Page 13 - Renorming of Airpower: The F-35 Enters the Combat Fleet

The Renorming of Airpower: The F-35 Arrives into the Combat Force

With the very real capability of three dimensional sensing and being able to distribute information to other
arfighters, airborne and on the ground or at sea the relationship of the individual pilot to knowledge of the
bigger air battle is truly revolutionary.

“Tinman” a former USMC AV-8 pilot who flew in the at sea trials marveled how easy the F-35 was to fly and
put the nose tire in a one square box on the pitching deck of the USS Wasp.

Consequently one of the most underappreciated aspects about the test program is how the concurrent
learning among the various test centers provides enhanced confidence and accelerates testing with all T/M/S
of this new aircraft.

The cross learning from the USMC F-35B, the service’s first T/M/S to achieve IOC, to the USAF F-35A to the
USN F-35C model — with the preparation of the first RAF F-35B squadron — has meant that the USN can
operate its Cs more rapidly and with more confidence and capability than in a traditional single-model
aircraft test program.

his fact was brought out five years later in early 2016, at Pax when “Dutch” a very accomplished Navy
fighter pilot with over 600 cats and traps in the F/A-18 stressed how stable the F-35 will fly around the boat.

During the Vietnam War, there were tests done of carrier pilots’ heart rates which we actually higher when
landing on a carrier than when being shot at over Hanoi:

“The flying qualities are excellent and the machine systems built into the plane significantly enhance the ease
of landing and taking off from the carrier.

Basically with the F-35 you get your mission cross-check time back.

Normally once you start the approach your scan is solely meatball, line up, and angle of attack. Your mission
cross-check time behind the ship is zero because you’re just doing that scan.

With the F-35 and its enhanced flight controls and superb handling, the aircraft doesn’t deviate much from the
desired flight path, which greatly eases the workload on the ball and frees up your scan. —It almost makes
flying the ball a relaxing task!”

The fact that the Navy Test Pilots will rotate back into combat was not lost when Tonto made a seminal
combat point about the generational shift from F/A-18 Hornets to the USN F-35C:

“How do you see the F-35 affecting tactical training?

Answer: With the current air wing (i.e, with the Super Hornet and Hornet as the tip of the spear), we are
wringing out our tactics for a tactical advantage, which is also, at the same time, at the edge of the envelope
for survival.

We are spending a lot of time making sure that we have the right tactics and the mastery of those tactics by
pilots to survive and succeed.—It is about keeping a level of competence and capability where you’re not
going to die.

There are points where you have a twenty second window.—You miss that window and you might be blown
up!

When you’re traveling at those speeds, we are talking really only a couple of seconds that you have. And, if
you’re not performing tactics exactly as they’re prescribed, you put yourself in a kill zone.

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