LO coatings responsible for half of F-35 defects

a reply to: penroc3

i can see an airman out there with a little watercolor paint brush filling them in.


even if it is the contractor's mistake

a reply to: penroc3

A lot of this is just stuff slipping past. Probably things like panels being inspected at the end of the day, or when they're distracted, or stupid mistakes like that.

a reply to: Zaphod58

as i understood it the F35's LO's were more then paint deep so does that mean the structure is sloughing off? and who is getting that?

a reply to: penroc3

It is, but it's not sloughing off, the panels are coming in with small amounts of damage to them, or the outer coat was over sprayed so it's not even, which affects the signature. It's little things that don't really have to do with the coating itself, but the manufacturing process. It's all on Lockheed to fix it, which is why they're gung-ho to fix it.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: BrianFlanders

RAM coatings are extremely difficult to work with. Getting them right 100% of the time is not going to happen. They delivered 66 aircraft last year, each one with a few hundred panels, plus the airframe without panels that had to be done perfectly. And they're increasing production rates. They're bound to have some quality escapes that need rework.

That's the sort of thing that would be done by robots in car manufacturing. They moved to robots mainly due to the health risks of inhaling paint spray:

a reply to: 727Sky

The F-35 was deamed usless when russia fielded their S-400 systems. Just like the F-22 was when Russia fielded the S-300.


IF the F-35 can be spotted by a old system like the S-200 radar and tracker how good can F-35 be? It cant be all that it is hyped up to be. It dosent really matter if the S-200 missile hit the F-35. What matters is if it was tracked by the old system. THe Systems within the F-35 could not prevent the old S-200 system from tracking, targeting and shooting at it. Isent that what the sale pich is all about.......It should be able to fool all systems....

a reply to: Zaphod58

it will be interesting to see how they do the LO with the B21. all composite and EW or more traditional stuff. i would think that if the LO's were just skin with the sensors embedded it might solve some human error issues

a reply to: Zaphod58

it will be interesting to see how they do the LO with the B21. all composite and EW or more traditional stuff. i would think that if the LO's were just skin with the sensors embedded it might solve some human error issues

a reply to: spy66

stealth does not mean invisible. they need good mission planning and the Israeli thing i think your referring to if it is TRULY a near miss means they probably shot it line of sight and detonated near the aircraft.

and they are not going to use the full power of the F35 for S-200's. could have also just been a bird strike.


i think something did happen but it was a mix of luck and optical and manual detonations

a reply to: penroc3

they probably shot it line of sight and detonated near the aircraft.

So they can shoot a S-200 just by aiming the missile by line og sight at the F-35 and hope that they can push the trigger at the right time, and also hope that the missile fly Close enough...... You know that is not a easy task to do. TO do that they have to aim the S-200 missile in a predicted flight path that the F-35 would be flying. And i dont think its easy to predict when the S-200 missile is within right range to push the trigger.

But......Okay......

a reply to: spy66
No F-35 was hit by an S-200. This is just baseless syrian propaganda.

So far no Israeli F-35 have been used in combat. They are barely ready at this point, they definitely werent in October last year. Thus one suffered a bird strike during a training excerise. Thats it.
Birds strikes are actually very common for this time of year since Israel is one of major bird migration routes hubs in the world.
If it were different there would a) be no reason for the IAF to say anything about it or come up with some sort of cover story and b) would have probably leaked anyway by now. Compare it to the leaks after the downing of the F-16 recently.

a reply to: mightmight

You mean Syria didn't really shoot down all those other Israeli planes they said they did? But the government said they did, it must be true!

It always amazes me to hear how obsolete stealth is, and yet everyone who can is grabbing it or building it as fast as they can.

a reply to: stormcell

A lot is being done with robotics, but some still needs doing with people.

originally posted by: spy66
a reply to: penroc3

they probably shot it line of sight and detonated near the aircraft.

So they can shoot a S-200 just by aiming the missile by line og sight at the F-35 and hope that they can push the trigger at the right time, and also hope that the missile fly Close enough......

This is the funniest thing I've read on here, maybe ever. Except for my joke thread claiming my dad was Lee Harvey Oswald AND Gaddafi.

originally posted by: mightmight
a reply to: spy66
No F-35 was hit by an S-200. This is just baseless syrian propaganda.

So far no Israeli F-35 have been used in combat. They are barely ready at this point, they definitely werent in October last year. Thus one suffered a bird strike during a training excerise. Thats it.
Birds strikes are actually very common for this time of year since Israel is one of major bird migration routes hubs in the world.
If it were different there would a) be no reason for the IAF to say anything about it or come up with some sort of cover story and b) would have probably leaked anyway by now. Compare it to the leaks after the downing of the F-16 recently.

If you say so it must be true......

When the F117 was doing its radar tests they could get the radar return down to the size of a ball bearing..One time it came back with a barn door return....Three screws came loose about an 1/8"..Yes tiny bits of damage cause huge radar returns.

originally posted by: Blackfinger
When the F117 was doing its radar tests they could get the radar return down to the size of a ball bearing..One time it came back with a barn door return....Three screws came loose about an 1/8"..Yes tiny bits of damage cause huge radar returns.

Is this because it alters the shape/angle of the panels slightly or because it exposes areas that aren't coated?

a reply to: face23785

RAM works by trapping the radar energy that hits the aircraft. To do that efficiently, and give the smallest signature possible, the skin has to be a seamless as possible. A damaged panel gives that energy a way in and out.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: face23785

RAM works by trapping the radar energy that hits the aircraft. To do that efficiently, and give the smallest signature possible, the skin has to be a seamless as possible. A damaged panel gives that energy a way in and out.

Gotcha I like to learn occasionally

a reply to: face23785

That's why over or under spraying is such a big deal, and you can't just dip it in the coating like if it was paint.