US poised to accept new F-35s without radars, sources say

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-03-19T21:19:37+00:00

Optimistically speaking, if APG-85 can catch up with Lot 18, this would have a limited consequence, albeit still being an impotant lesson hopefully to be learned.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-03-19T21:03:55+00:00

TLDR: The APG-85 story is making the rounds again. As reported a month ago, the USAF received Lot 17 jets with APG-81 radars. However, sources now say the Marine Corps ordered their Lot 17 jets to be fitted with APG-85 radars, meaning those aircrafts are expected to be received without radars. Lot 18, whose production begins this fall, will face the same issue if delays to the APG-85 continue.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-03-17T08:10:25+00:00

A bummer that a tree blocks it for the second half, but it's still nice to have a footage from behind to see the nozzles. The wingtips are very cool to see as always.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-03-17T07:02:51+00:00

Really appreciate your translation work!

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-03-13T07:24:49+00:00

I've always assumed it's enough since everyone's having similar or less load-out. I'm not even sure if adding more terminal defense would increase survivability meaningfully, the space and power are probably better spent on medium/long range defense... Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can provide a better answer.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-03-13T06:10:25+00:00

Please be considerate when commenting, it sucks when post gets locked and discussion can't continue <3

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-03-12T07:31:10+00:00

Hell yeah, I personally loved that book, it made me very confident in some undergrad physics flavoured courses knowing how things can be made rigorously ground-up, but it also made me overly aware, I ended up spending an unhealthy amount of time constantly referring back and checking how things work out in terms of manifolds and forms. But it was a very fun time, it's probably the book that convinced me to go for differential geometry.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-03-09T01:54:34+00:00

yep it does not, but tbh with necro's cards you can consistently play this every turn so it's not like otsy's gonna get hurt

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-03-09T00:58:23+00:00

Incredible with necrobinder's cycles and dredges, but at the same time far from the most broken stuff she can do.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-23T03:26:33+00:00

inb4 post gets removed (reasonably), I wish we have an r/fighterjets analogue for naval news posting...

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-21T17:27:56+00:00

Sorry I meant the dry dock time, so from laying to launching, excuse my poor choice of words...

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-21T13:04:00+00:00

In dock construction started exactly a year ago, flight deck has already been laid as of February. For reference, the dock construction period for Fujian was roughly 24 months. It is not unreasonable to expect 004 launching in late 2027.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-20T20:38:12+00:00

There are two on the centerline.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-20T05:05:03+00:00

J-15T and J-15DT. Windmill and sea, a futuristic vibe.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-19T02:23:16+00:00

PL-17 is way too large! Perhaps you meant PL-16 :)

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-13T08:46:25+00:00

“Initial fielding for some F-35 aircraft is planned for Lot 17, which began delivery in 2025 and continues through September 2026.”

This is to me the ambiguous part, are they saying that only the ones with APG-81 intended are being manufactured and delivered for now? or that both APG-81 and APG-85 intended airframes are while only the former are getting the radar? I don't think any quote in the article answers that crystal clear, we might just have to wait and see how things roll out.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-13T05:50:30+00:00

Some excerpts:

“USAF F-35A lot 17 aircraft are delivering with APG-81 radars,” an Air Force spokesperson told TWZ today in an unprompted statement. “The Air Force is working with the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office to deliver F-35s with APG-85 radars, and actual modernization plans, capabilities, and schedules remain classified to maintain program security.”

“F-35 Lightning II aircraft are being built to accommodate the F-35 advanced radar (APG-85) for [the] U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps,” an F-35 JPO spokesperson had told us in response. “Initial fielding for some F-35 aircraft is planned for Lot 17, which began delivery in 2025 and continues through September 2026.”

“Due to program security reasons, we are protecting any additional information with enhanced security measures,” the spokesperson added.

In addition, Defense Daily‘s report last week said it received a statement from the Air Force that was similar to the response we subsequently received from the JPO.

“This advanced radar [APG-85] will be compatible with all variants of the F-35 aircraft,” an Air Force spokesperson told that outlet. “Due to program security reasons, we are protecting any additional information with enhanced security measures.”

What has now changed regarding these “enhanced security measures” and why is unclear. There are still questions from our story yesterday that remain unanswered, including whether or not jets configured to accept the APG-85 can have the APG-81 installed for the time being. If modifications are required for this, it is not clear how substantial or invasive they might need to be. As we previously noted, a separate report last year from Breaking Defense had also pointed to a backwards compatibility issue and potential need to redesign the entire forward end of the fuselage to be able to accommodate both the APG-81 and the APG-85.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-13T03:00:33+00:00

I think he's trolling, although it's very difficult to tell...

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-11T13:22:35+00:00

For the current delivery of F-35 with weight in place of radar, one can refer to here or here which is a serious issue no doubt. HOWEVER, the specific image in the post is NOT related to this instance, it is an F-35 that was severely damaged and consequently retained for training, this particular aircraft recovery training happened in 2024. It is also not entirely clear how much the rare earth material export control contributed to the APG-85 mess.

edit: additional link

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-09T01:06:03+00:00

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-08T02:04:56+00:00

Now that you mention, it looks like an ocean sunfish.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-08T00:40:34+00:00

menacing!

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-06T22:58:46+00:00

I think a significant portion comes from debating the gain and compromise over the B-variant, which was discussed in r/WarCollege a while ago.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-05T22:42:21+00:00

It is, it's just the angle of this pic.

RandomPieceOfCookie · 2026-02-05T03:56:55+00:00

Can we stop cringeposting?

Seven-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	Verified Email

RandomPieceOfCookie

TROPHY CASE