PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - F-35 Cancelled, then what ?
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Old 8th Dec 2015, 16:18
  #8120 (permalink)  
KenV
 
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The USN is a different horse and are 2019 IOC. There is a political motive to keep the fa18 line open. It is more conceivable that the possibility exists for some more tails, as I said on the last page.
USN seems to be arguing for more E/F Super Hornets and Growlers. The Growlers seem to make the most sense to me. As multi band air defense radars come on line and proliferate, it will make sense to have a multiband jammer capability. The F-35 reportedly has an exceptional on board X-band jamming capability, but as far as I am aware, there is no ready path to make F-35 multiband capable. And I personally don't see a path to an L band radar that fits into a fighter, so fighters will likely stick to X band. Thus while the F-35 will hold onto its Air to Air stealth advantage into the foreseeable future, it may just need an escort jammer to penetrate future ground based air defenses. In which case Growler will likely be the only option.
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