Page 26 - F-35 and Transformation

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

Directed energy weapons are clearly part of the transition.

We will be putting one on an F-15 for test purposes before long. The first thing we are going to do with it is
defensive, in particular against a SAM.

We know how to do hit-to-kill and our sensor and C2 packages are getting better.

We just need to enhance the technology, which provides us with the low-cost, high-magazine and high-
accuracy systems to go along with the sensor grid.

Question: You are describing the kill web.

And as the air combat assets get better at off-boarding information and cross-supporting the strike and
defense functions, the air combat force will get better.

We asked you about the F-22 as an air battle manager at the Trilateral Exercise. Could we revisit that
dynamic?

General Carlisle: With regard to the F-22, the first strikes were in September 2014. We have done
upgrades as well which allows us to fire SDBs at a greater level of accuracy. We are also using the sensor
fusion on board the aircraft to pass information to the rest of the force, which is bringing their game up as
well.

The F-22 functions in this sense as a battle manager because the pilot has the SA inside his cockpit to direct
other aircraft on what they do and how they can do it more effectively.

We are better at this now than we were even a year ago.

You create a problem for an adversary when you have multiple places from which you can strike.

You have the SA and the information shared among all three platforms in the case of the trilateral exercise.

You couldn’t defend against all of them.

Question: It is clear that we need a weapons revolution to catch up with the new air platforms and the
reconfiguration of the legacy platforms. What is your sense of this challenge?

General Carlisle: There is a clear need for new weapons. We need range; we need magazine depth; we
need broad spectrum capabilities.

We need to be able to do a central sweep that can cover the spectrum that’s not defined by medium range,
or medium wave IR, or X Band, but rather can cover the IR spectrum potentially in the EOIR, and potentially
the RF spectrum as well.

Besides the networking and the architecture that we haven’t shaped to the level that we want to, the next
thing is we have great fifth generation capability with fourth gen weapons, and that doesn’t make sense.

I don’t need a new point-and-shoot weapon.

I just want a look and shoot, and I want unlimited magazine depth.

I want scalable effects so that based on what the environment is I can change the weapon’s effect to protect
friendlies.

Second Line of Defense

Page 25