Here's a complimentary story for the Chinese parity of weapons with the west. Of course the F-35 is all ooohh and aaaahhh until you remember it can't carry shit for weapons yet...........
USAF, Marines Want Swifter F-35 Weapons Upgrade
With their first Lockheed Martin F-35 squadrons now declared ready for combat, the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps want to speed up the introduction of agile weapons capable of striking fast-moving targets.
By the time the F-35 Block 3F configuration exits the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase in 2018, it will be capable of striking fixed targets and some slow-moving ones with predictable headings during the weapon's flight.
But the U.S. military's most advanced fighter, with the assortment of weapons being introduced along with F-35 Block 3F, will not be able to strike unpredictable targets traveling at speeds of up to 70 mph, such as those now being used in Iraq and Syria. That is, at least until the early 2020s, when Lockheed expects to deliver the Block 4 configuration under the follow-on modernization program. The Air Force, for its part, has said it will not commit to high production rates of 60 or more per year until those aircraft can be delivered in the Block 4.2 configuration with the required weapon and systems updates.
In recognition of the weapons issue, the Air Force on Feb. 10 began searching for a ready-made, 500-lb.-class precision-guided munition with "moving and maneuvering target capability that is mechanically, electrically and logically compatible with F-35 Block 3F aircraft operational flight program." The service wants a mature, non-development system that would not impact the wider Block 3F fielding schedule of "May 2018." The device must be able to strike targets moving at speeds of 70 mph in a single direction, or those performing maneuvers up to +/-0.2 g at 40 mph.
Air Force order
The Air Force would furnish between 400 and 1,200 units from a single vendor as a "quick reaction capability" to meet Air Combat Command's urgent need, the service details in the sources-sought notice. A contract could be awarded by late 2017 for delivery six months later, in time for F-35 Block 3F fielding.
One option being considered is the Raytheon GBU-49 Lot 5 Enhanced Paveway II. Other options could include the 500-lb. Boeing Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit or Lockheed Martin's in-testing Dual Mode Plus, an updated Paveway guidance assembly. All three of these "dual-mode" weapons are based on existing bomb guidance kits that are already slated for integration on the F-35, and each are capable of striking targets moving at about 70 mph. They use GPS/INS coordinates to get to an approximate area in clear or adverse weather conditions until the laser-illuminated target can be detected and zeroed in on.
Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, who heads the Air Force's F-35 integration office, says the Lightning II's Lockheed-built electro-optical targeting system can detect and lock on to moving targets, but cannot lead the target with its laser designator to account for the target's speed and direction, a target shoot method called "Kentucky windage." He says the GBU-49 is one possible solution, since the latest all-digital version automatically compensates for flight duration, speed of the target and wind conditions.
"When [New England Patriots quarterback] Tom Brady throws a football, he doesn't throw it at the person, he throws it out in front of the person," he says. "GBU-49 does that internally to the weapon itself, so Block 3F gives us, for the first time, the capability to hit a moving target."
Alan Zimmerer, Raytheon's Paveway II business development executive, says the most advanced version of Enhanced Paveway II, Lot 5, which entered production in 2014, is very accurate and is receiving high praise from combat units already using it overseas. "Using Kentucky windage, you're kind of guessing by putting the laser spot in front of the target, hoping that the weapons will meet the target at impact," he says in an interview. "In Lot 5, you can just lase the target and the software will compute where the weapon needs to be at impact." The moving target can be laser-designated from the F-35, another targeting pod-equipped aircraft or a Joint terminal Attack Controller on the ground.
Weapon of choice
For these types of targets, the Marine Corps' weapon of choice is Raytheon's all-weather, tri-mode seeker GBU-53 Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II). Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, the service's deputy commandant for aviation, said on Feb. 8 that the weapon will allow the F-35 to "go after almost anything, anywhere" with up to eight weapons loaded inside the internal weapons bay for low-observable stealth attacks. Davis hopes SDB II will be integrated with the F-35 in Block 4.1. The current plan completes software integration in Block 4.1 around 2019-2020 and finalizes the necessary hardware upgrades in Block 4.2 for weapons carriage about two years later. Due to the enormity of the F-35 program and its set schedule, that is the best-case-scenario, not factoring in any potential delays.
As the Pentagon's chief weapons tester explains in a statement to Congress, the F-35 Joint Program Office intends to award a contract to Lockheed for the Block 4 modernization effort in 2018, with developmental flight testing of the configuration updates due to start in late 2019. The upgrade is split into four increments fielded two years apart, alternating between software-only updates in Blocks 4.1 and 4.3 and hardware changes in Blocks 4.2 and 4.4. The hundreds of aircraft already fielded would need to be modified to the latest configuration once development and testing are complete.
The SDB II weapon entered development in 2010 and was originally scheduled for introduction as a threshold weapon on the Marine Corps F-35B and Navy F-35C in 2018. But based on the F-35's drawn-out, 17-year SDD cycle, the soonest it can be fielded operationally is 2022. Instead, the Navy Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet will lead first. The Marine Corps has also expressed interest in fitting SDB II to its legacy F/A-18A/B Hornet, Raytheon says.
Raytheon SDB II business development executives Mike Heyser and James Meger say no final decision has been made about where SDB II fits in the F-35 Block 4 modernization timeline. But risk-reduction and laboratory testing activities are already ongoing with Lockheed to smooth the process. "We're trying to move capabilities left as best we can within the confines of what they can do," the executives say.
Enhanced Paveway
Lot 5 Enhanced Paveway II will allow precision strikes up to 70 mph in limited adverse weather. But SDB II provides that same 70+ mph strike capability against vehicles and boats through rain and storms using its tri-mode seeker, which includes millimeter-wave radar and infrared homing as well as semi-active laser terminal guidance. GPS/INS guidance updates are provided to the SDB II in flight through a Link 16 or UHF data link. At 40 mi., the winged SDB II also has greater range than a bomb with tail kits.
The Air Force is also champing at the bit to receive SDB II, which is being fielded this year on the Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle. But Pleus confirms that the software required to employ SDB II will arrive in F-35 Block 4.1, although the necessary hardware updates to carry the 250-lb.-class weapon arrive later in Block 4.2.
Alternatively, the services could also consider introducing the Boeing Laser SDB Increment I sooner. The glide bomb has the same fit and form as the regular GPS/INS-guided SDB, but adds semi-active laser guidance for moving targets. Laser SDB is already widely used in counterinsurgency operations, particularly by special forces.
According to a Lockheed slide presentation in 2016, the F-35A Block 3i configuration with which the Air Force will initially deploy carries the 500-lb. laser-guided Raytheon or Lockheed GBU-12 Paveway II and GPS/INS-guided 2,000-lb. GBU-31 JDAM and Raytheon AIM-120C Amraam. The Marine Corps aircraft reached combat-ready status in 2015 with the AIM-120C and 1,000-lb. GBU-32 JDAM. Block 3F adds the Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder, AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (F-35C), Boeing SDB (F-35A) and the UK's MBDA AIM-132 Asraam and Raytheon UK Paveway IV.
It will have taken 17 years for Lockheed to get from initial development to Block 3F, which is the first configuration that satisfies the original requirements. As a result, the F-35 carried some now-dated technology, as reflected in the basic weapons loadout and capabilities of the EOTS targeting unit, which has been technologically outpaced by the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod. The F-35 still has superior avionics, sensor fusion, and low-observability, but the Air Force wants more capability before committing to increased production rates. That decision is to "minimize the need to modify early F-35 purchases to the advanced capabilities we require in Block 4.2," the service says. "We would like to procure 60 per year and then ramp higher as the planned Block 4.2 and technical refresh capabilities come available."
That's why the Advanced Super Hornet is so important to the Navy right now............ the F-35C will just be a pretty ornament on the flight deck.............. the Hornets will be doing the all the mud moving........ for awhile to come seems like. And I'll have a job until I'm ready to retire and go to Idaho................ the communist left coast is getting out of hand.............. got to get out before they secede.
Cheers
Hoss
