Navy: F-35C will be eyes and ears of the fleet

[beepa]

F35C Looking a bit second hand after a bit of use.

[spazsinbad]

Do you have the original URL of that photo above please? Light reflection / Light conditions have a lot to do with it plus has the aircraft been washed recently? I could go on. For example look at the reflection colour (I'll guess the ISLAND) on the canopy and then the adjacent top of the fuselage. What do you think that photo shows apart from 'worse from wear'?

For example the COLOUR of the text aft of the number 69 on this island of the USS EISENHOWER seems to match perhaps?

"“An F-35C Lightning II carrier variant Joint Strike Fighter from the Pax River Integrated Test Force conducts its first arrested landing aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). (Lockheed Martin photo by Andrew McMurtrie.)” https://i0.wp.com/militaryleak.com/wp-c ... ls-1-1.jpg

[beepa]

I just pulled that photo from Farcebook, but found a few more of VFA-147 after doing a search at https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Photo-Ga ... 002910457/
Different airframe with similar markings/scratches??

[spazsinbad]

This photo attached was on that URL above: https://media.defense.gov/2021/Dec/16/2 ... 1-1052.JPG (1.1Mb) I'll crunch/crop it down to post here. Certainly the ZOOMed pic shows the BOOT wear on the finish. Not only on top also around climb ladder. This 'wear & tear' must be acceptable in the circumstances. Maybe it will 'BUFF OUT'?!

Remember the whole rugged finish was optimised for shipboard use. Naval Aircraft are not always spotless - like ships at sea for long periods - they show 'RUST' marks. No one except potentially SINGAPORE is complaining about 'THE RUST' - or are they? My guess this particular aircraft is being worked over and perhaps it had a test flight from the carrier?

[spazsinbad]

This aircraft appears to be more 'TIDDLY' spic 'n span? Maybe 'cause it is moving the weary teary does not show?

https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Photo-Ga ... 002922431/ (0.9Mb) (screen size photo has been 'lightened' a bit)

[weasel1962]

Maybe its just newer. 402/410 are from VFA-147 which may have gotten their planes earlier than the 300+ series in VMFA 314.

[spazsinbad]

Yes - maybe as I recall - there is a NEWER paint that may resist the weary boots better. However it is a bit pointless to obsess about such details. IF IT IS A PROBLEM we will know about it don't you reckon? Maintainers have 'OBVIOUSLY' been scrambling over the particular 'scratched' F-35C, with a maintainer in the cockpit, fiddling with the controls, supervised by the three wise men outside. Maybe a good wash with DETTOL will fix it. A LITTLE DAB 'll DO YA! BRYLCREEM IT!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brylcreem

[Corsair1963]

More than Two Dozen Naval F-35s Now Underway in the Western Pacific

By: Mallory Shelbourne
January 19, 2022

More than two dozen Navy and Marine F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters are currently operating aboard U.S. Navy ships in the Indo-Pacific, amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China.

Ten Navy F-35Cs with the “Argonauts” of VFA-147 Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) from Naval Air Station Lemoore are embarked aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), while ten Marine Corps F-35Cs from the “Black Knights” of U.S. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314 from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., are aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).

Meanwhile, several Marine Corps F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing variant aircraft are operating aboard USS America (LHA-6). While the Marine Corps could not immediately provide the number of fighters aboard the amphibious ship, Navy images show a detachment of at least five F-35Bs aboard America when it deployed.

The three air units represent the largest assembly of deployed U.S. naval F-35s to date. Last year, the U.S. and U.K. deployed 18 F-35Bs aboard Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R06).

The two aircraft carriers and big-deck amphibious ship were operating in the Philippine Sea as of Tuesday, according to the USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker.

The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group recently finished drilled with the Essex Amphibious Ready Group in the South China Sea, according to a U.S. 7th Fleet news release.

The massing of fifth-generation American fighter jets in the region comes as the Navy begins deploying its new blended carrier air wing. The Carl Vinson CSG with Carrier Air Wing 2 embarked features the first F-35Cs and CMV-22B Ospreys to deploy together aboard an aircraft carrier.

The Marine Corps squadron’s deployment on Abraham Lincoln is the first Marine F-35C squadron to deploy on a carrier, USNI News previously reported.

The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group recently finished drilled with the Essex Amphibious Ready Group in the South China Sea, according to a U.S. 7th Fleet news release.

The massing of fifth-generation American fighter jets in the region comes as the Navy begins deploying its new blended carrier air wing. The Carl Vinson CSG with Carrier Air Wing 2 embarked features the first F-35Cs and CMV-22B Ospreys to deploy together aboard an aircraft carrier.

The Marine Corps squadron’s deployment on Abraham Lincoln is the first Marine F-35C squadron to deploy on a carrier, USNI News previously reported.

Source: https://news.usni.org/2022/01/19/more-t ... rn-pacific

[zhangmdev]

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/6960730/ ... ippine-sea

A few photos of the maintenance on a VFA-147 F-35C. Part of the coating was stripped. The gap was filled with some kind of 'glue'. There should be some means to re-apply the coating.

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/6987238/ ... -7th-fleet

Also a close-up photo of the F-3FC wing-folding mechanism, and the blemished coating.

[quicksilver]

F35C Looking a bit second hand after a bit of use.

Do you have any experience with military aircraft that operate from ships at sea? They all look ‘second hand’ after time at sea. I’m a bit out of date, but the 4790 (Naval Aviation Maintenance Program) used to expressly prohibit ‘painting’ aircraft for cosmetic purposes; ‘paint’ is principally about visual signature and corrosion control.

[spazsinbad]

F35C Looking a bit second hand after a bit of use.

Do you have any experience with military aircraft that operate from ships at sea? They all look ‘second hand’ after time at sea. I’m a bit out of date, but the 4790 (Naval Aviation Maintenance Program) used to expressly prohibit ‘painting’ aircraft for cosmetic purposes; ‘paint’ is principally about visual signature and corrosion control.

For 'beepa': "Oh the humanity".

"Does Oh the humanity make sense?
The phrase oh, the humanity originally meant oh, how awful. However, nowadays most people use it sarcastically to make fun of someone who is treating a minor problem like a major one."

[weasel1962]

There are 2 more B sqns based at Iwakuni, Japan (26 Bs in VMFA 242 & 121) which would double the figure in westpac to 52. Last hurrah for VMA 214 harriers before sundown?

[beepa]

Silly me, now I can see they are trying to match the rust on the boat. Tactical stealth and all.

[quicksilver]

And, of course, the ‘paint’ on F-35 serves other purposes as well.

See: Lockheed Martin Exceeds F-35 Low Observable Maintenance Standard

[beepa]

Sorry Spaz, some of us have a life away from a computer.