KRIS OSBORN, WARRIOR MAVEN
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is well known as a 5th-generation, stealthy, multirole fighter jet capable of detecting and destroying enemy targets from ranges where it cannot itself be seen, something made possible through advanced computing, software upgrades and a new generation of sensing technology bringing pilots high-resolution target imagery and threat detection capability. Therefore, using stealth and speed to elude and destroy enemy air defenses, destroy air and ground targets with precision from stand-off distances and perform drone-like ISR as an aerial “node” in a joint, multidomain warfare environment, are all things widely associated with the F-35.
As a stealth fighter jet with exquisite technologies and wide-ranging operational purview, it may seem that the F-35 is ill suited for the dangers and rigors of Close Air Support missions where lower-flying aircraft hover and maneuver in support of fast-advancing ground forces under enemy fire. However, the F-35 has now for many years been regarded as an optimal platform for the high-threat CAS mission for a number of key reasons.
Years ago, the Pentagon performed a specific CAS assessment looking at both the A-10 and the F-35 capabilities for the mission. Clearly its titanium hull, 30mm cannon and “low and slow” flying ability has made the A-10 Warthog “Flying Tank” cherished for worthwhile reasons, yet there also seems to be lesser recognized variables explaining why an F-35 may be particularly well-suited for CAS operations as well.
While the full scope of the findings and resulting policy initiatives emerging from the A-10 vs F-35 CAS experiment seemed unclear, there is little question that both the A-10 and the F-35 bring unique attributes to the CAS mission.
F-35 for CAS
In a CAS mission, the F-35 could use its speed and maneuverability to elude small arms fire from the ground, yet the range and precision of its sensors and weapons may enable the jet to very successfully perform CAS operations at altitudes more difficult for small arms ground fire to target. The F-35A is also armed with a 25mm cannon and maneuverable enough to quickly adjust course in response to fast-evolving threat dynamics on the ground. It is precisely this kind of air-ground networking and communications synergy, enabled by the F-35s sensing and computing, which make the F-35 an optimal choice for Close Air Support, according to experienced pilots.
“Any time you are doing close air support, something in the vicinity of the blue forces on the ground, it has to be entirely seamless between the pilot, who has the ordnance, and the ground controller,” Scott “Shark” McClaren, Lockheed Martin F-35 test pilot, told Warrior in an interview on the F-35 flight line
Apart from speed, maneuverability and air-to-ground weapons, McClaren said “sensing,” “computing” and “precision targeting” may be the most important attributes enabling the F-35 to successfully perform Close Air Support missions. The often discussed “sensor fusion” elements of the F-35, in development for many years, operate with an ability to integrate otherwise disparate pools of incoming sensor data and quickly generate an integrated picture for pilots. This, McClaren explained, enables an unprecedented measure of precision air-ground targeting and attack.
“The F-35 brings in all the information from all those different sources. Now I can use digital information informing my knowledge of the situation on the ground. Digitally, I can have the information transformed for me and transferred back to the ground to make sure it is not something lost in translation over the radio discussing coordinates. It's done automatically,” McClaren said.
Networking, precision sensing and high-speed, accurate air-ground information sharing are critical reasons why an F-35 would be positioned to prevail in a CAS environment, yet an ability to perform these functions at better stand-off ranges could also be a key reason why an F-35 might perform better in a CAS environment than an A-10. While both are valuable, and the A-10 has forever cemented its place in the hearts of warfighters for the lives it has saved, more advanced ground-fired, counter-air weapons, small arms fire and shoulder-fired munitions would likely present newer and far more lethal risks to an A-10 than may have been the case years ago. Therefore, precision-targeting and high-speed, consistent air-ground connectivity enabled by computing, sensing and weaponry might mean an F-35 could be best positioned for CAS in coming decades.
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