The Navy forced the Marines to buy the F-35C model and while I howled at the travesty of that, it didn't change the most important dynamic...the Marine Corps is following the US Air Force and going to an all stealth fighter force.
The Navy is still deciding the issue and it appears from the outside looking in that many would like to continue to build non-stealthy high performance fighters...depending on electronic jamming and superior avionics to make up for the lack of stealth. Well the Marines not only aren't buying the non-stealth argument but are again following the US Air Force's lead in abandoning the electronic jamming role. Check out this from Defense Tech.
The Marine Corps has no plans to pursue an Electronic Warfare variant of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, said Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos at a Pentagon roundtable Thursday.What does that mean? It means that Navy electronic warfare wings are going to be worked even harder than they already are. The Navy and Marine wings are already supporting Air Force and NATO ops and now they're going to be worked even harder!
Amos said the AN/APG-81 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar installed on the F-35 already sets the fifth generation fighter apart as an electronic warfare platform.
“The airplane itself … with the AESA radar and sensors and information sharing capability is a pretty significant EW platform right now,” said Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos at a roundtable meeting with reporters in the Pentagon Aug. 23.
Aviation analysts have questioned why the Air Force and Navy have not focused more heavily on modernizing their electronic warfare capabilities. The Navy has started to phase out the EA-6B Prowler with the addition of the FA-18 Growler as the military’s pre-eminent electronic warfare platform to take suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) missions.
NAVAIR is gonna have to make up for the shortfall...I would bet that Super Hornets might make an appearance in Marine Corps colors after all.
I think that the F-35's role in EW will really shine when the notional Blk5 "Cooperative EW" comes online. Combine that with either internal jammers (for which there is already dedicated space) or a single multi-band pod on the centerline station.
ReplyDeleteThis would still fit within the "no plans to pursue an Electronic Warfare variant" statement as all F-35s would have this capability and would not require a dedicated variant.
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ReplyDeleteArgee with Spud. Out-of-the-box the F-35 will lack the broadband all-aspect EW capability of a dedicated platform, but will be a very capable asset in the areas it can perform. Every F-35 in the formation will be able to do coordinated EA and LO implies it can get closer to the threath with increased effect and reduced response time (for the threath). As Spud mentions, if required pods and internal equipment can be developed if someone foots the bill. Terma's mission pod can be adapted at a lower cost than designing and certifying a new external pod providing the space available can fit a useful amount of equipment.
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ReplyDeletedont agree with the dropping of all EW. i think were not planning for a future where ADA catches up and then we have problems.
ReplyDeleteSo all stealth, when do the RW catch up?