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Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)

On October 26, 2001, the Defense Department selected Lockheed Martin's F-35 as the winner of the competition to manufacture the Joint Strike Fighter. Click here for more information.

The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a multi-role fighter optimized for the air-to-ground role, designed to affordably meet the needs of the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allies, with improved survivability, precision engagement capability, the mobility necessary for future joint operations and the reduced life cycle costs associated with tomorrow’s fiscal environment. JSF will benefit from many of the same technologies developed for F-22 and will capitalize on commonality and modularity to maximize affordability.

The 1993 Bottom-Up Review (BUR) determined that a separate tactical aviation modernization program by each Service was not affordable and canceled the Multi-Role Fighter (MRF) and Advanced Strike Aircraft (A/F-X) program. Acknowledging the need for the capability these canceled programs were to provide, the BUR initiated the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) effort to create the building blocks for affordable development of the next-generation strike weapons system. After a review of the program in August 1995, DoD dropped the "T" in the JAST program and the JSF program has emerged from the JAST effort. Fiscal Year 1995 legislation merged the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Advanced Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (ASTOVL) program with the JSF Program. This action drew the United Kingdom (UK) Royal Navy into the program, extending a collaboration begun under the DARPA ASTOVL program.
The JSF program will demonstrate two competing weapon system concepts for a tri-service family of aircraft to affordably meet these service needs:

USAF-Multi-role aircraft (primarily air-to-ground) to replace F-16 and A-10 and to complement F-22. The Air Force JSF variant poses the smallest relative engineering challenge. The aircraft has no hover criteria to satisfy, and the characteristics and handling qualities associated with carrier operations do not come into play. As the biggest customer for the JSF, the service will not accept a multirole F-16 fighter replacement that doesn't significantly improve on the original. USN-Multi-role, stealthy strike fighter to complement F/A-18E/F. Carrier operations account for most of the differences between the Navy version and the other JSF variants. The aircraft has larger wing and tail control surfaces to better manage low-speed approaches. The internal structure of the Navy variant is strengthened up to handle the loads associated with catapult launches and arrested landings. The aircraft has a carrier-suitable tailhook. Its landing gear has a longer stroke and higher load capacity. The aircraft has almost twice the range of an F-18C on internal fuel. The design is also optimized for survivability. USMC-Multi-role Short Take-Off & Vertical Landing (STOVL) strike fighter to replace AV-8B and F/A-18A/C/D. The Marine variant distinguishes itself from the other variants with its short takeoff/vertical landing capability. UK-STOVL (supersonic) aircraft to replace the Sea Harrier. Britain's Royal Navy JSF will be very similar to the U.S. Marine variant.

The JSF concept is building these three highly common variants on the same production line using flexible manufacturing technology. Cost benefits result from using a flexible manufacturing approach and common subsystems to gain economies of scale. Cost commonality is projected in the range of 70-90 percent; parts commonality will be lower, but emphasis is on commonality in the higher-priced parts.

The Lockheed Martin X-35 concept for the Marine and Royal Navy variant of the aircraft uses a shaft-driven lift-fan system to achieve Short-Takeoff/Vertical Landing (STOVL) capability. The aircraft will be configured with a Rolls-Royce/Allison shaft-driven lift-fan, roll ducts and a three-bearing swivel main engine nozzle, all coupled to a modified Pratt & Whitney F119 engine that powers all three variants.

The Boeing X-32 JSF short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.K. Royal Navy employs a direct lift system for short takeoffs and vertical landings with uncompromised up-and-away performance.

Key design goals of the JSF system include:

Survivability: radio frequency/infrared signature reduction and on-board countermeasures to survive in the future battlefield--leveraging off F-22 air superiority mission support
Lethality: integration of on- and off-board sensors to enhance delivery of current and future precision weapons
Supportability: reduced logistics footprint and increased sortie generation rate to provide more combat power earlier in theater
Affordability: focus on reducing cost of developing, procuring and owning JSF to provide adequate force structure

JSF’s integrated avionics and stealth are intended to allow it to penetrate surface-to-air missile defenses to destroy targets, when enabled by the F-22’s air dominance. The JSF is designed to complement a force structure that includes other stealthy and non-stealthy fighters, bombers, and reconnaissance / surveillance assets. JSF requirements definition efforts are based on the principles of Cost as an Independent Variable: Early interaction between the warfighter and developer ensures cost / performance trades are made early, when they can most influence weapon system cost. The Joint Requirements Oversight Council has endorsed this approach.
The JSF’s approved acquisition strategy provides for the introduction of an alternate engine during Lot 5 of the production phase, the first high rate production lot. OSD is considering several alternative implementation plans which would accelerate this baseline effort.
Program Status
The focus of the program is producing effectiveness at an affordable price—the Air Force’s unit flyaway cost objective is $28 million (FY94$). This unit recurring flyaway cost is down from a projected, business as usual,cost of $36 million. The Concept Demonstration Phase (CDP) was initiated in November 1996 with the selection of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Both contractors are: (1) designing and building their concept demonstration aircraft, (2) performing unique ground demonstrations, (3) developing their weapon systems concepts. First operational aircraft delivery is planned for FY08.
The JSF is a joint program with shared acquisition executive responsibilities. The Air Force and Navy each provide approximately equal shares of annual funding, while the United Kingdom is a collaborative partner, contributing $200 million to the CDP. CDP, also known as the Program Definition and Risk Reduction (PDRR) phase, consists of three parallel efforts leading to Milestone II and an Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) start in FY01:

Concept Demonstration Program. The two CDP contracts were competitively awarded to Boeing and Lockheed Martin for ground and flight demonstrations at a cost of $2.2 billion for the 51-month effort, including an additional contract to Pratt & Whitney for the engine. Each CDP contractor will build concept demonstrator aircraft (designated X-32/35). Each contractor will demonstrate commonality and modularity, short take-off and vertical landing, hover and transition, and low-speed carrier approach handling qualities of their aircraft.
Technology Maturation. These efforts evolve key technologies to lower risk for EMD entry. Parallel technology maturation demonstrations are also an integral part of the CDP / PDRR objective of meeting warfighting needs at an affordable cost. Focus is on seven critical areas: avionics, flight systems, manufacturing and producibility, propulsion, structures and materials, supportability, and weapons. Demonstration plans are coordinated with the prime weapon system contractors and results are made available to all program industry participants.
Requirements Definition. This effort leads to Joint Operational Requirements Document completion in FY00; cost/performance trades are key to the process.

LockMart JSF Design - X-35

 

T-45 Goshawk

 

 

 

The T-45A aircraft, the Navy version of the British Aerospace Hawk aircraft, is used for intermediate and advanced portions of the Navy pilot training program for jet carrier aviation and tactical strike missions. The T-45A replaces the T-2 Buckeye trainer and the TA-4 trainer with an integrated training system that includes the T-45 Goshawk aircraft, operations and instrument fighter simulators, academics, and training integration system.

Selected as the basis for the airplane portion of the Navy's VTXTS jet training system, the British Aerospace Hawk is well established as the Royal Air Force's (RAF) principal jet trainer, and has also found a similar niche with other countries' air forces. One of several multipurpose trainer/light ground attack aircraft developed in various European countries during the seventies, it was found adaptable to the U.S. Navy's training role, including carrier operations, with a minimum of aerodynamic modification --a tribute to the excellent characteristics of the basic design.

The Hawk's beginnings go back to the late sixties when Hawker Siddeley (one of the predecessor companies of today's British Aerospace) began design studies for a prospective new RAF jet trainer suitable for basic/advanced training and also for strike/weapon delivery mission type training. The RAF settled on its final requirements in 1970 and Hawker Siddeley's final HS-1182 design proposal was the winner of the subsequent competition. In the spring of 1972, development and a total of 176 airplanes were ordered.

Powered by a 5,200-pound-thrust Rolls-Royce/Turbomeca Adour turbofan engine, the new trainer featured a compact, low-wing configuration, with the instructor in a raised position behind the student, both under a large single-piece, sideway-opening canopy, providing excellent visibility. Five external stores stations accommodate a wide variety of weapons, including a 30mm gun pod as one of the alternates on the fuselage centerline station.

While construction was fairly conventional, every effort was devoted to improving the reliability and maintainability of the new trainer through appropriate selection of operating system design and components and their installation.

The first Hawk made its initial flight on 21 August 1974, flying at that year's Farnborough show in early September. Subsequent aircraft joined the flight development program which resulted in minor modifications--enlargement of the ventral fins being one of the more obvious changes -- by the time the Hawk T.1s went into RAF training squadron service in late 1976. Assignment to the tactical weapons unit followed in 1978.

Meanwhile, one extra Hawk had been registered for company use as G-Hawk, while the Mk 50 series export Hawk found customers in various parts of the world. Finland was the first foreign purchaser, with plans for production there. Active NavAir interest in the Hawk as one candidate for possible replacement of T-2s and TA-4s in the Training Command began in 1977 as part of a general study of what could be accomplished through various alternatives, including new development as well as derivatives of the newly-developed European advanced jet trainers. In 1978, the VTXTS program was initiated and McDonnell Douglas' Douglas Aircraft Company proposed jointly with British Aerospace a carrier-suitable version of the Hawk as one of their approaches for the VTXTS initial 4 competition. With this proposal selected as the winner, another British Aerospace design has found its place in Naval Aviation alongside the already well-known Harrier.

Over the next few years the T-45 Goshawk will first replace the TA-4J Skyhawk in the Advanced Jet Training Program and then replace the T-2 Buckeye in the Intermediate Jet Pilot Training Program. The Goshawk Training System combines academic, simulation, and flight phases into an integrated computer-based training approach that greatly improves training efficiency and safety. In the long run, the Navy projects savings of more than $400 million by completing the acquisition and delivery of new T-45's by the year 2002 instead of 2005.

T-34C Turbo Mentor

 

 

 

The T-34C aircraft is an unpressurized two-place, tandem cockpit low-wing single-engine monoplane manufactured by Raytheon Aircraft Company (Formally Beech Aircraft), Wichita, Kansas. The aircraft is powered by a Model PT6A-25 turbo-prop engine manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft of Canada. The primary mission of the T-34C is to provide primary flight training for student pilots attached to the Chief of Naval Air Training. As a secondary mission, approximately 10% of the aircraft provide pilot proficiency and other aircraft support services to AIRLANT, AIRPAC, and NAVAIR "satellite sites" operated throughout CONUS.

The T-34C aircraft was procured as a commercial-derivative aircraft certified under an FAA Type Certificate. Throughout its life, the aircraft has been operated and commercially supported by the Navy using FAA processes, procedures and certifications. It continues to be maintained commercially at all levels of maintenance, and relies on COTS/NDI components and equipment to support airworthiness. Aircraft modification efforts are "turnkey" projects (procurement and installation) implemented as part of competitively awarded maintenance contracts. Where extensive integration efforts are required, the non-recurring engineering phase, including test and certification, is typically performed by Raytheon Aircraft Company under a sole-source engineering contract with the Navy.

CH-46E Sea Knight

Mission: The mission of the CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter in a Marine Medium Helicopter (HMM) squadron is to provide all-weather, day/night, night vision goggle (NVG) assault transport of combat troops, supplies, and equipment during amphibious and subsequent operations ashore. Troop assault is the primary function and the movement of supplies and equipment is secondary. Additional tasks are: combat and assault support for evacuation operations and other maritime special operations; over-water search and rescue augmentation; support for mobile forward refueling and rearming points; aeromedical evacuation of casualties from the field to suitable medical facilities.

Background: The CH-46 Sea Knight was first procured in 1964 to meet the medium-lift requirements of the Marine Corps in Viet Nam with a program buy of 600 aircraft. The aircraft has served the Marine Corps in all combat and peacetime environments. However, normal airframe operational and attrition rates have taken the assets to the point where a medium lift replacement is required. The safety and capability upgrades are interim measures to allow continued safe and effective operation of the Sea Knight fleet until a suitable replacement is fielded.

Primary function: Medium lift assault helicopter

B-52 Image Bank

B-52 Image Bank

 

 

The navigator stations use CRT displays and 386x-type processors. Interface to avionics architecture is based on the Mil-Std-1553B data bus specification.

Current Upgrade Activities

The current service life of the aircraft extends to 2040.

The B-52 is a typical representation of the misnomer of "legacy" system. While the B-52 exceeds 30 years of age, new modifications and mission capabilities are constantly updating the system. The following is a list of current B-52 modification programs:

1. Global Positioning System (GPS)
2. TACAN Replacement System (TRS)
3. Integrated Conventional Stores Management System (ICSMS)
4. ARC-210/DAMA Secure Voice
5. AGM-142 HAVENAP Missile Integration
6. High Reliability Maintenance-Free Battery
7. Electronic Counter-Measures Improvement (ECMI)
8. Off-Aircraft Pylon Tester (OAPT)
9. Air Force Mission Support System (AFMSS)
10. Electro Viewing System - EVS 3-in-1 (EVS, STV, FLIR)
11. Advanced Weapons Integration Program (JDAM, WCMD, JSOW, JASSM)
12. Night Vision Imaging System Cockpit Compatible Lighting
13. Night Vision Imaging System Compatible Ejection Seat Mod
14. Standard Flight Loads Data Recorder (SFLDR)
15. Avionics Midlife Improvement (AMI) (ACU, DTUC, and INS Replacement)
16. ALR-20 System Replacement
17. Fuel Temperature Monitoring System
18. Panoramic Night Vision Goggles
19. Advanced Infrared Expendables
20. Advanced real Time Engine Health Monitoring System
21. Closed Loop Sensor-To Shoot Data Collection/Trans
22. Precision Targeting Radar
23. TF-33 Engine Replacement
24. Lethal Self Protection
25. B-52 Cockpit Modernization
26. KY-58 VINSON Secure Voice
27. AVTR
28. Additional Cabin Pressure Altimeter
29. Enhanced Bomber Mission Management System
30. Chaff and Flare Dispenser Upgrade
31. Non 1760 Pylon Upgrade

The B-52 is undergoing a Conventional Enhancement Modification which allows it to carry MIL-STD 1760 weapons. The Advanced Weapons Integration (AWI) program supports the conventional enhancement of the B-52 through the addition of the Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD), Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), Joint Stand-off Weapon (JSOW), and the Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM). Limited Initial Operational Capability for the WCMD was achieved on the B-52 in December 1998, and LIOC for JDAM was achieved on the B-52 in December 1998.

The Air Force Mission Support System supports the Air Force movement of all mission planning to a common system. GPS TACAN Emulation provides support to the Congressionally-directed GPS-2000. Electronic Countermeasures Improvement supports a DESERT STORM identified deficiency. The B-61 Mod 11 program was added at the direction of the Nuclear Posture Review and Presidential Decision Directive-30.

The AGM-142 (or Have Nap as it is commonly called) and Harpoon missile systems were first installed and made operational on the B-52Gs in the mid-1980s. When the �G� models were retired, these capabilities were moved to the B-52H model. While Air Combat Command (ACC) was happy to retain these operational capabilities, they were limited in their ability to employ either Have Nap or Harpoon by the fact that only a limited number of B-52Hs could employ the missiles. In the early 1990s the B-52 Conventional Enhancement Modification (CEM) Integrated Product Team (IPT) began programs to make it possible for any B-52H to carry and launch either missile. At about the same time, the AGM-142 SPO began a second phase of their producibility enhancement program, PEPII for short, to upgrade the AGM-142 missiles to both enhance supportability and lower the missiles cost. As of 31 December 97 these programs provided ACC with the expanded and more flexible mission capability they desired.

F-4 Phantom II

F-4 Phantom II

 

The F-4 Phantom II was a twin-engine, all-weather, fighter-bomber. The aircraft could perform three tactical air roles � air superiority, interdiction and close air support � as it did in southeast Asia. First flown in May 1958, the Phantom II originally was developed for U.S. Navy fleet defense and entered service in 1961. The USAF evaluated it for close air support, interdiction, and counter-air operations and, in 1962, approved a USAF version. The USAF's Phantom II, designated F-4C, made its first flight on May 27, 1963. Production deliveries began in November 1963. In its air-to-ground role the F-4 could carry twice the normal bomb load of a WW II B-17. USAF F-4s also flew reconnaissance and "Wild Weasel" anti-aircraft missile suppression missions. Phantom II production ended in 1979 after over 5,000 had been built--more than 2,600 for the USAF, about 1,200 for the Navy and Marine Corps, and the rest for friendly foreign nations, including to Israel, Iran, Greece, Spain, Turkey, South Korea, West Germany, Australia, Japan, and Great Britain. Used extensively in the Vietnam War, later versions of the aircraft were still active in the U. S. Air Force inventory well into the 1990s. F-4s are no longer in the USAF inventory but are still flown by foreign nations.

The F-4C first flew for the Air Force in May 1963 and the Air National Guard began flying the F-4C in January 1972. The Air Force Reserve received its first Phantom II in June 1978. The F-4D model, with major changes that increase accuracy in weapons delivery, was delivered to the Air Force in March 1966, to the Air National Guard in 1977, and to the Air Force Reserve in 1980.

The first F-4E was delivered to the Air Force in October 1967. The Air National Guard received its first F-4E in 1985, the Air Force Reserve in 1987. This model, with an additional fuselage fuel tank, leading-edge slats for increased maneuverability, and an improved engine, also has an internally mounted 20mm multibarrel gun with improved fire-control system.

Starting in 1973, F-4E's were fitted with target-identification systems for long-range visual identification of airborne or ground targets. Each system is basically a television camera with a zoom lens to aid in positive identification, and a system called Pave Tack, which provided day and night all-weather capability to acquire, track and designate ground targets for laser, infrared and electro-optically guided weapons. Another change was a digital intercept computer that includes launch computations for all AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missiles. Additionally, on F-4E/G models, the digital ARN-101 navigation system replaced the LN-12 inertial navigation system.

With the introduction of newer, more capable weapons systems, the F-4 mission narrowed to specializing in the suppression of enemy air defense. Following their 90-day deployment supporting Operation Provide Comfort 15 December 1995, the F-4G Phantoms assigned to the Idaho Air National Guard's 190th Fighter Squadron retired to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center, otherwise known as the "boneyard," at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.

F-4G Advanced Wild Weasel

The F-4G "Advanced Wild Weasel," was the last model still in the active Air Force inventory, until it was replaced by the F-16CJ/DJ in the role of increasing the survivability of tactical strike forces by seeking out and suppressing or destroying enemy radar-directed anti-aircraft artillery batteries and surface-to-air missile sites. F-4G's were E models modified with sophisticated electronic warfare equipment in place of the internally mounted 20mm gun. The F-4G could carry more weapons than previous Wild Weasel aircraft and a greater variety of missiles as well as conventional bombs. The primary weapon of the F-4G, however, was the AGM-88 HARM (high speed anti-radiation missile). Other munitions included cluster bombs, and AIM-65 Maverick and air-to-air missiles.

The F-4G "Advanced Wild Weasel," which inherited most of the features of the F-4E, was capable of passing real-time target information to the aircraft's missiles prior to launch. Working in �hunter-killer� teams of two aircraft, such as F-4G and F-16C, the F-4G �hunter� could detect, identify, and locate enemy radars then direct weapons that will ensure destruction or suppression of the radars. The technique was effectively used during Operation Desert Storm against enemy surface-to-air missile batteries. Primary armament included HARM (AGM-88) and Maverick (AGM-65). F-4G's deployed to Saudi Arabia also were equipped with ALQ-131 and ALQ-184 electronic countermeasures pods.

Airborne Laser

Airborne Laser

 

 

The ABL weapon system consists of a high-energy, chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) mounted on a modified 747-400F (freighter) aircraft to shoot down theater ballistic missiles in their boost phase. A crew of four, including pilot and copilot, would be required to operate the airborne laser, which would patrol in pairs at high altitude, about 40,000 feet, flying in orbits over friendly territory, scanning the horizon for the plumes of rising missiles. Capable of autonomous operation, the ABL would acquire and track missiles in the boost phase of flight, illuminating the missile with a tracking laser beam while computers measure the distance and calculate its course and direction. After acquiring and locking onto the target, a second laser - with weapons-class strength - would fire a three- to five-second burst from a turret located in the 747's nose, destroying the missiles over the launch area.

The airborne laser would fire a Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser, or COIL, invented at Phillips Lab in 1977. The laser's fuel consists of the same chemicals found in hair bleach and Drano - hydrogen peroxide and potassium hydroxide - which are then combined with chlorine gas and water. The laser operates at an infrared wavelength of 1.315 microns, which is invisible to the eye. By recycling chemicals, building with plastics and using a unique cooling process, the COIL team was able to make the laser lighter and more efficient while - at the same time - increasing its power by 400 percent in five years. The flight-weighted ABL module would be similar in performance and power levels to the multi-hundred kilowatt class COIL Baseline Demonstration Laser (BDL-2) module demonstrated by TRW in August 1996. As its name implies, though, it would be lighter and more compact than the earlier version due to the integration of advanced aerospace materials into the design of critical hardware components. For the operational ABL system, several modules would be linked together in series to achieve ABL's required megawatt-class power level.

Atmospheric turbulence, which weakens and scatters the laser's beam, is produced by fluctuations in air temperature [the same phenomenon that causes stars to twinkle]. Adaptive optics rely on a deformable mirror, sometimes called a rubber mirror, to compensate for tilt and phase distortions in the atmosphere. The mirror has 341 actuators that change at a rate of about a 1,000 per second.

The Airborne Laser is a Major Defense Acquisition Program. After the Concept Design Phase is complete, the ABL will enter the Program Definition and Risk Reduction (PDRR) Phase. The objective of the PDRR phase is to develop a cost effective, flexible airborne high energy laser system which provides a credible deterrent and lethal defensive capabilities against boosting theater ballistic missiles.

The ABL PDRR Program is intended to show high confidence system performance scalable to Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) levels. The PDRR Program includes the design, development, integration, and testing of an airborne high-energy laser weapon system.

In May 1994, two contracts were awarded to develop fully operational ABL weapon system concepts and then derive ABL PDRR Program concepts that are fully traceable and scaleable EMD. A single contract team was selected to proceed with the development of the chosen PDRR concept beginning in November 1996. Successful development and testing of the laser module is one of the critical 'exit criteria' that Team ABL must satisfy to pass the program's first 'authority-to-proceed' (ATP-1) milestone, scheduled for June 1998. Testing of the laser module is expected to be completed by April 1998. The PDRR detailed design, integration, and test will culminate in a lethality demonstration in the year 2002. A follow-on Engineering Manufacturing and Development/Production (EMD) effort could then begin in the early 2003 time frame. A fleet of fully operational EMD systems is intended to satisfy Air Combat Command's boost-phase Theater Air Defense requirements. If all goes as planned, a fleet of seven ABLs should be flying operational missions by 2008.

Performance requirements for the Airborne Laser Weapons System are established by the operational scenarios and support requirements defined by the user, Air Combat Command, and by measured target vulnerability characteristics provided by the Air Force lethality and vulnerability community centered at the Phillips Laboratory. The ABL PDRR Program is supported by a robust technology insertion and risk reduction program to provide early confidence that scaling to EMD performance is feasible. The technology and concept design efforts provide key answers to the PDRR design effort in the areas of lethality, atmospheric characterization, beam control, aircraft systems integration, and environmental concerns. These efforts are the source of necessary data applied to exit criteria ensuring higher and higher levels of confidence are progressively reached at key milestones of the PDRR development.

The key issues in the program will be effective range of the laser and systems integration of a Boeing 747 aircraft.