F135 combustor is “highly
front to back, these two-spool engines are “largely common through the compression similar” to that in the F119, but features “some improvements to accommodate the
system,” says O’Donnell – noting, however, that the commonality is mainly in the firm appropriate temperature requirements” of the higher-power F135. Overall, the cores of the
of shared engine architecture rather than common part numbers. Part numbers for the two engines – the region from HPC to combustor to HPT – are essentially the same size
F135 have been designated differently to those for similar parts in the F119 because the and since the F135 has to produce more dry power at full thrust than the F119 it is likely to
US services want to be able to allocate specific part numbers to specific programmes for run hotter than the F119.
inventory-management reasons. While both the F119 and the F135 feature a single-stage high-pressure turbine (HPT),
Despite their similarities, there are some crucial differences between the F135 and the F135 has a two-stage low-pressure turbine (LPT) where the F119 has a single-stage
the F119. One is that the F135 needs to be able to generate up to 43,000lb (191.27kN) LPT. This is because, in the F-35B STOVL aircraft, the low-pressure spool to which the LPT
of thrust ‘wet’ (with afterburner) for the single-engine F-35, whereas the F119 provides a is attached has to drive not only the fan stages but also the driveshaft powering the Rolls-
P
POWERING
OWERING
lesser 35,000lb (155.7kN) of thrust with full afterburner. As a result the F135 has a larger Royce LiftFan located behind the cockpit and ahead of the engine.
the Lightning II
10 LOCKHEED MARTIN F-35 LIGHTNING II
Raw power of the P&W F135-PW-100 engine
seen on F-35A AF-02 during an afterburner test. LOCKHEED MARTIN
TOP: An F135-PW-100 engine undergoing a test run with full afterburner or augmented power
generating up to 43,000lb of thrust. PRATT & WHITNEY
OPPOSITE: This shot shows an F-35B STOVL F135-PW-600 engine undergoing a test run with full
afterburner or augmented power. PRATT & WHITNEY
BELOW & LEFT: Cutaway diagrams of the F135 engine. The diagram on the left also shows the LiftFan,
gearbox, driveshaft, roll posts and roll ducts components of the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem. PRATT & WHITNEY
ABOVE AND LEFT: Major components of the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem from left to right: the LiftFan,
gearbox, driveshaft, roll posts and roll ducts, and the three-bearing swivel module. ROLLS-ROYCE
TOP LEFT: An F135-PW-100 engine undergoing a test run with augmented power. PRATT & WHITNEY
TOP RIGHT: F-35B BF-01 in the hover at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. LOCKHEED MARTIN
(AAI) doors in the upper surface of the fuselage behind the big inlet door for the LiftFan. These
AAIs provide additional inlet air for the F135 engine, not the LiftFan.
Complexities
The complexity of the F-35B’s propulsion system and the performance requirements demanded
of the aircraft by the Pentagon has created issues that have become evident in flight-testing.
These are among the issues which have delayed the F-35B, led it to running well over-budget
and persuaded US Defense Secretary Gates to put the F-35B into a two-year probationary period.
However, the three main issues affecting the LiftSystem are all well understood; and long-term
fixes – none involving massive technological challenges – are in development.
Two issues involve parts getting too hot. LiftFan clutch plates have been found to
rub together occasionally while the F-35B is in conventional flight and plates have been
overheating. The plates are cooled by a fan forcing air over them in hover mode but not during
conventional flight. The fix is to install a passive air-cooling circuit in the clutch for cooling
during conventional flight and also to install a sensor to alert the pilot to climb up to 10,000ft
complex part” whose shape changes from a circular shape at one end – where it connects (3,048m) if the clutch plates get too hot.
to the engine – into a toroidal (a surface generated by rotating a closed plane curve about a Roll-post actuators have also been burning out faster than anticipated, because of
coplanar line that does not intersect the curve) shape at the other end, where it attaches to overheating through leakage of hot bypass air as roll-post nozzle seals age. Again, sensors
the roll post. Each titanium roll-post duct is superplastically formed, diffusion-bonded and have been installed and in the short term the actuators have been insulated. Jones says
laser-welded. a permanent fix, redesign of the actuators to withstand hotter temperatures, uses proven
According to Jones, the roll posts themselves are variable-area nozzles which are situated technology and is well under way. Insulation of the actuators will not form part of the
in the lower part of each inner wing section and act to provide roll control for the F-35B while permanent fix.
it is in hover mode. In order to do this, the roll-post ducts direct bypass air from the engine to The third LiftSystem issue is that build
the roll posts, which drive the air out through the bottom of each wing. In the F-35B, 3,700lb tolerances and engine thermal and pressure
(16.46kN) of thrust in the form of bypass air is directed out to the two roll posts while growth have caused the driveshaft for the
hovering. LiftFan to expand and contract to a greater
Each roll-post assembly features a pair of flap-type doors in the bottom of the wing, degree longitudinally during operation
controlled by the FADEC. Jones says these titanium doors are controlled by rotary actuators than Lockheed Martin’s original design
which allow fully variable opening, providing a degree of thrust variability and directionality so requirement intended. In development
that the pilot can control roll while hovering. He says Lockheed Martin’s original X-35 concept aircraft, clasp spacers are being used
demonstrator featured doors between the engine casing and the roll-post ducts which could between the driveshaft and the engine’s
be closed when the aircraft was not hovering, but in production aircraft there are no such low-pressure spool to accommodate the
doors and bypass airflow is constantly sent to the ducts. The only way to control roll-post extra expansion, but in production aircraft
thrust is via the flap-doors in the bottom of the wing. a bellows-type coupling will be affixed
The demand for very high power during hover requires that the engine receive a high between the driveshaft and the
amount of airflow, so Lockheed Martin designed the F-35B with a pair of auxiliary air inlet engine fan hub.
L
ike other systems on the F-35, the APG-81 AESA (active electronically scanned assemblies for the antenna and 15 for the receiver-exciter, wideband and narrowband
array) radar is housed in a minimal amount of space, with its transmit-receive waveform generators.
(T/R) module array packed into the aircraft’s radome. Despite the constraints, Built by Northrop Grumman, the RF support electronics comprise a receiver module,
Northrop Grumman’s latest product line is bristling with capability and performance. an exciter module and power supplies. Each module is shipped to Lockheed Martin’s Fort
Worth facility, where it is integrated into the aircraft.
System Components “The front end of the radar comprises what we call the array, which has the T/R modules
Complex in design, the APG-81 radar has a variety of main components including and the radiating element, and is bolted directly to the integrated forebody and positioned
the T/R modules, the beam steering computer, array driver, power supplies, inertial up front in the radome,” said Dave Bouchard, Program Director for the APG-81.
navigation systems, and an electronic warfare interface unit. There are about ten The size of the APG-81 antenna or array is governed by the internal size of the radome
and comprises many of hundreds of T/R modules.
Once installed into the aircraft, in theory, the radar’s front end should not have to be
removed or replaced. “The array is designed to last the 30-year life of the platform, with a
meantime between critical failure (MTBCF) rate greater than 10,000 hours,” Dave Bouchard
asserted.
Items that drive the antenna, such as the power supply, are on the other side of the
bulkhead (to the array) and their MTBCF rate is not as high. These components will
eventually require maintenance and are easy to access without removing the radome.
Receiver-exciters are usually packed into one box but because of space restriction they
are broken into two different boxes located behind the bulkhead and linked to the antenna
with a very short cable.
Functionality
The APG-81 has an electronically steered array controlled by a steering computer with
no mechanical motion. Designed as a multi-mode system, the APG-81 has 32 modes
of operation which are common to all three F-35 variants; 12 air-to-air, 12 air-to-ground
(including two maritime modes ship target track and sea search), four electronic
warfare (electronic attack and electronic protection), two navigation, and two weather.
Some of the modes are high resolution and are supported by the sophisticated signal
processing available.
Although Northrop Grumman would not confirm as such, the APG-81 can operate in LPI
(low probability of intercept) and LPD (low probability of detection) modes that are used to
minimize the aircraft’s signature to comply with its low observable (LO) requirements. The
radar is optimised for agility, very low noise and high efficiency and fully supports the LO
TOP LEFT: Different view of the APG-81’s array fitted to Northrop Grumman’s BAC 1-11 test bed. LOCKHEED MARTIN
TOP RIGHT: The APG-81’s array fitted to the fore body of F-35A CTOL AF-04 in a flight test shed at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility. LOCKHEED MARTIN
ABOVE: The aft end of the faceted window assembly showing three of the seven sapphire panels. LOCKHEED MARTIN
OPPOSITE: The EOTS faceted window assembly is clearly seen under the forward fuselage of F-35A 07-0744. SCOTT FISCHER
that they are pointing at the same spot. Having a single aperture means the FLIR and Programme
the laser all go through the same optical path. Development of the EOTS sensor was completed at the end of September 2010 as part of the
“All of the sensors on the aircraft need to be boresighted to a spot in space so that when F-35 system development and demonstration phase. Much of the EOTS flight testing was
the pilot looks at the radar display he or she is looking at the same spot on the ground as completed on Sabreliner 60 N11LX leased by Lockheed Martin and flown from Goodyear,
the EO system whether it happens to be the DAS or EOTS,” said Don Bolling. Arizona. Operated with a crew comprising pilot and co-pilot, and in the back end a sensor
“We are working on improvements that would ideally place a larger aperture system operator and a flight test director, the aircraft first flew with the sensor installed in May 2007.
[a larger aperture behind the window] into the aeroplane for greater detection range In late May 2010, the EOTS undertook ground taxi tests followed by flight testing on
whether that for the IRST functionality or for air-to-ground weapons employment,” he said Lockheed Martin’s Boeing 737 CatBird test bed. Fitted with the DAS, the APG-81 radar, the
adding: “we have to remain within the volume of the window because that has signature ESM (electronic support measures) suite, the CNI suite, an F-35 cockpit and engineer test
implications but we have looked at getting larger apertures behind that window to increase stations in the back, CatBird can test all sensor fusion and is set-up to exactly replicate
our effective range.” what the pilot will see in the F-35. To provide transparency to the pilot sitting in the
test cockpit onboard the CatBird during flight, the EOTS is installed behind a window in
IR Search and Track exactly the same way as on the F-35.
On stealth platforms like the F-35 the aircraft’s signature must be carefully managed. In March 2011, the EOTS commenced flying on F-35 mission systems aircraft at
With IRST the aircraft has a passive IR sensor that creates no emissions unless the NAS Patuxent River, Maryland and Edwards AFB, California.
laser is used. If the APG-81 radar detects something out at range, using IRST mode the
pilot can feed the data to EOTS and passively track the contact with high fidelity while
minimizing transmission of RF energy and the aircraft’s signature.
The EOTS IRST uses a gimbal, an inertial measuring unit, and a fast steering mirror
to provide precise stabilization. Passive in operation, the IRST has a wide area search
capability comparable to the APG-81 radar with very high scan and slew rates because of
the unique gimbal design.
Looking to future capabilities Don Bolling told AIR International: “We are looking at
options where we might be able to apply the very fast IRST scan volume across the
ground for an IR ground moving target indicator, which has some unique applications for
the ISR role.”
Maintenance
The EOTS is a two-level maintenance system that enables maintainers to undertake
maintenance on the flight line using the built-in test functionality, capable, according
to Lockheed Martin, of isolating a single line replacement component (LRC). The EOTS
can be dropped down from within its bay to allow maintainers access to replace any
one of 15 different LRCs carried.
When All E
B
ritish company Martin-Baker has developed the US16E ejection seat
Mark Ayton outlines this life
specifically for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter to
the requirements laid down through the JSF Contract Specification (JCS). The
Terrain clearance is defined as the height above ground that the ejectee first attains the
safe descent rate of 24 feet per second (7.3 metres per second) while suspended under the
parachute. The descent rate must be achieved across the wide accommodation range.
company has been on the F-35 programme since its inception and to ensure a low-risk These requirements are based on the ‘best-of-legacy’ approach in which all
approach was followed, design of the US16E evolved from the proven Mk16 ejection ejection seat terrain clearance charts have been amalgamated and distilled
seat range. from the US Seat inventory (Stencel SIIIS), MBA Navy Aircrew Common
Many demanding requirements for the ejection seat were introduced in the Ejection Seat (NACES) and Advanced Concept Ejection Seat (Douglas ACES II)
system development and demonstration (SDD) phase of the F-35 programme. into a common set of terrain clearance tables.
These requirements shaped the design of the US16E seat in a manner unlike other F-35 is the first programme to introduce neck injury criteria (NIC)
programmes in which MBA has participated. This led to the adoption of a fully because it combines three criteria: accommodation range, gender and
integrated and full production standard design from inception. the need for the pilot to wear a helmet-mounted display (HMD). The US16E
seat is the only ejection seat that meets the NIC across the speed and
Requirements accommodation ranges, including small females.
Because the F-35 is destined to replace so many different Ejection seat mass plays a critical part of the cockpit mass allocation, which
aircraft types, affordability is crucial to ensure that the F-35 was essential for the F-35B STOVL variant following the STOVL Weight Attack
is deployed in sufficient quantities for all of the air arms due Team weight optimization effort launched by Lockheed Martin in February 2004.
to operate the Lightning II. This requires a common ejection Design-to-mass is a fundamental principal of MBA seat design.
seat configuration for all three variants; the F-35A CTOL, The STOVL aircraft propulsion configuration results in unique failure mode
F-35B STOVL and F-35C CV. conditions, which the pilot is not able to react to quickly enough to eject manually.
The F-35 requirement for crewmember accommodation has This resulted in the US16E seat interfacing with Lockheed Martin’s auto-eject system
been expanded to include the widest nude population mass range which caters for low-altitude, low-speed and adverse pitch attitude escape conditions.
(103 to 245lb/47 to 111kg) and the multivariate accommodation range (cases 1
through 8), as defined by the F-35 sub-set of the Civilian American and European Surface Integrated Design
Anthropometry Resource (CAESAR) database. This requirement formally includes the The F-35 ejection seat is customer specified and not government specified, which is
female gender for the very first time. the ideal circumstance for Lockheed Martin to entertain a fully integrated solution for
http://
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Else Fails
-saving US16E ejection seat
the F-35 cockpit, balancing the design requirements for accommodation, mass, life
support, HMD requirements against the life-cycle cost targets.
A US16E ejection seat comprises six major assemblies: the guide rail, catapult, seat
The catapult houses a 300L backup oxygen system (BOS) which can be removed or
re-charged on the seat. Both the SCP and BOS are supplied by Honeywell Aerospace based
in Yeovil, Somerset, UK.
bucket, parachute and harness, and the seat survival kit. The guide rail assembly is A seat survival kit (SSK) contains all the survival aids, including a life raft and automatic
mechanically attached onto the cockpit rear bulkhead and is able to rotate manually from inflation unit (ALIU). The SSK is installed into the seat bucket, on which the pilot sits. A fifth
16.5° to 22°. generation integrated harness is able to accommodate the wide range of pilot sizes and
An air-vehicle interface disconnect unit (AIDU) which interfaces the electrical, ballistic, provides restraint during aircraft acceleration and ejection conditions.
pneumatic services between the seat and the aircraft, is attached to the bottom The US16E seat meets the F-35 performance requirements by having a low
of the guide rail. acceleration catapult, the neck protection device which enables the neck injury
The catapult is installed onto the rails and is the initial means by which criteria to be met, a drogue which is deployed early and downwind, and
the pilot is ejected from the cockpit. The catapult contains the neck a larger main parachute, which is deployed early in the sequence and
protection device (NPD), which is an inflated system that supports the downwind.
HMD during ejection thereby enabling the NIC requirements to be met.
A seat bucket, which mounts all the pilot controls, is connected to the Sustainment
catapult and a seat raising actuator raises and lowers the seat bucket Legacy aircraft programmes have commonly used three levels of
over a range of 7.4 inches (188mm). For reasons of safety and operation, maintenance: maintenance tasks that take place daily on squadron
the HMD system is integrated onto the US16E seat. The catapult carries both to enable self sufficiency when deployed away on operation (without
the helmet transmitter unit (HTU) and seat position sensor (SPS), which are industry support known as organisational level (O-level); centralised
integral to determining HMD relative position in the cockpit. maintenance tasks on base for several squadrons referred to as intermediate level
Integrated within the seat bucket is a quick disconnect connector that carries all of the (I-level); and deeper maintenance undertaken back at a depot or back with the
HMD signals to and from the aircraft. The US16E also carries a seat-mounted life support manufacturer, known as depot level (D-level).
system. Integration onto the seat offers advantages from reach, maintenance, mass and In order to minimise the in-service sustainment costs, Lockheed Martin has eliminated
cost perspectives. the need for I-level maintenance across the programme by transferring these tasks to
The seat bucket houses the services connection package (SCP) which regulates either O- or D-level. The US16E seat modular design enables component removal and
breathing and anti-g supplies. replacement at O-level, thereby supporting the sustainment philosophy.
G
oodrich Corporation’s landing gear business has introduced many contact with titanium permitting the cylinders to be made from that metal and reducing the
technological breakthroughs in the aerospace industry making it one of overall weight of the landing gear.
the world’s premier suppliers of landing gear. Goodrich pioneered the use Another main design consideration was the restricted space into which the main gear
of a gas-oil strut, introduced high-strength steel and advanced titanium alloys, is retracted, which meant the Goodrich designers had to find a way of shortening the gear
unique fracture-resilient material for carrier operations and ‘smart’ health when it was being stowed. They therefore introduced an additional piston inside the shock
management systems. strut positioned immediately below the upper bearing on the main piston. A small hydraulic
Many of these technologies and others were adopted to meet the performance system injects hydraulic fluid in between the extra piston and the lower bearing to stroke
requirements of the F-35 Lightning II programme. The company received multiple design the main piston. Stroke refers to moving the piston up and down in the cylinder.
specifications to meet the aircraft’s requirements for applied loads, stroke, landing gear “We have a specific volume that we stroke in. Rather than directly connecting the
length and operating environment. chamber up to the aircraft’s hydraulic system, we attach a transfer cylinder to the aircraft’s
From the inception of the design requirements through the design and testing high-pressure hydraulic system which is a relatively low flow rate system,” said Bill Luce.
phases, Goodrich integrated the design and performance requirements for the “We use the high pressure to stroke a piston with a mechanical disadvantage, to stroke
landing gear strut, sub-systems design, and test requirements, including rolling a larger volume of fluid, at a lower pressure, into the shock strut chamber using the higher
stock (wheels, tyres, and brakes), nose wheel steering, and electrical/hydraulic pressure fluid from the aircraft with a smaller volume. A series of locks and safety systems
systems from the prime contractor Lockheed Martin. At the beginning of the F-35 ensure that the gear remains shrunk during retraction.”
programme, Lockheed Martin subcontracted various sub-systems to companies as All the landing gears used by the three F-35 variants are fitted with a system to detect
levels of fluid inside each strut.
The original design concept for the F-35 landing gear system was to utilize a common
structural geometry for both the F-35A CTOL and F-35B STOVL systems with a completely
unique system for the F-35C CV. Different materials were to be used in the CTOL and STOVL
systems in identically gauged structural components. The CTOL version was to be primarily
made of 300M grade steel (a commonly used material in commercial landing gear) and
the STOVL variant was to be made primarily of Aermet 100 (a grade for ship-based aircraft)
and is the US Navy’s choice for high strength steel.
Patented by Carpenter Steel, Aermet 100 has very high strength and slow crack
propagation properties, so if a crack develops in the material, the crack will spread slowly
with further load applications. By contrast 300M or 4340M grade steel has the same
strength quality, but poor crack propagation. This gives more opportunities to discover
cracks in the structure before a catastrophic failure occurs.
Each type of F-35 landing gear has a Goodrich-proprietary system integrated within the
aircraft’s maintenance system to help the maintainer assess the level of the gas and oil in
each shock strut during servicing.
primarily from Aermet 100 steel, while the nose and main cylinders are made of a titanium The main gears of the CTOL and STOVL variants are dual stage gas over oil cantilever
alloy. Changing the cylinders from steel to titanium saved nearly 100lb (45kg) per aircraft. struts containing a mix of hydraulic fluid (referred to as oil) for hydraulic damping, and
The grade of titanium alloy selected for the cylinders was chosen primarily for its strength Nitrogen gas (which forms what is known as a gas spring) to support the weight of the
and fracture toughness. vehicle, provide a soft ride and extend the gear. Nitrogen is used because it limits the
The CTOL and STOVL nose gears are conventional cantilever gas over oil struts. Each oxygen in the strut prohibiting corrosion. The gas migrates to the top of the strut and the oil
system has a retract actuator to generate the force to retract the gear from the down stays at the bottom hence the term gas over oil.
position to the stowed position in the wheel well and vice versa. Drag braces with Many of the struts used on F-35 have two chambers each containing gas at different
locking linkage and locking actuator with backup springs, are fitted to react fore and pressures which produces a spring or staged air curve or staged shock strut. By having
aft ground loads. the two chambers the spring rate can be changed mid-stroke to react different loads on
All landing gear is subjected to vertical, drag and side loads and therefore has structural the strut. This helps to stabilise the aircraft for loading and unloading weapons. An F-35
elements known as a drag and side braces. The tyres spin up as soon as they hit the strut has a relatively soft spring for the majority of the stroke from the fully extended
ground causing a drag on the landing gear, which is countered by the brace to keep the gear position to the static position and a really stiff spring from the static to fully compressed
structurally sound. position. If the aircraft is sat on a soft spring and its weight is changed the strut will be
The drag brace attaches to a pivot pin on the strut and the aircraft so that as it is stroked but if the aircraft is on a stiff spring, the stroke will only marginally change.
retracted it rolls around the strut centreline to minimize space take up in the cramped bay Each main gear system has a retract actuator (that provides the force to retract the gear
when retracted. into the wheel well) linking the strut to a retract fitting, where the retract fitting is linked to
Steering is via a steer-by-wire system that utilizes a rotary hydraulic motor with integral the airframe.
control valve and feedback transducers. Like the nose gear, each main gear has a drag brace with locking linkage and locking
An unusual feature of the nose struts is the long strut stroke required to create a actuator with backup springs. The drag braces attach to a collar on the strut and a pivot
sufficient angle of attack during takeoff roll. Both the CTOL and STOVL nose gear use a pin in the aircraft so that during retraction, it rolls around the strut centreline to occupy a
common nose wheel and tyre which were developed specifically for the F-35. minimal space beside the strut when retracted.
An F-35C CV aircraft undergoing landing gear extension and retraction testing at Fort Worth. GOODRICH
strength steel because the force to retract the gear into the wheel well. Each also has a drag brace with locking
linkage and locking actuator with backup springs to react fore and aft ground loads. The
F-35C’s drag braces attach to a collar on the strut and a pivot pin in the aircraft that roll
the opportunity for a around the strut centreline during retraction to minimize the amount of space in the bay
when retracted.
a catastrophic failure.” Featuring a long main strut the F-35C’s main gear has a shrink mechanism to shorten
the strut prior to retraction so it will fit within the available space. The Goodrich-proprietary
shrink mechanism utilizes a novel transfer cylinder to convert high pressure and low flow
aircraft hydraulics into a low pressure and high flow shock shrink hydraulics.
Unlike the nose gear, the CV main gear system utilizes the same main wheel and
tail hook misses the arrestor cables on the carrier deck forcing the pilot to go around for brake as the F-35A CTOL. All tyres used on the F-35C CV variant are significantly more
another landing. robust than the CTOL and STOVL variants, because of the high energy landings on
The CV nose gear also has a locking drag brace and a launch bar that acts to transmit the top of arrestor cables.
high launch load from the catapult equipment to the airframe. A separate retract actuator
provides the force to retract the gear into the wheel well. One end of the retract actuator is
attached to the landing gear structure and the upper end to the airframe structure.
Fitted to the aft of the strut is a power unit housing an actuator that hydraulically lowers
the launch bar to the deck to engage the catapult. When the launch bar hits the deck a
second set of springs inside the power unit provide lighter power so that the launch bar can
move up and down to engage the shuttle, without jamming or binding, or badly wearing the
deck or the launch bar. Large powerful springs are able to pull the launch bar back up to an
intermediate position when the hydraulic power is released.
The power unit also has a linkage that operates off the motion of the drag brace during
retraction to position the launch bar in a stowed position (virtually parallel to the strut)
when the gear is retracted. During the retraction process the launch bar moves upwards
but also rotates around the strut to reduce the actual footprint within the stowage bay.
The torque arms that typically maintain alignment between the strut piston and
the steering unit are on the aft of the strut as well, and have a fitting at the apex that
engages the repeatable release holdback bar (RRHB) of the ship. This bar holds the
aircraft back during engine runs and while the load builds during the start of a catapult
sequence. Once the load reaches an adequate level, the RRHB releases the torque arm
A
s a stealthy design the Lockheed Martin F-35, like its F-22 predecessor, the carriage of up to three AMRAAMs in each bay, thereby increasing air-to-air combat
retains an edge over its opponents by carrying its weapons internally. persistence by 50%.
Unlike the F-22, however, the F-35 has a wide range of air-to-air and air-to- Of course if stealth is not the primary concern, weapons can be carried externally (on
ground missions to consider and with limited internal space, compromises have low radar cross-section pylons), which increases load-out by approximately 18,000lb
to be made. (8,164kg). By comparison the empty weight of a Block 15 F-16 is 16,285lb (7,387kg).
The maximum air-to-air weapon load-out in this case is eight AMRAAM and two AIM-9X
Load-Outs Sidewinders.
In a ‘first day of the war’ configuration, all three variants of F-35 will have the initial In its current form the AIM-9X cannot be carried internally because it needs to ‘see’ a
Block 3 capability of carrying four Raytheon AIM-120C AMRAAMs (two in each weapons heat source before launch, but Raytheon is developing a Block II variant, which will have
bay) for air-to-air missions, or two AMRAAMs (Advance Medium Range Air-to-Air ‘lock on after launch’ capability and a one-way forward data link added.
Missiles) and two 1,000lb (454kg) GBU-32 JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack Munitions) for With each partner nation having its own requirements for weapons, the certification
the air-to-ground scenario. process will be quite a long one and the need for US services to reach initial operational
Lockheed Martin is currently redesigning the weapons bays and doors to allow capability first has driven the initial AIM-120 and JDAM weapon configuration.
MAIN IMAGE: F-35A 07-0744/’EG’ is the first production standard aircraft that will eventually be
assigned to the 58th Fighter Squadron at Eglin AFB, Florida for training. Once initial operating
capability has been achieved this aircraft should be configured to Block 3 standard which will
enable it to carry AIM-120 missiles and JDAM precision-guided bombs. SCOTT FISCHER
Other Weapons
According to publicly released Lockheed Martin charts, other weapons currently
required to be integrated into the weapons bays of the F-35A and F-35C variants
include the 500lb (227kg) GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs, GBU-31 and
GBU-38 JDAMs, CBU-103 and CBU-105 WCMDs (Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser),
Raytheon AGM-154A and AGM-154C JSOW (Joint Stand-Off Weapon) and MBDA
Brimstone air-launched anti-tank missile.
Because the weapons bays of the F-35B are somewhat smaller, the list of internally-
carried weapons is reduced and neither the 2,000lb (907kg) GBU-31 JDAM nor the AGM-154
JSOW munitions can be carried.
By contrast, the list of weapons that are slated for external carriage is extensive
and includes the full range of JDAM and Paveway bombs and air-to-air missiles such
as the aforementioned AMRAAM, AIM-9X and AIM-132 ASRAAM (Advanced Short Range
Air-to-Air Missile). Partner nations, such as Norway and Australia, have a requirement for an anti-shipping
Lockheed Martin’s AGM-158 JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Stand off Missile) and the weapon. Work on this has been undertaken by Lockheed Martin and Norway’s Kongsberg
MBDA Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles are also slated for external carriage Gruppen to integrate a version of its surface-launched Naval Strike Missile, which retains
due to their size. most of its attributes but is designed to fit inside the F-35 weapons bays.
Israel has announced it will purchase F-35As under the Foreign Military Sales program, At the Australian International Airshow at Avalon in March 2011, Tom Burbage, Lockheed
and may wish to integrate indigenous weapons on to the aircraft, but Lockheed Martin Martin’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of F-35 Program Integration noted
would not comment on the subject, beyond saying that any such work would be at the that the US Department of Defense is also interested in integrating a new anti-shipping
customer’s cost. weapon on the F-35. By the time the F-35 enters service the Boeing AGM-84 Harpoon will
FAR RIGHT: The F-35 has a total of 11 weapons stations, three under each wing, one on the under fuselage centreline and two in each of the two weapon bays. LOCKHEED MARTIN
BELOW MIDDLE TOP: Each of the F-35A CTOL and F-35C CV weapon bays can carry one 2,000lb (907kg) GBU-31 JDAM. SSGT JESSICA KOCHMAN/US AIR FORCE
BELOW MIDDLE BOTTOM: All three variants of the F-35 can carry a 1,000lb (454kg) GBU-32 inside each weapon bay. BOEING
BELOW: The UK has opted to buy the F-35C CV variant, which will eventually be able to employ ASRAAM, Meteor, Storm Shadow, SPEAR 2 Block 1 and SPEAR 3 missiles. SCOTT FISCHER
test. “The highlights on the day were the take-offs. I took off as slow as 50 knots
[92km/h] with the STOVL mode engaged, accelerated out to the normal pattern
speed of 150 knots [276km/h], turned downwind, and positioned ready for a vertical
landing,” he said.
Some of the vertical landings required extreme nose-down attitudes on the aircraft
at various weights and phenomenal descent rates. Recounting the landings, Peter
Wilson told AIR International: “I was trimming nose down to make the nose gear hit first
rather than the main gear coming down as fast as I could, given the control law of the
aeroplane. When the nose gear (underneath the pilot’s seat) hits first at that sort of
descent rate it gets your attention because it’s a pretty heavy landing and a remarkable
experience in the cockpit.”
B
AE Systems teamed with prime contractor Lockheed Martin, and fellow Team LM data. It can be used to drive a basic manufacturing programme and, by using rapid
member Northrop Grumman, a couple of years before contract award for the JSF prototyping techniques, produce components earlier than would otherwise have
in October 2001. It brought its expertise in airframe design and manufacturing been possible, allowing us to compress the design cycle. The systems are also
techniques to the team, allowing better control of the F-35 Lightning II’s outer shape created virtually, so their routes in the aircraft can be modelled within CATIA, as
and meeting the challenge of keeping component costs down. can their behaviour. You can then take that data and build a simulation of the whole
aircraft, so the pilot can jump in and ‘fly’ it very early...in the simulators at [Lockheed
Digital Thread Martin’s facility at] Fort Worth [Texas]. By doing that you start to understand certain
From contract award, Team LM used ‘a digital thread’ based on the CATIA 3D characteristics of the aircraft and, if you need to, begin to design those out. It’s not
modelling software tool to create the F-35. According to Chris Garside, BAE System’s perfect when it comes to simulating how it will behave, or operate, but what it does is
Chief Engineer and Engineering Director for F-35, it is the foundation on which the provide higher confidence in the product much earlier in its life cycle.”
programme is built. “The whole of the F-35 programme exists in a virtual environment, As flight hours are accumulated, the actual performance of the aircraft can be fed back
as there are no traditional paper drawings, no designers sat at drawing boards, no to the digital thread to refine the model. “We managed to develop three variants of F-35 in
technical publications interpreted from paper-based drawings.” In concert with quick succession because the digital thread gave us the foundation for understanding how
the Metaphase Product Data Management System, CATIA allows BAE to develop the the aircraft behaves and how it physically looked, and then we used the same information
physical parts of the aircraft in a digital world. “When you start to generate a basic to lay out the factory,” said Chris. “Using other [software] tools allows you to lay the
outline shape you can use that to drive computational three-dimensional dynamic factory out, model exactly how the product moves around it, how it works in the supply
models or manufacture wind tunnel models to validate some of the modelling chain, identify where bottle necks will occur and optimise the flow line.
By late March 2011, 48 aft fuselages had been produced at Samlesbury. “For airframes
and systems, we have now designed, developed and delivered airframe components for
all the SDD [System Development and Demonstration] aircraft, and are some way through
deliveries on Lot 3,” said Chris. Qualification of the components is currently at the Safety
Flight Level, sufficient to fly within prescribed limits.
The British company also has responsibility for certain parts of the Autonomic Logistics
Information System [ALIS], explained Chris, “which helps us manage aircraft through-life in
terms of spares and repairs as it is progressively fielded by customers.” ALIS is currently in
use at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland to support the F-35B and F-35C test fleets
on a trial basis and will be used at Eglin AFB, Florida when the aircraft is delivered to the 33rd
Fighter Wing later this year.
While all aft fuselages will be built at Samlesbury, under the International Partner Plan
other work has been contracted out to companies in other countries. “We have strategic
offload, where we decide which parts we want to go where, and we are also obligated by the IP
[International Participation] agreement to put a certain percentage of work, over that sourced
from the UK, into International Partner countries. So, for example, in addition to putting
certain components from Brough out to a local supply house, we put work out to Australia.
Ultimately Australia will build vertical tails, and Canada and Germany will do the horizontal
tails. Avcorp of Canada does the folding wing tips [for the F-35C] for us – we don’t make those
in house. It’s not referred to as offset, its IP work and it has to be F-35 work that we put into
those countries.”
Precision Manufacturing
Tolerances for components on the Lightning II are extremely high, down to 1/5000th of
an inch in some cases. The low observable (LO) characteristics of the aircraft require that
access panels fit exactly to reduce radar returns, while high tolerances are also required
to ensure that internal parts fit together perfectly. Carbon access panels need to be
interchangeable between aircraft, rather than replaceable (ie, identical, rather than built to
fit). “In terms of how we produce the composite components, how we assemble them, and
then how we assemble the modules in order to maintain overall alignment of the aircraft,
we learnt a lot off Typhoon, put it on F-35 and shared that technology with Lockheed and
Northrop. It basically reduces and helps maintain the LO characteristics over the life of the
F-35 ground test article AG-1 undergoing structural testing in the rig aircraft,” said Chris.
at the BAE Systems’ facility at Brough in Yorkshire. ALL IMAGES BAE SYSTEMS
BAE has invested heavily in infrastructure at Samlesbury to produce F-35 components.
Building 610 is a new 29,528 sq ft (9,000m2) facility for the production of titanium
“The digital thread is not just there for the three partners, as some elements extend components using highly automated flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). It became
into the supply chain. For example, Martin Baker designed the ejector seat and created the operational in late 2010 with half of the FMSs installed. The others are due to be installed later
CATIA model for it, which was then used to refine the design of the front fuselage. It allows this year as production ramps up. Titanium is difficult to work, and much effort has gone into
rapid changes to be implemented and dissimulated. That same product data is then used getting the maximum life out of each drill bit with a computerised management system to
to create the Joint Technical Documents [JTDs, technical publications] produced for the record usage.
support phase of the programme, so the digital thread follows all the way through.” Assembly of the aft fuselage and vertical and horizontal tail planes is undertaken in
Building 430. Construction work is currently under way on the first phase of expansion of
Components the building, with BAE due to get initial access to the additional space in July 2011 and full
As part of the teaming contract, BAE Systems has 10% of the work by contract value, handover occurring in September. Assembly will start in the new section by late 2011/early
although it must achieve affordability targets to retain its share. It is responsible 2012, adding approximately 200 workers to those already employed in Building 430. A third
for the design, development, qualification and manufacture of the aft fuselage expansion is planned.
components, vertical and horizontal tails and the folding wing-tips used on the There are five work stations on the empennage line. The tails are currently built over
F-35C Carrier Variant (CV). It also has responsibility for the design, development and 40 manufacturing days, with a set completed every eight days. The aft fuselage line
qualification of the fuel system, the life support system, development of the escape currently has eight build stations, and a unit is produced over 64 manufacturing days with
system and certain modules within the mission systems, as well as the prognostic one coming off the line every eight manufacturing days. That is due to decrease to 24 and
health management (PHM) systems for the airframe structure and vehicle systems. three days (for both the aft fuselage and empennage lines) following the opening of the
Lockheed Martin has the task of integrating them with the airframe. extension to Building 430. The ultimate target is to roll one off the line every manufacturing