The US is joining the airframes of two damaged F-35s to create a complete fighter jet, in order to save costs and components.
The U.S. Air Force announced on November 30th that it is undertaking a project to combine two damaged F-35 stealth fighter jets into a single new one, dubbed the Franken-bird. The project is being conducted by the F-35 Program Management Office (JPO) at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, with support from the 388th Squadron stationed at Hill, F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin, and the base's logistics team.
"This is the first time the F-35 program has undertaken such an exciting project," said Dan Santos, maintenance operations manager at the JPO.
According to the US Air Force, the two damaged F-35 fighter jets were production numbers AF-27 and AF-211. The AF-27 suffered an engine fire while parked at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida in 2014, destroying two-thirds of the aircraft. The pilot ejected safely, but the incident cost the US Air Force more than $50 million.
The AF-27 was subsequently partially restored, meeting the standards for use as a training vehicle for the maintenance engineering team at Hill Air Force Base.
The assembly process of the Franken-bird fighter jet is shown in the photo released on November 30. Photo: US Air Force
Meanwhile, the AF-211 suffered nose damage in June 2020 while attempting to land at Hill Air Force Base. The U.S. Air Force has not released a report on the cause and extent of the damage.
According to images shared by the US Air Force, the Franken-bird was assembled from two main parts: the fuselage of an AF-211 and the nose of an AF-27, both of which remained relatively intact after the 2014 fire.
"Theoretically, every part of the F-35 fighter jet can be disassembled and reassembled, but this has never been done before. This will be the first 'Franken-bird' ever built," said Scott Taylor, chief engineer at Lockheed Martin involved in the project.
Taylor said the U.S. began studying the possibility of reattaching damaged F-35 fighters in January 2020, before the AF-211 incident. "The JPO invited Lockheed Martin to participate in the project because we had previously successfully restored severely damaged F-22 fighters," he said.
According to the US Air Force, the difference between Franken-bird and previous fighter jet repair and restoration programs is that this project will develop detailed documentation to standardize procedures, making similar pairings easier. The force also stated that it has designed and manufactured many specialized tools and equipment for the project.
"This project will open up opportunities to repair aircraft that have experienced problems in the future using the tools, knowledge, and techniques that have been developed," Santos emphasized.
According to Joseph Trevithick, a military expert at Drive , overhauling modern military aircraft is very complex, especially with stealth fighters like the F-35, as they require precise assembly down to the smallest detail.
"Even a small gap in the F-35's radar-shielding plating is enough to compromise the fighter's stealth capabilities. Joining two F-35s isn't simply a matter of screwing them together," Trevithick stated.
This is not the first time the US military has assembled parts from two different aircraft. In 2009, the Navy received three new two-seat F-5F fighter jets, manufactured by Lockheed Martin by combining existing parts of the F-5E with components from the Swiss Air Force's single-seat F-5E.
In 2005, the US Navy's attack submarine USS San Francisco was severely damaged after striking a reef, but it was later returned to service using a replacement bow section taken from the decommissioned submarine USS Honolulu.
A squadron of F-35A aircraft parked at Hill Air Force Base in 2020. Photo: US Air Force
Several other countries have also undertaken similar projects. The Finnish Air Force once built an F/A-18D Hornet fighter jet by combining a severely damaged F-18C fighter with the Canadian Air Force's CF-18B variant.
Earlier this year, the French nuclear attack submarine Perle, which was damaged in a fire in 2020, was recommissioned after being fitted with components from the Saphir-class submarine, making it larger than other Rubis-class submarines.
"However, it is not yet certain what specific benefits the 'Frankenstein-ization' of the F-35 fighter jet will bring, especially considering the feasibility of doing so in the field, given the complex design of the stealth aircraft which requires significant logistical support," Trevithick noted.
Time and cost are also major questions. The US Air Force has not disclosed the start date for the Franken-bird project, but stated that the fighter jet will be completed as early as March 2025. Lockheed Martin previously spent nearly five years restoring an F-22 damaged by abrasion on the runway, costing approximately $35 million in repair costs.
However, even if the Franken-bird project cost a similar amount to implement, it would still be cheaper than the total damage caused by the AF-27 fire. This figure is also less than half the cost of purchasing a new F-35A fighter jet, which is currently estimated to cost around $80 million each.
More importantly, the Franken-bird project will help the US Air Force partially solve the problem of a shortage of replacement parts, a challenge that is believed to potentially affect the combat capabilities of this aircraft in large-scale conflicts, according to expert Trevithick.
Pham Giang (According to Drive )
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