Forum: F-35 Lightning II

02/04/2010

Flight International

By Stephen Trimble

Lockheed Martin has countered a potential cut in US Air Force orders for its F-35A by claiming the in-development fighter could fill an air superiority role as well as the ground-attack mission for which it is officially designed.

The USAF officially lists the F-35's conventional take-off and landing variant as a ground-attack fighter complementing the air superiority mission, replacing only the Lockheed F-16 and the Fairchild A-10.

But Lockheed has added the Boeing F-15C/D air superiority fighter and F-15E Strike Eagles to its own speculative and unofficial list of aircraft the F-35A can replace. That allows it to claim the USAF's requirement to buy 1,763 F-35As over the next 20 years remains intact despite recent policy changes.

Lockheed provided the analysis to Flight International in response to questions about the potential impact of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), which proposes to slash the USAF's theatre strike wing-equivalents to 10 to 11 wings.

The reduction potentially devastates the USAF's demand for 1,763 F-35As. If the USAF maintains a 72-aircraft wing structure, only 720 to 792 combat-coded fighters are needed to perform the F-35's primary mission. That role is currently performed by a mix of F-16s, A-10s and F-15Es. Lockheed's analysis assumes the mission would be performed exclusively by F-35s within 25 years.

"All the A-10s and F-15Es would reach their life during the USAF buy of F-35s [through 2035] with no other tactical strike platform to replace their full capability other than F-35s," Lockheed's analysis says.

Lockheed also makes a second major assumption. The analysis assumes the QDR plan to operate six air superiority wing-equivalents will include two wings of Lockheed F-22s and four wings of F-35As. Lockheed acknowledges the F-22 fleet is limited to 1-2/3 wings. The four wings of F-35As would replace the F-15C/Ds, according to Lockheed.

If the F-35A gains the new mission, the USAF requirement would rise to 14-15 wings, totalling between 1,008 and 1,080 combat-coded jets. Lockheed also estimates a need for another 593 to 636 jets required for training, test, depot and attrition reserve. The final number for the F-35A requirement ranges between 1,601 and 1,715 fighters, a total that Lockheed concludes is "in the noise" compared to the programme estimate of 1,763.

Steve O'Bryan, Lockheed vice-president for business development, supported Lockheed's analysis, saying a single F-35 provides the capability of six F-15s in air-to-air simulations. Although the F-35's projected top speed of Mach 1.6 falls short of the F-15's M2.5 maximum, O'Bryan says, the F-35's higher level of stealth offsets the F-15's speed advantage in calculations of overall survivability.

The F-35's prowess in the air superiority role has been debated, with one controversial Rand analysis in 2008 concluding the jet "can't turn, can't climb and can't run" fast enough to survive dogfights.

According to industry sources, an unnamed senior USAF officer said last year: "JSF is not an air dominance platform and we understand that."

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LM is operating under a delusion. Both the QDR and Sec Gates testimony the past week indicate a lower USAF force structure and an intention not to replace legacy aircraft 1 for 1 with F-35A's (see Sec Gates testimony in front Senate and House Armed Services).

Moreover, LM is free to speculate all day about the F-35A eventually replacing the F-15C in the air superiority role (in the 6 air superiority wings listed in the QDR) but this is not current USAF policy.

Exactly how effective the F-35 turns out to be in the dedicated air to air role remains to be seen. One is hopeful it exceeds expectations. That said if it can do dedicated air superiority then wonderful- we can replace the F-22 as well given the much higher operating costs. One has yet to hear anything along these lines however.

The USAF has for a while considered the F-35A as a F-15C/D replacement,

Here is a USAF graph from 2008 showing that happening.

Well, thats super interesting! The air to air capabilities of the JSF have to be way much better than we know.

lb wrote:

LM is operating under a delusion. Both the QDR and Sec Gates testimony the past week indicate a lower USAF force structure and an intention not to replace legacy aircraft 1 for 1 with F-35A's (see Sec Gates testimony in front Senate and House Armed Services).

Moreover, LM is free to speculate all day about the F-35A eventually replacing the F-15C in the air superiority role (in the 6 air superiority wings listed in the QDR) but this is not current USAF policy.

Exactly how effective the F-35 turns out to be in the dedicated air to air role remains to be seen. One is hopeful it exceeds expectations. That said if it can do dedicated air superiority then wonderful- we can replace the F-22 as well given the much higher operating costs. One has yet to hear anything along these lines however.

Your wrong on everything.

Quote:

replacing only the Lockheed F-16 and the Fairchild A-10

Is that effectively possible? 'Really, speak to some jarheads about it, I'm sure they wouldn't be to pleased considering what support asset they are loosing. I'm no "F-35 infidel", but I do have my doubts on the roles it can fullfill - especially with LM claiming they can replace the A-10. Which in turn, is a claim, a very bold one.

Mavericks and future 9Xs' are all great and dandy, but the scared to sh*ts factor of a GAU is second to none.

Quote:

famine
Mavericks and future 9Xs' are all great and dandy, but the scared to sh*ts factor of a GAU is second to none.

LOL! I couldn't agree more! But even the re-manufactured A-10C's won't last forever and the air force definitely needs some NEW airframes in the inventory. Maybe a mix of F-35 and UAV's (much as it pains me to say that)?!

What does F-X refer to in the graph? Will it be awesome? Smile

F-X is the follow-on to the F-22.

Personally I think the F-35 has enough cut out for it trying to replace the F/A-18, F-16, and AV-8. F-15s should be replaced by more F-22s but that would involve some common sense in Washington.

Really, the USAF has planned for some time that much of the F-15C Fleet would be replaced by F-35A's. As a high ranking USAF General stated so time ago.

Yeah, F-22s should be replacing F-15s. That's ideal and the common sense approach. I agree 100%. We should build a 1000 Raptors for the USAF and sell it to very close allies (I could've sworn that dead horse moved, I'll give it another kick). The F-35 will be a good replacement aircraft for the F-15. We're not getting anymore F-22s so we might as well gut the F-15s we're going to keep and give them one more upgrade and replace them later with F-35s. From what I hear the same team of people who designed the F-22 also designed the F-35. Does this rule out the possibility of F-35s with super cruise and thrust vectoring in the future? Maybe an air dominance optimized F-35?

discofishing wrote:

Maybe an air dominance optimized F-35?

Honestly I believe the current F-35 can already do that.

Perhaps if those F-35s can carrying three or four AAMs (including the AIM-9X) in each weapons bay. Otherwise I would rather go with a heavily upgraded F-15.

A major redesign of the F-35 allowing for supercruise and increased maneuverability? Again building more F-22s would make the most sense. Now why can't Gates see that?

By Block 5 (2018), they will carry 3x AAMs per bay if it is required.

Add to that all of this that the F-22 does not have for air superiority missions.

1. IRST

2. EODAS

3. DIRCM (block 5)

4. Cooperative EW (block 5)

5. 2:1 cost ratio in favor of F-35

6. NGJ (Next Generation Jammer) pre-wired.

7. Space for internal jammers if required.

8. Certified for Meteor soon after Block 3.

9. Carrier deployable.

Forum: F-35 Lightning II

LM sees F-35A replacing USAF air superiority F-15C/D's