Page 4 - F-35 and Transformation

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

INTRODUCTION

The F-35 has been operational with the USMC for more than a year, and this summer with the USAF. The US
Navy is getting ready for the introduction of the F-35 and already sees it as a key element of and trigger fro
what Navy leadership calls the kill web. This means that the F-35 is see both as a new capability but part of
a much broader transformation of the power projection force.

In this report, we look at perspectives of the US services and the allies on the impact of fifth generation
enabled combat capabilities and ways to think about the patterns of transformation of the power projection
forces.

Interviews have been conducted at the major bases and warfighting centers in the United States as well as
interviews in the UK and Australia as well. There is a convergence of thinking about the broad strategic
direction of the reshaping of power projection forces but a diversity of innovative approaches with regard to
how best to achieve change.

21st century warfare concepts of operations, technology, tactics and training are in evolution and revolution.
The F-35 is at the heart of this change for a very simple reason – it is a revolutionary platform, and when
considered in terms of its fleet impact even more so. The F-35, Lightning II, will make combat aviation history
with the first of kind sensor fusion cockpit. The F-35 is essentially an F/A/E-35 that makes it effective in AA,
AG and EW combined missions. Allied and U.S. combat pilots will evolve and share new tactics and training,
and over time this will drive changes that leaders must make for effective command and control to fight future
battles.

An issue has been that the F-35 has been labeled a “fifth generation” aircraft, a sensible demarcation when
the F-22 was being introduced. But the evolution of the combat systems on the aircraft, the role of the fusion
engine, and the impact of a fleet of integrated F-35s operating as a foundational element will make the
current term “5th Gen” obsolete. The F-35 is the first of a new generation of design features and airborne
capabilities that will change everything. It is a first generation information and decision making superiority
“flying combat system.”

The global fleet of F-35s will be the first generation for building a foundation for a fundamental change in
the way air power operates in overall combat concepts of operations. It is not in and of itself a single aircraft
platform; it is about what an integrated fleet of F-35s can deliver to TRANSFORM everything. The decade
ahead will be very innovative. Combat warriors, at all ranks, can leverage what they learn and then apply
those lessons to reshaping the force over and over.

The impact of an integrated fleet of F-35s with fused internal pilot combat data and also distributed
information out, will allow the US and its allies to rethink how to do 21st century air-enabled operations. Each
F-35 will be able to network and direct engagements in 360-degrees of 3-dimensional space by offloading
tracks to other air/land/sea platforms including UAVs and robots.

The current head of the ACC when he was PACAF looked forward to the time when allies and the US forces
had substantial numbers of F-35s flying in the Pacific area of operations and highlighted how dramatic he
saw the coming changes to be.

“General Carlisle was asked what would be the impact of a fleet of F-35s (allied and US) upon a
Commander of PACAF a decade out. It will be significant. Instead of thinking of an AOC, I can begin to think

Second Line of Defense

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