Page 50 - F-35B and USMC

The Integration of the F-35B into USMC Operations

The electrical generation capacity on the Ford is three times what the Nimitz’s is.

It gives you the ability to put greater electronic systems on to the ship.
The ability to have high power requirements with high cooling requirements for your data servers is enabled
by the ship.

It has the capacity to be able to support those things and in conjunction with the high-end air wing we’re
building, you’re going to be able to do the missions we discussed earlier more effectively in the expanded
battlespace.

The Ford’s infrastructure will be partnered with the airplanes that come on and off the flight deck.”

In understanding the evolution of the air wing aboard the sea services decks, the F-35 is a crucial
element, but it is about accelerating what those services have been building towards for some time,
namely the capability to operate force packages across an integrated battlespace.
For sure, the F-35 with its ability to push data across the F-35 coalition, as well as to push data back to the
ships is an asset for transformation, but this transformation is itself part of fundamental change in the way the
sea services are and will fight in the extended battlespace.

Rear Admiral Manazir views the F-35 as a key information force multiplier.

“We are doing what Bayesian theory talks about, namely we are providing more and more information to
get closer to the truth in targeting or combat situation.

One can reduce that fog of war by increased understanding of what actual truth is, you’re going to have
better effects.

This is why the technology that the F-35 brings to the fight is so crucial. You have decision-makers in the
cockpit managing all of this information.

With Block 3F software in the airplane, we will have data fusion where you transform data information to
knowledge enabling greater wisdom about the combat situation.

The processing machines in the F-35 provide enough of the fusion so that the pilot can now add his piece to
the effort.
This enables the ships to enhance their ability to operate in the networks and to engage with the air fleet
in dynamic targeting at much greater distance.

It is about reach not range for the honeycomb enabled expeditionary strike group.

The F-35 is a key enabler of this shift, but it is part of an overall effort to operate in the expanded
battlespace.”
In other words, the sea services are expanding their reach, remote sensing and precision strike
capabilities in the expanded battlespace.

The sea services can operate in wider areas of combat by being networked into an operational honeycomb
of forces with reach, range and lethality.

Second Line of Defense

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