F35 Archives - Page 3 of 3

The United Kingdom was waiting for an invincible hunt. Today, the F-35 flies little and cannot shoot its own weapons

July 16, 2025 by usatoday24

He F-35b Lightning It is one of the most advanced fighters in the world. It has low observability when radar can take off in short distances and land vertically, and is designed to operate from Terrestrial Bases and Bases. You can execute Aire-Aire, air-surface, electronic warfare and intelligence in parallel missions. On paper, the United Kingdom was going to turn it into the cornerstone of its aerial power, With 138 planned units and a service horizon until 2069. But reality goes behind that ambition. A new report by the National Audit Office (NAO) He has just documented in detail a series of problems that drag the program: from sustained delays to capabilities yet to be integrated. The result is a much less solid photograph than expected a decade ago. And that opens uncomfortable questions about costs, efficacy and planning. F-35b, promises and delays As we said, the F-35B Lightning is the short take-off version and vertical landing of hunting by the United States The Joint Strike Fighter program. United Kingdom chose this variant To replace your Harrier and operate from the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers. You can fly to more than Mach 1.6, reach 50,000 feet of altitude and execute multiple types of mission. A Harrier plane landing Its strong point is in the fusion of sensors and in the ability to share data in real time with other platforms. Unlike previous generations, the F-35B not only acts as an attack vector, but as a network intelligence node. In 2012 the first units arrived in the country, with Raf Marham as the main base. United Kingdom has invested at least 11,000 million pounds (about 12.6 billion euros) until March 2025, According to the National Audit Office. And yet, the level of operational capacity reached is lower than the ministry expected in 2013. The postponement of the total operational capacity (FOC) of 2023 at the end of 2025 implies that the F -35b have not yet reached the degree of maturity necessary to operate with full capacity. According to the NAO, the flight hours accumulated in 2024 were lower than those required, which limits the preparation of crews and the real availability of the fleet for intensive missions. In addition, the plane is currently limited in armament. Today only the guided pump Paveway IV and the Air-Aire Amraam AIM-13D, According to the RAF technical file. NAO confirms that the integration of British Meteor and Spear 3 missiles It has been postponed until the early 2030. In practice, this means that the F -35B cannot yet execute attacks from long distance with state -of -the -art weapons, such as its original strategic purpose. An F-35 landing There are also structural limitations. As The Register has pointed outthe short take -off design and vertical landing (Stovl) imposes significant restrictions on the payload and at the operational reach of the plane, something that conditions its effectiveness in demanding combat scenarios. This assessment is not part of the official NAO report, but it does reflect a usual concern among several specialists. To all this, the cost of full life cycle could reach 71,000 million pounds (about 81.9 billion euros). The problems are not alone Although the F-35B is already in operational use, the figures reveal a compromised capacity. In 2024, only around one third of the fleet was available to execute all the expected missions. Part of the problem is structural: the United Kingdom has failed to cover all the necessary positions to operate and maintain the system. Engineers are scarceand prolonged displays in aircraft carrier make many fate F-35 as unattractive. A F-35B of the United Kingdom The supply of pieces is not guaranteed either. The global logistics system, managed from the United States, has not grown at the same pace as the international fleet. That has generated bottlenecks, delays in deliveries and an excessive dependence on temporary solutions. Although during the deployment of Carrier Strike Group of 2025 the availability rates were improved, everything indicates that these levels may not be maintained once the operation is finished. Despite delays, costs and availability problems, the United Kingdom retains an outstanding role within the International F-35 program. He was the only level 1 partner to join the United States -led program and maintains 38 members of the Ministry of Defense Integrated in the central team of the project in Washington, more than any other country. This implication has given tangible results: British companies manufacture at least 15 % of the value of each unit produced. An eye on the future While the F-35 still faces limitations, the United Kingdom already promotes its own next generation project: The Tempest huntintegrated since December 2022 in the multinational program Global Combat Air Program (GCAP)together with Italy and Japan. Conceptual image of the future hunting of the Tempest program This effort, led by BAE Systems (United Kingdom), Leonardo (Italy) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan), aims to develop a Sixth generation furtive plane for 2035with prototypes flying before 2028. The headquarters of the program is based in the United Kingdom. Since its origin, it has been raised as an open architecture platform, with engines, plane, sensors and weapons developed under national control, seeking greater technological autonomy with respect to the US. Despite optimism, there are still tensions. Italy has expressed concern about the lack of transparency in the technological transfer from the United Kingdom. Images | Raf (1, 2), | Adrian Pingstone | BAE Systems In Xataka | There are those who ask why airplanes have no parachute. This manufacturer decided to stop asking him and putting one

The F-35 and the US ballistic missiles need the key component of a magnet. The problem is that it was “Made in China”

April 16, 2025 by usatoday24

Finally, China carried out what the global industry feared: blocking the export of rare earths more valuable. In this way, without more, it sounds tremendous, although surely many will wonder how far the scope of the veto really comes, or which supply chain will be affected in the short term with Beijing’s decision. There are many sectors against the strings, but there is an especially delicate one for Washington: Defense. If everything remains the same, you have a few months left for your F-35 or ballistic missiles to have a serious problem. The Achilles heel. I told it The New York Times A few hours ago. China’s decision to impose restrictions on the export of critical minerals and, especially, of certain rare earth magnets, represents a direct warning to the national security of the United States, whose military capacities They depend largely of these resources. Which is it? We talk about Combat fighters of the Air Force, like F-35of guided ballistic missiles of the army or electric drones of the Marines, where these magnets (made with elements such as neodymium, disposium or ititrium) are essential for the operation of motors, guidance mechanisms or emergency systems. If, for example, a ballistic missile does not include the component of these magnets, it would be impossible for their goal to reach. The background problem. That 90 % of these components are produces in Chinaand six of the key metals that compose them are only refined there, which gives Beijing a powerful pressure tool. This maneuver, considered a “warning shot” by An official From the Air Force, it could easily climb towards fees, tariffs or even a total prohibition, generating an immediate impact on the costs and availability of American military technologies. A vulnerable chain. It We have counted other times. Rare earth (a set of 17 elements) is not that they are scarce in the strict sense, but its processing is expensive (and polluting), which is why China managed to dominate both its extraction and the associated refining and manufacturing. This supremacy has allowed him control much of the final cost of the modern American weapons, including those poachers, submarines, war ships, tanks, missiles and laser systems. To get an idea, only one F-35 contains around 400 kg of rare earth materialswhile some submarines They exceed 4,000 kg. Although the American defense industry and the pentagon have accumulated strategic reserves of these elements, analysts warn that these collections would barely reach to cover a few months of production and maintenance, not even years. From there, as we recently counted, that Washington has noticed the Pacific fund. Future warnings. Actually, the United States already knew about this unit and what could happen for a few years. It happened with an emblematic case, the call “F-35 “magnet debacle”when in 2022 the Department of Defense temporarily suspended the delivery of these aircraft after discovering that a component contained a Alloy manufactured in Chinacontravening defense acquisition standards. Although at that time it was considered that the material did not represent a direct threat, the incident highlighted the depth of the US dependence. Now, with the obligation that Chinese exporters Request special permits Before sending rare earth to the United States, experts anticipate a price increase that will affect the entire industrial defense base. Yes, the MINTAIN PASS MINA In California it has resumed operations, but its production is far from competing with Chinese capacity. Historical precedents. Looking back, history offers examples of how the United States must have adapted to interruptions of the supply of strategic materials in times of war. For example, now It happened with the bauxite During World War II, when Germany sank allied charges that transported it from Surinam. So Washington turned to Domestic reserves in Arkansas to guarantee the production of airplanes. Today, The Times told that there are already voices from the sector, such as American Enterprise Institutewhich insist that current reserves are not enough to sustain the military-industrial complex in the face of a long interruption of the Chinese supply. Despite the initiatives of Trump and Biden governments to Reactivate national production Of critical minerals, the industry remains highly vulnerable to Beijing’s decisions. A critical dilemma. No doubt, there is a much broader background with what happened in the commercial war. Chinese control over rare earth supply not only implies logistic or economic vulnerability: it represents A geostrategic challenge First order for the technological supremacy of which the United States has always presumed in the military. The recent Chinese measure does not close trade routes completely, but it makes it clear that Beijin possesses A pressure lever Formidable about the American defense industry. Faced with this, analysts agree that Washington must accelerate efforts to diversify their sources of supply, recover internal industrial capabilities and ensure the resilience of a supply chain that supports a good part of its global power. Otherwise, the next crisis may not limit yourself to that “warning shot”, but to become a direct blow to the technological backbone of the National Defense. Image | Jasper Nance In Xataka | The United States imagined that China would veto its export of rare earths. Has a plan B: The Pacific Fund In Xataka | China has done what the global industry feared: block the export of the most valuable rare earths

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