By Kris Osborn, Warrior
The US Military services now operate hundreds of F-35s and the Air Force plan is to deploy a fleet of more than 1,700 F-35As, circumstances which suggest that indeed the Pentagon believes that “mass” still matters. The phrase “mass matters,” emerging from the ancient writings of Sun Tzu, remains quite relevant today despite the many advances in technology.
The emergence of AI, stealth and long-range weapons and sensors has not fully displaced or removed the importance of deploying a large force. There are many reasons for this, and these questions bear heavily upon the question of just how many new 6th-Gen F-47s the Air Force should acquire. Given the current threat situation, it seems the service would be well served to plan on building a very large fleet of F-47s. This would not only make sense due to the many advances in technology likely woven into the F-47 but also relate to any Air Force need to address the growing threat from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.
Any potential conflict in the Pacific is likely to cover a very large geographical area spanning from the Korean Peninsula to the South China Sea and even waters North of Australia. This is an area stretching across thousands of miles of ocean which would undoubtedly require a large fleet of 5th and 6th-generation aircraft. While sensing and weapons attack ranges are exponentially greater than they have been in decades enabling fighter jets to target and attack at much greater ranges, there are many reasons why a large fleet would prove critical to any effort to win a conflict in the Pacific.
One key reason many airframes would be important relates to simple networking technology. The F-47 is almost certain to include an F-35-like data-link connectivity networking 6th-generation aircraft to one another. The F-35 of course is known to operate with MADL, or Multi-function Advanced Data Link, a technology through which F-35s can quickly and seamlessly share data across a formation of aircraft to coordinate targeting and attacks, share intelligence and sustain connectivity across a wide theater of combat engagement. It seems almost certain that the F-47 is being built with something similar or perhaps even a technology more advanced designed to enable multi-domain, long-range networking.
Networking and AI in Modern War
This kind of connectivity and multi-domain networking is understood to be of critical importance to modern warfare strategic and tactical thinking given the growing significance of quickly sharing information in combat to improve command and control. Networking data and intelligence information in the age of AI continues to prove that connecting nodes and platforms to one another in real-time or near real-time can massively truncate or shorten sensor-to-shooter time. This places an attacking force ahead of or within an enemy’s decision cycle, making it much more possible for a group of fighter jets to prevail in a combat engagement.
Yet another need for a large fleet of F-47s would pertain to ordnance and the scale at which any kind of air attack might be needed. A given single F-47 will be capable of flying with a certain amount of ordnance, and a large-scale engagement is likely to require a very large amount of ordnance delivered by stealth aircraft. An advanced adversary such as Russia or China would almost certainly make it extremely difficult for large bombers such as a non-stealthy B-52 to operate over enemy airspace, so operating a large number of F-47s would greatly improve attack capacity. A great power or large-scale war with China or Russia would cover a very large geographical area, so an attacking US force would need a wide air combat envelope and large operational formation to be effective.
Land-Launched Stealth Attack
Finally, there is the matter of sea-launched stealth attack volume. A US Navy amphibious assault ship is capable of operating with roughly 20 F-35Bs and an aircraft carrier can likely launch roughly 90 F-35Cs at maximum capacity, depending upon the mix of aircraft in a Carrier Air Wing. This means that a 5th or 6th-generation sea-launched attack from US Navy carriers and amphibs would operate with some scale or volume limits. In the event that an attacking US force needed to operate with hundreds of 5th and 6th-generation aircraft, something which is likely the case in any war with China, using only sea-launched stealth fighters might place the US at a disadvantage. This might still be the case even if the US Navy were to operate dual-carrier operations, something it has already shown it can successfully perform. Therefore, land-launched F-47s emerging from Japan, South Korea or even the Philippines and South China Sea would prove critical to any successful air campaign against the PRC.
The question of range is extremely significant to this equation, given the distances from which land-launched stealth aircraft would have to travel from the Philippines and Japan. Areas of the Philippines are anywhere from 750 to 2,000 miles from China, and parts of Southern Japan are roughly 500-to-800 miles from Taiwan. This means land-launched F-35 would of course reach ocean areas and some land targets of importance in the Pacific, but might require non-stealthy refuelers to sustain any kind of a large air-attack campaign. Of course the US Navy will operate its carrier-launched MQ-25 Stingray aerial drone refueler and will likely have stealthy drone refuelers in the future, yet land-launched F-35s may still encounter some reach and range challenges.
Longer Range F-47
Very little is known about the F-47 for clear security reasons, yet numerous public reports indicate that Pentagon and Air Force experts have indicated that indeed the F-47 will operate at unprecedented ranges. Therefore, the ability to launch or operate a large number of land-launched 6th-generation aircraft with much longer ranges would introduce a paradigm-changing ability to reach and attack targets in the Pacific on a large scale, should US forces operate with a large fleet of F-47s.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University