F-35 Cleared For Flight; Turbine Crack Cause Identified

WASHINGTON: The entire F-35 fleet has been cleared to resume flying only one week after being grounded for the second time this year. In vintage Pentagonese, this is how the return to flight was announced today to Capitol Hill:

"Upon completion and compliance with the immediate action Time Compliant Technical Directive (TCTD) issued this week to borescope inspect the LPT stage 3 turbine blades, F-35 LRIP aircraft are returned to flight status. Additionally, a 25 Effective Flight Hour (EFH) reporting cycle of creep damage will now be implemented to monitor and limit turbine creep exposure."

Basically, it means that a potentially really serious problem -- turbine blades suffering from high cycle fatigue -- was not the cause of the half-inch crack which led to last week's highly publicized grounding. It also means that the Joint Program Office and Pratt & Whitney will be monitoring the turbine blades for what will probably be several weeks of test flights. Here's the press release version from the Joint Program Office which oversees the largest conventional weapons program in history: The F-35s "have been cleared to resume following engineering analysis of the turbine blade which developed a crack.

This decision concludes a cautionary flight suspension that began on Feb. 21 after a 0.6 inch crack was found on a 3rd stage turbine blade of a test aircraft at the Edwards Air Force Base F-35 Integrated Test Facility during a routine inspection." One of the interesting details in the JPO release is that no other cracks were found in any of the other F-35s flying. Pratt & Whitney, who make the engines and were the lead on investigating the cause of the crack, issued a release saying that: "We believe that a key factor for the blade crack stemmed from the unique operating environment in flight test. The engine had operated more than four times longer in the high-temperature environment of the flight envelope than the typical F-35 duty cycle. The exposure in this high temperature part of the envelope led to a separation of the grain boundary on this single blade."

The military, industry and Congress will keep watching this to make sure the problem is not systemic and does not repeat.

Hauling howitzers over Helmand

click on image to enlarge

Two US Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallions with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 361, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), externally lift M777 howitzers over Helmand province, Afghanistan, Dec. 29, 2012. Photo by Sgt. Keonaona Paulo.

Raytheon's Quick Kill Active Protection System defeats incoming RPGs

As the U.S. Army prepares for formal testing to evaluate a system to protect combat vehicles from shoulder-fired and tube-launched Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), Raytheon Company's (NYSE: RTN) Quick Kill™ Active Protection System (APS) has again shown its maturity and accuracy in a series of tests.
In a recent test, held in December 2012, the Quick Kill APS demonstrated its protective capability by successfully defeating an extended set of threats, including one of the most lethal RPG threats by destroying it in mid-flight. All testing is in preparation for formal government evaluations in early 2013 to demonstrate the system's unique RPG-defeat capabilities.

"Raytheon's APS is based on the same radar technology deployed to perform sense and warn operations at active Forward Operating Bases. It has been extremely successful in providing timely warning against rocket and mortar attacks," said Jeff Miller, vice president of Combat and Sensing Systems for Raytheon's Network Centric Systems business.
"With Quick Kill," he added, "Raytheon has matured a highly advanced system, offering our forces an unprecedented force protection capability that is essential to the future survivability of combat vehicles. This technology is ready and could begin fielding within a year."

The Quick Kill system consists of a multi-mission, fire-control radar that detects and tracks incoming threats, combined with hard-kill countermeasures that serve as a hit avoidance system, enabling multi-tracking and multi-engagement of enemy fire for vehicle and squad protection.
The system's vertical launch countermeasure is unique in its ability to engage threats fired from any angle or elevation, providing all weather, full 360 degree hemispherical vehicle and crew protection with each countermeasure.

In previous tests, the system demonstrated its ability to defeat multiple threat types both from a stationary and an on-the-move platform – and it showed its multi-threat capability by defeating two simultaneous threats.

http://raytheon.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=2251

US Army and Marine Corps contracts for future UAS needs

AeroVironment, a maker of unmanned aerial systems, and four others have been given a U.S. Army procurement and support contract for small UASs.
The award is a fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract with a maximum value $248 million.

Under the award, recipients will compete to fulfill the Army’s future small UAS requirements.
“We have successfully competed for every major United States Department of Defense program of record involving small UAS and have delivered highly reliable systems with increasing capability to support our warfighters,” said Roy Minson, AeroVironment senior vice president and general manager of its Unmanned Aircraft Systems business segment.

“This new IDIQ contract provides for continued procurement of small UAS, reflecting the high value of this capability. We look forward to supporting the U.S. Army and other customers with market leading small UAS solutions that anticipate the ever-evolving needs of warfighters and address the budgetary constraints of governments.”
AeroVironment produces the RQ-11B Raven, Wasp AE, RQ-20A Puma and the Shrike VTOL, small UAS which operate with a common ground control system.

Harrier Operations USS Bataan (LHD-5)

Chinese Defense ministry strongly opposes U.S. defense authorization act

BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A spokesman for the Chinese Defense Ministry on Thursday voiced strong opposition to the content concerning China in a U.S. defense authorization act.
　　"The content is a rude interference in China's internal affairs and harmful to our strategic mutual trust. We are strongly opposed to it," said spokesman Yang Yujun, referring to the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, which contains controversial sections related to the Diaoyu Islands and arms sales to Taiwan.

　　One section says the act acknowledges Japan's administration over the Diaoyu Islands, and another calls for more arms sales to Taiwan.

　　"Someone wants to make a profit in a troubled situation on the Diaoyu Islands issue, and someone wants to bully people by flaunting his powerful connections. All these are futile efforts," Yang noted.
　　The spokesman also criticized a planned deployment of F-35 fighters to the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, in 2017, as revealed by U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Dec. 18.

　　"The deployment of several aircraft is not worth making a fuss, from a military perspective. However, such actions, which deliberately highlight military security agenda and cause a tense situation in the region, go against the trends of the times and common will of the people of all countries," Yang said.
　　He added that he hopes relevant countries will do more to help maintain regional peace and stability.