Thursday, 30 April 2020

New Russian Armata tank had 'many problems' in Syria: Chinese media

RIA

 New Russian Armata tank had 'many problems' in Syria: Chinese media: 

 BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:45 A.M.) – In a report released this week, the China-based Sina News Agency slammed the new Russian T-14 Armata tank’s performance in Syria, claiming the armored vehicle had “many problems.”

 “The Russians are hosting the show again. Recently, the Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Denis Manturov announced that the Armata tank is already participating in real battles on the Syrian battlefield,” the publication began.

 “Under these conditions, the combat effectiveness of the main battle tank of the new generation T-14 Armata was tested, and many ‘problems’ were found. The actual combat conditions promoted by the Russians are actually a ploy. There is no evidence. The only real thing is that war is still going on in Syria,” Sina News said, comparing the tank to the Su-57 aircraft, which they claimed also had many ‘problems’ during its test.

 “Su-57 fighters did not remain in Syria for a long time before returning back to Russia. During this period, they did not participate in any battles, even if the militants did not have decent air defense capabilities. The Su-57 fighter was not even tested in the bombing, and therefore this kind of test is like a joke in the international community , ”Sina News added.

 It is not clear where the Russian military tested the Armata tank; however, there were no reports from Syria on its effectiveness, as Syrian Arab Army (SAA) sources said they had no idea that it was used in the county.

 To date, the Russian Ministry of Defense has not commented on the tank’s performance in Syria.
Armata platform was tested in Syria
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Taiwanese F-16V procurement activated with engine contract

Al Jazeera English - flickr

 Taiwanese F-16V procurement activated with engine contract | Jane's 360

 Gareth Jennings, London - Jane's Defence Weekly

 28 April 2020

 Taiwan's planned procurement of 66 newbuild Lockheed Martin F-16V Fighting Falcon combat aircraft appears to have been activated with an engine contract announced by the US Department of Defense (DoD) on 28 April.

 The deal covers an unspecified number of General Electric F110-GE-129 increased performance engines for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers, including Taiwan. While the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) already fields F-16C/D fighters, including a number that have already been upgraded to F-16V Block 70/72 standard in an ongoing modernisation plan, all are currently powered by Pratt & Whitney P100-PW-220 engines.

 In August 2019 the US State Department cleared Taiwan to buy 66 of the latest F-16C/D Block 70 aircraft (the F-16C/D Block 70/72 is more commonly designated F-16V). This was followed in October 2019 by the President of the Republic of China, Tsai Ing-wen, tweeting that the country's Legislative Yuan - one of the five branches of government - had approved funding for the 66 new F-16Vs "in a multi-partisan effort that reflects our collective will to defend our liberty and sovereignty", although no contracts associated with the procurement had been announced to date.

 As the most advanced iteration of the F-16 to date, the F-16V features the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar (derived from the F-16E/F Block 60 AN/APG-80, and also known as the Scalable Agile Beam Radar [SABR]), a new Raytheon mission computer, the Link 16 datalink, modern cockpit displays, an enhanced electronic-warfare system, and a ground-collision avoidance system.


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Thailand to equip Khamronsin-class corvettes with MSI gun mounting

David's World 2011 @flickr

 Thailand to equip Khamronsin-class corvettes with MSI gun mounting | Jane's 360

 Ridzwan Rahmat, Singapore - Jane's Navy International

 27 April 2020

 The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) has allocated THB170 million (USD5.2 million) to procure 30 mm naval gun mountings from MSI Defence Systems for its Khamronsin-class corvettes.

 According to documents released by the RTN Naval Ordnance Department on the service's official website, the planned expenditure was approved on 23 April and the allocated sum includes installation and support work on the weapons.

 The documents do not specify the variant that the RTN intends to procure, but the service is likely to sign for the MSI-DS Seahawk DS range of mountings to leverage on commonality with weapon systems found on its Naresuan, Krabi, and T 994 classes of warships.

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Khamronsin-class corvettes

Vladimir Knyaz
wikipedia.org
cmano-db.com
Vladimir Knyaz



Source: cmano-db.com
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UAE receives first GlobalEye AEW&C aircraft

David Donald

 UAE receives first GlobalEye AEW&C aircraft | Jane's 360

 Gareth Jennings, London - Jane's Defence Weekly

 29 April 2020

 The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has received the first of three contracted Saab GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, the manufacturer announced on 29 April.

 Saab said that it had commenced deliveries of the Bombardier Global 6000 business jet-based platform that were contracted to the UAE Air Force and Defence (AF&D) under the Swing Role Surveillance System award from late 2015. Deliveries of the remaining two aircraft are set to run through to the end of 2021, while an anticipated contract for two additional platforms has not yet been signed.

 The ground systems had already been handed over to the UAE AF&D, ahead of the aircraft arrival.

 The GlobalEye is built around the Saab Erieye Extended Range (ER) radar that is housed in the same external dorsal 'plank' as the company's original Erieye system. Equipped with Gallium Nitride (GaN) and other technologies, the Erieye ER is an active electronically scanned array (AESA) system that doubles the radar's power efficiency compared with previous Erieye iterations. It has a range in excess of 650 km that can be extended by focusing the radar's energy.

 Saab said the Erieye ER is resistant to jamming and features all-weather functionality in all domains (air, sea, and land surveillance), as well as an "extremely high" tracking-update rate against targets of interest.

 Besides the radar, the aircraft is also equipped with the Leonardo Seaspray 7500E AESA 360° multimode radar, as well as a retractable Star SAFIRE 380-HD electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor turret, automatic identification system (AIS) for shipping, HES-21 electronic support measures (ESM) suite, and countermeasures. Performance figures disclosed by Saab give the GlobalEye an endurance of more than 13 hours and a top speed of 450 kt.
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GlobalEye AEW&C Aircraft: Details
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Wednesday, 29 April 2020

"Su-24 - Russian deception": Polish media about the superiority of the US Navy destroyers

strobphoto (flickr)

 "Su-24 - Russian deception": Polish media about the superiority of the US Navy destroyers: 

 Translated by google
The Russians once again sent their Su-24 aircraft to an American missile destroyer such as Arleigh Burke. In the Russian Federation and Western media, actions of this kind are considered a demonstration of strength. However, when comparing the combat capabilities of the US Navy ships and the "attacking" pennants of bombers, they should be considered as a demonstration of stupidity. This opinion was expressed by the Polish edition of Defense24 .

 "Imaginary threat from the air"

 According to him, the Russians regularly try to pose a threat to American ships from the air, considering the low span over them as skill, strength and pride. On April 17, they once again tried to repeat a similar maneuver in the waters of the Baltic, when two Belgian F-16s intercepted a pair of Su-24s trying to get closer to the Donald Cook destroyer of the Arleigh Burke type.

 Earlier, on April 12, 2014, this pennant was already subjected to an “attack” of the Su-24, which supposedly used the Khibiny electronic warfare, disabling the ship’s radar.

 "This information turned out to be a pure hoax, which the Russians invented, and later reproduced on the Internet and on television in the Russian Federation - notes the Polish edition.

 As she believes, "rumors about the inefficiency of American destroyers that you can allegedly drop in with such ease and, therefore, theoretically, destroy" are causing great harm.

 “Su-24 is a great Russian deception”

 Production of the Su-24 started in 1971, and since Defense24 believes that it has the same equipment: 8 tons of bombs and missiles (in the Su-24M version), a 23-mm cannon, Orion-M combat radar ( with a range of 150 km), radar warning of exposure to SPO-15C "Birch", station active interference "Gardenia". Modernization concerned only navigation and identification systems, the publication suggests.

 "Flights of the Su-24 over destroyers such as Arleigh Burke should be considered by American sailors only as a tourist attraction [...] their place in the museum - considers Defense24.

 As noted, the low approach of the Su-24 is not terrible for the pennants of the U.S. Navy, as they are accompanied by AWACS aircraft, shining through the air the entire route of the enemy or missiles fired by him. But the destroyers are able to cope on their own, having "the world's best naval combat system AEGIS."

 "Su-24s can fly over American ships not because they are so good and the pilots who control them are so well trained, but because the Americans allow them to - concludes the Polish edition of the clear superiority of the US Navy destroyers.

 However, it is indicated that in the Baltic and in the Black Sea, the coastal-based anti-ship complexes “Ball” and “Bastion” pose a much greater threat to American ships.


Russia began to deploy frontline bombers to Syria

Su-24M Fencer: Details
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B-1B Lancer flies 29-hour mission for exercise with Japan Air Self Defense Force

USAF

 B-1B Lancer flies 29-hour mission for exercise with Japan Air Self Defense Force - UPI.com: 

 By Christen McCurdy
A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. and F-16 Fighting Falcons from Misawa Air Base, Japan, conducted bilateral joint training with Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2s and F-15s off the coast of Northern Japan on April 22. Photo courtesy of Japan Air-Self Defense Force
April 28 (UPI) -- A B-1B Lancer assigned to the 37th Bomb Squadron integrated with the Japan Air Self Defense Force to conduct bilateral and theater familiarization training near Japan last week, the Air Force announced.

 According to the Air Force, the aircraft launched from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota to fly the nearly 29-hour, round-trip sortie to the Indo-Pacific and team up with six U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcons and seven JASDF F-2s and eight JASDF F-15s over the Draughon Range as part of the joint mission between U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Strategic Command Bomber Task Force.

 The mission was conducted on April 22, officials said.

 "This was a higher-headquarters directed operational mission to assure our allies, and deter adversaries while demonstrating the dynamic force employment model," Lt. Col. Lincoln Coleman, 37th BS commander, said in a press release.

 "This was a total team effort involving every group on base that provided us with the opportunity to integrate with multiple air operations centers in different areas of responsibility," Coleman said.

 The last time the B-1 was in the Indo Pacific area of responsibility was in January 2018 when the airframe and crews completed a six-month Continuous Bomber Presence mission at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.

 "In order to execute Air Force Global Strike Command's mission, we must be familiar with how our allies and mission partners operate around the globe," Coleman said. "This requires us to continually execute joint and combined operations around the world. This mission provided a unique opportunity for our aircrew to interact with our allies in an operational environment, improve interoperability and reinforce our partnership."
A B-1B Lancer is towed to a parking spot on the apron of the airfield at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., April 22, 2020. The B-1 and its aircrew returned from a nearly 29-hour round-trip sortie where it integrated with the Japan Air Self Defense Force in the Pacific Air Forces area of responsibility to conduct a Bomber Task Force mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Quentin K. Marx)
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Mitsubishi F-2: Details
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GE nabs $707.3M to produce F110 engines for Slovakia, Bulgaria, Taiwan, Qatar

Bruce Smith @flickr

 GE nabs $707.3M to produce F110 engines for Slovakia, Bulgaria, Taiwan, Qatar - UPI.com: 

 General Electric was awarded $707.3 million Tuesday to produce F110 engines for several allied militaries, according to the Pentagon.

 By Christen McCurdy

 April 28 (UPI) -- General Electric was awarded $707.3 million Tuesday to produce F110 engines for several allied militaries, according to the Pentagon.

 The contract funds production of  FF10-GE-129 engines for the governments of Slovakia, Bulgaria, Taiwan and Qatar through the Department of Defense's foreign military sales program.

 According to GE, the F110 powers more than 70 percent of the Air Force's F-16C/D aircraft, and the 129 variant offers significant mission advantages -- including significant additional thrust -- for F-15 and F-16 aircraft.

 Work on the contract will be performed in Cincinnati, Ohio, with an expected completion date of Dec. 21, 2026.


Elbit Systems’ US Arm Wins $472M Air Force F-16 Missile Warning Tech Contract
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Tuesday, 28 April 2020

Export configuration of Russia’s Bumerang combat vehicle to differ from domestic version

Vladislav Perminov @flickr

 Export configuration of Russia’s Bumerang combat vehicle to differ from domestic version - Military & Defense - TASS: 

 At the same time, the combat vehicles’ design will not undergo any changes

 MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. The export version of combat vehicles based on Russia’s latest Bumerang standardized wheeled platform will differ from its configuration for the Russian Army but their design will be unchanged, CEO of the Military Industrial Company (the vehicle’s developer and producer) Alexander Krasovitsky told TASS on Friday.

 "A promotional certificate and an export configuration certificate have been formalized for combat vehicles based on the Bumerang standardized platform. The configuration of the vehicles intended for exports differs from those that go to the Russian Army by communications and automated combat control systems, electromagnetic shielding and protection systems against the WMD [weapons of mass destruction] and the means of reducing visibility on the battlefield," the chief executive said.

 At the same time, the combat vehicles’ design will not undergo any changes, he said. "No changes are stipulated in the design of the vehicle intended for exports. In any case, we will listen to the requirements of foreign customers and outfit the platform with the equipment, which they will request," he stressed.

 The head of the Military Industrial Company told TASS in July 2019 that the latest K-16 armored personnel carrier based on the Bumerang platform would be 1.5-2 times cheaper than the models of the company’s closest rivals. He named the countries of Africa, South America and Asia as the most promising markets for the combat vehicle. The chief executive also said at the time that the licensed production of the export version of the K-16 Bumerang armored personnel carrier might be eventually organized on the territory of customer countries.

 The Bumerang is the latest standardized wheeled platform for multiservice forces developed by the Military Industrial Company. The platform was used as the basis for developing the K-16 armored personnel carrier, and also the K-17 infantry fighting vehicle unveiled for the public at the Victory Day Parade on Moscow’s Red Square in 2015.

 The combat vehicle’s baseline version is outfitted with the Epokha combat module with a 30mm automatic gun and a coaxial 7.62mm machine-gun and the Kornet anti-tank missile system. The K-16 armored personnel carrier is armed with a combat module with a 12.7mm machine-gun.

 Russia to sell latest Bumerang combat vehicles worth $1 bln to foreign customers

 Russia has started to promote the export of armored vehicles based on the latest Bumerang combat platform, with their sales estimated at about $1 billion, Russia’s state arms seller Rosoboronexport announced on Thursday.

 As Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheyev said, countries of Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the CIS have already displayed their interest in the Bumerang combat vehicle.

 The Bumerang combat platform has been developed on order from Russia’s Defense Ministry. As its unique advantage, the platform can be used as the basis to build the widest range of vehicles with various weapons and equipment, Rosoboronexport stressed.

 "The Boomerang 8x8 amphibious combat vehicle provides the capability to handle a wide range of combat missions and even peacetime tasks: when repelling aggression of a potential adversary, defending the state’s borders and fighting terrorist groups, as well as assisting the population in case of natural disasters and calamities," the state arms exporter said.

 Depending on the armament installed, the combat vehicle based on the chassis of the universal wheeled combat platform can effectively engage various enemy targets (manpower, gun emplacements, armored and soft-skinned targets, including low-speed air targets) from a halt, on the move and afloat in any weather, day or night, Rosoboronexport stressed.

 The combat vehicle can easily negotiate various obstacles, attain a speed of over 100 km/h on the highway and has a cruising range of at least 800 km. The Russian vehicle is most favorably distinguished from its foreign counterparts by its amphibious properties, which make it possible to negotiate water obstacles even in Sea State 3. Moreover, it develops a speed of at least 10 km/h on water, having endurance on water of up to 12 hours, Russia’s state arms seller said.

Russia to sell latest Bumerang combat vehicles worth $1 bln to foreign customers
Following the minister’s statement: following the T-14 Armata tank, they are trying to send Kurganets and Boomerang to Syria
BRT and BMP "Boomerang" received a number of improvements
Defense Ministry completed preliminary tests of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles on the Boomerang platform

Bumerang 8×8 Armoured Personnel Carrier (K-16 APC): Details
Bumerang 8×8 Infantry Fighting Vehicle (K-17):  Details
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Russia to sell latest Bumerang combat vehicles worth $1 bln to foreign customers

edrmagazine.eu

 Russia to sell latest Bumerang combat vehicles worth $1 bln to foreign customers - Military & Defense - TASS: 

 Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the CIS have already displayed their interest in the Bumerang combat vehicle, according to Rosoboronexport CEO

 MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. Russia has started to promote the export of armored vehicles based on the latest Bumerang combat platform, with their sales estimated at about $1 billion, the press office of Russia’s state arms seller Rosoboronexport reported on Thursday.

 "Rosoboronexport (part of Rostec) has started to promote the latest Bumerang standardized combat platform developed and produced by the Military Industrial Company on foreign markets," the press office said in a statement.

 As Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheyev said, countries of Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the CIS have already displayed their interest in the Bumerang combat vehicle.

 "We estimate the export of this platform at about $1 billion in the foreseeable future," the press office quoted the Rosoboronexport chief as saying.

 The Bumerang combat platform has been developed on order from Russia’s Defense Ministry. As its unique advantage, the platform can be used as the basis to build the widest range of vehicles with various weapons and equipment, Rosoboronexport stressed.

 "The Boomerang 8x8 amphibious combat vehicle provides the capability to handle a wide range of combat missions and even peacetime tasks: when repelling aggression of a potential adversary, defending the state’s borders and fighting terrorist groups, as well as assisting the population in case of natural disasters and calamities," the statement says.

 The Bumerang combat platform features a new layout scheme: the driving compartment is located at the front left, with the engine compartment at the front right, the fighting compartment in the middle, and the troop compartment at the rear of the vehicle. The Bumerang can accommodate up to 11 personnel. The troops enter and leave the vehicle via roof hatches and the rear door or ramp, Rosoboronexport said.

 Bumerang’s armament

 Depending on the functional purpose and the tasks, weapon stations can be mounted on the combat platform. These can be remote-controlled and manned combat modules with the machine-gun, cannon or combined armament: a 30mm automatic cannon and a 7.62mm coaxial machine-gun, a 30mm automatic grenade launcher and two launchers with two anti-tank guided missiles on each, as well as a 12.7mm Kord machine-gun (in its version for the armored personnel carrier), Rosoboronexport specified.

 In order to provide for accurate fire, a modern digital fire control system includes a two-plane weapon stabilizer, a multi-channel electro-optical sighting system with a built-in laser rangefinder and automated gunner’s and commander’s workstations with a multi-function display and an integrated ballistic computer, the arms exporter said.

 "Depending on the armament installed, the combat vehicle, based on the chassis of a universal wheeled combat platform, can effectively engage various enemy targets (manpower, gun emplacements, armored and soft-skinned targets, including low-speed air targets) from a halt, on the move and afloat in any weather, day or night," the statement says.

 The combat vehicle can easily negotiate various obstacles, attain a speed of over 100 km/h on the highway and has a cruising range of at least 800 km, Rosoboronexport said.

 "The Russian vehicle is most favorably distinguished from its foreign counterparts by its amphibious properties, which make it possible to negotiate water obstacles even in Sea State 3. Moreover, it develops a speed of at least 10 km/h on water, having endurance on water of up to 12 hours," the statement says.

 The vehicle’s survival on the battlefield is enhanced by disruptive camouflage painting, an aerosol or smoke screen system, fire protection systems, and an NBC (nuclear, biological chemical) protection system. Special systems and technical solutions ensure the survival of the combat crew when the vehicle hits a mine, Rosoboronexport said.


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The Pentagon will have to live with limits on F-35’s supersonic flights

F-35C - 6 Photography (flickr)

 The Pentagon will have to live with limits on F-35’s supersonic flights: 

 The Navy's and Marine Corps' versions of the F-35 will have restrictions on how long they can fly at supersonic speeds because of a risk of damage to the tail section.

 By: David B. Larter , Valerie Insinna , and Aaron Mehta    

 WASHINGTON — An issue that risks damage to the F-35’s tail section if the aircraft needs to maintain supersonic speeds is not worth fixing and will instead be addressed by changing the operating parameters, the F-35 Joint Program Office told Defense News in a statement Friday.

 The deficiency, first reported by Defense News in 2019, means that at extremely high altitudes, the U.S. Navy’s and Marine Corps’ versions of the F-35 jet can only fly at supersonic speeds for short bursts of time before there is a risk of structural damage and loss of stealth capability.

 The problem may make it impossible for the Navy’s F-35C to conduct supersonic intercepts.

 “This issue was closed on December 17, 2019 with no further actions and concurrence from the U.S. services,” the F-35 JPO statement read. “The [deficiency report] was closed under the category of ‘no plan to correct,’ which is used by the F-35 team when the operator value provided by a complete fix does not justify the estimated cost of that fix.

 “In this case, the solution would require a lengthy development and flight testing of a material coating that can tolerate the flight environment for unlimited time while satisfying the weight and other requirements of a control surface. Instead, the issue is being addressed procedurally by imposing a time limit on high-speed flight.”

 The carrier-launched "C" variant and the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing "B" version will both be able to carry out all their missions without correcting the deficiency, the JPO said.

 The potential damage from sustained high speeds would influence not only the F-35’s airframe and the low-observable coating that keeps it stealthy, but also the myriad antennas located on the back of the plane that are currently vulnerable to damage, according to documents exclusively obtained by Defense News.

 The JPO had classified the issues for the "B" and "C" models as separate category 1 deficiencies, indicating in one document that the problem presents a challenge to accomplishing one of the key missions of the fighter jet. In this scale, category 1 represents the most serious type of deficiency.

 While it may seem dire that an aircraft procured for flying at supersonic speeds will be unable to do so for extended periods, the F-35 may not need to do it that often.

 For the F-35, as opposed to the F-22 where supersonic flight is baked into its tactics, the ability to fly supersonic is more of a “break glass in case of emergency” feature, said Bryan Clark, an analyst with the Hudson Institute and a retired naval officer.

 “Supersonic flight is not a big feature of the F-35,” Clark said. “It’s capable of it, but when you talk to F-35 pilots, they’ll say they’d fly supersonic in such limited times and cases that — while having the ability is nice because you never know when you are going to need to run away from something very fast — it’s just not a main feature for their tactics.”

 In fact, going supersonic obviates the main advantages of the F-35, Clark said. “It sort of defeats all the main advantages of the F-35,” he explained. “It takes you out of stealthiness, it burns gas like crazy so you lose the range benefits of a single engine and larger fuel tank. When you go into afterburner, you are heating up the outside of your aircraft.”

 That creates all kinds of signatures that can be detected by an adversary, Clark said.

 What if?

 But a retired naval aviator told Defense News last year that the limitations on the afterburner could prove deadly in close-combat scenarios.

 The concept of operations for the F-35 is to kill an enemy aircraft before it can detect the fighter jet, but relying on long-range kills is a perspective that, for historical and cultural reasons, naval aviation distrusts. In the Vietnam War, when air warfare began heavily relying on missiles and moved away from the forward gun, it caused a spike in air-to-air combat deaths.

 The lesson naval aviation took away was to prevent the latest and greatest technology from offsetting the learning of fundamentals, and it was the impetus behind the formation of Top Gun 50 years ago, a naval strike fighter course for training and tactics development.

 “The solution is: ‘Hey, we’ll just limit the afterburner to less than a minute at a time,’ ” a retired naval aviator said when told of the issue. “Which, with what the aircraft is supposed to do and be capable of, that’s a pretty significant limitation.”

 Primarily it would be an issue if the aircraft had to maneuver at high speeds to avoid a missile or survive a dogfight.

 The issue is compounded for the Navy, which must operate forward for months at a time, because any significant issues with coatings or the structure of aircraft would require a depot-level repair. And so a damaged aircraft would remain damaged until its host ship returns to home port, reducing the combat effectiveness of the air wing.

 “We might have to be operating at sea for eight months, so if you damage something on week one, guess what? It’s damaged for the rest of the deployment,” the aviator said. “And it affects your ability to evade detection by the enemy — you just degraded that asset permanently until you can get it somewhere where it can be fixed, at great expense and time.”

 Other deficiencies

 Three other category 1 deficiencies have also been officially designated as “closed," meaning they have either been fixed or the performance of the aircraft is being accepted as is, the JPO reported.

 The so-called green glow deficiency has been closed out as of last July. Green glow refers to a green light emitted by the helmet-mounted display’s LED lights. That glow obstructs a pilot’s view of an aircraft carrier’s deck lights during landing operations at sea in very low light, such as that experienced at night.

 The issue was closed “as a result of incorporating an improved Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) Helmet Mounted Display (HMD),” the JPO told Defense News.

 “The Generation III F-35 OLED Helmet Display Unit (HDU) significantly reduced the ‘green glow’ experienced by pilots during night operations. The F-35 JPO has taken delivery of the first order of F-35 OLED HDUs to support the U.S. Navy (USN) and U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), and a second order of OLED HDUs has been placed,” the office’s statement read.

 An issue created when the F-35A and F-35B blow a tire, which can result in a severed hydraulic line, will remain uncorrected, the JPO statement said, but it has not come up again since the program switched tires.

 “The DR [deficiency report] was closed under the category of ‘no plan to correct’ based on the fact that the landing gear system design meets all F-35 safety standards,” the statement read. “Issues related to premature bursting of tires were resolved by tire design changes during early F-35 development and no instances of dual hydraulic system loss caused by a tire burst have ever been observed on an F-35.”

 And an issue that forced the F-35 to land in cold weather because of battery trouble has been fixed, the JPO said. The issue was caused by extreme cold entering the plane when the doors to the jet’s nose landing gear were open, setting off alarm bells, according to “for official use only” documents exclusively obtained by Defense News.

 The cold would enter the plane and overwhelm the battery heater blanket, which is installed to keep a 28-volt battery running at peak condition. The battery would not shut down, but because of the cold, the blanket could not heat the battery as quickly as intended, triggering warning lights in the cockpit that the battery was going to fail.

 A software upgrade fixed the problem, the JPO said.

 “This issue was resolved on July 22, 2019 due to improvements in the battery charger’s firmware,” the statement read. “The firmware changes were developed by the battery charger supplier, and integrated and tested by Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office.”
United Technologies Pratt & Whitney nabs $111.1M for F-35B propulsion systems
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