The F-35: Instrument of Power Projection

America’s F-35 has earned the unfair sobriquet as the nation’s worst fighter jet ever. This singular vision of Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), however, fails to credit its capabilities when coupled with other forms of advanced technology finding their way into every nook and cranny of military arsenals and operational platforms. It is precisely this “jointness, which sets it apart from 4^th generation fighters. In this, the F-35 has advanced beyond the “F” designation and should be judged as a multirole platform in a larger framework of a multitude of advanced platforms.

Being able to see in all directions for over 1,000 kilometers affords the F-35 operator a distinct advantage. Amplify these military capabilities by 3, 5, or 10 given the size of a swarm of F-35s flying together and the group can multiply its combined capabilities many times over. This takes the idea of the German rudeltaktik (or Wolf Packs) to heights previously unimaginable. Stand-off jamming in each aircraft results in an advanced mutual protection, enabling the machines to operate closer to a known threat, essentially becoming the threat itself. The 5^th generation (or what we’d prefer to call the new epochal) aircraft has become an even stronger tactical instrument given its broad applications and magnification of its existing C-5 ISR/D cockpit.

One of the most impressive features of the F-35 is the Distributed Aperture System (DAS). The system includes numerous cameras installed around the F-35, with each camera focusing in a different direction, sort of like a spider with multiple eyes managing different vision tasks. Numerous images are merged to form a non-stop video sphere. The technology also operates in complete darkness enabling the aircraft to perform its function at any time and in virtually any conditions. “DAS, especially when integrated with a variety of other passive and active sensors, offers an extremely elevated form of situational awareness, as well as targeting quality tracking data and automatic contact recognition. With this in mind, the creative folks at Northrop Grumman have adapted DAS for service at sea, in a system ominously named ‘Silent Watch,’” writes AviationIntel.com.

Rather than seeing the F-35 as a single jet fighter, it should be taken as a comprehensive mobile combat system and a manifestation of the idea of power projection in ways that will continue to unfold in the coming decades. Much of the culture of military and security thinking is linked to the technology that state’s militaries are able to employ. For many, the view to making the most of a military revolution has been fogged over by costs and equipment problems, not to mention justifications for investing in complex systems that on the surface appear to add an increasingly redundant or negative element to the military asymmetry that exists in the post-9/11 era. JSF technology and how it can be applied allows us to envision how we could occupy specific roles in the distant security environment – how we might operate in 2050, maybe further.

Because the F-35 has stealth tailored directly into it, the addition of other stealth units into the surveillance and combat enterprise can yield even more prolific outcomes. Broadly speaking, we must look beyond the F-35 as a single unit. In unison with existing land, sea, and air systems, the F-35 is a strategic enabler of existing military forces in either combat situations or in those focusing on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), because no single part of any military is engaged in combat or non-combat missions alone.

The pressure to think in force-multiplier terms comes as a result of many factors, including financial constraints and the changing nature of threats. Embracing the idea of “Tron warfare” is about embracing the need to leverage existing abilities, augmenting strength by investing in budding technology and platforms, working collaboratively with existing systems, and seeking to project power with existing power. The F-35 does exactly this and despite its jointness, the JSF excels foremost in today’s high-tech warfare environment. It is, however, not a platform that is suited for a multitude of roles and conflict scenarios. The “joint” in JSF should stand for the fact that the machine enables joint operations, not joint roles conducted by a single machine. Users of the F-35 should keep this in mind, and ensure that the jet is used for the right roles. That means leaving other roles to other planes. The F-35 will never be an A-10 or an F-15, nor should it be since the F-35 can enable the A-10, F-15, or F-22 to operate more effectively in their singular roles.

As national security threats and demands placed on the existing military and military platforms continue to change and gain in strength, the F-35’s entire system architecture can be upgraded and follow the pace of system upgrades across other military services as well. So long as upgrades are being made within the US military and its Allies, the F-35 will continue to upgrade. One of those upgrades will likely include the ability to pursue the need to command hypersonic ventures.

As other States, such as Russia invest in hypersonic technology development for military purposes, the U.S. has a head start with its current fighter. In 2007, the U.S. military asserted that its future jets will remain subsonic to remain cost-effective, though investing in the F-35 signals a step in the opposite direction. Today’s jetliners fly at 40,000 feet, the Eurofighter Typhoon as a service ceiling of 65,000 feet, the U-2 spy plane has an operational ceiling of 70,000 feet. Russia’s conceptual Tupolev PAK-DA stealth bomber is projected to sail at 328,000 feet (or 100 kilometers), and carry nuclear warheads. It’s likely that Russia’s pursuit will continue to inform those of the U.S. and its future administrations. Tracing back about half-a-century, then U.S. Senator Lyndon B. Johnson cautioned the U.S. and its allies that he who controls space, controls the world.

The pursuits of other states, however, call attention to the F-35 and its sensor engine technology. As a case in point, F-35s and their integrated or collaborative technology should thrive in the South China Sea (SCS), providing critical imagery of friendly and potentially hostile activity across thousands of kilometers of space. Mounting tensions and militarization of the SCS serve to highlight the capabilities offered by the F-35. With China’s efforts to increase their anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities to inhibit the U.S. Navy’s freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs), the F-35’s stealth capabilities and advanced avionics would introduce a new capability to counteract China’s A2/AD tactics.

A2/AD threats will continue to expand well beyond the SCS and pose a significant threat to the United States ability to operate on land, in the sea, and air.  The F-35 will be vital in countering these threats as recent testing showed in September 2016, confirming the reliability of the F-35 and Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air battle (NIFC-CA) network. NIFC-CS allows F-35s to swiftly enter, identify threats, exit, and relay the information back instantly to counter any A2/AD threats. This is but one example of when properly implemented, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can be crucial in countering the world’s ever-changing threat environment.

Scott N. Romaniuk is a PhD Researcher in the School of International Studies, University of Trento, is the Editor of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Modern War (2015) and The Palgrave Handbook of Global Counterterrorism Policy (forthcoming). He specializes in international relations, security studies, terrorism, and political violence. 

Tobias J. Burgers is a Doctoral Researcher at the Otto Suhr Institute, Free University Berlin, from which he holds a Master’s in Political Science. His research interests include the impact of cyber and robotic technology on security dynamics, East-Asian security relations, maritime security and the future of conflict.