But the Short Take Off and Vertical Landing variant of the Joint Strike Fighter needs special precautions compared to the Harrier.
The American Navy and Marine Corps are building amphibious assault ships that will one day carry the F-35 to the globe. The first vector will be ready within the 2018.
The USS America, an amphibious lead assault ship of the same class, needs 40 weeks of interventions (and copious investments), commissioned last October, to accommodate the first deployment of the F-35B.
In the US Navy's official note it is learned that the major changes will affect the flight deck. It will, therefore, be able to withstand the heat generated by the propulsion apparatus of the F-35B in vertical decoys and landings.
The new heat-resistant material is designed to prevent the heat of the fighter from making a real "hole" on the flight deck. It has been discovered, in fact, that the F-35 could also conceptually be similar to the Harrier, but it lands and takes off differently from the McDonnell Douglas fighter.
Summarizing to the maximum. The F-35B is powered by the Pratt & Whitney turbofan engine, STOVL version, F135-PW-600 which generates 80,1 kN of vertical thrust. The latter is combined with a vertical lift front fan that generates an additional 89 kN and two roll control nozzles, also capable of generating 8,76kN each. This means that during take-off and landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier, the F-35B reaches the thrust of 186 kN, which is the same energy produced by the engine with the afterburner inserted.
Just to give an example: the most powerful engine ever installed on a Harrier is the Pegasus 11-61 / Mk.107, capable of generating a boost of 106 kN. Hence the need to externally cover all the decks of the ships that will host the F-35B.
But that is not all. The modifications involve the addition of additional intercostal structural elements at the landing points, consequent displacement of the pre-existing elements (lighting, ventilation, pipes) and redesign of some interior spaces.
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The second America-class ship, the USS Tripoli, is still in the pipeline, but will be built with all the "F-35B" modifications already implemented during construction. "On Tripoli, the bridge is thicker and the structural supports for the bridge have already been made. The USS Tripoli will be delivered to the Navy in the 2019".
Now, one wonders - The Italian Cavour Stovl aircraft carrier, designed to accommodate (when they will be available), 8 / 12 F-35B, has been modified to host the JSF?
Have any structural changes been made to ensure space optimization for the F-35B?
And the Cavour flight bridge will be able to withstand the very high temperatures generated by the fifth generation fighter?
Franco Iacch
(photo: Lockheed Martin / US Navy)
