Originally Posted by
a1bill
Perhaps I should make longer posts, to be precise. the F-35 being a remote sensor, will feed the data for the launch and subsequent flight updates.
A new long range LPI DL (probably some flavor of ATDL) needs to be developed for the F-35 to enable the passing of initial and mid-course targeting data back to the E-2D that manages the engagement. SM-6 terminal guidance is handled onboard by its active seeker derived from the AIM-120 program. The remote sensing capability is not limited to the F-35: EA-18s (will) have this capability via Link-16 or TTNT. The novel aspect of using (a section or division) of F-35 as a remote sensor is the ability to deploy an array of sensors (array in the sense of widely spaced aircraft) far forward of the attacking force.