by DAN GRAZIER
The F-35 soundless has a long way to travel before it volition live ready for combat. That was the parting message of Michael Gilmore, the now-retired Director of Operational Test too Evaluation, in his final annual report. The Joint Strike Fighter Program has already consumed to a greater extent than than $100 billion too nearly 25 years. Just to complete the basic evolution stage volition require at to the lowest degree an extra $1 billion too 2 to a greater extent than years. Even amongst this massive investment of time too money, Gilmore told Congress, the Pentagon too the public, “the operational suitability of all variants continues to live less than desired past times the Services.” Gilmore detailed a hit of remaining too sometimes worsening problems amongst the program, including hundreds of critical performance deficiencies too maintenance problems. He also raised serious questions most whether the Air Force’s F-35A tin plough over the sack succeed inwards either air-to-air or air-to-ground missions, whether the Marine Corps’ F-35B tin plough over the sack behave fifty-fifty rudimentary unopen air support, too whether the Navy’s F-35C is suitable to operate from aircraft carriers.
He found, inwards fact, that “if used inwards combat, the F-35 aircraft volition demand back upward to locate too avoid modern threat footing radars, larn targets, too engage formations of enemy fighter aircraft due to unresolved performance deficiencies too express weapons wagon availability.”
In a world statement, the F-35 Joint Program Office attempted to dismiss the Gilmore written report past times asserting, “All of the issues are well-known to the JPO, the U.S. of A. services, our international partners, too our industry.”
JPO’s acknowledgement of the numerous issues are fine equally far equally it goes, but there’s no indication that the business office has whatever plan — including toll too schedule re-estimates — to cook those currently known problems without cutting corners.
Nor, apparently, create they receive got a computer programme to care amongst too fund the fixes for the myriad unknown problems that volition live uncovered during the upcoming, much to a greater extent than rigorous, developmental too operational tests of the adjacent 4 years. Such a computer programme is essential, too should live driven past times the footstep at which problems are truly solved rather than past times unrealistic pre-existing schedules.
What volition it convey to cook the numerous problems identified past times Gilmore, too how create nosotros best movement forwards amongst the most expensive weapon computer programme inwards history, a computer programme that has been unable to alive upward to its ain really small-scale promises?
Technicians perform checks on an F-35A at Red Flag on Feb. 2, 2017. U.S. of A. Air Force photo Electronics used to justify cost — not delivering capabilities
The F-35 is existence sold to the American people based inwards no little component on its mission systems, the vast array of sophisticated electronics on board the jet. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 quick perusal of whatever of the hagiographic articles most the F-35 volition discover that they nearly always signal to its capabilities to gather massive amounts of information.
This information is supposed to come upward through its onboard sensors too the information links to exterior networked sources, too and therefore live merged past times the F-35’s reckoner systems to position too display for the airplane pilot the specific threat, target too accompanying strength picture — i.e. “situational awareness.”
This procedure is designed to allow the airplane pilot to dominate the battlespace. Based on the actual exam performance of these systems during developmental testing, however, it appears the electronics truly interfere amongst the pilot’s mightiness to last too prevail.
Overall, problems amongst the F-35’s sensors, computers too software, including creating simulated targets too reporting inaccurate locations, receive got been severe plenty that test teams at Edwards Air Force Base receive got rated them “red,” pregnant they are unable to perform the combat tasks expected of them.
One system, the Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS), was singled out past times pilots equally inferior inwards resolution too range to the systems currently existence used on legacy aircraft. EOTS is i of the systems designed to help the F-35 notice too destroy enemy fighters from far plenty away to brand dogfighting a thing of the past. Mounted unopen to the olfactory organ of the aircraft, it incorporates a television set camera, an infrared search too runway system, too a Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation rangefinder too designator.
These sensors swivel nether reckoner command to runway targets over a broad plain of regard too display imagery on the pilot’s helmet visor display.
But the limitations of EOTS, including paradigm degradation amongst humidity, strength pilots to wing inwards closer to a target than they had to when using before systems merely to larn a clear plenty moving painting to launch a missile or convey a shot.
The written report says the employment is bad plenty that F-35 pilots may demand to wing inwards therefore unopen to larn the target that they would receive got to maneuver away to gain the distance needed for a guided weapon shot. Thus, the system’s limitations tin plough over the sack strength an attacking F-35 to compromise surprise, allowing the enemy to maneuver to a first-shot opportunity.
Surrendering the chemical ingredient of surprise too enabling an opponent to shoot showtime is what nosotros wishing to strength the enemy to do, non ourselves.
Another often-touted characteristic that is supposed to plough over the F-35 superior situational awareness is the Distributed Aperture System (DAS). The DAS is i of the primary sensors feeding the displays to the infamous $600,000 helmet system, too it is also failing to alive upward to the hype.
The DAS sensors are half-dozen video cameras or “eyes” distributed merely about the fuselage of the F-35 that projection onto the helmet visor the exterior stance inwards whatever administration the airplane pilot wants to look, including downwards or to the rear. At the same time, the helmet visor displays the flying instruments too the target too threat symbols derived from the sensors too mission system.
But because of problems amongst excessive simulated targets, unstable “jittered” images too information overload, pilots are turning off some of the sensor too reckoner inputs too relying instead on simplified displays or the to a greater extent than traditional musical instrument panel.
Here again, the organisation is petty ameliorate than those it’s supposed to replace.
Test pilots also had difficulty amongst the helmet during some of the of import Weapon Delivery Accuracy tests. Several of the pilots described the displays inwards the helmet equally “operationally unusable too potentially unsafe” because of “symbol clutter” obscuring footing targets.
While attempting to exam burn downward short-range AIM-9X air-to-air missiles against targets, pilots reported that their stance of the target was blocked past times the symbols displayed on their helmet visors. Pilots also reported that the symbols were unstable spell they were attempting to runway targets.
Then in that location is the thing of pilots actually seeing double due to “false tracks.” There is a employment amongst taking all of the information generated past times the diverse onboard instruments too merging it into a coherent moving painting for the pilot, a procedure called sensor fusion.
Pilots are reporting that the dissimilar instruments, similar the plane’s radar too the EOTS, are detecting the same target but the reckoner compiling the information is displaying the unmarried target equally two.
Pilots receive got tried to piece of work merely about this employment past times shutting off some of the sensors to brand the superfluous targets disappear. This, DOT&E says, is “unacceptable for combat too violates the basic regulation of fusing contributions from multiple sensors into an accurate runway too clear display to gain situational awareness too to position too engage enemy targets.”
And equally bad equally the employment is inwards a unmarried plane, it’s much worse when several planes are attempting to part information across the network. The F-35 has a Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) that is designed to enable the bird to part information amongst other F-35s inwards gild to plough over all the pilots a mutual moving painting of the battlespace. It does this past times taking all of the information generated past times each bird too combining it into a single, shared stance of the world.
But this system, too, is creating erroneous or separate imagesof targets. Compounding the problem, the organisation is also sometimes dropping images of targets altogether, causing confusion within the cockpits most what’s in that location or non there.
All of this way that the systems meant to plough over the pilots a ameliorate agreement of the footing merely about them tin plough over the sack create just the opposite. According to the report, these systems “continue to degrade battlespace awareness too increase airplane pilot workload. Workarounds to these deficiencies are time-consuming for the airplane pilot too detract from efficient too effective mission execution.”
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