Objective: JSF Program, being the largest ever defence acquisition program in history, was initiated by the U.S. Government to meet the new generation fighter aircraft requirements of the US Services beyond 2010.
Scope: The program scope consists of cooperative development, production and sustainment of the F-35 aircraft within an international partnership.
Project Model: Consortium
Prime Contractor: LM Aero Team (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAe Systems)
Contract Date: 11 July 2002 (System Development and Demonstration - SDD Phase), 25 January 2007 (Production, Sustainment and Follow-on Development- PSFD Phase).
Status: Considering the upcoming requirement of the Turkish Air Force for a new-generation fighter to replace the existing F-4 and F-16 fleet beyond 2012, Turkey joined the Concept Demonstration Phase (CDP) of the JSF Program in 1999 and signed the international memorandum of Understanding document taking place in the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) Phase in 2002 as a 3rd level participant, with an amount of 175 Million USD.
The JSF participants and their expected off-takes are as follows:
U.S. : 2443
I. Level U.K. : 138
II Level Italy : 131
Netherlands : 85
III. Level Türkiye : 100
Canada : 80
Australia : 100
Norway : 48
Danmark : 48
TOTAL : 3173
Three versions of F-35 aircraft will be developed: Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL), Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) and carrier Version (CV). Turkey is interested in the CTOL version.
SDD activities are ongoing with the participation of participants’ experts, via Integrated Program and Product Teams and working groups. SSM and TuAF reps are regularly attending the said activities.
The first JSF flight has been accomplished on 15 December 2006 and the first delivery to USAF is planned as 2009. First F-35 delivery to Turkey is planned to happen in 2014.
Sustainment of the F-35 Aircraft all over the world will be globally executed via Aotomic Logistic Global Sustainment (ALGS) System and will be centrally managed by the USG and LM, as the single point of accountability.
Pilot and maintenance training will be conducted at Integrated Training Centers (ITC).
The following phase, namely Production, Sustainment and Follow-on Development (PSFD), will cover the entire service life of the F-35 aircraft beginning from the very first production. PSFD MoU document has been negotiated among the 9 participants and finalized. The MoU has been signed by 5 countries (US, The Netherlands, UK, Australia and Canada) in 2006. İtaly, Denmark and Norway are likely to sign in the following months.
On 12 December 2006, the Defence Industry Executive Committee selected F-35 as the Turkish Air Force’s future combat aircraft and decided for Turkey to participate in the JSF PSFD Phase by signing the PSFD MOU. The MOU document has been signed by Minister of National Defence Vecdi GÖNÜL on 25 January 2007 at The Pentagon.
The ultimate target for industrial return is 50 % of the total program cost. SSM is working hard to improve the current level of Turkish industrial participation in coordination with the US and other foreign suppliers. For this purpose, SSM and LM have signed a Letter of Intent and Industrial Participation Plan on 6 February 2007 in Ankara.
Furthermore, the JSF Turkish Industry Coordination Team, assigned by SSM, is in charge of enhancing the communication between the Turkish companies and foreign suppliers and following the nearing opportunities in the Program and a dedicated fund has been allocated for the Turkish companies to support their capabilities.