...et riktig Godt Nytt År!
Jeg håper at
blir et bedre år for oss alle.
Fly safely.
fredag 31. desember 2021
Unruly pax i USA - Yahoo News
Delta passenger attacks Los Angeles airport
officer after being denied boarding, authorities say
Louis Casiano
Fri, December 31, 2021, 8:42 AM·2
min read
A Delta Air Lines passenger
who was upset at being denied entry onto a New York City-bound flight at Los Angeles International
Airport assaulted a
police officer Thursday and was subsequently arrested, authorities said.
Delta personnel called airport police around 1:40
p.m. about the passenger who was denied boarding because of his alcohol intake,
police Sgt. Rob Pedregon told Fox News. The aircraft was slated to depart for
John F. Kennedy International Airport.
An intoxicated Delta Air Lines passenger allegedly attacked Los Angeles airport police officers after being barred from boarding a flight, authorities said Thursday. Reuters
"They felt he was too intoxicated to
fly," he said.
An airline spokesperson told Fox News the
passenger became verbally abusive at the departure gate.
When the officers arrived, they decided the
unidentified man could be walked out of the terminal where he could get a ride.
"When they got to the bottom of the escalator
for arrivals, the officer handed the suspect his ID back and afterwards the
suspect had a moment of rage and he assaulted the officer," Pedregon said.
An officer was punched in the chest and the
suspect was tackled and taken into custody, he said.
"I'm not going to comply until you tell me
why," the suspect said as he struggled with the officers, TMZ reported. "It's people like you. You ruined my
(expletive) night, dude."
The celebrity gossip site said the man was hoping
to fly to New York City.
He was arrested on suspicion of battery on a
police officer and public intoxication and booked into jail.
The flight departed without any further incidents,
Delta said.
Thursday’s incident came amid a spike in
confrontations involving unruly airline passengers. As of Dec. 21, the Federal
Aviation Administration said there were 5,779 reports of unruly passengers,
mostly for mask-related incidents.
Just
over 1,000 investigations have been initiated, the agency said.
Ubåt - Russland tester eksportversjonen av Lada Class - Defenseworld.net
Russian Diesel Submarine 'Kronstadt' Conducts High
Speed Tests
- Our
Bureau
- 06:52
AM, December 29, 2021
- 813
Amur
1650 diesel-electric submarine based on Project 677E
Russia’s Admiralty Shipyards has carried out
high-speed and maneuverable tests of Project 677 Lada diesel submarine,
Kronstadt.
Specialists of the enterprise and the crew of the
Russian Navy carried out the signboard and inclining of the submarine, checked
the hydroacoustic complex, navigation and communication complexes, tested
lifting and mast devices, press service of the company said in a statement.
The shipyard is preparing to start the second
stage of factory sea trials.
Project 677 submarines are designed to
combat enemy submarines and surface ships, to protect naval bases, sea coast
and sea communications, as well as to launch a missile strike on enemy coastal
targets. The peculiarity of these submarines is their single-hull
architecture, the use of complementary equipment and electronic weapons
complexes of a new development, specially created for these submarines by
Russian enterprises. They have a displacement of 1,800 tons, are
distinguished by a low noise level, are capable of speeds up to 21 knots, and
dive to a depth of 350 meters. The ship's crew is 36 people.
Space - Webb teleskopet har brennstoff for mer enn 10 år - Curt Lewis
Sjekk hvor teleskopet befinner seg i sin ferd mot Lagrange L2 punktet, 1,5 mill. km. fra jorda, her: https://tinyurl.com/44fcxsyh - Du finner også videoer med hva som skjer underveis. Nå gjelder det å få ut solskjermingen; det sølvblanke i illustrasjonen under. (Red.)
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(Image Courtesy: NASA)
Due to Precision Launch, NASA Says Webb
Space Telescope’s Fuel Likely To Last Way More Than 10 Years
After a successful launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope on December
25, and completion of two mid-course correction maneuvers, the Webb team has
analyzed its initial trajectory and determined the observatory should have
enough propellant to allow support of science operations in orbit for
significantly more than a 10-year science lifetime. (The minimum baseline for
the mission is five years.)
Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket launches with NASA’s James Webb Space
Telescope onboard, Saturday, December 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch Zone of
Europe’s Spaceport at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The
James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is a large infrared
telescope with a 21.3 foot (6.5 meter) primary mirror. The observatory will
study every phase of cosmic history—from within our solar system to the most
distant observable galaxies in the early universe.
The analysis shows that less propellant than originally planned for is
needed to correct Webb’s trajectory toward its final orbit around the second
Lagrange point known as L2, a point of gravitational balance on the far side of
Earth away from the Sun. Consequently, Webb will have much more than the
baseline estimate of propellant – though many factors could ultimately affect
Webb’s duration of operation.
Webb has rocket propellant onboard not only for midcourse correction and
insertion into orbit around L2, but also for necessary functions during the life
of the mission, including “station keeping” maneuvers – small thruster burns to
adjust Webb’s orbit — as well as what’s known as momentum management, which
maintains Webb’s orientation in space.
The extra propellant is largely due to the precision of the Arianespace
Ariane 5 launch, which exceeded the requirements needed to put Webb on the right
path, as well as the precision of the first mid-course correction maneuver – a
relatively small, 65-minute burn after launch that added approximately 45 mph
(20 meters/sec) to the observatory’s speed. A second correction maneuver
occurred on December 27, adding around 6.3 mph (2.8 meters/sec) to the
speed.
The accuracy of the launch trajectory had another result: the timing of the
solar array deployment. That deployment was executed automatically after
separation from the Ariane 5 based on a stored command to deploy either when
Webb reached a certain attitude toward the Sun ideal for capturing sunlight to
power the observatory – or automatically at 33 minutes after launch. Because
Webb was already in the correct attitude after separation from the Ariane 5
second stage, the solar array was able to deploy about a minute and a half after
separation, approximately 29 minutes after launch.
Tough going i Brasil - Stor aksjon mot miljøkriminalitet - Curt Lewis
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Brazil: more than 100 aircraft seized for
involvement in environmental crimes
The Yanomami Operation to combat illegal mining activity in Indigenous
Land, in the state of Roraima, in the extreme north of Brazil and bordering
Venezuela and Guyana, seized 89 aircraft, disabled 22, and inspected 87 runways
along with 3 clandestine ports in 3 months of action.
Under the coordination of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security,
through the Secretariat of Integrated Operations (Seopi), the action also
removed non-indigenous people and miners from the lands of those who are
indigenous, in addition to reestablishing the bases of ethnic-environmental
protection.
According to Aeroin, our Brazilian media partner, 38 people were arrested
during this period for involvement in environmental crimes. Almost 30,000 kilos
of ore, 850 cartridges, and 9 boats were confiscated. In addition, 89 thousand
liters of fuel were disabled, as well as 10 rafts, 11 vehicles, 4 tractors, and
22 gas stations were seized.
The operation was carried out jointly by the Federal Police, the Highway
Division, the National Public Security Force, the National Indian Foundation
(Funai), the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources
(Ibama), the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), the
National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC Brasil), the National Telecommunications
Agency (ANATEL), the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) and the Ministry of Defense
(MD).
Covid-19 - Egentlig en god julehistorie og kudos til Icelandair, og ikke minst passasjeren - Curt Lewis
Ill.: ICAO
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Woman Isolates in Airplane Bathroom for 5
Hours After Testing Positive for COVID Mid-Flight
A Michigan teacher's trip to Iceland took a dramatic turn when she
discovered that she was positive for COVID-19 midway through her flight and
voluntarily self-isolated for five hours in the plane's bathroom.
Marisa Fotieo begun to feel ill while on board her Icelandair flight from
Chicago to Reykjavík, Iceland, before Christmas and took her own rapid test to
find out if she had COVID.
"I just took my rapid test and I brought it into the bathroom, and within
what felt like two seconds there were two lines (indicating a positive test),"
Fotieo told Today in an interview that aired Wednesday.
Instead of exposing her fellow passengers to the virus, Fotieo confined
herself inside the aircraft's bathroom for roughly five hours.
"There's 150 people on the flight, and my biggest fear was giving it to
them," she explained to NBC News' Steve Patterson.
"It was a crazy experience," she added.
Fotieo documented the ordeal on TikTok in a video that has garnered over
1.4 million likes. "Shout out to @Icelandair for my VIP quarantine quarters,"
she captioned the clip, which saw her masked up in the small airplane
restroom.
Fotieo credits Icelandair attendant Ragnhildur "Rocky" Eiríksdóttir for
assisting her throughout the flight.
"She made sure I had everything I needed for the next five hours from food
to drinks and constantly checked on me assuring me I would be all right," Fotieo
shared with NBC News.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the
biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.
If that wasn't enough, Eiríksdóttir went a step further and made sure to
bring some holiday cheer to Fotieo as she quarantined at Red Cross hotel in
Iceland.
"She bought me flowers and a little Christmas tree with lights so I could
hang it," Fotieo said. "It was so heartfelt, and she's just an angel."
Fotieo is not alone in having holiday travel plans affected by the surge in
COVID cases due to the omicron variant. Across the globe, the number of flight
cancellations for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day totaled more than 3,800,
according to Flight Aware data obtained by the New York Times.
Additionally, the United States recorded a single-day record high of more
than 441,000 new COVID cases on Monday due to the highly transmissible omicron
variant.
Sterk jet stream skaper forsinkelser-.... og så går det litt fortere den andre veien da - Curt Lewis
Som du kan lese under er det voldsomme forsinkelser i USA på grunn av Covid-19 smitte. (Red.)
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Jet stream causing more issues for
airlines
U.S. airlines are already understaffed because of COVID-19, and the weather
isn't helping matters.
The jet stream winds have been unusually strong for several days, affecting
transcontinental flights. Those going eastbound on Wednesday were arriving up to
an hour earlier than scheduled, while westbound flights were slowed down, some
delayed by as much as 45 minutes. Earlier this week, the headwinds were so
strong that a Phoenix-bound American Airlines flight from Boston had to stop in
Oklahoma City to refuel, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Richard Bann, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, told the
Journal that winds of upwards of 230 miles an hour are being recorded over the
Great Lakes, and the jet stream could remain elevated for a week. In order to
ensure that flights coming in early and late aren't landing too close together,
the Federal Aviation Administration said it is regulating departures.
Thousands of flights have been canceled in the last few days, due to snow
in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest combined with staffing shortages caused by
pilots, flight attendants, and other airline crew members testing positive for
COVID-19. Flight Aware data shows Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has been
hit the hardest, with Newark Liberty International, Chicago O'Hare, and Los
Angeles International all experiencing above-average cancelation rates. As of
Wednesday night, more than 500 flights have already been canceled for Thursday.
Helikopter havarerte i Argentina - Curt Lewis
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Bell 412SP - Fatal Accident
(Argentina)
Date: 29-DEC-2021
Time: c. 14:15 UTC
Type: Bell 412SP
Owner/operator: Helicópteros del Pacífico Ltda
Registration: LV-KAI
MSN: 33153
Fatalities: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities: 0
Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location: Quillén zone, Neuquén province - Argentina
Phase: Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature: Fire fighting
Departure airport:
Destination airport:
Narrative:
A Bell 412SP helicopter crashed while performing fire fighting duties near
Quilén, Neuquén province.
The pilot and a mechanic didn't survive the crash.
Feil i loadsheet er noe hærk..... B737-8 MAX - Canada - Curt Lewis
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Incident: Canada B38M at Vancouver on Dec
19th 2021, rotated on its own
An Air Canada Boeing 737-8 MAX, registration C-GEKX performing flight
AC-234 from Vancouver,BC to Edmonton,AB (Canada) with 160 passengers and 6 crew,
was accelerating for takeoff from Vancouver's runway 26L when the nose of the
aircraft rose unexpectedly. The crew was able to hold the nose down and
continued takeoff. The aircraft continued to Edmonton for a safe landing.
The Canadian TSB reported the load sheet showed 89 bags in the forward
cargo hold, however, were loaded into the aft cargo hold. The operator is
investigating.
Stor ordre til Airbus - AVweb
Det ser ut som om A321XLR vil "rule the skies" på lange, tynne ruter. (Red.)
ACG Signs Contract For 40 A320neos
Airbus announced on Thursday that aircraft lessor Aviation Capital Group (ACG) has signed a firm contract for 40 A320neo family aircraft. The order includes five A321XLRs, a version of the A321neo that offers a range of 4,700 NM. California-based ACG, which is wholly owned by Japan’s Tokyo Century Corporation, also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for 20 A220 passenger jets.
“The order is another gratifying endorsement of our single aisle products by one of the world’s premier aircraft asset managers, ACG and the Tokyo Century Group,” said Christian Scherer, Airbus chief commercial officer and head of Airbus International. “It also forcefully confirms the A220 as a growingly desirable aircraft and investment in the commercial aviation landscape.”
According to ACG, the order will support a multimillion-dollar ESG fund initiative recently launched by Airbus to “contribute towards investment into sustainable aviation development projects.” Built for the 100- to 150-seat market, the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G-powered A220 offers a 50 percent reduction in noise footprint and up to 25 percent lower fuel burn per seat compared to the previous generation aircraft. Airbus reports that its A320neo family, which includes the A319neo, A320neo and A321neo, provides at least a 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Bråk på Stavanger Lufthavn - ABC Nyheter
Ampert på og utenfor Stavanger lufthavn
NTB
1 time siden
– Slåssing på Kiss and fly-parkering på Sola
flyplass. Politiet på stedet, amper stemning, skrev Sørvest politidistrikt
på Twitter i 8.30-tiden.
En snau time senere kunne politiet fortelle at
fire personer hadde vært involvert i en konfrontasjon, men at bakgrunnen var
uviss ettersom partene forklarte seg ulikt og det i tillegg var
«språkutfordringer». Ingen kom til skade.
Kort tid etter bråket utenfor, måtte politiet roe
gemyttene inne i flyplassens avgangshall.
– Samtidig som det har vært ampert på utsiden av
flyplassen, har det også vært ampert i avgangshallen. En mann anholdt og får
ikke være med oppsatt fly, kunne politiet fortelle da.
Det er ventet mange reisende på landets flyplasser
nyttårsaften.
torsdag 30. desember 2021
X-59 QueSST on the road - The War Zone
NASA's X-59 Quiet Supersonic Test Jet Spotted
On A Trailer Heading To Texas
The Skunk Works-built X-59 that could
revolutionize supersonic travel is getting closer to its first flight.
BY JOSEPH TREVITHICK DECEMBER 23, 2021
ALDO BOCCACCIO
JOSEPH TREVITHICK View Joseph Trevithick's Articles
The
experimental X-59 Quiet Supersonic
Technology aircraft, or QueSST, which Lockheed Martin's Skunk
Works is building for NASA,
is now on its way to the company's plant in Fort Worth, Texas. Once there, the
jet, which is being designed to explore sonic-boom-mitigating technologies that
could have significant impacts on the future of supersonic flight, will
undergo structural testing ahead
of a planned first flight next year.
Photographer Aldo Boccaccio grabbed
pictures of the aircraft under wraps on a semi-trailer in Marana, Arizona
earlier this week and was kind enough to share them with us. The plane has been
under construction at Skunk Work's
facility at the U.S. Air Force's Plant 42 in Palmdale,
California, since 2018. Lockheed Martin confirmed to The War Zone that the current plan is to truck the X-59
to its Texas plant, which is best known for hosting the F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter assembly line, for structural tests before bringing it back
to Palmdale for the initial round of flight testing. It does seem somewhat
curious that such a fragile, one-off design would be moved via road instead of
something like a U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy transport
plane.
F-35 - Mystisk kunde med spesielle spesifikasjoner - The War Zone
Anonymous F-35 Customer Is Getting A New Variant Of The Stealth Jet
THOMAS NEWDICK View Thomas Newdick's Articles
Work
is due to begin on a mysterious new variant of the F-35 stealth fighter for
an as-yet-unnamed foreign customer. A contract announcement posted recently
confirms that Lockheed Martin has received just over $49 million of Foreign
Military Sales (FMS) funds to develop the unspecified “Joint Strike Fighter
aircraft variant,” with speculation now focusing on what changes this could
involve, and which operator it’s destined for.
The
full contract announcement,
published online December 27, reads as follows:
Lockheed
Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $49,059,494
cost-plus-incentive-fee-contract that provides engineering and other related
activities in support of the design and development of a Joint Strike Fighter
aircraft variant tailored for an unspecified Foreign Military Sales (FMS)
customer.
Work
will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (77%); Redondo Beach, California (14%);
Orlando, Florida (6%); Baltimore, Maryland (1%); Owego, New York (1%) and
Samlesbury, United Kingdom (1%), and is expected to be completed in December
2026.
FMS
funds in the amount $49,059,494 will be obligated at time of award, none of
which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not
competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air
Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity
(N0001922C0015).
ISRAELI AIR FORCE/AMIT
AGRONOV
The Israeli Air Force’s uniquely
outfitted test variant of the F-35I stealth fighter represents one approach to
fielding a bespoke subvariant of the Joint Stike Fighter.
It seems highly unlikely that the new
F-35 variant would be for a new, previously unannounced customer. It would be
very unusual for the United States to award a contract for the development of
an F-35 variant for a customer who has not already agreed to buy the aircraft.
The
fact that the contract has been placed by Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
also doesn’t tell us more, since this serves not only as the contracting agency
for all F-35 FMS customers but is also home to the entire F-35 Joint Program Office. Therefore,
the aircraft could be a modification of the conventional takeoff and landing
(CTOL) F-35A, or
the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B. So
far, there are no foreign customers for the F-35C carrier variant,
which would rule out a development of this version.
ISRAEL’S SPECIALLY-BUILT F-35I TEST JET JUST TOUCHED DOWN
IN-COUNTRYBy
Thomas NewdickPosted in THE WAR ZONE
SINGAPORE MOVES CLOSER TO JOINING WHAT CHINA CALLS THE
'U.S. F-35 FRIENDS CIRCLE'By Joseph TrevithickPosted in THE WAR ZONE
HERE’S HOW FINLAND JUSTIFIED ITS DECISION TO BUY 64 F-35
JOINT STRIKE FIGHTERSBy Thomas NewdickPosted in THE WAR ZONE
UAE F-35 STEALTH FIGHTER DEAL HANGS BY A THREAD AMID
CHINESE ESPIONAGE WORRIESBy Thomas NewdickPosted in THE WAR ZONE
SWITZERLAND CHOOSES F-35 AS ITS NEXT FIGHTER JETBy Thomas NewdickPosted in THE WAR ZONE
Most likely, we are looking at a
country-specific subvariant of an F-35A or B model. However, a NATO customer is
probably less likely, considering that a truly bespoke variant would be at odds
with interoperability requirements within the alliance.
As
for what this new iteration of the Joint Strike Fighter might actually consist
of, the chances are weighted highly in favor of a more modest modification, or
series of changes, to suit the specific local requirements of a particular
customer. After all, the price tag of $49 million for this contract is really
not large in F-35 terms, especially as that covers work through December 2026.
This is, of course, a program that has been regularly hit by spiraling costs that
have affected export
customers too.
F-35
modifications to meet local demands are not unprecedented. After all, many
foreign F-35 customers request certain changes to their aircraft, frequently
relating to weapons capabilities, but also other features, like the drag chute found
on Norway’s F-35As and which has also been selected by Finland, the most
recent Joint Strike Fighter
customer.
An
F-35A drag chute test in Norway: Video: https://youtu.be/wtxIhjKczz4
More
radical changes are embodied in Israel’s one-off test version of its F-35I
“Adir,” specially equipped to put the type’s equipment through its paces,
including aircraft and weapons trials, avionics integration, and airframe
modification and testing. You can read all about the background to this unique
F-35 model in this previous article.
In
particular, the Israeli test jet will help with the introduction of
Israeli-developed weapons destined for operational F-35Is, expected to include
the Rafael SPICE precision-guided
bomb, but potentially also air-to-air missiles and
other weapons. The operational F-35Is are also adding specific communications
and electronic warfare systems, which will be tested locally first. These jets
are also distinct from other F-35As thanks to Israel’s ability to install its
own distinct mission
software and do so independent of the Autonomic Logistics
Information System (ALIS), which also handles plenty of
critical mission functions.
The
new contract may well be for the continuation of work already underway, which
could apply to Israel. Back in 2018,
Lockheed won a contract to develop Israeli-specific modifications under the
Block 3F+ production effort, with work due to run until the end of this year.
This new contract could well serve to extend that work.
ISRAELI AIR FORCE/AMIT
AGRONOV
Frontline Israeli Air Force F-35I
jets are receiving specific avionics, electronic warfare, and weapons.
Israel
has in the past also looked at extending the range of its F-35I fleet by
incorporating external fuel tanks and
even conformal fuel tanks. Either of these would be especially useful for
long-range strikes of the kind that the F-35I would likely be tasked with. The
contract may have to do with integration work related to this.
On
the other hand, not naming the FMS customer may point to Singapore,
which has ordered an initial batch of just four F-35Bs that are scheduled to be
delivered in 2026.
That would not only tally with the timescale of the contract, but Singapore
also often prefers not to be named in FMS contracts, citing operational security
concerns.
Singapore, like Israel, has
traditionally required additional unique capabilities to be integrated into its
fighter jets and the F-35B may be no exception. Indeed, Singapore will be the
first user to operate the STOVL version of the jet exclusively from land bases
and may require modifications to its aircraft to suit its unique concept of
operations. The first four Singaporean jets will be used to evaluate whether
the F-35 really is a good fit for the tiny country, which could also point to
aircraft configured more specifically for testing purposes.
In fact, Singapore could be looking to
incorporate some of the same electronic warfare and/or weapons systems that
Israel is installing in its F-35s, which would continue an established military
relationship between those two countries.
One
other factor specific to Singapore is the refueling capability for the F-35B
variant it has selected. The STOVL model comes with a refueling probe as
standard rather than the receptacle that’s used on the Republic of Singapore
Air Force’s frontline F-15SG and F-16 tactical jets — as well as on F-35As.
It’s conceivable that the modifications could relate to equipping Singaporean
F-35Bs with a refueling receptacle, which would provide compatibility with the
boom on its A330 Multi-Role Tanker
Transport (MRTT) aircraft. While the MRTTs do feature wingtip
pods for probe-and-drogue refueling, the receptacle offers much greater fuel
transfer rates and could be an attractive capability for Singapore.
By
the same token, it’s also possible that an F-35A customer is looking to outfit
its receptacle-equipped jets with refueling probes. This could be a factor for
a country like Finland, a recent Joint Strike
Fighter customer, whose current F/A-18C/D fighters routinely
refuel from pod-equipped tankers. This is not a new proposition. Lockheed is
well aware of the potential for such a modification. Canada, for instance,
would likely require the same configuration if they were to buy the F-35A. This
would also make sense with the work being related to a new variant, as the
outright configuration would differ from its F-35A counterparts.
Israel and Singapore are certainly
both possible candidates for the mystery contract, but Steve Trimble, Defense
Editor at Aviation
Week, has pointed out that he thinks the
work may be strictly limited perhaps to a handful of avionics revisions as
requested by an existing customer.
If that’s the case, then the wording
of the contract announcement is at least curious, pointing specifically to
what’s described as a “tailored” new variant of the aircraft.
With
that in mind, some observers have suggested that the work may refer to some
previously unknown ‘downgraded’ export variant of the F-35, perhaps developed
for a more sensitive customer with specific concerns around high-end
capabilities or security issues.
Taiwan or the United Arab Emirates would potentially fit those descriptions,
but the very early nature of discussions about possible F-35 orders would also
seem to make that all but impossible. While the UAE has at least been approved
as a future F-35 customer, the future of such a deal hangs in the balance amid
concerns over stringent safeguards to protect these systems against Chinese
espionage, an issue you can read about here.
There have been other contracts
related to specific modifications of the F-35 for FMS customers, even just this
year. However, while thin on details, these have differed from the latest
announcement in elements of their wording. While the costs involved are broadly
similar in each case, they have applied to modifications that apply to multiple
unidentified FMS customers, rather than just one. Among these earlier
contracts, one valued at $13.7 million is for “support of sustainment efforts
for flight test instrumentation air systems,” which could again point to the
Israeli-specific test jet.
Beyond
the possible need for a refueling probe on its A models, Finland has already
said that its aircraft will feature some significant differences compared to
other F-35As. According to the
Finnish Air Force, “the solution encompasses the maintenance capabilities to be
built in Finland as well as spare components and replaceable assemblies for
exceptional circumstances that are under the sole national control of Finland
as well as participation in the multinational maintenance network.”
Another
non-aligned F-35 customer, Switzerland,
could conceivably also be seeking to incorporate some special modifications in
its jets, and tweaking the design to use a host of specific parts would likely
be within the realm of something in this price range. However, both Finland and
Switzerland are expecting to get their first F-35s in 2025, a year in advance
of when work will be completed under this contract.
As it stands, we can only really
speculate as to which F-35 customer is involved in this apparently bespoke
work, while the degree of change in what’s purportedly a new variant of the jet
is also unknown at this stage. Our best guess would be this pertains to giving
the A model a refueling probe, necessitating its own variant terminology, but
that is just a guess. We have reached out to NAVAIR for more information and
will continue to bring you more details of this intriguing story just as soon
as they emerge.
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