Evolution Promises a Long Stealth Life [USN - 2 page PDF]

Variants for different customers or mission profiles
User avatar
Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 28404
Joined: 05 May 2009, 21:31
Location: Australia

by spazsinbad » 28 Apr 2019, 01:58

Evolution Promises a Long Stealth Life [Two Page PDF of entire article attached below]
30 Apr 2019 Garrett Reim

"By adding new, exotic weaponry and electronic warfare capabilities to its armoury, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 will underpin US Navy and Marine Corps aviation for decades

"...In light of the prolonged life of fourth-generation aircraft, Boeing has gone so far as to say that the application of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth technology has been reduced to niche missions. However, the F-35’s role is increasingly seen as an advanced scout and air commander, Rear Admiral Scott D Conn, the navy’s director, air warfare, told the US Senate Armed Services Committee on 10 April.

OPERATIONAL ROLE
“I foresee the F-35 forward operating, sensing, collecting and relaying information back to a weapons truck, known as a Super Hornet,” he says. “I see the [Northrop Grumman] E-2D involved in relaying critical information to all those fighters out there, while the [Boeing] EA-18 Growler with next-generation jammers is providing coverage. So it’s that systems of systems. It’s quite frankly, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

To allow the F-35C to operate beyond its 1,200nm (2,200km)-range limitation as a kind of airborne early warning and control aircraft, the USN envisions it being topped up by Boeing’s developmental MQ-25A Stingray unmanned refuelling tanker. That could help keep long-range anti-ship and anti-aircraft threats – weapons increasingly deployed by China and Russia – at arm’s length.

The F-35C is particularly well suited for this forward operating role because its stealth, suite of sensors and weapons load allow pilots to react quickly to enemy aircraft, says Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for Military Aerospace with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. “If you can get inside your opponent’s decision cycle, you can stand a better chance of winning and surviving. And they stand a greater chance of losing,” he says. “Forewarned is forearmed.”

In addition to killing its own prey, an F-35C could also gather targeting data and call back to a Super Hornet to fire on air or ground targets using long-range missiles, adds Conn....

...All variants of the F-35 should reach an 80% mission capability rate by September 2020, Vice Admiral Mathias Winter, executive officer of the Joint Program Office told the US House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee on 4 April. Currently, the F-35B has a 64% mission capability rate, while the F-35C is at 84%. The JSF is targeting a $25,000 per flight hour operating cost by 2025....

...Over the next decade, both F-35 variants are also likely to increasingly be used as electronic warfare platforms, says Barrie. “We will be opening up its capabilities in the electro- magnetic warfare spectrum – how the aircraft can be used in terms of suppression of enemy air defences, destruction of enemy air defences: hard kill or soft kill.”

Other areas to watch include the addition of beyond visual-range air-to-air missiles, such as the MBDA Meteor, which is planned for integration onto the UK’s F-35B fleet. Laser or high-powered microwave weapons, as well as radio frequency warheads, could also appear, says Barrie...."

Source: FLIGHT International 30 April 2019
Attachments
F-35 Evolution Long Life Flight International 30 Apr 2019 pp2.pdf
(287.12 KiB) Downloaded 913 times


Senior member
Senior member
 
Posts: 457
Joined: 01 Jul 2015, 21:42

by citanon » 06 May 2019, 19:40

FA/XX to be UCAV commanded by customized C&C F-35 with increased internal fuel? Interesting reporting from the Navy League on emerging concepts for the future carrier air wing.

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-sho ... -air-wing/


Elite 3K
Elite 3K
 
Posts: 3890
Joined: 16 Feb 2011, 01:30

by quicksilver » 23 Dec 2019, 15:35

This over the weekend —

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2019/ ... rd%20Brief

“Because with the Navy buying the F-35Cs, and the Marine [Corps] buying the F-35Bs, and the Navy buying the Block III Super Hornet, you are not going to be able to afford two or three programs. So, the F/A-XX is the one you need to focus on. And if the analysis shows you need range, that points to unmanned.”

:wtf:


Elite 1K
Elite 1K
 
Posts: 1496
Joined: 14 Mar 2012, 06:46

by marauder2048 » 23 Dec 2019, 21:40

“Because with the Navy buying the F-35Cs, and the Marine [Corps] buying the F-35Bs, and the Navy buying the Block III Super Hornet, you are not going to be able to afford two or three programs. So, the F/A-XX is the one you need to focus on. And if the analysis shows you need range, that points to unmanned.”

:wtf:


Larter recycled that quote from an article back in May.

I took that as an argument against a "family of systems" approach; Work is also seemingly arguing against
the MQ-25 (which he was integral to creating) as anything more than a temporary solution.


Elite 3K
Elite 3K
 
Posts: 3890
Joined: 16 Feb 2011, 01:30

by quicksilver » 23 Dec 2019, 22:20

marauder2048 wrote:
“Because with the Navy buying the F-35Cs, and the Marine [Corps] buying the F-35Bs, and the Navy buying the Block III Super Hornet, you are not going to be able to afford two or three programs. So, the F/A-XX is the one you need to focus on. And if the analysis shows you need range, that points to unmanned.”

:wtf:


Larter recycled that quote from an article back in May.

I took that as an argument against a "family of systems" approach; Work is also seemingly arguing against
the MQ-25 (which he was integral to creating) as anything more than a temporary solution.


Hmm. Thx.

That certainly casts the quote in a different light. My read was — “...you’ve already got 3 programs (that you claim you can’t afford) and now you want them to add a fourth as the priority??” And, of the three programs already in play, in one they’ve only bought a fraction of what they claim they need, and of the other two not one jet is even close to operational, much less bought in numbers.


Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 9792
Joined: 19 Dec 2005, 04:14

by Corsair1963 » 24 Dec 2019, 07:36

I have no problem with the US Government helping out Boeing. In order to keep the industry both healthy and vibrant. Yet, even then you have to use resources to the benefit of all...Especially, the customer (i.e. Military & US Taxpayer)


In short they should be ordering more F-35C's. While, giving Boeing more work (and possibly orders) for the MQ-25A Stingray (Stealth Tanker) and T-7A (Advance Trainer).

Instead of buying more "Super Hornets".... :doh:


Elite 1K
Elite 1K
 
Posts: 1496
Joined: 14 Mar 2012, 06:46

by marauder2048 » 25 Dec 2019, 01:43

quicksilver wrote:
That certainly casts the quote in a different light. My read was — “...you’ve already got 3 programs (that you claim you can’t afford) and now you want them to add a fourth as the priority??” And, of the three programs already in play, in one they’ve only bought a fraction of what they claim they need, and of the other two not one jet is even close to operational, much less bought in numbers.


Another interpretation:

Looking back at the May 5th article, the theme is the CVW of the 2030s and the mission sets which starts with the
classic F/A set and then extends to ASW (S-3 replacement), ISR (UCLASS-classic) etc. @ range.

Covering those missions sets is the "two or three programs" and Work seems to be arguing that you'll likely
get only one new program and its focus should be a single materiel solution: unmanned F/A @ range.



Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests