In a significant milestone for the F-35 training programme, the 2,000th pilot has graduated through the system.

The F-35 Full Mission Simulator, a cutting-edge trainer, plays a crucial role in preparing pilots for their first flights, equipping them with the necessary skills to handle the advanced capabilities of the F-35 aircraft.

With an average of 192 hours of training required before taking to the skies, becoming an F-35 pilot is an arduous process. Nearly half of this training time is spent in the simulator, which utilises high-fidelity simulation to provide a seamless transition from trainer to jet. The simulator incorporates the same software as the F-35 aircraft, complete with full weapons and sensor simulation, enabling pilots to train for a wide range of air-to-air, air-to-ground, and electronic warfare missions.

Maj. Chris “Blade” Jeffers achieved the distinction of being the 2,000th pilot to graduate from the F-35 training program. Completing his training at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, Maj. Jeffers is set to join the United States Air Force, where he will operate the F-35A.

“The most rewarding part of training is just seeing what I can do now in the F-35 compared to the F-16. The situational awareness and capabilities that the F-35 offers would take multiple F-16s.” – Maj. Chris Jeffers

Upon completing the F-35 training program, pilots return to the simulator for additional training and mission preparation as required. By utilizing simulations, the program effectively reduces costs and minimizes wear and tear on the jets. This approach enables fleets to remain mission-ready while allowing pilots to maintain their skills at optimal levels.

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Tom Dunlop
Tom Dunlop
Tom has spent the last 13 years working in the defence industry, specifically military and commercial shipbuilding. His work has taken him around Europe and the Far East, he is currently based in Scotland.

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13 COMMENTS

  3. “ With an average of 192 hours of training required”

    I’m surprised it is as little type specific training as that TBH.

    • Morning SB, Think that probably shows how realistic the synthetic training sims are, also I think this is an average school/sim to solo in a physical airframe, I was told by an RAF QFI (Typhoons) it was about 200hrs ground work before his mate got his hands on a real F35B, then at least another 25hrs to prove his sim skills in the real thing.

      Edit for terrible spelling and missing words

  4. Some additional figures from the F35 project. In addition to the number of trained pilots. Over 14,015 engineers have been trained. 651,001 flight hours amassed. 386,613 sorties flown. 401 overseas operational deployments and detachments. 27 global operating bases from a current planned number of 43. 12 warships are now F35 capable. This will increase to 19. 19 warships capable of deploying 5th gen stealth strike fighters in numbers. Russia and China have zero. That’s enough keep the Chinese awake at night. 17 nations are now involved in F35, with a few more waiting in the wings to sign up. The flyaway cost of an F35A is $10M less than a new F15EX. Is it still expensive, yes, will operating costs continue to fall, yes. And you need far fewer F35’s to complete the tasks compared to the equivalent 4th gen aircraft you need for the same task as the pilot in the articlementions. In FY2021per flight hours cost fell to $33,000 with an aim to get to $25,000 in 2025. But you have to remember an aircraft like the F16 or F15E where electro optical targeting systems and infrared sensors and electronic warfare are podded systems rather than an integral part of the airframe like the F35. Maintaining podded systems is not counted against the aircrafts operating costs. Blk4 is late, and over budget. But its a massive upgrade. Much of it is classified but includes 19 weapons integrations and a new APG-85 radar and 75 major upgrades. Typhoon had been in service 15 years before it got StormShadow and Brimstone. That just gives you a glimpse of the scale of blk4. 👍

    • Relatively recently, believe an issue remained w/ development of software simulation environment for F-35 FMS, to the extent that testing and final acceptance had been delayed. This, in turn, delayed the decision to authorize full rate aircraft production. Has this issue been resolved, at least to the level that victory has been declared, w/ floggings meted out to the poor bastards actually assigned to perform miracles, while praise and promotions are awarded to the non-participants? 🤔😳 (As has been noted here previously, some have elevated the timing of periods of association w/ major programmes to an artform.) 😁

    • I don’t think anything keeps the PRC up at night. They brought the world to its knees with a lab virus and felt no recourse. As long as a MIRV isn’t splitting city blocks over Shanghai, they really don’t care if they lose 1 million men or a hundred ships. Just like the USSR, It’s all expendable.

  5. More engineers next, I wonder what the cost of the upgrade will be?

    F-35 Engine Running Too Hot Due To ‘Under-Speccing,’ Upgrade Now Vital (Updated)

    “We compared these engines [options for the F-35], the AETP engine, the current engine, [and] modernization of the current engine,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, the current head of the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO), explained.

    He said his office also had done work on “identifying a significant power and thermal management system requirement, and we evaluated numerous options of power and thermal management systems to get us to various levels of cooling and power that is required.”

    “We have been eating into the life of this engine since the beginning of the program, because we did under-spec the engine and its requirements,” he continued. “We are building costs into this program by eating into the life of this engine with additional overhauls that are expected over the life of the program.”

    “The original program engine specification allocated 15 kW [kilowatts] of bleed air extraction to support system cooling requirements, and the F135 engine was designed, tested, and qualified to this specification with a level of margin available for future growth,” Schmidt wrote. “During the final stages of initial aircraft development, air vehicle cooling requirements grew to exceed planned bleed air extraction.”

    “To provide the necessary bleed air, the engine is required to run hotter, and the program is realizing the effects of this through an increase in operating temperature, and a decrease in engine life, which is driving earlier depot inductions and an increase in lifecycle cost,” the written testimony adds.
    So, “I also have a derived requirement for power and thermal management, because I’m running out of power at the end of Block 4,” Schmidt added when actually speaking during the hearing.

    LINK

    • Worth reading in full.

      Norway Has the World’s Only Fully Fifth Generation Fighter Fleet: Engineer Shortage Threatens to Ground High Maintenance F-35s
      “Although the new aircraft provide significant performance advantages over their predecessors, including stealth capabilities, far more advanced sensors and avionics and access to a new generation of armaments, the F-35’s maintenance requirements have been notoriously high – with its operational costs far exceeding estimates when the program was initiated which has repeatedly brought its suitability to fully replace F-16 fleets into question.”

      LINK

  6. I presume our aircrew trained at this Centre in the early days but now our own OCU converts aircrew to type?

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