Military and Strategic Journal
Issued by the Directorate of Morale Guidance at the General Command of the Armed Forces
United Arab Emirates
Founded in August 1971

2019-07-10

F35 Brings Multi-Mission Capability Against Emerging Threats

The supersonic, multi-role F-35 Lighting II represents a quantum leap in air dominance in hostile and least accessible airspace environments. The joint strike fighter is highly stealthy, agile, interoperable, as well as features advanced logistics and sustainment. Designed to recapitalise allied fighter fleets to counter emerging threats, F-35 variants will replace A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force (USAF), the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least ten other countries.
 
The F-35 reportedly imbibes the most modern capabilities in the history of subsonic jet advancements. There was a number of new fighter configurations that followed the first generation fighters used in World War II and with every new generation came in major advances in technology and application.  The F-35, referred to as fifth-generation fighter, combines critical features including advanced stealth, integrated avionics, sensor fusion and superior logistics support packed with the most powerful and comprehensive integrated sensors of any fighter aircraft in history. 
 
The F-35 is designed with the entire battlespace in mind bringing new flexibility and capability to the U.S. and its allies, as relying on a single capability fighter is not sufficient for success and survival in the future. It is a multi-mission jet and can perform missions like air-to-air combat, air-to-ground strikes, electronic attack, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, which are traditionally undertaken as separate missions by specialised aircraft. 
 
The current USAF fighter aircraft are on an average over 25 years old, hence F-35 is developed, produced and supported by an international team of leading aerospace companies to counter impending challenges in the modern battlefield. The Lightning II is designed by primary contractor Lockheed Martin with its principal partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Northrop Grumman provides the F-35 with the low-observable stealth technology and supports logistics, sustainment, modelling and simulation, as well as mission planning. Whereas, BAE Systems contributes features such as including short take-off and vertical landing experience, advanced lean manufacturing, flight testing and air systems sustainment.  Furthermore, Pratt & Whitney supplied one of the most powerful engines in the for F-35's F135 propulsion system. 
 
F35’s Advantage Over Predecessors 
The F-35’s integrated airframe design, advanced materials and other features enable it with unprecedented stealth capabilities making it virtually undetectable to enemy radar. The combination of stealth, advanced sensors, data fusion, sophisticated countermeasures, and electronic attack demonstrate superior advantages over legacy aircraft.
 
The F-35 is clearly the aircraft for a leadership role in a coalition joint strike force, as it is designed to share everything it can see with other F-35aircraft, legacy aircraft and operation centres to expand situational awareness across the entire network of aircraft. This allows achieving mission success and survivability. The F-35 has the most robust mission system equipped with the best display communications suite, integrated electronic sensors and avionics. Components that sets F-35 apart from legacy fighter aircraft include the active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar, EOTS targeting system, Distributed Aperture System (DAS), Helmet Mounted Display (HMD), and the Communications, Navigation and Identification (CNI) Avionics. 
 
Multi-Mission Application
Electronic Attack: F-35’s advanced Electronic Warfare (EW) capabilities enable pilots to locate and track enemy forces, jam radars and disrupt attacks with unparalleled effectiveness. The data collected by its sensors can be immediately shared with command centres at sea, in the air or on the ground to provide real-time access to battlespace information and 360-degree coverage enabling dominance in the tactical environment. F-35 is a formidable force multiplier providing an instantaneous, high-fidelity view of ongoing operations to the pilot. 
 
Air-to-surface: The very low-observable (VLO) stealth in F-35 allows it to successfully penetrate well-defended airspace without being detected by radars that fourth generation and earlier legacy fighters were not able to achieve. The F35 can engage ground targets at longer ranges without being detected utilising its stealth features, AESA radar technology, and its ability to carry a full component of weapon stores and fuel internally. The precision-guided munitions and radar-guided missiles aid in successfully completing air-to-ground missions.  The F-35 can clear the way dominance for follow-on legacy coalition forces in the “clean” configuration with relative impunity. 
 
Air-to-air: The larger radar cross-section (RCS) in the legacy aircraft makes them more easily detectable by enemy radar Compared to fifth-generation fighters like the F-35 and F-22. The F-35’s integrated sensors, information and weapons systems give pilots an advantage over potential front-line fighter aircraft threats. While legacy aircraft have relatively equal opportunities to detect and engage one another, a fifth-generation fighter has the advantage of seeing enemy aircraft first and taking decisive, lethal action from a stand-off distance. 
 
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR): The F-35 has the most powerful and comprehensive integrated sensor package of any fighter aircraft in history, giving pilots 360-degree access to “real-time” battlefield information. The F-35 pilots can fly critical ISR missions with more sophisticated data capture than any previous fighter aircraft, and the information gathered by F-35 sensors can be securely shared providing a comprehensive view of ongoing operations. Much of the F-35’s electronic warfare and ISR capabilities are made possible by a core processor developed by BAE Systems that can perform more than 400 billion operations per second. It is developed to identify enemy radar and electronic warfare emissions and, as happens with the eight sensor Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS). 
 
F-35 Variants
The F-35 family includes three variants, the F-35A conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) variant, the F-35B short take-off/vertical landing (STOVL) variant, and the F-35C carrier variant (CV).
 
The F-35A is designed to operate conventional runways and is the only version to carry an internal cannon. The USAF, as well as the majority of allied air forces and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) nations, will operate the F-35A, replacing their third and fourth generation aircraft. Whereas, the F-35B variant is designed to operate from austere, short-field bases and a range of air-capable ships operating near front-line combat zones. 
 
For the first time in U.S. Naval aviation history, radar-evading stealth capability comes to the carrier deck with F-35C, which is the world’s only fifth-generation, long-range stealth strike fighter designed and built explicitly for aircraft carrier operations.
 
Reference Text/Photos:www.lockheedmartin.com

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