Page 24 - F-35 and Transformation

The F-35 and The Transformation of the Power Projection Forces

FIGHTING WITH THE FORCE YOU HAVE NOW WHILE PREPARING FOR AN
AIRPOWER TRANSITION: THE PERSPECTIVE OF GENERAL “HAWK” CARLISLE,
AIR COMBAT COMMAND

By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake

General “Hawk” Carlisle has been at the center of operations as well as the airpower transition for some
time. As the PACAF commander, he helped shaped the evolution of what is becoming an offensive-defensive
enterprise in which combat air and missile defense systems will become more tightly integrated.

As the ACC Commander, he has overseen global combat operations for the US Air Force, and has seen the
acceleration of an airpower transition. During his watch, several new combat assets have come to play in
Middle East operations, namely the more visible and central role of the F-22, the new variant of the Typhoon
(which the RAF calls, the Operation Shader variant of the aircraft and is being optimized for the delivery
of ground support weapons) and the Aussies have brought their Wedgetail and KC-30A tanker as well.

At the RIAT airshow, Carlisle discussed the coming of the F-35 to the force as the aircraft was omnipresent at
RIAT and Farnbourgh.

He told reporters that F-35A IOC was on track for this year and he anticipated that the F-35 would see
combat within the next 24 months.

Indeed, operational F-35Bs are now participating in Red Flag 16-3.

This is a US-only Red Flag and is testing the kind of multi-domain operational capabilities being deployed
now and augmented with the airpower transition.

For the ACC Commander, the future is now but at the same time, he needs to weave new assets into an
ongoing transformation process.

Question: A number of new aircraft have entered the fight in the Middle East and the F-22 has taken a
prominent multi-tasking role, how would you assess the performance and change?

General Carlisle: Each of the new assets – the F-22, the Typhoon, the Wedgetail and the KC-30A – have
performed well. They have proven once again that if you get new assets into the hands of the young men and
women in the force that amazing things can happen.

The platforms have been pushed to a level that we could not guess at prior to real world operations.

Their performance and that of the entire force is highlighting the need for more effective combat multi-domain
integration.

That is a key work in progress and these new platforms are driving us further down the road to achieve it.

We’ll make even more progress when we get to the link architecture and the translators that allow us to truly
achieve fifth to fourth and fourth to fifth integration and to take national technical means and bring that into
the fight as well.

What we’re not doing is bringing these disparate parts up together in a collaborative, honeycombed
environment at the level that we really can. We’re not off-boarding everything from the F-22 and F-35 that
we should. There’s a wealth of information on those platforms that never gets taken advantage of. However,
we are working to ensure that we position ourselves to do so.
Second Line of Defense

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