by Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
(Washington DC)
Launching 5th-generation aircraft from amphibious assault ships is a unique and potentially unparalleled attribute associated with the US Marine Corps and Navy, as many rival nations do not appear to operate any kind of impactful vertical take-off and landing 5th-gen stealth aircraft similar to the F-35B.
The F-35B, the first variant to be deployed, can reach places and conduct attack missions otherwise inaccessible to land or even carrier-launched aircraft. Such an ability would likely prove critical in any kind of amphibious warfare attack against enemy coastal areas, island chains or other land-sea multi-domain combat environments. The USS America, a first-in-class amphibious assault ship, has deployed with as many as 15 F-35Bs board to launch stealthy air attacks or provide increasingly critical air support for island-hoping kinds of maritime combat endeavors.
The existence of the F-35B and the absence of a rival equivalent means that the US Navy and Marine Corps would likely operate at a key advantage in any kind of amphibious engagement or maritime warfare scenario with a great power rival. An amphibious approach, for example, would be well-positioned should it be able to operate with air superiority during any kind of air-ground-sea multi-domain maritime warfare environment.
As the first F-35 variant to deploy, the Vertical take-off-and-landing F-35B Joint Strike Fighter has been operational on US Navy amphibious assault ships for many years now, introducing an unmatched ability to launch 5th-generation air attack from smaller ships without a full carrier-runway such as America-class amphibious assault ships.
Although it flies alongside the F-35C and F-35A aircraft, the F-35 is arguably the most complex as it involves special engineering to achieve new levels of vertical hover and take off.
During construction of an F-35B, a visible “LiftFan” is engineered into a forward part of the center fuselage just behind the pilot to enable massive downward vertical thrust. Horsepower is sent to the LiftFan from the main engine through a “spiral bi-level gear system,” Rolls Royce information states.
This horsepower, when combined with the LiftFan, generates the downward thrust necessary to enable the “hover” ability and vertical landing. An F-35B has what looks like a square door or opening on top of the fuselage behind the pilot and above the lift fan to maximize downward air flow. Engineers explain that the massive thrust, sufficient to propel the aircraft up to speeds beyond the sound barrier, results from a fourfold process. Air ducts on either side of the nose “suck” in air to the engine, the air is then compressed before being ignited with gas — generating what looks like a controlled explosion of fire coming out of the back. The force generated through this process, enables the speed, maneuverability and acceleration of the aircraft.
Mechanical information provided by F-35B engine maker Rolls Royce states “To achieve STOVL, the lift fan component of the LiftSystem operates perpendicular to the flow of air over the aircraft.” The LiftFan can operate in crosswinds up to 288mph, Rolls Royce data explains.
The arrival of the F-35B brings unprecedented combat power projection support for amphibious operations, as the America-class amphibs were specifically engineered to project new dimensions of maritime air power projection.
The launch of an F-35B from the America-class amphibious assault ships came to fruition through specific Navy efforts to build F-35B accommodations into the ship during construction.
Projecting airpower with F-35B fighter jets and Osprey Tilt-rotor aircraft introduces new tactical advantages for amphibious operations which could leverage unprecedented levels of close air support from the fifth-generation F-35. Additional Ospreys could also transport Marines to key landing zones should a beachhead be secured through an amphibious assault. The Osprey’s 450 nautical mile combat radius could enable greater standoff ranges, yet still succeed in delivering equipment, personnel, and weapons to land-based amphibious operations. An F-35B can, of course, not only bring combat power to ship-to-shore offensives but also introduce a measure of drone-like intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) typically possible only with large drones. The F-35B sensor suite, particularly when combined in group formations, could massively expand the sphere of combat operations for any attack operations.
Also, the F-35 now exists in large numbers and is at an advanced stage of operational maturity, placing it potentially well above its Chinese rivals when it comes for forming air-squadrons or large numbers of networked 5th-generation attack formations.
During the F-35B’s initial operations from the USS America, the Navy realized that certain structural adjustments were necessary to ensure that the 5th-generation aircraft could launch and land effectively from the deck of the America. Specifically, the flight deck needed additional non-skid materials to ensure it could handle the heat of an F-35B vertical take off and landing.
As part of this adjustment, the Navy also added reinforced structures at several places below the deck. The non-skid material is designed to safeguard the flight deck such that it can accommodate the take-off and landing without getting damaged. After making a series of flights from the Tripoli, the F-35B received its fixed-wing certification.
The arrival of the F-35B is expected to reshape amphibious warfare tactics due to its stealth, computing and drone-like sensing ability. Moving into the future, amphibious warfare is expected to be much different in coming years as new technology continues to shape concepts of operation.
Attacks are less likely to be linear beach assaults like the US Marine Corps attack in Iwo Jima but rather more dispersed and disaggregated, yet enabled by long range sensors and precision weapons. With the arrival of the F-35B, amphibious maneuvers can now operate with stealthy close-air support, something which has not existed throughout history until now.
With F-35B air support, an amphibious advance would no longer need to only rely upon suppressive fires from deck-mounted ship guns but can move forward with precision fire from F-35 guns, precision air-to-ground missiles and even longer-range air dropped bombs.
F-35s could destroy entrenched on-shore guns intended to fire upon attacking forces from the ocean and also search for and destroy land-based enemy missile launchers. This kind of multi-domain amphibious assault can make an attacking force much more likely to succeed in establishing and securing a beachhead for shore attacks.
Although China is known to be rapidly developing a carrier-launched variant of its 5th-Generation J-31 aircraft to perhaps rival the F-35B and F-35C when it comes to maritime warfare power projection, there does not appear to be any kind of “vertical take-off” capability resident or emerging within the Chinese military.
Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with 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.
