Forum: F-35 Armament, Stores and Tactics

I guarantee you the first American military forces to be put in play in a Chinese conflict will be subs.

That subsurface as leading foray will be true for both sides.
The Chinese have demonstrated a long and successful tradition of surprise attack on US forces.

You may have heard about the E-2D, and/or SH-60s, that provide over the horizon targeting. As for the SAR mode on the F-35, you can expect a detection range of well over 100nm(depending on the altitude). ESM/ELINT is another means of location, to go along with the other sensors.

The SAR-MTI system operates in the X-band and provides a number of operational modes:

The wide-area MTI mode can detect moving targets within a radius of 62 miles (100 kilometers).
The combined SAR-MTI strip mode provides 20 foot (6 meter) resolution over a swath 23 miles (37 kilometers) wide at ranges from 12.4 to 68 miles (20 to 110 kilometers).
The SAR spot mode can provide 6 foot (1.8 meter) resolution over 3.8 square miles (10 square kilometers), as well as provide a sea-surveillance function.

I know we are going off topic, but I think it would be interesting to see the current location of the USN sub fleet. I know that is classified information, but I think it would tell a lot. Especially the location of those not assigned to a carrier task force.

According to Wiki, that's 14 SSBN, 4 SSGN, to take the fight to the enemies doorstep. Then you have 7 Virginia, 3 Seawolf, and 42 LA attack subs to go hunting for enemy ships/subs. That's a lot of subs with the ability to be at sea for 6 months without anyone knowing where they are. Just saying it's a headache to account for all of them.

Then (to get back on topic) you have the F-35 to complicate matters. Not only are you worried about the attack subs coming after you, but now you have to worry about a stealth strike from above. Regardless of range of weapons and when it can be detected, the combination of stealth both above and below the waves would make you think twice about any action you take.
Sufa Viper

southernphantom --I believe you're referring to Korea. That was a single conflict, not quite enough to be called a 'tradition'. I suspect that the gloves will come off in a future US-Red conflict. The Chinese won't be physically able to utilize their 'tradition' for a long time if we play our cards right.

No issue that a ship or some advanced a/c may be able to detect the F-35 (maybe). Yes, a dumb bullet fired from a canon will damage or destroy the F-35, AA-1 has probably experienced that event by this time. My question is the missle sensing technology and it's ability to continuously lock-up a RAM target until it achieves the kill. Secondly the AN/ASQ-239 (Barracuda)/ AESA radar system should be "chomping at the bit" to defeat any missle sensor system that is currently advertised. If not, the pilot should be able to get his money back for the bad ride. Invisible, no; invulnerable, no; defeatable, in the hands of a "lesser pilot", maybe.

shingen --
I like how the mods let the threads go on this forum.

it true that submarine is a dangerous enemy but i dont really things the F-35 will be a harder target for enemy ships compared to normal aircraft , remember even the x-band irbis-e on Su-35BM can detected F-35 from 45-60 km how about the ship radar which is hundreds times stronger and use low bands like L-band ...

Those are some pretty optimistic figures, for the Su-35/IRBIS combo first of all, and secondly, the F-35 was designed to be survivable against S-300/400 level threats, which have much more powerful radars than the Su-35.