But F35B is looking more certain now - it has done vertical landings, flown supersonic, and other things.
Why the UK needs the Joint Strike Fighter
As the most powerful single-engine fighter ever made, it has been assessed that the F-35 will be four times more effective than legacy fighters in air-to-air engagements, eight times more effective in prosecuting missions against fixed and mobile targets, and three times more effective in new age Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) and Suppression of Enemy Air Defences and Destruction of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD/DEAD) missions. It will require a significantly smaller basing footprint.
I do wonder how these assesments were made? However, hopefully this will make the "F35 is not a fighter" brigade pipe down a bit.
To satisfy the cost cutters, the choice for the UK is not between JSF and something comparable at half the price but between having a meaningful fast jet to serve alongside Typhoon or nothing at all.
If the UK is to remain a major league player, it needs the F-35. The $300bn F-35 JSF programme is potentially the largest weapons procurement programme in history. There are currently 115 US-UK defence information exchange agreements, with a further 20 in the pipeline. The fighter will increase interoperability among allied air forces and create new training and maintenance requirements that will foster stronger military-to-military and industry ties. F-35 production techniques will revolutionise stealth aircraft manufacturing. If the UK opts out of the JSF programme, there is a serious risk that the UK's position in world aerospace, as well as the transatlantic defence technology relationship, could go with it.
Yesterday, our politicians seemed to grasp that industry and technology are important. Supporting our technological base goes hand in hand with supporting and equipping our armed forces. F35/JSF is worth at least £30 Billion to UK industry, much of it exported. There are off course other spin offs. Hundreds of UK companies, of all sizes, are involved.
Critics often overlook the fact that the F-35 is an awesome intelligence gathering tool underpinned by around 20 million lines of software code. This software controls the fire control and weapon systems, as well as the radar and sensors, but most importantly, the code allows all the systems to recognise each other and work together. Block 0.1 software (about two million lines of code) created the fire control and aircraft management systems needed for the first F-35 flight from Fort Worth. The Block 0.5 software upgrade equipped the STOVL JSF with the code for electronic warfare and radar systems. This will be followed by Block 1.0, which will provide an integrated capability so that the location and nature of targets can be shown on a single display screen. Engineers will also start integrating various sensors into the aircraft in Block 1.0. Blocks 2 and 3 will add software functions that allow the aircraft to monitor itself for maintenance work and allow for the integration of more sensor and weapon capabilities. The USMC is confident that the F-35B will be ready for an initial operational capability (IOC) in 2012 with Block 2B software, which will allow the use of two AIM-120D air-to-air missiles and two 1,000lb Joint Direct Attack Munitions or two 500lb laser-guided bombs – all carried internally to stay stealthy. With this software, the aircraft will be able to fly at 7g with a 50 degree angle of attack. The first USMC unit is not slated to deploy until 2012 and the UK could receive its F-35Bs thereafter. The USAF and USN have slipped their IOC until 2016. The F-35 production rate is expected to reach its peak at one aircraft a day in 2015 (about 250 aircraft a year): this is a far more dynamic rate than that of Lockheed Martin's stealthy F-22 Raptor, which is currently produced at a rate of 20 a year.
The F-35 is undoubtedly having development problems, but this is not surprising given that the technology is F-22 plus 15 years. The F-35 may be a single-seat fighter but it is not designed for a single-seat war. The Lockheed Martin chief test pilot has pronounced the F-35 as very easy to fly because in-between the pressures of take-off and landing, the pilot is given time to think about what he or she brings to the battle.
The F-35's sensor suite is the most powerful and comprehensive of any fighter in history, and will combine with an unprecedented networking capability to give unparalleled situational awareness. The jewel in the crown of the F-35 JSF is the Electro-Optical Sensor System (EOSS), which consists of a Distributed Aperture System (DAS) to provide 360-degree situational awareness, and the Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS). The DAS is so potent that it enables a pilot to see through the aircraft floor. There are over 120 entries in Specification which enable JSF to datalink, communicate and interact with other warfighters. The F-35 will display information rather than data and bring unprecedented capabilities to the US and its allies. This in turn means that the RAF and RN will need to train people to deal with a broad strategic picture, rather than their bit of sky. With a JSF wing-man 20 miles away, close formation tactics will no longer apply. Rather than just flyers, F-35 pilots will be masters of the battlespace and go places they have not been to before. The F-35 battlespace manager will identify threats and provide answers via data fusion from others' off-board sensors right down to individual soldiers on the ground. Flying the F-35 will demand a whole new mindset.
I wonder how this will influence the decisions that need to be taken regarding MASC?
After considerable expenditure, the F-35 programme is picking up momentum. The UK should keep its nerve because the JSF Lightning II is going to be a winner, both for the military and industry. The UK has engaged in four inter-state conflicts over the past three decades and when the next one pitches up, the counter-insurgency kit procured under UOR for Afghanistan may have very limited utility. When that day arrives, the UK will need JSF.
A bottom line that it is hard to disagree with.
The other week, the local paper was carry job advertisements for people to work on CVF related stuff. If, as some propose, CVF and JSF/JCA/F35 get canned, it will not only cripple our expeditionary warfighting capability, and reduce the influence our politicians and diplomats have on international matters, but also pretty much destroy our shipbuilding and aerospace industries.