LM F-35 Weapons Cerification 2017

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... -f-443824/

Lockheed Martin certifies slate of weapons for F-35

01 December, 2017
BY: Leigh Giangreco

Washington DC
Lockheed Martin has cleared the F-35 to accurately deliver a full slate of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons available with go-to-war, Block 3F software. "The F-35 is combat capable and poised for even more weapons capability growth as we evolve into the future," Lockheed's F-35 executive vice-president and general manager Jeff Babione said in a newsletter to employees earlier this month. A recent round of testing on test range at China Lake, California validated the delivery accuracy of nine Block 3F weapons;

1- AIM-120C7 AMRAAM
2- AIM-9X Sidewinder
3- AIM-132 ASRAAM

The tests also confirmed delivery accuracy of several munitions, including;

4- Paveway IV 500lb.
5- GBU-39 SDB1 250lb.
6- GBU-12 Paveway II 500lb.
7- GBU-31 JDAM 2000lb.
8- GBU-32 JDAM 1000lb.
9- AGM-154 JSOW 1000lb.

, Babione says.

The F-35 testing evaluation master plan required Lockheed to complete 26 weapons delivery accuracy events as part of a testing effort that ensures the fighter can deploy its full set of Block 3F weapons. A 2016 report on the F-35 program from the Pentagon’s top weapons tester revealed several deficiencies and limitations.

- The report detailed mission planning problems with the US Navy’s JSOW missile that could jeopardize the fleet’s ability to attack moving ship targets and allow flexible engagement of targets on land.

- The report also discovered ongoing radar and fusion deficiencies affecting air-to-air target track stability and accuracy. Lockheed corrected the issues detailed in the DOT&E report before completing weapons delivery accuracy testing, a Lockheed spokesman tells FlightGlobal.

- Meanwhile, the US Air Force awarded a $59.7 million contract last month to Raytheon for the GBU-49 Enhanced Paveway II guided bomb. Integrating the GBU-49, which is able to strike a moving target, marks an interim fix for the F-35 since the fighter’s current electro-optical targeting system does not have a “lead laser guidance” capability. Flight testing with the GBU-49 will begin this month and the USAF will receive the first 400 guidance kits by the end of January, the service says in a 1 December statement.


....article is a little erratic for six edits; mostly correct now for a last munitions step to close of SDD.

Babione Report here: viewtopic.php?f=58&t=13143&p=382124&hilit=Babione#p382124

4- GBU-49 Paveway IV 500lb.

...

- Meanwhile, the US Air Force awarded a $59.7 million contract last month to Raytheon for the GBU-49 Enhanced Paveway II guided bomb. Integrating the GBU-49, which is able to strike a moving target, marks an interim fix for the since the fighter’s current electro-optical targeting system does not have a “lead laser guidance” capability. Flight testing with the GBU-49 will begin this month and the USAF will receive the first 400 guidance kits by the end of January, the service says in a 1 December statement.

Ummm, GBU-49 as both "Paveway IV" and "Enhanced Paveway II"???

I don't think that the Uk's Paveway IV has been given a "GBU" designation.

4- GBU-49 Paveway IV 500lb.

...

Ummm, GBU-49 as both "Paveway IV" and "Enhanced Paveway II"???

...

I believe most of the old GBU numbers are now used as "E"GBU (old number) instead of having different numbers ex: GBU-16 and EGBU-16 (not GBU-48.) HOWEVER that would mean they both should have (E)GBU-12 and not 49 sooooo ... dunno?

BP

That's weird that problems with JSOW would jeopardize the fleet’s ability to attack moving ship targets, it's a nifty ability with JSOW-C1 but was it ever considered a primary means of maritime attack?

The only other way to attack a moving ship as of Block 3F would be with a GBU-12 (or gun pod) but that's certainly less than ideal given how close you have to get to the ship.

The only other way to attack a moving ship as of Block 3F would be with a GBU-12 (or gun pod) but that's certainly less than ideal given how close you have to get to the ship.

....if the stealth works! And with Mach 1.6 at what distance would you release two GBU-31 JDAMS, against any ship?


...in the GBU glide slope, at what point does the ship detect and track the GBUs?

....if the stealth works! And with Mach 1.6 at what distance would you release two GBU-31 JDAMS, against any ship?

You'd need a Laser JDAM for a moving ship I'd think.

....if the stealth works! And with Mach 1.6 at what distance would you release two GBU-31 JDAMS, against any ship?

You'd need a Laser JDAM for a moving ship I'd think.

....500ft. Ship @ 30?kts. And the 1.6 mach. JDAM!, Oh!, and you are stealthy!

Maybe GPS is good enough (ps. Aim at the bow)!

....500ft. Ship @ 30?kts. And the 1.6 mach. JDAM!, Oh!, and you are stealthy!

Maybe GPS is good enough (ps. Aim at the bow)!

500 ft? Flying at 500 ft AGL? You're not doing 1.6M then.

I thought the whole idea with VLO was to be able to operate up high... 30-40k ft? Not sure a JDAM can be dropped accurately enough without guidance to hit a moving target (even @ relatively leisurely 30kts) from whatever distance from which one would typically drop.

What about just using the F-35 as the eyes (ISR) 5th gen style? Couldn't the Lighting locate the target vessels and feed enough information back to the fleet that they someone could launch Harpoons or LRASMs with instructions: fly to here, orient yourself this direction, turn on seeker and attack whatever you find. This would be a variation on the F-35 fed targeting (and possibly guidance) information to the USS Desert ship in the SM-6 exercise @ White Sands a little bit ago.

I don't believe the F-35 has been cleared for supersonic JDAM release, but if it has, and if it were to release a GBU-31 at Mach 1.6 in a 30 degree dive, with the bomb releasing at say, 25,000ft, then it'll still take over 20 seconds; the ship moving at 30 knots meanwhile would have moved more than 1000ft in that time. That also doesn't take into account the bomb's deceleration.

If an F-35 is stealthy enough, maybe it could fly directly over head (above the ship radar's FOV) and then dive down on top of it, releasing the bomb at like 5000-10,000ft, but it'd be much easier to just use a GBU-12 or two; a 500lb bomb will still devastate, if not sink a modern warship.

....500ft. Ship @ 30?kts. And the 1.6 mach. JDAM!, Oh!, and you are stealthy!

Maybe GPS is good enough (ps. Aim at the bow)!

...

....sorry, the DDG-51 is 500ft. long (from bow to stern) @ <30kts.


...or how bad do you want to sink the ship?, think swordfish!

What about just using the F-35 as the eyes (ISR) 5th gen style? Couldn't the Lighting locate the target vessels and feed enough information back to the fleet that they someone could launch Harpoons or LRASMs with instructions: fly to here, orient yourself this direction, turn on seeker and attack whatever you find. This would be a variation on the F-35 fed targeting (and possibly guidance) information to the USS Desert ship in the SM-6 exercise @ White Sands a little bit ago.

This would make more sense IMO.

Or you could carry JSM internally or LRASM externally.

What about just using the F-35 as the eyes (ISR) 5th gen style? Couldn't the Lighting locate the target vessels and feed enough information back to the fleet that they someone could launch Harpoons or LRASMs with instructions: fly to here, orient yourself this direction, turn on seeker and attack whatever you find. This would be a variation on the F-35 fed targeting (and possibly guidance) information to the USS Desert ship in the SM-6 exercise @ White Sands a little bit ago.

This would make more sense IMO.

Or you could carry JSM internally or LRASM externally.

...and the boat sinks without Block 4.xxxxxx, today!

F-35 employment of JSM / LRASM have to wait until Block 4.x, don't they?

I thought the context of the conversation was with what can an F-35 sink a ship today? In that regards... remote targeting with F-35 seems to be doable today. Heck, we can get maus to haul around some Harpoons on his truck for us. 'Course... if the ship sinks cuz of a missile of a Super Duper... the Duper pilots are gonna wanna paint a ship silhouette on their Duper. Can't have that... Have the Dupers haul gas to refuel the Cees... call in Harpoons and/or SLAM-ER's from P-8's (the 737 driver is not likely to get uppity). If the LRASM becomes operational in 2018, could get LRASMs (that needs a better name... gasms as in the "OH!" ?) off Arley Burks or anything else with a VL-41. I know the AGM-158B JASSM can be carried by the Bone... any plans to hang gasms / harpoons / or SLAM-ERs off the B-1? Of course, that might be problematic... shooting those things off the Bone would give rise to new meanings to a bone + er.

ETA: I see that wiki says the Bone is slated to carry the LRASM.

So have some Bones tooling around the area, Stubbies find the baddies, Dupers haul extra gas for Stubby. Problem solved.