F-35A at Red Flag 19-1

[SpudmanWP]

'Lethal' F-35A heading to Red Flag 19-1

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- --
Pilots and maintainers from the 388th Fighter Wing are bringing the F-35A and ‘increased lethality’ as they take a lead role in Red Flag 19-1 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, 

From Jan. 26 - Feb. 15, approximately 200 Airmen from Hill AFB, including reservists from the 419th Fighter Wing, will participate in what is known as the Air Force’s premier combat training exercise. 

The 388th FW debuted the F-35A Lightning II at Red Flag in 2017 and came away with a 20:1 kill ratio. The jet is even more capable now, pilots say.

“We have an upgraded software suite that has improved our sensor fusion. We’ve got an expanded flying envelope with more maneuverability. We have the ability to employ more weapons, including the 25-mm cannon,” said Lt. Col. Yosef Morris, 4th Fighter Squadron commander. “When you couple those things with the two years we’ve had to improve our tactics, we’re bringing a much more lethal F-35A to this Red Flag and ultimately to the battlefield.”

More at the JUMP

https://www.acc.af.mil/News/Article-Dis ... flag-19-1/

[popcorn]

Condolences in advance to.Red Air.

[Corsair1963]

Time to separate the men from the boys....

[garrya]

time to rank up the kill ratio

[Corsair1963]

time to rank up the kill ratio

Wouldn't hurt sales either....

[charlielima223]

The 388th FW debuted the F-35A Lightning II at Red Flag in 2017 and came away with a 20:1 kill ratio. The jet is even more capable now, pilots say.

[vilters]

Ok, here we go again…. What Airframe do you want to win this year? So we can re-write the ROE's.

There "games" are so predictable. What year did the A-10 have the most A2A kills?
------------------------------
2019 now : What airframe do you want to sell this year?

[sferrin]

Ok, here we go again…. What Airframe do you want to win this year? So we can re-write the ROE's.

There "games" are so predictable. What year did the A-10 have the most A2A kills?
------------------------------
2019 now : What airframe do you want to sell this year?

Do you have any evidence that this is a thing?

[SpudmanWP]

What makes me laugh is that these exercises (and other LFEs like them) are the sole basis of the world's love-affair with the F-22 yet many cry "rigged" with the F-35 excels in the very same exercises.

[playloud]

What makes me laugh is that these exercises (and other LFEs like them) are the sole basis of the world's love-affair with the F-22 yet many cry "rigged" with the F-35 excels in the very same exercises.

My favorite is even when we get details on the F-35 record at Red Flag, it isn't believed. Meanwhile, one Typhoon pilot says "Raptor Salad" (with no details) and it is gospel that the Typhoon is a better dogfighter than the F-22.

[zero-one]

To be fair, I don't question the ROEs of these exercises.
People can spin these to however they want.

When their favorite plane looses:
We cannot conclude anything without knowing the ROEs

When a dogfight occurs:
Those were from re-spawned aircraft that were already killed twice before entering the merge

Russian fans say:
F-15s and F-16s have nowhere near the performance of (insert Flanker type here) so these kill ratios of F-22s and F-35s mean nothing.

To anyone who says this, I ask, whats the F-15's kill ratio in Redflag during the 80s and 90s? if its higher than it's actual kill ratio of 104:0 then the test are rigged to make it more difficult, If its lower then the F-15 surpassed it's own expectations.
I don't think even the most Pro-15 person expected it to perform as effectively as it did.

I once talked to a former Red-Air coordinator, he believes these exercises were rigged because of one instance he had.
He directed a pair of F-5 aggressors to intercept F-15s at BVR, when they failed to get the jump on the Eagles he knew the mission had to be aborted, the F-5 has no chance against the F-15 in a dogfight.

But his CO wanted the F-5s to continue so that they can get some wonderful BATR (bullets-at-target-range) frames from the Eagle's gun cam. He was furious and believed that the F-5s were purposely sent into a dogfight to make the F-15s look good.

I told him that he felt that way because he knew exactly what the F-15s brought to the table (he flew F-15s). Russian ground commanders don't and they may have more faith in their own pilots. In ODS, they even sent Mig-25s to eventually dogfight with F-15s.

[wrightwing]

Ok, here we go again…. What Airframe do you want to win this year? So we can re-write the ROE's.

There "games" are so predictable. What year did the A-10 have the most A2A kills?
------------------------------
2019 now : What airframe do you want to sell this year?

No outcomes are predetermined. The OPFOR air and SAM threats, are as challenging as they can make them. Blue forces fly outnumbered 3:1 against foes that can keep respawning as long as they have fuel (i.e. 3 or 4x). The scenarios get progressively harder. The idea is to get training value, not marketing value. Claiming that the exercises are scripted, is bullshit.

[hornetfinn]

“We have an upgraded software suite that has improved our sensor fusion. We’ve got an expanded flying envelope with more maneuverability. We have the ability to employ more weapons, including the 25-mm cannon,” said Lt. Col. Yosef Morris, 4th Fighter Squadron commander. “When you couple those things with the two years we’ve had to improve our tactics, we’re bringing a much more lethal F-35A to this Red Flag and ultimately to the battlefield.”

Ok, those sound like very significant upgrades and differences from Red Flag 17-1. Improved sensor fusion will give better and more polished SA and likely more difficult to surprise them even with respawning. Even if that happens, expanded flying envelope and increased weapons capability (including cannon and AIM-9X) will make it far more difficult to beat them in WVR combat. Not to mention that they have had two more years to train and improve tactics along with all kinds of improvements here and there. I bet this will be something very interesting...

[kimjongnumbaun]

To be fair, I don't question the ROEs of these exercises.
People can spin these to however they want.

When their favorite plane looses:
We cannot conclude anything without knowing the ROEs

When a dogfight occurs:
Those were from re-spawned aircraft that were already killed twice before entering the merge

Russian fans say:
F-15s and F-16s have nowhere near the performance of (insert Flanker type here) so these kill ratios of F-22s and F-35s mean nothing.

To anyone who says this, I ask, whats the F-15's kill ratio in Redflag during the 80s and 90s? if its higher than it's actual kill ratio of 104:0 then the test are rigged to make it more difficult, If its lower then the F-15 surpassed it's own expectations.
I don't think even the most Pro-15 person expected it to perform as effectively as it did.

I once talked to a former Red-Air coordinator, he believes these exercises were rigged because of one instance he had.
He directed a pair of F-5 aggressors to intercept F-15s at BVR, when they failed to get the jump on the Eagles he knew the mission had to be aborted, the F-5 has no chance against the F-15 in a dogfight.

But his CO wanted the F-5s to continue so that they can get some wonderful BATR (bullets-at-target-range) frames from the Eagle's gun cam. He was furious and believed that the F-5s were purposely sent into a dogfight to make the F-15s look good.

I told him that he felt that way because he knew exactly what the F-15s brought to the table (he flew F-15s). Russian ground commanders don't and they may have more faith in their own pilots. In ODS, they even sent Mig-25s to eventually dogfight with F-15s.

I love the insight. You also have to remember that these exercises are training for the Blue Force, not Red. Red may be asked to do things that would normally not happen in order to provide Blue with training opportunities. Red gets free respawns to continue the war so it's no skin off their back. Blue gets an opportunity to hone their skills, and ultimately increase their chances of survival if that scenario happens in real life. The ultimate goal in exercises like these is to provide as much training opportunity as possible. Combat is a harsh teacher that gives the test first, and teaches the lesson after.

[quicksilver]

“You also have to remember that these exercises are training for the Blue Force, not Red. Red may be asked to do things that would normally not happen in order to provide Blue with training opportunities. Red gets free respawns to continue the war so it's no skin off their back. Blue gets an opportunity to hone their skills, and ultimately increase their chances of survival if that scenario happens in real life. The ultimate goal in exercises like these is to provide as much training opportunity as possible. Combat is a harsh teacher that gives the test first, and teaches the lesson after.” — k13

This ^.