PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - F-35 Cancelled, then what ?
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Old 13th Jul 2015, 10:03
  #6741 (permalink)  
ORAC
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
 
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Just to be explicit, to remain stealthy the F-35 cannot use use L16 in combat, which is a bit of a handicap. MADL currently has to use a gateway for communication with other platforms and HQs, and the US is investigating stand-alone airborne platforms, which is less than optimum - and not an option for many other customers.

The F-35 is planned to network MADL through satcom using MUOS. But that slipped to Block 4 (one of the things the Norwegians need at their northerly elevation), but access to non-US customers is not guaranteed.

So, at the moment, non-US customers will have an asset which when stealthy can only talk to other F-35s, and have no guaranteed path to achieve stealthy networked data communications.

Last edited by ORAC; 13th Jul 2015 at 10:55.
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