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DefenceHeadlines
F-35 acts as an "elevated sensor" for Aegis
written by australianaviation.com.au September 15, 2016
File image of an F-35B.
A US Marine Corps F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has acted as an "elevated sensor" for the Aegis combat system for the first time.
During trials conducted from the White Sands Missile Range, the unmodified F-35B detected an over-the-horizon threat and passed targeting data via its Multi-Function Advanced Data Link (MADL) to the land-based USS Desert Ship test facility via a ground station, with the target subsequently engaged and intercepted by an SM-6 missile.
It was the first live fire event that successfully demonstrated the integration of the F-35 to support the Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA) program, Lockheed Martin, builder of both the F-35 and Aegis combat system, said.
"NIFC-CA is a game-changer for the US Navy that extends the engagement range we can detect, analyse and intercept targets," Dale Bennett, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, said in a statement on September 13.
"The F-35 and Aegis Weapon System demonstration brings us another step closer to realising the true potential and power of the worldwide network of these complex systems to protect and support warfighters, the home front and US allies."
The trial was of likely of great interest to the ADF, which is acquiring F-35A JSFs for the Royal Australian Air Force and Aegis-equipped Air Warfare Destroyers (AWDs) for the Royal Australian Navy.
In a laboratory environment at its 'Lighthouse' Center for Innovation facility in Virginia Lockheed Martin has already demonstrated the ability of an F-35A and an AWD to undertake a coordinated engagement, as part of trials to demonstrate scenarios for the ADF's AIR 6500 joint battle management system program.
Lockheed Martin is one of four prime contractors, as well as Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, due to submit an AIR 6500 capability solutions study this month.
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the road runner September 19, 2016 - 6:30 pm
JSF is starting to show its capability acting as a sensor. Harvesting Information and feeding it back into a network. Sharing info with Aegis,Wedge-tail ,P-8s, Drones and ground based systems to give a picture of the battlefield .
JSF dose Electronic Attack (EA) and Electronic Warfare(EW).
Its also an ISR asset and with LO capability
Its a bomber and also the second best fighter in the world
No 4th gen fighter brings this type of game to the Battlefield.
Its a force multiplier all in one platform!
It can carry a bigger "variety" of weapons ,than anything out there at the moment.
Looking forward to when CUDA and NSM will be integrated onto JSF
Add to that we will be plugged into its spiral update path for the life of type of JSF .Australian companies are producing parts for the JSF fleet.Australia will be Asia's servicing hub for JSF fleet.
Pretty positive points for ADF and Australian Businesses
Anyone who has a spare 4 hours to read this JSF article should. Some great info on JSF!
Thanks GF from Defense Talk for posting this article
http://www.sldinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/F-35-and-Transformation.pdf
G4george September 19, 2016 - 8:19 pm
These beauties are paying off all ready.
Dave Thomas September 20, 2016 - 8:05 am
What a great potential for the A.D.F., a virtual mobile JORN to protect our vast shoreline.
Flyer September 20, 2016 - 9:24 am
Does anybody know if this same capability is possible with Wedgetail..? I.e tracking a target and passing on info to Aegis for a long-range sm-6 intercept..?
Fabian September 20, 2016 - 11:48 am
This is great, the JSF is under way
Derrick Aguero September 20, 2016 - 1:31 pm
Wouldn't it make sense to purchase some F35B so they can luanch of the LHD and tie in with the AWD to attack targets instead of launching the F35A from shore… just a thought
Allan September 20, 2016 - 2:09 pm
G`day Flyer, Wedgetail has the ability to track and pass information to all platforms equipped with the datalink systems in use in the ADF.
Roadrunner, Japan will.be the base for all maintenance on the JSF in this part of the world due to the close proximity to Korea, Japan and the US bases in both countries as well as Guam. The same for Italy who will be the maintenance base for all European JSF apart from Israel who will do it's own maintenance as agreed with the US.
John N September 20, 2016 - 7:50 pm
Hi Derrick,
Sorry, but you are wrong.
Japan will undertake heavy maintenance for the North Pacific and Australia will be the heavy mainteance hub for the South Pacific, see below:
http://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/603831
In addition Australia will be the maintenance hub for engines by 2018 with Japan following 3 to 5 years later.
@ Derrick I should have been more specific ….Japan will handle Heavy Maintenance in the North Pacific while Australia will handle Maintenance in the South Pacific. Korea has stated a number of times that they will not get their JSF serviced by Japan. Australia has one thing that Japan dose not . LAND , we have Woomera that is a very attractive training area to test,evaluate and fire weapons.
We are also a partner nation of the JSF and our Government has made strides in developing a defense related industry in Australia.
http://www.janes.com/article/63486/australia-seeks-to-expand-f-35-support-engagement
Daryl September 21, 2016 - 8:18 am
AvWeb mentioned today ,that operational F35A's have been grounded ,due to fuel lines issues.The "Routine" maint problem seems to be taking on a rather expensive fix
.Aside from this ,I believe the program is proceeding nicely.Looking forward to seeing them in RAAF service in big numbers.
Fabian September 21, 2016 - 8:39 am
Derrick. About ur comment earlier with the f-35b. The Australian government didn't want to operate fixed wing aircraft off the lhd because it was for amphibious warfare and helicopters. I'm guessing the ship can handle vtol aircraft but some Rumors had in the past that the lhd didn't have the right material on the deck to handle the f-35 down/jet blast. I don't know if that is entirely true but the Air Force wanted to maintain fighter aircraft and the navy wanted helicopters. Simple, the goverment just uses the joint command system and all three forces can work together to protect this country and national interests of this country.
Harry September 22, 2016 - 12:26 am
Fabian. It wasn't just a problem with redesigning the deck for F35B operations but also storage beneath, including the planes themselves proper storage of fuel and weapons and of course the ALIS system and maintenance areas, including spare parts etc. Even then you can really only operate between 8-12 (Nowhere near enough for proper carrier operations). It would've been a major overhaul which would've defeated the purpose of the ships design for use in amphibious operations. Just too expensive. Cheaper just to buy a surplus aircraft carrier from the brits… but apparently they have decided not to mothball their other one anymore.
Japan will have heavy maintenance because Japan insist on building (at least some of) the F35 itself to maintain or develop its aeronautical engineering expertise, etc. It makes more strategic sense not to have your maintenance facilities in range of China's (non-nuclear) cruise and ballistic missile defence systems. This is precisely the reason why a maintenance facility will be in Australia, and was probably always planned for.
Back to the topic. I have been mentioning this capability of the F-35 and US plans to develop the 'arsenal plane' that can lob LRMs from BVR for the F-35 to capture and direct in air-air engagements. The US is developing the F-15 to carry up to 16 missiles for this exact reason. The F-15s, like the F-18Gs, might also get the next gen-jammer to work in conjunction with the F-35, according to some reports. The F35 EW is great but the current growlers, and also next-gen jammers, add specific capabilities that enhance EW in conjunction with the F-35.
Also things to think about: all countries (US, UK, Italy, Singapaore, Japan, SKorea, Turkey, Israel) getting the F-35 except for Australia, Denmark and Norway (not sure about Canada yet) will be operating their fleet with long-range air superiority fighters (they obviously don't think dog fighting is dead) that also can do long-range bomb trucking and/or low level strike like Euro fighters, F-15s and F-22s; only Australia and the US will operate the F-35s with dedicated EW aircraft – the Growlers.
the road runner September 24, 2016 - 11:41 pm
@Daryl any "fixes" the JSF needs threw 2nd rate production parts LM pay the freight on.
Australia being a "Partner Nation" should get the benefit of having a facility to maintain F-35 in the region.
We took a risk signing up for the program early on and are reaping the rewards.
As John N has pointed out ,we will be servicing engines 5 years before Japan dose. Japan has just received its first JSF, so the International pool is growing!
The array of sensors and mission data the JSF carries is eye watering. Just the mission data on the JSF is twice that of a F-22 and 10 times greater than an F-15. And people wanted us to buy F-15 Blahhh
Australia is also part of ACURL , Australia,Canada(if they proceed with JSF buys ,and i think they will) and United Kingdom Re Programming Lab. This lab ,better known as RC-East @ Eglin is run by the 53rd Electronic warfare Group in the USA and will be staffed by a group of US,Australians,Canadians(?) and people from the United Kingdom and will let us program the mission data that will be loaded onto our JSF.
RC-East was set up so partner nations with the help of the USA could access the "Source codes" and apply mission data that is relevant to different Air forces.
JSF ALREADY fly's longer range than an F-22 . People are so ill informed when it comes to JSF .
I just have to laugh!
Australia is really lucky but smart to get the growlers. The JSF is meant to connect to all the aircraft in the area and perform smart and major missions. The f-15 is the main fire power and the f-22 for the dog fighting capabilities. The f-35 expands their capabilities. Instead of the f-15, Australia has the super hornet.
But any way, plan Jericho is getting on nicely and on schedule. Wonderful to see the government and the defence force work together to get this plan up and running.
Harry September 26, 2016 - 12:55 pm
Roadrunner, sorry but the F-22 flies a lot further than the JSF, I don't know where you got the notion that the F-35 could go further, but its common/accepted knowledge. Unless, did you mean the F-18? If not, are you gonna suggest next the spurious notion that the F-35 is more stealthy than the the JSF?
Btw I wonder what the Israelis, who are getting a dozen or more second hand F-15s with the recent aid package along with the 75 JSFs planned are thinking!? And why did Singapore just buy some more when they could've just signed up for the F-35? Sorry had to correct those notions you put forward.
Harry, Israel is only geting 36 JSF depending on the US aid package. Depending on the aid package, Israel will purchase eather more JSF or new build F-15SE.
Harry September 26, 2016 - 3:56 pm
Only 36 this time huh? Supposedly Israel is 'planning for 75' like I said. It got a dozen or more second hand F-15Ds from retired US stocks. But I am very interested to see if Israel will go for this F-15SE. I know Qatar or something where thinking of going for the F-15SE but somehow I don't see the two countries co-investing in this concept plane.
Harry, Israel is pushing for the US not to supply Qatar with the new gen F-15SE as it would change the balance of power in the Middle east, due to the range and payload.
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/air-force/2016/02/28/israels-angst-over-qatar-sale-could-end-boeings-f-15-line/80895346/
Back on topic, apparently there was an engine fire on a F35A
http://www.defensenews.com/articles/f-35a-damaged-in-fire-at-air-force-base
No Harry … the F-22 has 2 engines and has 8200 kg of internal fuel… while the F-35A has one engine and has close to 8400 kg of internal fuel.. F-22 uses Pratt and Whitney F-119 while the JSF engine is the F-135 that was developed with the core of the F-119 engine and had a different fan and turbine and some other tweaks that gave it more power. The JSF fly's further than an F-22 by approx 20 nautical miles. !
And Harry as you have stated in your previous comment towards me and i will quote …"If not,are you gonna suggest next the spurious notion that the F-35 is more stealthy than the the JSF?"
No harry i would never suggest that as i know the F-35 and JSF are the same plane !
The F-15se is most likely to go to Israel but the f-35 is certain. Isreal has some money and their country is eager to spend it on top notch aircraft. Nearly all their f-16s are upgraded to the latest and they are getting the f-35. Israel wants the best out of both generation aircraft. Same goes for the f-15s Israel is not like Australia. Israel likes to have a large mass of aircraft to overwealm or surround the enemy while Australia has a small Air Force and uses some real smart tactics to get to the enemy and destroy it, anywhere in Australia.
Sorry Roadrunner, a bit of a typo there I meant the JSF and F-22, with the later being more stealthy. Smart ass! Lol, (I think you know what I meant, no?)
Every comparison I have seen online in the past has definitively stated that the F-22 has a greater range. Because despite this fuel capacities you've mentioned, the F-22 is much more aerodynamic, despite being a bigger plane, and having two engines means that they can propel the aircraft more efficiently together which thus means less fuel spent in comparison. I am no expert but most articles anywhere in the past had the F-22 go further. But If you could provide a credible source that says the JSF has a greater range by 20 mms I would love to see it! And I would have to change my understanding. I searched for it after I read your claim but, alas, couldn't find anything on it!
Derrick, I know Israel don't want Qatar to get the F-15SE but, despite the law dictating Israel must maintain military dominance re US arms sales, the decision is not Israel's to make, nor judge. Israel doesn't have veto if the US subjectively views that it wouldn't impact them adversely!
Fabian September 27, 2016 - 8:17 pm
Besides the f-22 is meant to fly with the f-35 and support each other in missions.
The F-22 has 1600 nmi ferry range (1,800+ w/ drop tanks)
The F-35 has 1200 nmi ferry range
The F-22 has conflicting reports of its combat radius 420 nmi (plus/inc 100+ nmi dash unclear) up to 700+ nmi.
(The lower figure seems to include the fact that the F-22 is super cruising and the higher figure is subsonic?)
The F-35 has just below 600 nmi combat radius
The lower F-22 combat radius seems decidedly conservative and is likely much higher, most likely around the same as a F-35.
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