Page 48 - Renorming of Airpower: The F-35 Enters the Combat Fleet

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

Unique Item Identification (UID) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies, the plane was built
from the start with modern logistics tool sets in mind.

In effect, this means that the aircraft speaks a universal or global logistics language.

This common language and the digital management, which is enabled by this language, allows for the F-35
fleet to be managed globally in an historically unprecedented manner.

The digital foundation for the maintenance of the F-35 is not about the platform; it is about the fleet. The
consequences of such an approach allows not only for significant cost savings over time but a significant
change in the overall capabilities and approach to deployments.

New platforms are built with a significant amount of attention to how to enhance their ability to be
maintained over time. When platforms were built thirty years ago, logistics support was an afterthought. No
it is a core element of determining successful outcomes to the manufacturing process.

Sustainability is a combination of logistics and maintainability considerations combined. Designing a more
sustainable product, which can operate fleet wide, should be one of the very core procurement principles.

Savings will come from pooling resources, something that cannot happen if you buy a gaggle of aircraft,
rather than operating a common fleet. Just ask Fed Ex what commonality for their fleet delivers in terms of
performance and savings.

At the heart of the advantages of the F-35 considered, as a fleet is the question of development costs and
approaches. For example, the selection by Norway of the F-35 highlighted the significance of Joint Strike
Missile integration. A key element of the F-35 decision by Norway was the acceptance of the integration of a
new Kongsberg missile onto the F-35 itself. What this means is that the integration of the missile on the
Norwegian F-35A makes it available to every other nation’s F-35A without further testing or software
integration required. In other words, rather than integrating their missile on a few Norwegian aircraft, the
Norwegians have built a missile available to any of the coalition partners who wish to buy it.

It is very likely, for example, that Asian partners in the F-35 will find this capability to be extremely
interesting and important. And so Kongsberg’s global reach is embedded in the global reach of the F-35
itself.

All of this is facilitated by the nature of the software upgradeability built into the aircraft itself, which allows
for a different approach to fleet upgrades and evolution.

Given the significant commonality among the three types of F-35s, logistics and support hubs can be built
throughout the globe in the partner countries. The differences among naval air and air force air are
significantly blurred by the commonality of the F-35s.

This means that specific support for the As, Bs, and Cs could be generated. Based on the earnings from a
logistics hub, the partners will also be able to pay for a significant part of their own fleet modernization. And
a hub is not a permanent base. As an on-call service facility, the various allies can draw upon support when
they are working with the partner’s regional security missions.

By having a diversity of supply HUBS throughout the APR, not only would partner countries have capability
but the U.S. would not have to concentrate its supplies in simply its own bases. So potential adversaries
wishing to cripple a particular nation would now have to consider the entire global basing of the F-35s as a
problem.

Second Line of Defense

Page 47