F-35 deliveries halted after Texas mishap; new contract finalized

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin on Friday announced it halted acceptance flights and deliveries of new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters amid an investigation into the cause of an F-35B mishap on a Texas runway this month.

The halt means Lockheed delivered fewer F-35s than the 148 contractually required in 2022.

“We were on track to meet our delivery commitment” before the F-35B mishap on Dec. 15, the Lockheed spokeswoman Laura Siebert told Defense News. “However, given the delivery pause, we delivered 141 aircraft” this year.

The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin also announced Friday they finalized a contract worth up to $30 billion to deliver up to 398 F-35s for U.S. and international customers over the program’s next three lots, from lots 15 through 17. However, the contract only guarantees lots 15 and 16, with an option for lot 17.

The contract will also include the first F-35s for Belgium, Finland and Poland, Lockheed said in a release.

Siebert said Lockheed halted acceptance flights after the Dec. 15 mishap “out of an abundance of caution.” And because those flights must happen before the delivery of newly built F-35s, it had the effect of halting deliveries as well.

Lockheed has since continued to build new F-35s at Air Force Plant 4 in Fort Worth, Texas, the main facility for building the fifth-generation fighters. But through the latter half of December, those newly completed F-35s stayed on the ground.

Siebert said nine new F-35s are now awaiting acceptance flights and deliveries.

Video of the Dec. 15 mishap, which went viral on social media, showed the F-35B hovering not far above the ground before descending, bouncing once and tipping forward. Its nose and wing touch the ground, and it starts to spin around. The pilot safely ejected.

This was a newly constructed F-35B that had not been transferred to the U.S. government. The pilot is in the Air Force and was performing quality checks for the Defense Contract Management Agency at the time.

Naval Air Systems Command is still investigating the mishap, with the support of the F-35 Joint Program Office. But earlier this week, the JPO issued guidance as a result of the incident for a small number of newer F-35s it felt are at higher risk.

In a Tuesday statement to Defense News, the JPO said it “has issued a Time Compliance Technical Directive (TCTD) to restrict some aircraft, which have been evaluated to be of higher risk, from flight operations while the investigation into the mishap on December 15 continues and until procedures can be developed for their return to flight.”

The JPO would not say how many fighters were grounded.

A source familiar with the program told Defense News the investigation into the Dec. 15 mishap found that a tube used to transfer high-pressure fuel in the fighter’s F135 engine, made by Pratt & Whitney, had failed. This discovery prompted the JPO to update its safety risk assessments, which affected jets with fewer than 40 hours of flying.

Pratt & Whitney declined to comment to Defense News on the Dec. 15 mishap because it involves an ongoing investigation.

The latest contract for F-35s could include more fighters than the Pentagon originally estimated. When the handshake agreement was announced in July, William LaPlante, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, said the deal was for about 375 aircraft.

But the maximum order of 398 fighters Lockheed Martin will now build — 145 in lot 15, 127 in lot 16 and an option to build up to 126 in lot 17 — is still 80 fewer than those included in the previous $34 billion contract for lots 12 through 14, signed in 2019.

“The F-35 delivers unsurpassed capability to our warfighters and operational commanders,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, the F-35′s program executive officer, said in the Lockheed release. “This contract strikes the right balance between what’s best for the U.S. taxpayers, military services, allies and our foreign military sales customers.”

Lockheed said it has so far delivered 894 F-35s worldwide, including the 141 from this year. Other nations that will receive fighters as part of the latest contract include Australia, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and the U.K.

“Continuing to add new countries to our global F-35 fleet further validates the capability and affordability of this aircraft in providing 21st century security to nations and allies,” Bridget Lauderdale, vice president and general manager for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program. “There is simply no other aircraft that can do all that the F-35 does to defeat and deter even the most advanced threats.”

The average price of an F-35A aircraft vehicle — that is, everything in the fighter except the engine — will increase 6.5% between lot 14 and lot 17, Lockheed said. The company added it was able to hold the cost growth down below the rate of inflation.

The per-unit aircraft vehicle cost for an F-35A was $65.6 million in lot 14, Lockheed said. That cost will increase to $70.2 million in lot 15, before dropping to $69.3 million in lot 16 and then rising again to $69.9 million in lot 17.

Siebert said the government’s contract with F135 engine-maker Pratt & Whitney is not finalized, so the total price for an F-35 including the engine cannot yet be calculated.

This is a shift from the previous contract, which saw several years of declining F-35 costs. The Pentagon said in 2019 the average price per F-35 would fall about 12.8% from lot 11 to lot 14.

Lockheed said several factors have contributed to the increase in costs, including inflation, supply chain issues and other COVID-19 related complications, as well as the reduced number of jets being purchased.

The F-35s being built for lot 15 and beyond will include greater capabilities, most notably the inclusion of Technology Refresh 3 upgrades to the jet’s hardware and software, which Lockheed said is also contributing to the price increase. The TR3 upgrades are intended to improve the F-35′s displays, processing capability and memory, while paving the way for the jet’s Block 4 modernization effort.

“You’re adding capabilities, you’re buying more of a jet now,” Edward Smith, Lockheed Martin’s director of F-35 domestic engagement, told Defense News during a visit to Plant 4 in November. “Your prices are going to go up a bit. You can’t [get the price lower] by cutting … airplanes out of a lot buy.”

Schmidt touted the increased capabilities that will come with the next batches of F-35s in the release.

“The F-35 is the world’s premier multi-mission, fifth-generation weapon system, and the modernized Block 4 capabilities these new aircraft will bring to bear strengthens not just capability, but interoperability with our allies and partners across land, sea, air and cyber domains,” Schmidt said.

Lockheed said it expects to deliver between 147 and 153 fighters annually over the next two years, although that could change as a result of the delivery pause at the end of 2022.

Army seeks mid-range missile to cover operational gaps

The Missile Defense Agency is considering new technologies – coupled with current capabilities – to protect Guam from future threats from adversaries.

As the ballistic missile threats from China continue to evolve, the Army has several capabilities in place to defend the island of Guam. The service’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery has been operating there since 2013.

In fiscal year 2022, the agency, at the urging of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, requested $78.3 million to analyze systems to defend Guam and another $40 million to acquire long-lead items, originally reported by Army Times sister publication Defense News

Congress ultimately approved $80 million to accelerate arming Guam, including with the Patriot air-and-missile defense system and the Navy’s SM-6 and SM-3 missiles.

But a changing adversary means the service must develop further its own capabilities. The service is looking toward a more mobile architecture, one that can use mobile launchers.

One of those new technologies is the Mid-Range Capability missile. The missile will be fielded in 2023, more than two years since the Army announced that the service would pursue the capability.

The Army chose Lockheed Martin to integrate the Navy’s SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles with a launcher and battery operations center to create an MRC prototype back in November 2020.

New in 2023: US troops in Europe to continue deployments, training

Roughly 20,000 troops mobilized in Europe in support of NATO since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are on track to stay in place going into the new year, training not only with local partners, but with Ukrainian troops outside of their country.

The Pentagon announced Dec. 15 that monthly rotations of 500 Ukrainian troops would travel to U.S. Army ranges in Germany for combined arms maneuver training, an effort to reinforce their formations as they enter a second year of fighting back against the Russians.

In Lithuania, the U.S. will upgrade its periodic deployments to a consistent, heel-to-toe rotation schedule, the U.S. embassy announced Dec. 7. Units will include a field artillery battery and an armored element with several hundred soldiers.

US poised to approve Patriot missile battery for Ukraine

“As President Biden has said, we are committed to defending every inch of NATO territory,” U.S. Ambassador Robert Gilchrist said in a release. “These U.S. deployments demonstrate this commitment, and while we continue to adapt our force posture in the region, we are committed to maintaining a persistent, heel-to-toe presence in the region and intensifying training with our Baltic Allies to maintain combat credible capabilities and to enhance our defense and deterrence posture.”

Pentagon officials have said there are no current plans to draw down U.S. military presence in Europe, which numbers roughly 100,00 troops since spring 2022.

Turkish defense exports pass $4 billion in 2022, says procurement boss

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s annual defense and aerospace exports have surpassed the $4 billion mark for the first time, according to Ismail Demir, who leads the country’s defense procurement agency.

Demir made the announcement Dec. 23 on Twitter along with a video from the Presidency of Defence Industries, or SSB.

The Turkish Exporters’ Assembly put the country’s defense and aerospace exports in the period between January and November at $3.77 billion, up 35.7% from $2.778 billion in the same period of 2021.

The umbrella organization for Turkish exports said monthly defense and aerospace exports during October 2022 were worth $464 million, and during November were worth $503 million.

Earlier this year, Ozgur Eksi, a defense analyst in Ankara, told Defense News that the increasing trend in exports “should be attributed primarily to aerospace, and homemade drones in particular.

Local company Baykar, which makes the TB2 Bayraktar drone, has sold the aircraft to 27 countries. Selcuk Bayraktar, the company’s chief technical officer, said Dec. 22 that exports make up 98% of the firm’s 2022 revenue.

The export of Turkish land vehicles in 2022 was worth $428 million, although the official yearend number may exceed this. BMC, an armored vehicles manufacturer, led Turkey’s land vehicle exports this year, accounting for 45% of foreign sales in this sector.

A high ambition: Italian Army aims for self-sufficient cannabis market

FLORENCE, Italy — In a bid to become self-sufficient in the field of legal, medical cannabis, Italy is growing plants using secret nutrients in ultra-clean rooms managed with military precision.

No wonder it called in the Army to handle the task.

Next year, the Italian service plans to produce 700 kilograms (1,543 pounds) of top-grade cannabis to cover nearly half of the 1,500 kilograms (3,307 pounds) required annually in the country for those in need of pain relief, such as people with cancer or Parkinson’s disease.

“The next step is self-sufficiency — that’s our ambition,” said Nicola Latorre, who leads the Italian Defence Industries Agency, which oversees the operation. The agency, which is an arm of the Defence Ministry, handles the commercialization of the state’s defense enterprises.

Cannabis the Army cannot yet grow is imported from Holland, Canada, Denmark and Germany, but production is ramping up at an anonymous-looking Army facility on the edge of Florence.

“What we can do in Florence is produce a highly standardized product so the dosage is unvaried, at the same price as we are now paying for imports,” said Col. Gabriele Picchioni, the head of the facility.

Launched in 2014, the Florence-based operation managed 50 kilograms in 2020 before rising to 300 kilograms in 2022. The increase was achieved thanks to more growing rooms — up from two in 2016 to 10 today — with six harvests a year in each of six flowering rooms, which host between 50 and 125 plants each.

To reach 700 kilograms next year, technicians are perfecting lighting, watering, temperature and ventilation, and they are using a blend of secret nutrients developed in-house that are mixed in with the hydroponic irrigation.

Also in 2023, the lab aims to produce cannabis-infused olive oil, which users can take in drop form, Latorre said.

He added that five private firms are set to supply more mother plants, from which cuttings can be taken to grow the plants in Florence. However, the main operation will not be farmed out to the private sector, he explained. “The state will continue to do this to guarantee quality and price.”

Why is the Army in charge?

The Army was handed the role of Italy’s legal pot supplier for two reasons, officials have said: to produce cannabis at a secure facility, and because the armed service has been in the pharmaceutical business for decades, turning out chemical warfare antidotes and malaria pills for soldiers.

The Army also manufactures so-called orphan drugs — medicines for rare diseases or conditions that big companies ignore because of the low production rates. The service currently makes four such drugs to supply 3,000 people in Italy.

As cannabis production ramps up, the Army has registered two types of marijuana it harvests as brands: FM1 and FM2, which stand for “Farmaceutico Militare” (or “Military Pharmaceutical” in English). Each contains a different level of tetrahydrocannabinol, the compound that gives pot its high.

Latorre said his agency’s activities facilitated a growing shift toward military involvement in public health sector, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw Army personnel set up treatment tents and transport vaccines.

“COVID made us see how public health is tied to the defense of the country and its security,” he said.

New in 2023: Welcoming new airframes to the fleet

The Air Force captured the aviation world’s attention when it rolled out the B-21 Raider stealth bomber in December. In 2023, the service hopes to show off the highly secretive aircraft’s first flight — though that target has been pushed back multiple times.

While the Raider may be the highest-profile plane in the acquisition pipeline, several others continue making their way into the inventory in 2023.

The Air Force is poised to purchase 24 F-15EX fighter jets in the coming year, and receive its first operational batch of the new Eagle II jets at Portland Air National Guard Base in Oregon. The Boeing fighters will replace older F-15s with newer tech on a similar airframe.

Another 24 KC-46 Pegasus tankers are expected to replace retiring KC-10s and KC-135s, and five MH-139 Gray Wolf patrol helicopters will take over at nuclear missile fields for the UH-1N Huey fleet.

The $858 billion defense policy bill for fiscal 2023 would let the Air Force buy 38 more F-35A Lightning II fighter jets, four EC-37B Compass Call electronic attack aircraft and 20 HH-60W Jolly Green II combat rescue helicopters. It also offers additional funds to speed up acquisition of the E-7 Wedgetail to replace the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System airborne target-tracking jet.

Congressional appropriators must still approve those acquisitions in the fiscal 2023 defense spending bill.

Meanwhile, pre-production flight testing will start on the T-7 Red Hawk training jet in 2023. But other milestones that were slated for the coming year will wait a while longer; the Air Force doesn’t expect to buy its first Red Hawks until 2024.

New Army light tank under construction

General Dynamics Land Systems began assembling the Army’s Mobile Protected Firepower system in November, after being selected in June to build the light tank.

The first new combat vehicle to join the force in nearly four decades, the MPF system is meant to improve mobility, protection and direct-fire capabilities on the battlefield, originally reported by Army Times sister publication Defense News

The system includes a new chassis – or base frame – design. The turret is new, said Kevin Vernagus, the GDLS director for the MPF system, while working to maintain an interior and controls like an Abrams tank.

The service expects to spend about $6 billion over the course of MPF’s procurement process. Estimates suggest that the total life-cycle cost of the program will total around $17 billion.

The first production of MPF will be delivered to the service in late 2023, with an initial delivery of vehicles. However, the contract stipulates that the Army is allowed to purchase up to 70 more over the course of early production for a total of more than $1.1 billion.

Beating out competitor BAE Systems, GDLS delivered 12 prototypes to be evaluated by soldiers in the 82nd Airborne Division. Despite positive marks compared to its competitors, GDLS is coordinating with the Army to fix some issues with overheating experienced at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.

Army leaders plan on buying 504 vehicles meant to be in the service’s inventory for at least 30 years. Most of the procurement should be finished by 2035.

‘Dangerously’ close: Video shows Chinese jet buzzing US spy plane

A Chinese J-11 fighter pilot performed an unsafe maneuver during and intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft, the U.S. says.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Thursday released video it said showed a Chinese fighter jet coming dangerously close to a U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint spy plane over the South China Sea last week.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy pilot flew the J-11 fighter in front of, and within 20 feet of, the Rivet Joint’s nose during the Dec. 21 intercept, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.

A U.S. military spokesman said the Chinese fighter first came about 10 feet from the Rivet Joint’s wing, before moving in front of the U.S. plane. In that position, the spokesman said, it was unlikely the Chinese pilot could safely see the RC-135.

The spokesman said the Air Force plane maintained its course and speed, and the Chinese fighter “dangerously drifted within 20 feet of the RC-135′s nose.”

This was “an unsafe maneuver … forcing the RC-135 to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision,” INDOPACOM said.

The command also said the Rivet Joint was in international airspace at the time, conducting “routine operations.”

“The U.S. Indo-Pacific Joint Force is dedicated to a free and open Indo-Pacific region and will continue to fly, sail and operate at sea and in international airspace with due regard for the safety of all vessels and aircraft under international law,” the command said. “We expect all countries in the Indo-Pacific region to use international airspace safely and in accordance with international law.”

The U.S. military said this incident “reflects a concerning trend of unsafe and dangerous intercept practices by the PLA that are of grave concern to the United States.”

In June, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that the U.S. has “seen an alarming increase in the number of unsafe aerial intercepts and confrontations at sea by PLA aircraft and vessels.”

US to sell Taiwan anti-tank mine-laying Volcano system

WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of an anti-tank mine-laying system to Taiwan amid the rising military threat from China.

The department on Wednesday said the Volcano system and all related equipment would cost an estimated $180 million.

It’s capable of scattering anti-tank and anti-personnel mines from either a ground vehicle or helicopter. The announcement indicated Taiwan would be buying the vehicle-borne version, the kind of general-use weapon many experts believe Taiwan needs more of to dissuade or repel a potential Chinese invasion.

China’s military sent 71 aircraft and seven ships toward Taiwan in a 24-hour display of force directed at the self-ruled island it claims is its own territory, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Monday. China’s military harassment of Taiwan has intensified in recent years, along with rhetoric from top leaders that the island has no choice but to accept eventual Chinese rule.

That has seen the ruling Communist Party’s increasingly powerful military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, send aircraft or ships toward the island on a near-daily basis.

Between 6 a.m. on Sunday and 6 a.m. on Monday, 47 of the Chinese planes crossed the median line of the 160-kilometer (99-mile) Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary once tacitly accepted by both sides, according to the Defense Ministry.

That came after China expressed anger at Taiwan-related provisions in a U.S. annual defense spending bill in what has come to be a standard Chinese practice.

China also conducted large-scale, live-fire military exercises in August in response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. Beijing views visits from foreign governments to the island as de facto recognition of Taiwan as independent and a challenge to China’s claim of sovereignty.

The PLA would continue to launch such missions until Taiwan’s pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party ceases “constantly provoking confrontation and enmity between the two sides,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Tan Kefei said at a monthly briefing Thursday.

“The PLA always … resolutely defends national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Tan said.

While Washington has only unofficial ties with Taiwan in deference to Beijing, those include robust defense exchanges and military sales.

In its announcement, the State Department said the Volcano sale “serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.”

It said Taiwan would have “no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces,” and that the sale would “not alter the basic military balance in the region.”

The island is also set to receive M977A4 HEMTT 10-ton cargo trucks; M87A1 anti-tank munitions; M88 canister training munitions; M89 training munitions; and logistics support packages, among other types of assistance.

The principal contractors will be Northrop Grumman, which will produce munition canister mines, and Oshkosh Corp., which will make the M977A4 HEMTT vehicles.

Analysts differ over what Taiwan’s defense priorities should be, with some calling for big-ticket items such as advanced fighter jets.

Others argue for a more flexible force, heavily armed with land-based missile systems to target enemy ships, planes and landing craft. China’s overwhelming numerical advantage in personnel and equipment give Taiwan little choice but to opt for that more “asymmetric” approach, they say.

South Korea stages drills simulating downing of North drones

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea staged large-scale military drills Thursday to simulate shooting down drones as a step to bolster its readiness against North Korean provocations, three days after the North flew drones into its territory for the first time in five years.

South Korean planes and helicopters failed to bring down any of the five North Korean drones spotted south of the border Monday before they flew back home or vanished from South Korean radars. One of them traveled as far as northern Seoul. That caused security jitters in the South, for which the military offered a rare public apology Tuesday.

Thursday’s training involved land-based anti-air guns, drones playing the role of enemy drones, and a total of 20 fighter jets, attack helicopters and unmanned assets. While there was no actual live fire, it was still the country’s first set of major anti-drone drills since 2017, according to military authorities.

The drills near Seoul set up diverse scenarios of border infiltrations by small enemy drones, under which the mobilized South Korean military assets practiced how they could detect, track and shoot them down, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

Also on Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol reiterated his push to build a stronger air defense and get tough on North Korean provocations. The North’s drone flights followed its record number of missile tests this year that some experts say is part of an effort to pressure the United States and its allies to make some concessions like sanctions relief.

“Whether they have nukes or whatever weapons of mass destruction they have, we must send a clear message to those who repeat provocations. We must not be frightened of [their nukes] and we must not hesitate,” Yoon said during a visit to a weapons development agency. “To obtain peace, we must prepare for a war that [we can win] overwhelmingly.”

Yoon said Tuesday his government will advance the planned establishment of a military drone unit and introduce high-tech stealth drones.

North Korea’s state media hasn’t commented on South Korea’s announcement of its reported drone flights. But some observers say North Korea likely sent those drones to test South Korean and American readiness. They say North Korea also likely assessed that drones could be a cheap, yet effective method to trigger security concerns and an internal divide in South Korea.

In response to the North’s drone flying, South Korea said it sent three of its surveillance drones across the border in a rare tit-for-tat measure. North Korea didn’t respond, according to South Korean defense officials.

This week, North Korea’s ruling party is holding a key meeting to review past projects and determine policy objectives for 2023. During its third day Wednesday, leader Kim Jong Un expressed hopes that local Workers’ Party officials would report successes on their jobs and duties to live up to the party’s trust in them, state media reported Thursday, without elaborating on their tasks.

In an earlier session, state media cited Kim as setting forth new goals to solidify his country’s military power, an indication that he would continue his run of weapons tests.