Slitherine

quote:

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will announce on 23 April that his government has approved the acquisition of 58 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters, to replace the Royal Australian Air Force’s Boeing F/A-18A/B "classic" Hornets.

The 58 aircraft will comprise a second tranche of the Australian Defence Force’s Air 6000 Phase 2A/2B new air combat capability (NACC) project. The first tranche totalled 14 A-model jets, two of which are currently in final production as part of the multinational programme’s sixth lot of low-rate initial production (LRIP). A contract covering long-lead production items for the other 12 during LRIP blocks eight and nine is currently being negotiated with the USA.

The first two RAAF aircraft are scheduled to be delivered to the USAF’s integrated training centre at Luke AFB in Arizona by the end of the year, while the service’s first pilot for the type will begin training at Eglin AFB in California in December, and the second at Luke in April 2015. Australia's first F-35A unit will be 3 Sqn, based at RAAF Williamtown in New South Wales. Its first four aircraft are to be ferried to Australia in 2018 to support operational evaluation activities, before the type achieves initial operating capability in 2020.

The decision follows the two-year deferral of a second tranche approval by the then-Labor government in May 2012. Since coming to power last September, the intentions of Abbott's coalition government have been difficult to gauge. Ministers have hinted at the massive spending cuts required to address a looming “budget emergency”, while also advocating the need for increased defence spending.

The 72 F-35As on order will replace the 71 F/A-18A/B Hornets of the RAAF's 3 and 77 squadrons, and its 2 Operational Conversion Unit – all based at Williamtown – as well as those of 75 Sqn, based at Tindal air base in the Northern Territory. Its fighter squadrons typically have 15 aircraft on strength, so a maintenance and attrition reserve of 12 jets has been allowed for.

A further Phase 2C tranche of the project, for up to 28 additional combat aircraft, was also deferred in 2012 for a decision in the early 2020s. These would replace the 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets of the RAAF's Amberley-based 1 and 6 squadrons. The Super Hornets were ordered in 2006 as a ‘bridging’ capability between the retirement of the General Dynamics F-111C in 2010 and the arrival of the F-35A. However, ongoing delays to the JSF programme mean it is likely the Super Hornets will be retained, alongside the 12 Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft also on order, for 20 years or more.

quote:

ORIGINAL: BASB

A dozen or so B models would make the Canberra class ships a lot more flexible.

quote:

The fighter planes were measured against four threat scenarios, including the defense of land territory, assertion of sovereignty in the northern territories, the defense of population clusters, and one pertaining to NATO's peacekeeping operations, the ministry said.

``The Joint Strike Fighter planes meet the criteria for all four of the threat scenarios, while Gripen only meets the needs of the international threat scenario,'' Defense Minister Anne-Grete Stroem-Erichsen said. The plane ``is considered to be better than Gripen within all the fighter plane's primary duties: information collection and surveillance, as well as combating in air, ground and sea territory.''

quote:

ORIGINAL: NickD

Can F-22s and F-35s really feasibly routinely operate without AWACS support as that infographic shows? Flying around with their radars on to detect incoming aircraft would obviously compromise their stealth features, and Australia has recently spent a small fortune buying Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft which are intended to operate with its F-35s. The F/A-18Gs are also meant to support the F-35s once they arrive so I'm sceptical about the infographic claiming that jammers won't be needed either.

quote:

ORIGINAL: BASB

A dozen or so B models would make the Canberra class ships a lot more flexible.

quote:

The podded NGJ system is expected to employ multiple electronically scanned arrays, consisting of thousands of transmit/receive modules, that combined will provide a wider field of regard than currently available on F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers and Air Force F-22 Raptors equipped with active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radars. Electronically scanned radars have an effective field of regard of about 120 degrees for each planar array.

“The bringing of a broadband, electronically steerable antenna set is really the tipping point within this picture,” said Eduardo Palacio, ITT Electronic Systems vice president of programs. “[It] provides the agility in (radar) beam, not only in steering but in beam shaping and the number of beams that makes this a truly capable system over many, many years to come.”

The competing industry teams have been reserved in discussing their antenna concepts for the NGJ. However, Palacio added, “It’s safe to say that there’s no such thing in today’s technology as a single array that can cover the totality of frequency spectrum that needs to be covered, so everyone will build multiple arrays to fulfill the mission.”

quote:

Both the Super Hornet and the Growler are enabled by the APG-79 AESA radar. Raytheon recently delivered the 200th radar to the fleet, and the Navy has logged 150,000 flight hours with the APG-79, Darrah said. “As a radar, it’s a force multiplier,” he said. “What we’re able to do is use the AESA radar to designate, via SAR (synthetic aperture radar) map, precision coordinates that are then passed through Link 16 to non AESA-equipped aircraft.

“So what we’re doing is flying mixed sections,” Darrah explained. “I can have one AESA-equipped Super Hornet in a section of six aircraft, five of which can be legacy airplanes. I can use the precision capability of the AESA radar and Link 16 to send data offboard to the non AESA-equipped aircraft, and they’re able to deliver Joint Direct Attack Munitions or precision weapons to those targets without ever having to use their radars. They can be radar silent during this whole time.”

quote:

Airborne AESA radars such as the Northrop Grumman APG-77 found on the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor already have an electronic attack capability. In the future, the Lockheed F-35 and Boeing F/A-18E/F and EA-18G will also receive a similar capability for the Northrop APG-81 and Raytheon APG-79 radars.

Similarly, all the contenders for the Navy’s Next Generation Jammer program use new Gallium Nitride-based (GaN) transmit-receiver modules, which are rapidly succeeding the older Gallium Arsenide-based systems found on the aforementioned radars.

The Navy having adopted high-power GaN based AESA radar for the Flight III ships, can leverage those technologies to use the destroyer’s radar to perform electronic attacks.

With the precise beam steering enabled by the AESA array, it would be possible for the array to attack airborne and surface target using tightly directed beams of high-powered radio waves. Potentially, such a capability would add to the Burke’s air and ballistic missile defense capabilities by blinding enemy aircraft, ships and incoming missiles.

quote:

F/A-18E/F Block 2 Super Hornet is set to become the first fighter to use its active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for electronic attack, with a planned software upgrade to allow its array of transmit/receive (T/R) modules to be used as a powerful directional jammer.

Under a "sensor integration" plan being drawn up, the Raytheon APG-79 AESA will be linked to the Raytheon ALR-67 radar warning receiver (RWR) via the fighter's fibre-optic network switch. The radar's ground mapping capability will then be used to pinpoint emitters detected by the RWR.

"This will allow us to begin single-ship geolocation of emitters," says Capt BD Gaddis, US Navy F/A-18 programme manager. The F/A-18E/F's BAE Systems ALQ-214 electronic countermeasures suite will also be integrated so the aircraft can jam emitters. "We will put the -214 jamming signal through the AESA T/R modules to put power on to the emitter," he says.

Although the capability has been widely discussed, it appears the Block 2 Super Hornet will be the first aircraft able to use its AESA for electronic attack. Rival radar manufacturer Northrop Grumman says its APG-77(V)1 and APG-81 AESAs for the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35, respectively, will have the capability, but it is not in currently funded plans.

Funding will determine when the sensor integration upgrade takes place, with the capability planned for the budget cycle beginning in fiscal year 2010. The USN is now selecting F/A-18E/F upgrades for funding beginning in FY08, Gaddis says, with candidates including an infrared search-and-track sensor; high off-boresight capability for the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile; datalinks for the AIM-9X air-to-air missile and JSOW stand-off weapon; night vision capability for the JHMCS helmet-mounted display; and an AESA electronic counter-countermeasures upgrade.

quote:

The US Navy is hoping to increase the range of the Raytheon AIM-9X air/air missile by some 60% over current Sidewinder variants. The Navy seek this enhanced capability particularly for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) says. The new weapon is scheduled to become operational in 2022.

quote:

According to NAVAIR, the current Block II AIM-9X already overlaps some of the range capability of the more powerful Raytheon AIM-120D AMRAAM, and this overlap is expected to increase with the future Block III, providing the F-35 pilot the flexibility to employ both radar guided or passive homing missiles in Beyond Visual Rang (BVR) engagments, NAVAIR says.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Blu3wolf

quote:

ORIGINAL: BASB

A dozen or so B models would make the Canberra class ships a lot more flexible.

I'm not so sure.

Half a dozen fixed wing A/C per hull is a LOOOOONG way short of being an aircraft carrier. What value would you realistically get from them?

And in exchange for adding the F-35's you loose the helicopters - which are kind of important for an amphibious warfare ship when it needs to perform its primary function of landing troops.
Without choppers it only has the option to offload troops directly onto a beach - and has to sail into spitting distance of the shore to do so.

So in the end you get a ship trying to perform two roles and not doing either one particularly well.

quote:

ORIGINAL: dillonkbase

"The real question is whether or not the F-35s will get into situations requiring them to out-turn Flankers."

Isn't the point of all aspect missiles to eliminate this need. If an f-35 can turn tail and extend and then fire a missile over the shoulder, why would it need to get into a turning fight. And how did the flanker get that close anyway... I mean I know from the game it can take a large amount of missiles to intercept... but we can turn and extend...

quote:

ORIGINAL: dillonkbase

"The real question is whether or not the F-35s will get into situations requiring them to out-turn Flankers."

Isn't the point of all aspect missiles to eliminate this need. If an f-35 can turn tail and extend and then fire a missile over the shoulder, why would it need to get into a turning fight. And how did the flanker get that close anyway... I mean I know from the game it can take a large amount of missiles to intercept... but we can turn and extend...

quote:

ORIGINAL: Agiel

I think one of the big things to consider is how this works in a combined arms environment. It's one thing for people to say that the latest in non-NATO AESA radars and double-digit SAMs could detect VLO or even stealth aircraft at practical engagement ranges. It's an entirely different thing to do that in a complex ECM environment with TALDs and MALDs saturating their radar scopes (with the MALDs doing their own jamming), HARM shooters just waiting for their emission, and the F-35s just waiting for a missile to lift off so that it can drop an SDB down the TEL crew's pants.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Spookyashell
Even military radars wasn't able to track the missing Malasia airlines jumbojet after the pilots turned off the beacon. There was no ECM in play there, still the plane was lost from military radars not long after they turned off the beacon, and the plane was in the air for several hours after they turned it off. So when they are not able to track a big jet, I would think its extremely hard to track a F-35 most of the time.

quote:

ORIGINAL: NickD

quote:

ORIGINAL: Spookyashell
Even military radars wasn't able to track the missing Malasia airlines jumbojet after the pilots turned off the beacon. There was no ECM in play there, still the plane was lost from military radars not long after they turned off the beacon, and the plane was in the air for several hours after they turned it off. So when they are not able to track a big jet, I would think its extremely hard to track a F-35 most of the time.

It's been widely reported that the Malaysian and Thai militaries tracked MH370 until it passed beyond the range of the relevant radar stations (and keep in mind that neither military has a dense or particularly modern air defence radar network). The command and control staff operating the radars didn't do anything with this information at the time (and it seems to have taken a few days for the Malaysian government to do anything with it either...), but the 777 showed up just fine from all accounts.