F-35C collision costs US $2 million
During aerial refueling training, an F-35C was damaged by debris from its refueling boom, costing the US $2 million to repair.
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| Information about the unexpected accident was posted on Stars and Stripes on September 4, an F-35C stealth fighter belonging to Squadron 125 at Lemoore base, California, was damaged while participating in the first combat exercise with F/A-18 fighters on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier on August 22. While practicing aerial refueling with an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter, the engine of the F-35C inhaled foreign objects thrown from the refueling basket. |
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| After the incident, the Super Hornet fighter returned to base, while the F-35C fighter returned to the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. The US Navy Safety Center classified the F-35C damage as a Class A, which means an incident that caused more than $2 million in damage and resulted in death or permanent disability to service members. Lieutenant Colonel Dave Hecht, spokesman for US Naval Air Forces in the Atlantic, said that foreign objects entering an aircraft engine during refueling is rare, but is the most common incident after bird strikes. |
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| Considered the most vulnerable and underpowered part of the F-35, Pratt & Whitney announced that it will upgrade the F135 engine for the F-35 fighter jet and when this program is completed, the US F-35 will be close to the 6th generation fighter. The company's representative announced that equipping this new engine will allow to increase the maneuverability and stealth capabilities of the F-35. |
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| This project is called GO2 - a follow-up project to GO1 project to improve combat capabilities for the US armed forces, Aviation Week newspaper said. If the GO1 project aimed to reduce engine fuel consumption by 5% and increase main engine thrust by 10%, then GO2 will further enhance their capabilities and will come closer to 6th generation fighters, the designers asserted. |
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| The prototype of this engine is the F135 XTE68/LF introduced by Pratt & Whitney in 2013, then in the next 5 years they received an additional 1 billion USD to complete them. According to the plan, the GO2 project will start from 2021. The representative of this military and civil aircraft engine manufacturing company affirmed that, with the current technology of Pratt & Whitney, the newly created engine will meet the requirements of the 6th generation fighter. |
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| According to Blomberg, the F-35 manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, will not change the basic structure of the aircraft. But if the GO1/GO2 projects are successful, the Americans will continue to upgrade the "golden plane" into a 6th generation fighter. This information is really a positive signal for the F-35 project. In fact, this American project has been criticized continuously. |
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| Representatives of the US military, including Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, have repeatedly criticized that, although the F-35 has encountered many problems, in reality, there has been no innovation in this fighter jet since 2014. The US Air Force is even considering canceling an order for 590 F-35s, because this aircraft is too expensive to use and maintain, and is considered an unsafe aircraft. |
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| In total, the US Air Force has identified 966 technical errors and shortcomings in the F-35. A number that makes aviation experts particularly worried. For Lockheed Martin supporters, they find every way to justify this project. For example, they argue that developing a new generation fighter requires a lot of testing to perfect them. |
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| They even said that the development of the F-35 is repeating the development process of the 2nd generation F-5 Freedom Fighter, which later became the basis for the development of 3rd and 4th generation aircraft. Therefore, the development of the F-35 will have a promising future. |
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| However, some experts believe that if an aircraft that is not ready for combat in this generation is upgraded into a fighter of the next generation, its combat capability will be difficult to achieve. Instead of wanting to create a 6th generation fighter, the Americans should focus on perfecting the combat capability of their 5th generation fighter. |
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