No operational UK F-35 Lightning aircraft have been found at risk of harmonic resonance; however, it is understood that a few in production were identified.
In March 2023, the F-35 Joint Program Office authorised a modification to address this issue.
The modification has been applied to UK aircraft being produced and will be implemented across the entire UK fleet.
Alex Chalk, Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence, said:
“No aircraft from the UK’s operational F-35 Lightning fleet have been identified as being at risk of experiencing harmonic resonance, but a small number of aircraft in production for the UK were identified.
In early March 2023, the F-35 Joint Program Office authorised a modification to mitigate the harmonic resonance issue. This has been fitted to the UK aircraft due to be delivered off the production line, and will be implemented across the entire UK fleet.”
What happened?
F-35 deliveries were temporarily suspended in mid-December following an incident with a new F-35B in Fort Worth, Texas.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Worldsource24/status/1603468688589479936
During a quality check flight, the aircraft experienced bouncing, tipping forward, and spinning on the ground before the pilot ejected safely. Subsequently, Lockheed Martin, the aircraft manufacturer, halted acceptance flights for new F-35s.
An investigation identified a vibration issue (harmonic resonance in official speak) in the engine as the cause of the incident.
The Joint Program Office described the vibration issue as a “rare occurrence” and reported in February that engineers from Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, had developed a solution for the problem.
It’s been the one saving grace of the last decade of **** ups and budget cuts is that we are not stock with a large legacy fleet of F35 like the US and Australia that will heed either very expensive rebuilds or may just have to be scrapped all together. Hopefully now Block IV is on its way we can build a fleet that will last for many decades to give us a chance to rebuild numbers in the RAF. We certainly had enough issues like this with Typhoon , it’s been mockingly said that no two typhoons were ever… Read more »
I had heard that said about NIMROD but not the Eurofighter Typhoon.
In fairness, the Nimrods were built by hand in the 60s, they were never going to be identical.
The RAAF f-35A fleet has 2 units from Lot 6, 10 units from Lot 10, and the rest are from Lot 11 or later. Not all delivered yet..
when US and AUS kinda jumped the gun … UK had so many delay’s and setbacks that waiting a year or 2 longer is extremely smart
Sometimes waiting till a project matures is the smart solution.
Most of the UK F35B’s need little modification for Block IV – whenever that toddles into release.
There is a lot of confusion with the Block IV Software and the hardware need to run it. As I understand it all F35s off the line have had the requisite hardware Block IV for a while now.
No, only the F-35s being made from this year’s Lot 15 onward that will have the TR-3 enhanced computing power plus the other hardware needed for Block IV. The F-35s from previous Lots will be have to be TR-3 processor updated sometime before 2029.
But then, according to many here, what do I know.
All aircraft between Lot 5 and Lot 14 can and likely will be retrofitted to TR3 and Block IV standards which means the UK only has 3 aircraft that can’t be changed and those are instrument testing aircraft based in the US anyway.
Of the remaining aircraft only 27 will require the upgrade and the remaining purchase will come with TR3 already installed.
In comparison to Typhoon that’s amazing. It’s like we have juts 3 tranche 1, 27 tranche 2 and 50 Tranche 4.
Are you sure about all Block IV as well as TR-3, new radar etc etc?
Yes I’m certain
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/f-35-has-flown-with-its-new-computer-backbone-for-the-first-time
Still not sure. They say “There are concerns in the United States and among other F-35 operators about the potential for Block 4 upgrades to be cost-prohibitive to integrate into older jets if that’s the route Lockheed Martin and the JPO end up taking.” I don’t think we will know for a while, for example, changing the radar out for a new one might be a Typhoon type situation.
This is a newer article https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/new-electronic-warfare-suite-top-feature-of-f-35-block-4-air-combat-boss-says
Upgrading tranche 1 to tranche 3 standard was basically a non starter as the aircraft required a complete new nose to be built. Lot 5 to lot 14 aircraft are much simpler than that, figures of $20 million an aircraft have been banded about although the current aircraft remains highly effective although as with tranche 1 typhoon it may not be able to operate meteor but atleast its just 27 aircraft and not 100+ as we had the issues with Typhoon. By the time block IV is actually ready for deployment fully in 2029 our aircraft will need a mid… Read more »
Thats because you’re an idiot… or spreading disinformation again.
Which is it, or possibly both?
I am happy to say that on this particular subject it concurs with what I read 2 months ago in a US based publication.
This appears to be the current timeline.
“Development of Block 4 is now three years late and will continue until 2029, the GAO said in April 2022.
The first production-model version of the F-35 with TR-3 installed—but not the full Block 4 suite—will come in Lot 15, now under construction.”
LINK
I stand corrected.
I though it had gone all TR-3 last year – clearly I was wrong.
Well I read in Jan that the first flights with the updated base hardware/software had just taken place and that the production aircraft with those updates will hopefully be produced by Summer. Those prior to that production run would be extremely costly to update to that level and be ready for whenever Block lV is available.
It isn’t that bad.
Only the really early ones are hard/expensive to upgrade.
Most of the ones the UK has, ignoring the orange wired ones, are readily upgraded.
It’s nice to have the luxury of waiting to Wait until everything is fully mature. In the meantime someone else has to be carrying the load. Maritime patrol…. Airborne early warning it seems to be kind of a pattern.
Smart in retrospect. We just had a near miss on ww3 in Europe with Russia invasion of Ukraine, we got lucky. The issue with military kit is you can’t predict when you will need it and so delaying purchases is a huge gamble.
What dodgy gear? The article clearly states that the U.K. fleet of F35s doesn’t suffer from the harmonic resonance issue.
A bit more detail can be found via this link.
DoD delays key F-35 tests, lowering chance of 2023 production decision
LINK
Worth reading.
F-35 Flies for the First Time with Tech Refresh 3, Paving the Way for Block 4
LINK
Hi folks,
Well that’s a relief considering the numbers we have, could have been a bit tricky if needed urgently.
“Tipping forward”, is that what happened when one fell off HMS Q.E?
Cheers,
George
One on the QE someone left a engine cover in the Nacelle, and no one spotted that HUGE BRIGHT RED THING. so restricted air intake. Tipping forward was caused by a imbalance within the engine, as the speed increased it became unstable. like putting rocks in a food blender
Just saw the last episode of the adventure and loved the irony from the Captain as it approached the Suez Canal telling the crew to keep focused as its this final home bound period where the crew members can relax their focus and allow careless errors to occur. Clearly someone wasn’t listening.
I’m SO sorry no one spotted the blank… which had been blown into the intake (due to an ill-fitting design with no tether) and was completely invisible. Clearly, it wasn’t positively accounted for, which is the real challenge (and a whole other story).
Clue is they Come in PAIRS a right hand and a left hand. they are Bright Red, and clearly more than 1 idiot is accountable. Pilot lucky but also Visual checks before take off, and chummy did spot that, Needs to go to Specsavers.
FFS! Is that really what happened, someone forgot to remove an intake cover? I bet someone had a stern talking to after that rather expensive error…
I assume the pilot was first in the queue …right after he’d changed his brown trousers
Don’t know if anyone has seen it (I think I linked to it when it happened) but there is a great video of that F-35 doing a pirouette during its test. Looked like the engine couldn’t be cut as it span around on its nose. Excellent performance from the ejector seat, well done MB.
Yep the in-balance and vibration and it just run away from itself. the Computers couldn’t control it. but not sure why it didn’t just shut down.
Whew! For a minute there I had visions of the Ajax programme being held up further due to unplanned for diversion of comfy cushions and earplugs to the F-35 fleet ….
Something I missed along the way, does anyone know how many we have?
New state-of-the-art radar delivered to UK
“A new state-of-the-art long-range air defence radar that can be deployed in support of worldwide operations or used to cover gaps in coverage on home shores has been delivered to the UK.
Last year, the DE&S Air Defence and Electronic Warfare Systems (ADEWS) team based at RAF Henlow awarded a £13.1 million contract to Indra, a Spain-based global company to produce their Lanza Long Tactical Range 25 radar for the RAF’s Battlespace Management Force.”
LINK
UKDJ published an article about this a couple of years ago, but it was a direct copy and paste of the same article. Think we only purchased one to fill a gap. The Army operates the Giraffe AMD radar system that was extensively upgraded.
I remember the article Robert references as I commented on it at length! But I think Robert is right, the radar mentioned in the article I think went to RRH Staxton Wold after the Radar there was relocated to the reactivated RRH at Saxa Vord. So a single example, hidden under its own radome. The BMF is yet another new name for the RAF’s UK ADR infrastructure, previously known as A4. In the wider military, there are also 2 other mobile units for such rapid deployments on ops as needed – 1 ACC of the RAF, which I think operates/operated… Read more »
It is also often possible, and fun, using GE and cross referencing photos to positively ID locations, that photo looks very similar to the spot at Staxton where the radar was placed so assume that is PR photo of the start of its installation.
Now you come to mention it, I remember the article re RRH Saxa Vord.
At the time I commented on our ability to intercept ICBMs and land-based anti-ship missiles.
Thank you for the update!
Saxa Vord
https://www.raf.mod.uk/sites/raf-beta/cache/file/6D153DC6-2987-4A2E-A773764AEA0058CC_600x300.jpg
Yes, you did!
Nice photo I had not seen. Cannot see any “Yarnold” pillboxes?
Some of the facilities infrastructure remained in use in the ASCS after the radar was deactivated I recall.
ECHOES FROM THE RECENT PAST: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL ETHNOGRAPHY OF HISTORIC COLD WAR RADAR SITES IN THE UK
LINK
What an amazing link. Not seen that before and will take ages to study it.
Parts of Neatishead remain open BTW, a part has been fenced off remaining MoD and ASCS stuff is still there, even though the R3 bunker as shown in the article is preserved.
Block 4 and the TR3 will need the extra power provided by the enhance engine core for P&W’s F135 jet engine in order to reach full potential. Suggest 2030 is the earliest all this stuff comes together.
is the B variant getting that engine – did I see somewhere it was initially only going to be fitted to A & C …or did I imagine that ?
Defense News reports that Tr 3 has slipped again to 2024, with a big increase in costs. Knock on effect on Block 4 upgrade means this has also slipped again to 2028 at the earliest,27 years after the F35 programme started, a timescale a USAF general describes as unacceptable.
UK unlikely to integrate Meteor and Spear 3 until the end of the decade. We cannot afford to let the Tempest programme go down the same route of over reliance on complex and insanely expensive software.
“An investigation identified a vibration issue (harmonic resonance in official speak) in the engine as the cause of the incident”
No, harmonic resonance is the correct scientific term for the problem. Without science and technology we can’t safeguard our freedom by investing in weapons appropriate to the threat.
Let’s be evidence and fact based…
yep all thing can vibrate …its when they all start to vibrate at the same frequency (or derivatives of it maybe) that you get the harmonic resonance bit..increasess the amplitude and bobs your uncle …literally bobs as well ….or something like that anyway (a level physics was a very long time ago now)