NATO Accelerates Multi-National F-35 Common “Threat Library”

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Fort Worth, Texas) The F-35 is famous for its often-discussed Mission Data Files, an advanced computer threat library which bounces new incoming sensor data off of an extensive, specific threat-data base. Should a sensor encounter a Chinese J-20 for example, or a Russian Su-57, the aircraft’s onboard computer will instantly be able to identify and “verify” the target for pilots in need of launching a rapid attack. The US Air Force consistently updates and upgrades the threat library, much of which is specific to geographical threat areas around different theaters of operation.

“The Mission data files are the library in the aircraft, populated by each country with information they have received over the years. We want all of the aircraft in any theater to be working within a common data file,” JR McDonald, Vice President, F-35 International Sales, Lockheed Martin, told Warrior in an interview on the F-35 production line in Fort Worth, Texas. 

Inside the F-35 Factory

Now, while each F-35 has its own threat library or Mission Data Files, each F-35 member country operates with a specific version of its own “national” threat library compilation. With data bases from F-35 libraries slightly different, pilots from different member-countries could struggle to verify targets and pass precise threat information in some cases as they may not operate from the same database. For this reason, weapons developers, political leaders and military leaders are working diligently to craft a single “common data base” for all F-35 member nation’s to use, according to experts familiar with the process. 

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