Tag Archives: f-35

Air Force Pilot Dies in Crash of Classified Aircraft

After the Wednesday crash of two A-10s made news last Thursday, the military revealed on Friday that another aircraft had crashed on Tuesday. US Air Force LtCol Eric Schultz died in the crash of an “unspecified” aircraft:

Lt. Col. Eric Schultz was flying an unspecified aircraft at about 6 p.m. over the Nevada Test and Training Range, approximately 100 miles northwest of Nellis Air Force Base, a spokeswoman at the air base said Friday…

“Information about the type of aircraft involved is classified and not releasable,” Maj. Christina Sukach, chief of public affairs…

The tragic death of Doc and the impact on his family — his wife and five kids — has been overshadowed by the secrecy of the news report. The Aviationist speculated on the existence Read more

Report: F-35 Loses to F-16 in Air Combat

David Axe at the blog War is Boring reportedly obtained an Official Use Only report from an Edwards AFB Test Pilot decrying the inability of his F-35 to best the older F-16 it is supposedly intended to replace:

“The evaluation focused on the overall effectiveness of the aircraft in performing various specified maneuvers in a dynamic environment,” the F-35 tester wrote. “This consisted of traditional Basic Fighter Maneuvers in offensive, defensive and neutral setups at altitudes ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 feet…”

“Even with the limited F-16 target configuration, the F-35A remained at a distinct energy disadvantage for every engagement,” the pilot reported.

One potentially saving grace not explicitly described in the blog is the precise type of BFM the two were flying. The blog reported:  Read more

Air Force May Mothball F-16s if A-10 Stays

The US Air Force will reportedly ship perfectly good F-16s to the desert — and potentially slow down the F-35 program — if it is forced to keep the A-10 beyond the date it wants it retired:

The House Armed Services Committee inserted $683 million into the 2016 defense bill to stop the Air Force from retiring the A-10 Warthog.

However, Air Force leaders said the service will have to mothball F-16s and delay the deployment of the F-35 in response to the move by the committee.

The HASC logic basically says the Air Force needs the A-10 right now, as Read more

Budget Proposal: Air Force to Retire A-10s, U-2s

The controversial DoD budget proposal that has been in the news for the past few weeks contains two specific items for the US Air Force — the end (again) for the A-10 Thunderbolt II (“Warthog”), and the U-2 Dragon Lady.

The former is supposed to be replaced by the F-35; the latter, by the unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk.

The A-10 has been on and off the chopping block for decades — most recently preserved by the very intentional efforts of a single Senator, who now calls this decision a “serious mistake.”

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