Page 63 - Renorming of Airpower: The F-35 Enters the Combat Fleet

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

It will be in Russia’s interest to build air and naval assets that can provide for the various needs for defense
and security in the region. Search and rescue, communications, maritime domain awareness, significant ISR
capabilities, bomber coverage, submarine and surface fleet coverage, and related efforts will become
prioritized.

This will dramatically change the situation for Canada.

During the Cold War, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was built around close
American and Canadian cooperation to defend their territories against various Russian threats, first bombers,
then strategic submarines, and then ICBMs. As this threat receded, Canada was able to focus on military
operations of “choice” rather than necessity.

The emergence of the Arctic as a strategic zone ends this situation and puts Canada on the front lines. To
secure its own claims to resources, and to exploit and protect those capabilities, Canada will itself need to
augment its efforts. And along with those efforts will be a need to enhance significantly its relevant security
and defense capabilities as Russia is transformed by the Arctic opening and along with it the growing
presence of other powers as well.

CONCLUSION: THE NEED FOR CULTURAL INNOVATION OR LESSONS
LEARNED FROM DUNKIRK APPLIED TO THE 21ST CENTURY

The F-35 working with robotic elements and with new weapons can empower a distributed operations
approach. This approach is being tested out at various centers of innovation within the U.S. military and will
be synergistic with allied partners.

Traditional assets, such as the large deck amphibious ship or th large-deck carrier, will be rethought as the
new approach and new capabilities are introduced into the force.

Continuing to invest in past approaches and capabilities makes little sense. And ultimately, the fifth-generation
aircraft and associated systems can drive significant cultural change.

But there is nothing inevitable here. The United States is at a crucial turning point. In a stringent budgetary
environment and with a demand to shape a post-Afghan military, the crucial requirement is to invest in the
future not the past.

But it is not just about airframes or stuffing as much as you can in legacy aircraft. The new aircraft represent a
sea change with significant savings in terms of fleet costs and overall capability at the same time.

The sustainability of the new aircraft is in a world significantly different from legacy aircraft. Digital
maintenance is part of the revolution in sustainability. The sustainability revolution enables a significant
increase in the sortie generation rates for the new combat aircraft. And in addition to this core capability,
there is a significant transition in combat approaches facilitated by the new aircraft.

The aircraft can shape disruptive change by enabling distributed operations. The shift is from linear to
simultaneous operations; it is a shift from fighters needing reachback to large aircraft command and control
and ISR platforms to 360-degree dominance by deployed decision makers operating not in a network but a
honeycomb.

These lessons have been recently highlighted in the Trilateral Exercise held at Langley AFB in December 2015.

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