by Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
(Washington DC) The now operational F-35C has made history as a first-of-its-kind, aircraft carrier-launched 5th-generation stealth fighter, a development that changed the maritime power projection abilities of the U.S. Navy.
A “Naval Aviation Vision” document explained that the aircraft was specifically engineered for landing on carriers with all-weather coatings and specially configured landing gear to enable a safe landing.
The aircraft was developed with a broad wingspan and ruggedized components for harsh maritime conditions where rough seas, rain, wind, fog, and snow can complicate efforts to land. Its 51-foot wingspan makes it the largest of the three F-35 variants.
Much like the F-35A and F-35B short-take-off-and-landing aircraft, the F-35C relies upon advanced sensors and AI-enabled computing to gather, organize, and present time-sensitive critical information to pilots about altitude, speed, navigation, targeting, and threats.
The aircraft travels with a full suite of weapons including 5,000-pound, GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions along with air-to-air and laser-guided missiles. The F-35C can travel with 19,000 pounds of fuel and 18,000 pounds of weapons.
The aircraft can reach speeds up to Mach 1.6 and travel more than 1,200 nautical miles.
F-35C Carries Heavy Weapons Load
The stealth fighter also carries two AIM-120 air-to-air missiles (AMRAAM) and two 2,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions, as well as the AIM-9X and the high-tech, all-weather StormBreaker precision glide bomb.
In development for many years, the StormBreaker is a high-tech weapon able to track and destroy moving targets from great distances using a tri-mode seeker with millimeter wave, laser, and infrared guidance technology.
Another large advantage specific to the F-35 leverages a new generation of computing built into the aircraft which enables a smoother, safer landing for pilots on the carrier deck. The technology is a software called Delta Flight Path, an advanced series of algorithms that ease the workload placed upon pilots during their approach to a carrier when landing.
The software, therefore, naturally increases safety margins and reduces what’s called touchdown dispersion.
The software helps pilots navigate the many complexities associated with a carrier landing as pilots must account for the wind speed, atmospheric conditions, and speed of the ship.
Pilots follow a yellow light on the flight deck of the ship called the Fresnel Lens to help the trajectory of the approach, called their glide slope, Navy pilots explain.
Flying the F-35 all the way to 2070, blocking enemy missiles in mid-flight and using AI to quickly assist precision-guided weapons are all technologies which increasingly hinge upon rapid software development — inspiring Air Force leaders to say “software” will determine who wins future wars.
This modern phenomenon, wherein weapons systems are more computer-reliant, fosters a complex two-fold dynamic; it brings unprecedented combat advantages, yet also requires cyber-hardening networks and accelerating software modernization.
Software upgrades, for instance, can give radar systems new threat information, provide improved seeker guidance for weapons and massively shorten sensor-to-shooter time by connecting otherwise disconnected networks and weapons platforms to one another in real-time.
Such technical advances, relying upon fast-emerging new computer algorithms, exponentially increase commanders’ ability to both see threats and attack enemies. All of this is fortified by growing applications of computer automation and AI.
“AI lives on getting software right,” former Air Force Acquisition Executive William Roper said a few years ago.
While explaining the Air Force’s effort to sharpen strategy on “agile software development,” Roper cited a handful of fast-moving acquisition programs being infused with a faster software modernization plan.
Using computer processing speed and real-time analytics, AI systems can instantly access millions of pieces of information, search for trends, draw parallels and provide otherwise disparate information sources to commanders in an organized, immediate fashion.
Such technological progress informs the technical basis for the F-35’s “sensor fusion,” wherein combat-relevant data from different sensors are synthesized for the pilot on a single screen.
The Air Force is looking to build upon what service scientists have described to Warrior Maven as early iterations of AI.
Alongside sensors, networks and weapons, software is also indispensable to the hugely impactful areas of sustainment, logistics and condition-based maintenance.
These areas, woven together as elements of focus, are the foundation upon which the Air Force seeks to build the F-35’s ability to fly until 2070.
The longevity, continued relevance and technical superiority of the F-35, pilots and weapons developers say, rests entirely on the extent to which it can sustain fast-paced modernization.
At the same time, keeping the F-35 as the world’s premier 5th-generation fighter is not without a wide array of challenges. Lawmakers, members of the military and concerned observers have raised questions regarding cost challenges with the aircraft and the expected sustainment difficulties associated with it.
The Air Force’s plan to address this is to implement new pathfinder pilot programs for the F-35, based upon accelerated software modernization. He cited new efforts with the F-35’s Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) and the aircraft’s Mission Data Files threat library as areas of initial focus.
Quickly upgrading ALIS, a system which has had developmental complexities in recent years, can lower costs, improve the supply chain and greatly reduce the logistical burden.
Efficiently identifying anticipated points of potential mechanical failure not only improves mission security but streamlines aircraft repairs and sustainment.
Keeping upgrades aligned with new software and AI applications is aimed at ensuring the aircraft keeps flying and retains a technical advantage.
Often referred to as Condition-Based Maintenance, the idea is to expedite the process through which engines, propulsion systems, sensors and avionics may need to be maintained and improved.
Utilizing ever-evolving forms of machine-learning, AI programs can compare new data with existing historical i
nformation to almost instantly identify systems in need of attention. Such an apparatus also provides the mechanisms through which rapid modernization can take place.
When supplied with information, machine-learning programs enable computers to discern nuances, context and relevant patterns as a way to generate immediate breakthrough progress.
This kind of thing can give pilots real-time information about an aircraft failure or other pressing information, such as enemy locations.
Another application of software modernization can enable fast upgrades to an F-35’s Mission Data Files. As an existing database of established threats in specific geographical regions, Mission Data Files help pilots quickly identify enemy aircraft by comparing sensor information against an existing data base.
Air Force engineers have been working on software upgrades to the F-35’s Mission Data Files at Eglin AFB, Fla. These kinds of rapid upgrades, entirely reliant upon new software, will enable pilots to quickly identify new enemy aircraft as they emerge – such as a Chinese J-20 5th-generation stealth fighter.
The Air Force is already working with DoD and industry partners to integrate AI-driven software into F-16s and E-3 Sentry AWACS surveillance aircraft, industry developers said.
C3 IoT is partnering with the Air Force and the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) to aggregate and organize structured and unstructured data sets in a unified cloud-based data system, company statements said.
This kind of real-time Condition-Based Maintenance, using onboard sensors to collect maintenance data and perform onboard analytics, combat-essential information can be provided to pilots in a nearly instantaneous manner, C3 IoT developers have said.
Data can be transmitted through things like LINK 16 in real-time from onboard sensors or be downloaded upon return, C3 I0T developers said. They also say such applications are extremely relevant when it comes to tracking things like engine or propulsion systems.
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
