"We are thinking about future updates to keep the F-35 competitive and able to tackle the Russian and Chinese threats. Foreign progress in fifth generation technology is evident and constant and the gap between us and them has now been filled. These updates are necessary ".
This is what a few hours ago told Reuters Jeffrey Harrigian, head of the F-35 development program for the Air Force.
Upgrades include a new system avionics, more powerful radar, laser guns, and a new engine that can reduce fuel consumption and increase performance (the 6 block in the 2019 is expected to improve on the engine but is planning a new one) .
What does this mean? That the hunters currently built in 'Low-Rate Initial Production' and delivered must all be updated, some even before getting up in the air.
The F-35, an investment from 400 billion dollars (in addition to 650 billions of dollars provided by the Government Accountability Office only costs maintenance), is likely to enter service already obsolete compared to counterparties that should face in a hypothetical scenario. These hardware and software upgrades, clash with what was asserted by Lockeed Martin and with the advertised superiority of the fighter that would have ensured victory in each clash.
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The Pentagon has no choice. Impossible to stop the production line, albeit at a slower pace, of the hunt. It would be a defeat for an aircraft that would go down in history more like a gimmick marketing than a real game changer.
The statements of General Harrigian seem not to have been received by the allies who have already invested billions of dollars in the program. One wonders, in fact, the reaction of foreign partners and if they had invested in the JSF anyway, knowing they had to shell out more money for expensive upgrades so as to realize the promised capabilities of the fighter. Because the point is precisely this: future updates (not to be confused with the development roadmap of Lockheed Martin to achieve full operational capacity) will be borne by the individual nations that can decide whether or not to keep the hunt abreast of global challenges (the examples are wasted on numerous platforms that have not reached their full development due to lack of funds or have become obsolete online).
Harrigian has provided few details about future updates, but according to rumors, each new engine will cost about 15 million dollars, while for radar and avionics you could even pay twice as much as initially paid.
Laser weapons remain on paper. Despite the tests carried out, the way to miniaturize laser weapons with relevant energy supply systems on board a hunting weapon and make these weapons effective and at a reasonable distance is still very long. But there are issues that the Air Force will face only in a few years, considering that the F-35 will reach Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in mid-2016 and full operational capacity (FOC) between 2021 and 2022, twenty years later 'award of the development contract.
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Fortunately, the F-35 does not have an enemy yet and the 160 F-22 products are still the best of the best. The Russians, in fact, are facing serious problems for the fifth-generation T-50 fighter. The cuts to the defense budget drastically reduced orders compared to the originally planned 450 Pak / Fa. Despite Putin himself last year, he defined the T-50 as the fighter designed specifically to destroy B-2 Spirit, F-22 Raptor and F-35, Moscow has currently only ordered twelve aircraft.
During the last state tests, which started last year, an accident occurred (fire of a turbocent NPO Saturn AL-41) which caused a halt to the program. The problems with the propulsion system would be so obvious that even India, the program's supporter, would have expressed its intention to withdraw. The sanctions commissioned by the West, finally, would be the final blow to the Pak-Fa program. The first T-50 department should have entered service within the 2016.
Despite delays and limitations, the Marines will be the first in the world to have the F-35 in line with the Initial Operating Capacity, within the year. The fighter will be fully operational within the 2022. By then the main updates will be ready.
One wonders which nations, besides the United States, will be able to afford such fundamental improvements. The risk is that in a few years in the skies will fly F-35 series A and F-35 of series B.
Franco Iacch
(photo: US DoD)
