Page 60 - Australian Defence Magazine Feb-Mar 2023

60 AIRPOWER F-35A LIGHTNING II
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
Other weapons on the Block 4 roadmap include the MDBA Meteor beyond visual range and ASRAAM air to air weapons; Raytheon’s AGM-154C-1 Joint Stand Off Weapon (JSOW); Lockheed Martin AGM-158A/B Joint Air to Surface Strike Missile (JASSM & JASSM-ER) and AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM); Ray- theon’s GBU-53/B StormBreaker Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) Increment II; MBDA Select Precision Effects at Range (SPEAR) air to ground missile; Northrop Grum- man’s extended range AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM-ER); Kongsberg’s maritime Joint Strike Missile (JSM); and an as yet unidentified hypersonic missile.
Of these, the RAAF already has the JSOW weapon on its F/A-18F Super Hornets and has previously fielded JASSM and ASRAAM on its ‘Classic’ Hornets. Australia has also selected LRSAM for the Super Hornet and has received US Congressional approval for the AGM-88E2 version of AARGM for the RAAF’s EA-18G Growler electronic at- tack aircraft. The JSM weapon is also under consideration
under Defence’s Air 3023 Phase 2 (Enhanced Maritime Strike Weapon) and, as the only advanced maritime strike missile currently able to be carried internally by the F-35, has already been selected by Finland, Japan and Norway.
The list of items to be included in the Block 4 enhance- ments is still being defined by the JPO and international partners, but will be available as a retrofit for aircraft al- ready delivered.
“Finalisation of these details remain in progress, as Air Force and the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) coordinate with the F-35 JPO on how to maximise capability and efficiency of Australia’s moderni- sation schedule,” a Defence spokesperson told ADM.
“Modernisation of the in-service Australian fleet has not yet begun. We will see the commencement of the first through-life capability upgrade in 2025. Australian aircraft will be upgraded in the [BAE Systems Australia] MRO&U facility at Newcastle Airport.
FUTURE-PROOFING THE F-35
The F-35 is expected to remain in service for several more decades and will need to keep abreast of technological de- velopments over that time if it is to remain viable.
While the hardware and software upgrades will continue throughout the F-35’s life, the JPO is considering the re- placement of the F135 powerplant under the Adaptive En- gine Transition Program (AETP), for which General Elec- tric and Pratt & Whitney are respectively proposing their
LEFT: Australia will begin upgrading its F-35As to Block 4 configuration in 2025
BELOW: The RAAF had received 60 of its 72 F-35A Lightning II fighters by the end of 2022
NIGEL PITTAWAY
NIGEL PITTAWAY