Page 23 - Renorming of Airpower: The F-35 Enters the Combat Fleet

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

go and then determining what we should do in that block vs what should be moved into a future block of the
software.

Since we are focused on multi-ship formations, we are working on the stability of the exchange of information
among the aircraft.

We are driving the evolving capabilities hard and will be throughout the life of the program. We are pushing
the limits of technology; that is the point of what we are doing here. If we weren’t having challenges, it would
mean we had set the bar way too low.

Question: There is an evolution of the tactics coming from places like Yuma and Nellis as they start to
learn fifth generation combat F-35 style.

How does that feed in to your efforts?

Answer: The OT squadron here is a clear player in that domain and we work together closely and feedback
goes both ways.

But the tactics OT is developing are very different. We are likely not going to do visual formations with the F-
35 tactically; you are operating over multiple tens of miles and flying distributed ops where you can have
completely different functions or tasks being performed by those aircraft within the same four-ship. You are
essentially spreading out the geometry of air combat. You are not simply operating in or patrolling a lane but
operating a much wider variable geometry.

Question: How do you see the interaction between dynamics of change for C2 and the F-35 fleet?

Answer: The F-35 is generating the air picture, which changes the situation for the AWACS dramatically. It
does not need to tell me what I can see better than what I can already see; but it will become more like an
airborne air battle manager.

And as the F-35 intersects with ground, sea and other air systems, the entire Command and Control (C2)
operation changes as well. The new challenge will be to get the right information to the right person at the
right time; not just providing point outs on radar contacts like previous fighter/Airborne Warning and Control
System (AWACS) integration.

Put in blunt terms, each F-35 is its own C2 platform. The CNI is a key system here whereby software can
generate waveforms for the jet. The Communications Navigation and Identification (CNI), is a set of processors
and antennas that generate waveforms that can be UHF or VHF waveforms, a TACAN, data link, or whatever
waveform you want it to be. It’s just whatever software you’ve created will allow the pilot to pick and choose.
This is a revolutionary foundation for the evolution of C2 in the air.

The F-35 is a key tool in transitioning to how we will do air warfare differently as we push decision making
and target determination capabilities to the edge of the battlespace, or to determine where effects need to
be created. Other systems will become part of this evolving approach but the F-35 is the game changer that
will take us there.

Biography

Lt. Col Raja Chari is the Director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force and Commander of the 461st Flight Test
Squadron, Edwards Air Force Base, California. e directs an integrated team of over 1,000 active duty,
government civilians and contractors, in the planning, execution and reporting of F-35 Developmental Testing.

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