I problemi relativi alla durata dei rifornimenti in volo ..... la resistenza agli attacchi
cyber ..... e la futura capacità nucleare dell' aereo ..... sono questi gli argomenti trattati dal generale
Bogdan in un recente incontro con la stampa .....
Progress with F-35 Air Refueling Software .....
John A. Tirpak (09/23/2015)
A software patch will be applied to the F-35 fleet in November to speed up aerial refueling, which takes "longer than we'd like it to," Program Director Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan told Air Force Magazine.
However, the patch is not likely to be the final fix.
The problem, Bogdan said, is that the F-35's software slows the rate at which the tanker can feed the last 1,000 pounds or so to fill the fighter's tanks.
The issue is that the software is taking too long to open and close valves, "relieving the pressure on those tanks so that you can pump fuel into them."
Bogdan could not offhand quote the length of the delay being encountered, but said that he believed the problem would be overcome, as it was on the F-15 and F-16, which had similar issues.
The slowdown in onloading fuel becomes a problem and "it may become operationally relevant" because as the fuel flow slows, the fighter continues to burn fuel, exacerbating the problem, particularly if the mission calls for the fighter departing the tanker with completely full tanks.
"The longer I wait, the more fuel I burn," he said.
The November software update probably won't fully resolve the issue, though.
"We have to work on it," he said."
F-35 Routinely Passes NSA Hack Tests .....
John A. Tirpak (09/23/2015)
The F-35 fighter and its ground systems have to pass at least two full-scale cyber penetration resiliency tests a year in order for new hardware and software modifications to be fielded, said Program Director Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan.
Speaking with Air Force Magazine at a plane-side press availability at JB Andrews on Sept. 18, Bogdan said the F-35 "is very well protected" against cyber attack.
"A couple of times a year, the NSA [National Security Agency] and 24th Air Force [USAF's cyber command] do penetration testing on the entire weapon system; all the air and ground systems, the whole kit and caboodle. And we wouldn't be operating today if we couldn't pass those tests," he noted.
Bogdan said he's unaware of the F-35 itself ever having been breached by a hack, even though the F-35's Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) and the Air Force network to which it's connected are attacked "constantly ... thousands of times a week."
The next version of ALIS - the one that will serve the Air Force at initial operational capability next August - will "have to go through extensive vulnerability tests before we can even field it."
The "red team" testers bring "all the newest tools" to combat the latest hacking methods, and any vulnerabilities are patched.
"From my perspective [the F-35 is] a very secure airplane and weapon system," Bogdan said, even though "the threat is moving quite rapidly."
Only USAF Making F-35 Dual-Capable .....
John A. Tirpak (09/23/2015)
The US Air Force is the only F-35 user with a requirement that the jet be able to carry nuclear weapons, but that capability won't be available until the mid-2020s, Program Director Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said.
USAF's dual-capable requirement is "unique," Bogdan said in a planeside interview with Air Force Magazine at JB Andrews, Md., on Sept. 18, where the F-35 was being readied for display at an airshow.
The delaying factor isn't the jet, however, but the weapon, he noted.
The updated B61 tactical nuclear weapon "is not fully developed yet, and won't be ... until the '20s," Bogdan said.
"So we don't see the marrying-up of our capability and that weapon until probably the mid-'20s, but it's going to happen."
Bogdan said that B61 "shapes" were tested on F-35As "this summer" to provide testers with data on "the weapons bay ... the environment, ... heating, vibration," and other factors.
Testers are now using that information "to make sure it's right," he added.
The Department of Energy is building the weapon itself and the Air Force is building the bomb's tailkit.
Fonte ..... il 'Daily Report' dell'
AFA .....
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