Page 31 - Leverage and Learn_Neat

Leverage Allied Investments and Combat Learning Experience in Modernizing the U.S. Military

“Should we add weapons for SEAD missions for example, as the F-35 becomes the forward deployed task
master for such missions, aided significantly by strike assets from Typhoon?

“We need to ensure that we are not hamstringing ourselves with the weaponization process.

“We need to open the aperture as we reshape the air combat fast jet force.”

And as this process evolves the integration to other non-air assets becomes crucial as well, whether it is
integration with naval assets from a strike or ISR/C2 point of view.

“We’ve built new Type 45 destroyers and are building new CVF Aircraft carriers and Type 26 Destroyers.
“The information soak from F-35 has to be taken into account as those new assets come into service.

“Are we utilizing that information in its best available capacity?

“It is way beyond ownership of one or the other service; it is about having an integrated combat force.”

http://www.sldinfo.com/visiting-iiac-squadron-at-raf-lossiemouth-the-perspective-of-squadron-leader-martin-
pert/

Maximizing effective use of U.S. and allied weapons investments is crucial to accelerate the transition from the
land wars to enhanced air combat power for higher intensity and higher tempo operations.

And clearly Brimstone and Spear 3 are very relevant to current and evolving US needs. It is difficult to
understand why the US would not adopt this weapon and include it in its own combat capability arsenal as a
complement to its other weapons such as SDB 2.
During a recent visit to RAF Lossiemouth, this is what a weapons officer had to say about the RAF experience
with Brimstone.

“We first put the weapon into use a decade ago and it has become a weapon of choice for the RAF and for
our allies in tasking the RAF as well.

“It enhanced the capability of the Tornado and what it could do in areas like Afghanistan.
“It became a more precise weapon and you could target individual houses, cars, moving targets, or even
people with the weapon.”

http://www.sldinfo.com/weapons-in-the-tornado-typhoon-transition-shaping-a-way-ahead/

Not only is Brimstone available now for the US air combat fleet, and it can be suggested as well, that it is not
simply fast jets which could use this capability but other airborne platforms as well (it is believed that the UK
plans to integrate Brimstone on Protector and its AH-64 too) but the Spear 3 follow on weapon will be
integrated onto F-35 and available for the US forces almost as an app.

According to MBDA in an article published in Air Power 2017:

The need for greater range and capability in the air-to-ground mission has been recognised for a number of
years. Most direct fire weapons have relatively short range and the array of glide bomb weapons are not
providing adequate time to target, time on target and end-game performance capabilities – let alone the range –
needed to defeat existing and emerging Ground Based Air Defence systems.

For this reason there is significant focus on developing systems that can defeat the increasing threats.

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