Forum: General F-35 Forum

Yeah, like that.

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How 'bout dis? Dis must be the real HELLpod. Twisted Evil

Yuma hosts first flight for new electronic warfare system 09 Apr 2012
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma Story by Lance Cpl. Sean Dennison

http://www.dvidshub.net/news/86489/yuma ... FclVK6WxiU

"Intrepid Tiger II, a government-built system whose ground work began in 2008, is meant to expand the circumference of electronic warfare capabilities.

The pod will provide AV-8B Harriers with an electronic attack capability, expanding their utility on the modern battlefield and paving the way for the Marine Air-Ground Task Force electronic warfare concept that will replace the Prowlers....

...The new pod’s strength lies in its versatility, being controlled by either airborne pilots or ground radio operators. First Radio Battalion, based in Camp Pendleton, Calif., is the first ground-based unit trained to use Intrepid Tiger II....

...Radio operators can assume control of the pod depending on ground activity if the situation does not cover pilots’ mission preplanning.

“This is our first foray into a network centric, system of systems with electronic warfare capabilities,” said Maj. William Maples, the Headquarters Marine Corps Harrier weapons system requirement officer and a native of Murfreesboro, Tenn. “We’re excited to see the effect it will have to unify combatant commanders in Operation Enduring Freedom.”...

...As Harriers are used primarily for providing close-air support to ground troops, the Harrier community already has an established rapport with their land-based brethren....

...Harriers also already deploy with Marine Expeditionary Units, making them ideal for the first platform to use the pod. Plans are in the works to bestow Intrepid Tiger II on other platforms, including F/A-18 Hornets, rotary-wing aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The variety of platforms is important, as the Prowlers, Hornets and Harriers slowly make way for the Joint Strike Fighter program....

...“The most important part of this asset is it’s organic to the Corps,” added 1st Lt. David Miller, a 1st Radio Battalion and a native of Chilliocothe, Ohio, noting that ground troops now have a Corps-exclusive electronic warfare capability...."

CAPTION: "Personnel assemble the Intrepid Tiger II electronic warfare pod at MCAS Yuma, March 26."

http://d1.static.dvidshub.net/media/thu ... 95_q75.jpg

BEST READ AT THE JUMP.

VMF will connect USMC to F-35s amongst other connections:

Joint Tactical Data Enterprise Services (TDES) Migration Plan (JTMP)

http://idlsoc.com/Documents/Symposiums/ ... D(NII).pdf (8Mb)

I've seen those graphics a couple of times, but I have to admit I don't really understand what it is trying to depict.

Did you read the PDF (graphics from the PDF are meant to encourage one to read the PDF)? Not much text explanation in the aforementioned however. I'll keep looking for an excellent PDF about DigitCAS wot I lost. Sad

http://idlsoc.com/Documents/Symposiums/ ... D(NII).pdf

spazsinbad wrote:

Did you read the PDF (graphics from the PDF are meant to encourage one to read the PDF)? Not much text explanation in the aforementioned however. I'll keep looking for an excellent PDF about DigitCAS wot I lost. Sad

http://idlsoc.com/Documents/Symposiums/ ... D(NII).pdf

Actually, I can't seem to load that up.

count_to_10 wrote:

I've seen those graphics a couple of times, but I have to admit I don't really understand what it is trying to depict.

At first glance both diagrams look identical. But if you look again one has 'NOT' highlighting current deficiencies. The other shows the goals.

Download the PDF (actually 5.4Mb) from here:

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_download-id-16379.html

Looks like this networking stuff is coming along nicely... Graphic from the PDF available immediately above: http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_download-id-16379.html

Story otherwise from the axeman - F-35 not mentioned though - I wonder why? Perhaps shrinking the numbers of F-35s will help? Oh wait - is not that happening? Very Happy

New Networks Will Miss Potential Until Services Shrink Units, Strip Hierarchy By David Axe 11 Feb 2013

http://defense.aol.com/2013/02/11/new-n ... -units-st/

"Sitting in the cockpit of her A-10 Warthog somewhere over Florida's Eglin Air Force Base on Jan. 10, Maj. Olivia Elliott flipped a switch. In an instant her blunt, twin-engine warplane with the 30-millimeter cannon in the nose was transformed. No longer just the Air Force's most heavily-armed attack jet, now the A-10 was also a flying wireless router, providing Internet connectivity to anyone in range -- and with the right password.

The final test of the Network-Tactical, or Net-T, upgrade to the Northrop Grumman LITENING and Lockheed Martin Sniper targeting pods, carried by A-10s and other warplanes, is the latest in a long chain of communications breakthroughs by the U.S. military and the defense industry.

From handheld devices capable of streaming video from overhead drones to encrypted data-links allowing warships to share radar data and cue targets for each other's missiles the Pentagon has debuted a dizzying array of new systems meant to build the information connections in a network over the last 10 years....

...theorists believe that it takes a network to beat a network -- that U.S. forces should be as nimble and autonomous as their enemies and rivals. These qualities demand speedy, flexible and reliable communications such as those under development by military and industry labs....

...Most importantly, a military of "little things" would need a less linear command structure. "Traditionally, the military is a hierarchy," Arquilla says. Information is concentrated in the hands of commanders who issue orders down a chain to units heavily dependent on their superiors for direction. "We tend to retain ... far too much central control."

Networks, by contrast, are about the "lateral, flat movement of information out to edges of the entire force," Arquilla says. Highly autonomous small units would all have free access to the intelligence they need to make their own decisions. Top commanders would watch from a distance as the battle unfolds, interjecting orders only when a unit deviates from the loose overall plan....

...Net-T is only the latest entry. The requirement for the pod-based wireless router emerged last summer from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, home to Air Force Materiel Command, which maintains and upgrades the flying branch's planes and other hardware.

"They were looking specifically at getting data transfer without line of sight," Capt. Joseph Rojas, the lead engineer for the Net-T test effort, tells AOL Defense. The Air Force determined that tweaks to existing Sniper and LITENING targeting pods were the most expedient path to a working router.

Rojas' team hung the pods on B-1 bombers and A-10, F-15 and F-16 fighters. Operators on the ground or on boats in the Gulf of Mexico were given handheld Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver-5 terminals, or ROVER-5s, and instructed to send each other data via the airborne WiFi....

...Net-T and communications systems like it could truly become transformational for the entire U.S. military."

As always best to read this long article at source and to repeat the graphic below is NOT from the article but from this PDF:

Joint Tactical Data Enterprise Services (TDES) Migration Plan (JTMP) Dec 2009

http://idlsoc.com/Documents/Symposiums/ ... D(NII).pdf (5.5Mb)

A bit old now probably but an idea of Block Upgrade Content and View of Battlespace from Norway both in the 2008 F-35 Norway Brief here: http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_download-id-14514.html (3.5Mb)

Intelligent avionics February 1, 2013 Courtney Howard Executive Editor

http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articl ... onics.html

"...Retrofitting legacy aircraft
"The new-generation Super Hornets and advanced F-15 and F-16 aircraft are starting to get high-speed 1-gigabit-per-second (1Gb/s) capability, which makes it a lot easier to do all the necessary onboard processing required to provide situational awareness," Reichenfeld says. Older aircraft have a "Link 16 data stream at 1 megabit per second (1Mb/s). The legacy F18 and F16 are still pretty much stuck with 1553." Yet, avionics technology exists to bridge the gap in communications between legacy and next-generation combat aircraft.

Stauder Technologies engineers needed an avionics chassis and electronic components for its AVT StrikeLink Airborne (StrikeLink/A) solution. They found their solution at Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc.

Strikelink/A is designed to provide "turnkey" interoperability with StrikeLink, the material ground solution for the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command's Target Location, Designation, and Hand-off System (TLHDS) by re-hosting digital communications technologies in legacy aircraft.

The avionics system harnesses Curtiss-Wright's integrated subsystems, including avionics chassis, computer boards, backplane, and power supply, to help enable digital interoperability between ground forces and close air support aircraft. The embedded computer runs Stauder's digital communications software, which is currently fielded in StrikeLink and serves as the core of StrikeLink/A. Able to acquire targets during day, night, and nearly all-weather visibility conditions, StrikeLink can precisely determine operator location as well as that of their targets, and then digitally transmit secure data, using Variable Message Format (VMF) protocols, to multiple supporting arms elements. With StrikeLink/A installed on close air support aircraft, initially the AV-8B Harrier, digital communication interoperability is guaranteed and sustainable without modifying the aircraft's operational flight program or hardware installation provisions, according to a spokesperson...."
&
BRINGING it back to the F-35 because after all this is what this forum is about? Very Happy

"...Situational awareness & sensors
Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), a stealth combat aircraft replete with advanced avionics, integrated sensors, and weaponry, continues to gain considerable attention on the world stage. In fact, the F-35 Lightning II is reportedly the only international 5th Generation multirole fighter to date.

"The tri-variant F-35 represents the pinnacle of more than 50 years of fighter development technology," admits Laura Siebert in the F-35 Communications Office at Lockheed Martin. "The F-35 combines the 5th Generation characteristics of radar-evading stealth, supersonic speed, and agility with the most powerful and comprehensive integrated sensor package of any fighter aircraft."

The F-35 Lightning II employs a novel cockpit display and sensor implementation and placement. Advanced avionics provide the pilot "real-time access to battle space information with spherical coverage and an unparalleled ability to dominate the tactical environment," Siebert says, whereas sensor data can immediately be shared, "providing an instantaneous, high-fidelity view of ongoing operations."...

..."Incorporating COTS technology into an open system architecture throughout the F-35 will enable frequent technology updates at low cost," says Bob Coultas, hardware program manager for the ICP for Lockheed Martin. "Open system architecture is based on the use of commercial, standard interfaces that enable the program to take advantage of commercial technologies for more supportable, lower-cost designs."...

...The onboard system incorporates a liquid-cooled, ruggedized multicomputer capable of performing 40 billion sustained operations per second; it enables multi-mission computing to process EW, electro-optical, infrared, and radar data. Mercury's multiprocessor technology is used in the signal processor (SP) and signal processor input/output (SPIO) modules of the ICP. Mercury's signal processing systems were used in the Concept Demonstration Phase (CDP) of the JSF, and its RACE++ Series PowerStream systems were selected for the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase....

...Future avionics advances
Advanced avionics are in demand. Regardless of budget pressures, militaries worldwide need modern avionics technologies in new manned and unmanned aerial platforms and with which to retrofit existing and aging combat aircraft fleets. In fact, the success of future missions may call for "cognitive avionics."

"One big trend that we're seeing emerge is cognizance, more machine intelligence for the ultimate goal of relieving the pilot workload to get the mission accomplished, and cognizance in EW, the ability to detect and adapt as threats change, situations change, and missions change," Reichenfeld affirms. "Giving the avionics more cognitive intelligence is one of the growing trends for future avionics systems."..."

LONG article best read at source.

When they say "Commercial Off the Shelf" computers, are they talking about using normal motherboards / CPU / RAM that I can buy off of Newegg?

I hope so, because if an entire Avionics / Computer system ran off of a PC platform, then upgrading functionality is as simple as installing new PC hardware into a box and loading software, I'd be real haapy.

That's what I would hope for when it comes to the future of aviation.

COTS is about the chips themselves.

The hardware still needs to be designed for the rigors if high-g flight, temp changes, cooling, vibration,etc.

Excuse me for having the #%@% scared out of me by this. I hope the cybersecurity folks do a REALLY good job locking down T-net. Think of the possibilities for compromised positions and targeting data... Confused

southernphantom wrote:

Excuse me for having the #%@% scared out of me by this. I hope the cybersecurity folks do a REALLY good job locking down T-net. Think of the possibilities for compromised positions and targeting data... Confused

One hopes.
On the other hand, "hacking" isn't as magical as most people make it out to be.

Forum: General F-35 Forum

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