Forum: F-35 Lightning II

Fourth generation fighters were all about the bling. Need to add a new role to your F-teen? We've got a pod for that. And people just didn't worry too much about the electronic bleeps or IR hot spots on these pods, because the jet itself was so much noisier.

With the F-35 the situation is reversed. The jet is designed to be quiet throughout the EM spectrum, so hanging a pod on could really hurt. In addition the hardware already collects far more information than the software pays attention to, so adding a noisy pod would be a distraction.

What the Israelis need is the ability to run their apps on the existing F-35 hardware. They could make specialized comms, surveillance or jamming capabilities that use the existing input and output ports. It's a pity that LockMart didn't think about adding an App Market for all their international "partners" and instead makes everybody queue up for their one and only software team.

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I doubt they would want to send out SDK's for everybody to develop their own software when they won't even allow the closest ally to have access to view source code for their own modifications. Perhaps in 15-20 years everybody will add their own stuff but for now it is top secret and won't leave LM's labs.

SDKs are exactly the way to go. IOW, a series of APIs (like the current UAI) that will allow podded equipment to be added that will interface with the existing systems without the need to see the actual sourcecode.

Israel will be getting that ability according to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_M ... ghtning_II

"F-35I: F-35A with Israeli modifications. A senior Israel air force official stated "the aircraft will be designated F-35I, as there will be unique Israeli features installed in them". The United States will not allow for the integration of Israel's own electronic warfare systems into the aircraft’s built-in electronic suite. However, a plug-and-play feature added to the main computer will allow for use of Israeli electronics in an add-on fashion. Israel will be able to fit its own external jamming pod and plans to install its own air-to-air missiles and guided bombs in the F-35’s internal weapon bays."
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Israel To Buy F-35s With Cockpit Mods Aug 27, 2010 By Alon Ben-David | Tel Aviv

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/ ... mp;next=10

"...Israel was forced to realize that the highly integrated electronics structure of the F-35 will not enable installment of its own electronic warfare systems on top of the aircraft’s EW suite, and that the U.S. will not grant Israel the source code to alter threat and jamming libraries. Instead, the two countries agreed on a mechanism by which the U.S. will make the required software changes to meet any new threat that might emerge in the region.

For nonstealth missions requiring an active EW system, Israel will be able to fit an external jamming pod on its JSFs.

Owing to a concerted Rafael push, Israel also insisted that it be able to install its future air-to-air missile in the aircraft’s internal weapon bays...."

The F-35 "Baby Seal" is clearly the Model-T of 5th gen fighters.

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black."

An appropriate metaphor considering that the Model T changed the course of the automotive industry forever.

This is an F-35 'Baby Seal' going clubbing. Very Happy

spazsinbad wrote:

This is an F-35 'Baby Seal' going clubbing. Very Happy

Nice! Hadn'nt seen that before.Wouldn't it be great if potential foes surf the web and swallow all the stuff being put out by JSF detractorS? Unfortunately, I don't think they are that gullible.
Very Happy

popcorn wrote:

spazsinbad wrote:

This is an F-35 'Baby Seal' going clubbing. Very Happy

Nice! Hadn'nt seen that before.Wouldn't it be great if potential foes surf the web and swallow all the stuff being put out by JSF detractorS? Unfortunately, I don't think they are that gullible.
Very Happy

Lockheed Martin put that out as a bit of a joke, when the whole "clubbed like baby seals" nonsense came out.

It's always funny when people who are completely ignorant of software development and security make dopey comments like "why not give everyone access to the F-35's API so they can customize the aircraft" Smile

Speaking as a software developer: A proper API will not expose the core software to any security issues.

STEALTH/LoViz BABY

SpudmanWP wrote:

Speaking as a software developer: A proper API will not expose the core software to any security issues.

It's not a security matter in respect to exposing the core system's internals, but in providing an insight into the limitations of the interface and the existing avionics on the aircraft.

Also allows for easier testing and reverse engineering of the avionics.

Um, not.

Ask a printer mfg about the inner workings of Windows and he will be clueless. You cannot reverse engineer the core software by only understanding the APIs.

SpudmanWP wrote:

Um, not.

Ask a printer mfg about the inner workings of Windows and he will be clueless. You cannot reverse engineer the core software by only understanding the APIs.

Exactly. I doubt you could find a computer game software writer who could tell you how to exploit security weaknesses in Windows 7 just because he's coded games for it.

Forum: F-35 Lightning II

The iPhone fighter needs apps