Key Points-The integration of Storm Shadow on the F-35B as part of UK follow-on development has been dropped
-The UK is looking to integrate the Meteor BVR air-to-air missile and the SPEAR Cap 3 stand-off precision guided weapon as part of Block 4
The United Kingdom (UK) Ministry of Defence (MoD) has abandoned plans to integrate the MBDA Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missile on the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), and is instead looking at the far future integration of a new long-range deep-strike weapon projected under the still embryonic Selective Precision Effects at Range (SPEAR) Cap 5 programme.
Officials have also disclosed that while the United Kingdom still plans to integrate the MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile and the projected SPEAR Cap 3 precision stand-off air-to-surface weapon on the F-35B, there is as yet no concrete programme agreed with the JSF Program Office.
As the sole Level 1 collaborative partner for the JSF programme's System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase, the United Kingdom has negotiated the integration of the Raytheon Paveway IV precision-guided bomb and MBDA Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) as part of the Block 3 release. Paveway IV and ASRAAM, together with the Raytheon AIM-120C5 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), constitute the UK's 'threshold' weapons fit.
Speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society's (RAeS's) 'Delivering Capability: A Balance Between Weapon and Platform' conference in November 2015, Iain Barker, part of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory's (Dstl's) weapons integration team, said that the UK's status as Level 1 partner in the JSF programme had "allowed us to influence the F-35 design to get UK weapons on board". He added, "All were legacy weapons of known size and shape, allowing the [internal weapons] bay to be designed around the weapon shapes."
The original plan was for all three threshold weapons to be qualified for internal carriage on the F-35B. However, the 2010 decision to switch to the F-35C variant - subsequently reversed in 2012 - had repercussions for this plan according to Barker. "The two variants have different internal bays, there is no commonality," he explained. "So we had to start from scratch again on the B ... during this [period] we lost internal ASRAAM as a capability we would field."
Accordingly, ASRAAM will now only be qualified as an external store."SDD weapon integration has had its challenges," added Barker. "Test envelope availability; differences in configuration approach; political direction; weapon updates; and programme concurrency.
"The UK has its own weapons, and DOSG [Defence Ordnance Safety Group] to work with. That required a redesign of how the UK would do flight test to get the appropriate data to support certification."
Internal integration of Paveway IV has encountered some challenges. "The battery firing device lanyard was found to be incompatible with the [weapon] rack," said Barker. "It was an easy fix, but would have to be fitted across all racks, so the decision was taken instead to modify the weapon lanyard."
Initial F-35B handling trials carrying ASRAAM and Paveway IV mass/shape models on external hardpoints began in late 2014. Paveway IV weapon separation testing began in June 2015 with the release of two inert weapons from the internal weapons bay of aircraft BF-03.
Under current plans, the F-35B is scheduled to achieve initial operating capability (IOC) at the end of 2018 with the three threshold weapons. An MoD spokesperson confirmed to IHS Jane's that "integration of the UK's System Development Demonstration (SDD's) weapons is currently proceeding to plan and [they] are on track to be cleared to support UK F-35 Lightning II IOC in December 2018".
Beyond the IOC, the United Kingdom has been developing plans for follow-on development involving the integration of additional weapons to maximise the aircraft capability. Storm Shadow was a threshold weapon in the original JSF Joint Operational Requirements Document, with external weapon stations 3 and 9 designed to accept the 3,000 lb store. However, Barker told the RAeS conference that integration has now been dropped.
"We will not certify Storm Shadow on F-35," he said, adding that the plan "is that the aircraft will get SPEAR Cap 5 as a future deep fire capability".
The SPEAR Cap 5 capability requirement is currently planned to be met by a nascent
Future Cruise Anti-Ship Weapon studied by MBDA under a French/UK co-operation project.
IOC is envisaged in the period 2030-35.Asked to comment on the rationale for not proceeding with Storm Shadow integration, the MoD told IHS Jane's that there "was never any formal requirement for Storm Shadow to be integrated on the UK's F-35 aircraft".
Meteor and SPEAR Cap 3 both remain in the frame for follow-on integration as part of the F-35 Block 4 programme. A cropped-fin Meteor concept has been developed by MBDA to enable carriage inside the F-35 bay; a feasibility study has subsequently concluded that there are no significant issues to overcome with regard to integration.
"With Meteor, neither the weapon nor the platform were designed with each other in mind," Barker said. "We're having to clip the wings in order to fit into the bay, and make some minor bay modifications. We will still deliver the capability we require."
SPEAR Cap 3 is designed to meet a UK requirement for a new mini cruise missile able to attack mobile/relocatable targets at medium stand-off range. MBDA has matured the so-called
100B concept - a network-enabled turbojet-powered 100 kg class weapon sized for a quad loadout in the F-35B internal bay - as part of the UK's sovereign complex weapons pipeline.
While the US-developed GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II has also been assessed in relation to the SPEAR Cap 3 requirement, the MoD is at this stage continuing to pursue the MBDA technical solution on the grounds that it is the only weapon option that fulfils all its key user requirements. The MoD now plans to fund MBDA for an extended Assessment Phase through to a SPEAR Cap 3 Main Gate decision planned for 2018.
"SPEAR Cap 3 is a weapon specifically designed for the F-35 platform," Barker said. "The F-35B is intended as the primary platform for this weapon."
The UK's aspiration is that weapons introduced under follow-on development should reach the front-line in the early-to-mid 2020s. However, Barker acknowledged to the RAeS audience that the programme timelines for follow-on weapon integration had yet to be finalised.
"After SDD, we no longer have Level 1 status," he said. "It becomes all about aircraft offtake numbers. So we have to battle with all the other partner nations."The challenge for the UK will be to fit the UK weapons into that timeline to get what we need.
The Block 4 programme is heavily dominated by the US customer, and it also requires modifications to the aircraft and the availability of the weapon. So Meteor will come first."
Barker added that the MoD is looking at what scope there is to drive down the cost and compress the schedule of follow-on integrations. "So
we want to look at doing Meteor and SPEAR Cap 3 environmental testing together ideally to save on time and cost," he said.
The MoD told IHS Jane's in a statement,"Planning for F-35 Lightning II follow-on modernisation is currently being undertaken by the JSF Programme Office. It is intended that both Meteor and Spear Cap 3 integration will form part of this upgrade programme."
COMMENTThe decision not to proceed with Storm Shadow integration on the F-35B comes as the UK continues work to integrate Storm Shadow into the Royal Air Force's Typhoon FGR4 aircraft under the Phase 2 Enhancements (P2E) package. A first Storm Shadow launch from a Tornado was performed on a UK range in November 2015.
Integration of Storm Shadow into Typhoon under P2E is intended to lead to an IOC of August 2018, ensuring that the RAF's air-launched deep-strike capability is sustained after the retirement of the Tornado GR4 in 2019. However, the decision not to pursue integration of Storm Shadow on the F-35B means that the UK's Carrier Strike capability will be left devoid of a deep-strike weapon.