Australia’s F-35A stealth fighters may cost millions to bring up to a fighting standard

OUR new F-35 stealth fighters could right now be flying in South Korea, the defence ministry states, saying our aircraft can’t be compared to their troubled US counterparts.

AUSTRALIA’s two shiny new F-35 Strike Fighters may never go to war. Needing some 160 modifications to make their model combat worthy, the US Air Force is reportedly considering abandoning those already delivered in favour of new purchases.

Touted by manufacturer Lockheed Martin as the most advanced fighting machines ever built, virtually the entire production run of over 100 machines so far has one glaring problem.

They can’t fight.

Australia took delivery of two F-35A Lightning II aircraft amid much fanfare at the Avalon air show in Victoria earlier this year. Several more are in the late stages of construction, due for delivery next year.

These are almost exactly the same in their technical specifications to the 108 F-35As delivered so far to the United States Air Force.

But a controversial development and delivery contract process — known as concurrency — has produced an aircraft with software and components that were never fully tested.

AVThe two pilots of Australia’s F-35s pose in front of the aircraft on March 3, 2017 during their public debut at the Avalon Air Show. Picture: Scott Barbour / Getty

The argument was computer simulation could streamline the whole process, eliminating risk, reducing cost and speeding up delivery.

It didn’t.

Now two senior US Pentagon officials responsible for the F-35 program have admitted they are seriously considering abandoning vital upgrades and fixes of those aircraft already delivered.

A major ongoing issue is its software, integrading a wide range of hardware flight, sensor and weapons systems. An upgraded from its Block 2B to 3i version is underway - but neither delivers a fully functional combat aircraft. Nor does the next in the progression, the 3F, due next year.

Then there are the many hardware issues built into the early production aircraft, many of which US defence auditors say pose serious safety risks.

Signed. Sealed. Delivered? Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Defence Minister Marise Payne after inspecting Australia’s new F-35 on the tarmac at Avalon earlier this year. Picture: David Caird

UNDER THE RADAR

Australia has at least two F-35s that will likely require many millions being sunk into reconstruction and upgrade before they are fully capable of fighting on the front line.

Or they could be restricted to limited training roles, reducing the number of the incredibly expensive aircraft available for active duty.

Or they could be handed to pilots expected to fly into combat with the software and hardware equivalent of one arm tied behind their back.

A spokesman for the Defence Minister has rejected any suggestions Australia’s F35s won’t be combat ready.

“Australia does not possess any F-35A Lightning II Block 2B variants,” he said. “Both of our planes were updated more than a year ago. The Australian F-35 is currently operating a much newer software package, the Block 3i. This is similar to the types of planes operating in South Korean military exercises a few weeks ago.

“The Australian fighters cannot be compared directly to the experiences of the United States Air Force. Australia’s 72 Joint Strike Fighters will be the most potent warfighting planes in the world.”

But the US Marines F-35B ‘jump jet’ variants being operated in South Korea are also not yet fully operational. Their “Initial Operational Capability (IOC)” status means they are flying under restricted parameters and with limited sensor integration and weapons loads.

And they face the same - if not more - costly hurdles to bring them up to “Full Operational Capability” as their air force F-35A siblings.

Malcolm Turnbull and Defence Minister Marise Payne inspecting a new JSF on the tarmac at Avalon. Picture: David Caird

FLYING DUDS

In 2015, the US Director of Operational Test and Evaluation Michael Gilmore wrote testing at that time “did not — and could not — demonstrate that the Block 2B F35B is operationally effective or suitable for use in any type of limited combat operation, or that it is ready for real-world operational deployments”.

The consequences of that finding have come home to roost.

“From a production perspective, we have literally 150 to 160 modifications that have to occur on some of our tails to get it to a Block 3(F) configuration,” US Vice Admiral Mat Winter, head of the F-35 Joint Program Office, told the Air Force Association’s annual Air, Space and Cyber conference earlier this week.

“Our mods program is almost as exciting and dwarfing our production program.”

An F-35 fires an AIM-120 missile over the Pacific Ocean range near NAWS Point Mugu during a recent Weapons Delivery Accuracy testing surge. Picture: Lockheed Martin

The Pentagon is considering not modifying all 108 F-35As in its possession to the Block 3F standard. While itself far below advertised F-35 capabilities, the 3F version of the aircraft and its operating system will enable it to carry and use a selection of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

The reason given: doing so would be very expensive.

It may be cheaper to just buy new ones off the production line.

“We’re looking at a solution space that gives our warfighter options,” Admiral Winter said, while admitting his office was expecting a more “logical, more digestible” delivery schedule — meaning further delays.

An F-35A Lightning II drops a 2000-pound GBU-31 bomb over the Utah Test and Training Range. Picture: USAF

US Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein also admitted at the Air Force Association conference that there was debate within the Pentagon.

“You’re going to see us continuing to do a business-case analysis of retrofit of these aircraft,” he said earlier this week.

The upshot is dozens of early-delivery US Air Force F-35s are likely to relegated to training duties. They can’t use a worthwhile load of missiles or bombs. Nor can they effectively fire their 20mm cannon. And then there is a swath of yet-to-be-addressed safety issues.

Australia’s first two F-35's touched down in Australia for the first time earlier this year. Here RAAF Wing Commander Andrew 'Jacko' Jackson taxiis his aircraft in after landing. Picture: David Caird

BUYER BEWARE

Given those aircraft so far delivered to Australia are essentially the same specification, the Royal Australian Air Force must now either find the money to fix those F-35s it already has — or accept a smaller than expected fighting force than expected.

Exactly how much additional delay these fixes place on the F-35 program is also an issue. The RAAF has already had to buy a handful of F/A-18 Super Hornets to maintain its capabilities while it waits.

It had hoped the F-35A would begin to enter limited service in July 2019, with full operational capability by 2023.

The first Royal Australian Air Force F-35A Lightning II Arrives at Luke Air force Base, Arizona, for testing and evaluation in December 2015.

Project Director for F-35 Missions Systems at Australia’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) Stephen McDonald, told Australian Defence Magazine in July he did not see any risk in terms of Australia’s F-35’s capabilities.

The expanded range of weapons needed for Australian initial operational capability had already been tested, he said.

“The 3F software is being tested quite strongly right now,” he told ADM. “That will be delivered in 2018 and we don’t go to IOC until the end of 2020, so we’ve got two years’ float and all systems are go.”

But that was before the senior US F-35 project commanders began casting doubt on the viability of upgrading existing aircraft to the Block 3F standard.

The F-35 Lightining II Joint strike fighter has led a protracted, troubled - and expensive - development.

REJECT SHOP

It’s not the first time the defence contract concept of concurrency has failed to deliver.

The predecessor of the F-35, the F-22 Raptor, suffered a similar fate.

Some 30 examples of this ultra-advanced stealth interceptor will never see combat. They’ve been used only as trainers since production ceased a decade ago because they were not delivered up to expected standards.

This leaves just 150 combat-capable F-22s on active USAF service.

And there is considerable confusion over exactly where the F-35 program stands on actual operational capabilities. The US Marine Corps last year accepting its F-35B jump-jet variants as having met initial operational capability requirements — even though only 89 per cent of the necessary software was delivered, leaving several combat systems inoperable.

Full operational capability is only certified after rigorous and independent testing proves a weapon system can be operated and maintained.

But the US Marine Corps’ small fleet of unproven F-35Bs has already been pressed into service in Japan and South Korea.

The fix list for problems is extensive.

Many are potentially fatal.

The Pentagon’s director of operational testing and evaluation reported earlier this year there were 158 “Category 1” software flaws that could cause death or injury.

Some modifications are as simple as updating the applications on a smart phone. Others need hardware upgrades. Yet more may require extensive rebuilding, such as addressing the vulnerability of its rear engine compartment and tail structure, fixing the pilot’s oxygen supply and making the jet’s ejection seat safe. And the aircraft isn’t allowed to fly anywhere near lightning.

Eight aircraft are currently being assembled as the RAAF’s next batch of F-35s. They’re due for delivery next year.

Exactly how many of the above problems relate to these airframes is unclear.

An Australian F-35 is put through its paces during the Avalon Airshow on March 3, 2017. Picture: Scott Barbour / Getty

PROJECT DELAYS

Lockheed Martin and the USAF made much fanfare about the release of its Block 3 software update earlier this month. But analysts say this ended up being just an interim patch (3i) — not the full 3F version promised.

Lockheed Martin has since admitted it has again pushed back the update’s release: “We are well positioned to complete air vehicle full 3F and mission systems software development by the end of 2017,” a statement reads.

But a US Government Accountability Office report says the delivery date is more likely to be May next year, and warns no further orders for the aircraft should be placed until independent testing is completed.

Lockheed Martin ran 46 F-35s off the production lines in 2016. In 2018, it is expected to be in full-swing delivering 130 machines each year. About 900 are due to be delivered over the next five years.

Exactly how much they really cost is anyone’s guess.

A pilot sits in the cockpit of an F-35 fighter jet preparing for a training mission at Hill Air Force Base on March 15, 2017 in Ogden, Utah. Hill is the first US Air Force base to get “combat ready” F-35's. Picture: AFP

A defence policy investigator at the Project on Government Oversight recently summed up the confusion and controversy surrounding the F-35 project: ‘Price tag is the only thing stealthy about the F-35.”

Australia reportedly took delivery of its first two F-35As for $US94.6 ($A119.5) million each.

Lockheed Martin is boasting it has since reduced the per-aircraft procurement cost of an F-35A to $US85 ($A107.4) million. This may be why the USAF is considering dumping its non-functional examples in favour of fresh copies.

But the price tag does not include the incredible research and development component of the cost — nor the long list of updates, spare parts and man-hours needed to make each one operational.

Australia ordered its first 14 F-35As in November 2009. A second batch was ordered in April 2014 — this time for 58 aircraft. An order for a potential final tranche of 28 is yet to be made.