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By 388th Fighter Wing Public Affairs / Published February 15, 2019
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Red Flag aggressors encompass the whole spectrum of an adversary force – advanced integrated air-defense systems, an adversary air force, cyber-warfare and information operations. Because of these diverse capabilities, many Red Flag missions are flown in “contested or denied” environments with active electronic attack, communications jamming, and GPS denial.

“Those situations highlight the fifth-generation capabilities of the F-35. We’re still able to operate and be successful. In a lot of cases we have a large role as an integrated quarterback,” said Lt. Col. Yosef Morris, 4th Fighter Squadron commander. “Our ability to continue to fuse and pass information to the entire package makes every aircraft more survivable.”

During the first week of Red Flag, the F-35 pilots flew in a larger force of Blue Air in a counter-air mission. More than 60 aggressor aircraft were flying against them, blinding many of the fourth-generation aircraft with “robust” electronic attack capabilities.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Wood said. “This is not a mission you want a young pilot flying in. My wingman was a brand new F-35A pilot, seven or eight flights out of training. He gets on the radio and tells an experienced, 3,000-hour pilot in a very capable fourth-generation aircraft. ‘Hey bud, you need to turn around. You’re about to die. There’s a threat off your nose.’”

The young pilot then “killed” the enemy aircraft and had three more kills in the hour-long mission.

“Even in this extremely challenging environment, the F-35 didn’t have many difficulties doing its job,” Wood said. ‘That’s a testament to the pilot’s training and the capabilities of the jet.”

One of the most valuable things about this exercise for the 4th Fighter Squadron is the experience it provided younger pilots flying combat missions as part of an integrated force. Thirteen pilots in the squadron have never flown the F-35 in Red Flag, and four of them just graduated pilot training.

“They say it’s the most realistic thing to combat,” said 1st Lt. Landon Moores, a new F-35A pilot. “It’s been pretty intense.”

Red Flag is not a “rolling campaign.” It is made up of different scenarios that increase in difficulty as the weeks go on. This allows the integrated force to learn how best to capitalize on the strengths and protect the weaknesses of each platform in very specific mission sets.

“With stealth, the F-35 can get closer to threats than many other aircraft can. Combined with the performance of the fused sensors on the F-35, we can significantly contribute to the majority of the missions,” Morris said.
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In a lot of cases we have a large role as an integrated quarterback... Our ability to continue to fuse and pass information to the entire package makes every aircraft more survivable.

Francisco Pizarro escribió:¿Alguien que sepa un poco sobre el F-35 Adir de Israel me puede aclarar cuáles son las diferencias con el F-35 standard? Es que no paro de leer que es uno sobre un millón, un avión superior a los demás, etc... pero no consigo leer exactamente qué es lo que le hace tan especial. Parece ser que tiene integrados sistemas electrónicos israelíes, pero eso realmente no me dice nada.

Pedro Gómez escribió:¿La fuerza aérea italiana sigue queriendo sus F-35B? Podría adquirirlos la AE si al final quisieran recortar el pedido...

evol escribió:

Pedro Gómez escribió:¿La fuerza aérea italiana sigue queriendo sus F-35B? Podría adquirirlos la AE si al final quisieran recortar el pedido...

Sería un buen acuerdo, pero imagino que al final los italianos acabarán comprando todos los F-35, por la cuenta que le trae porque creo que se comentó que si no tendrían penalizaciones, ¿no?

Jamie Freed
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Lockheed Martin Vice President and General Manager F-35 Program Greg Ulmer said there was an effort to lower the cost per flight hour to $25,000 by 2025 but further savings would take longer.

“Today it is different customer by customer but I think $35,000 per flying hour is a good number,” he told Reuters in an interview at the Australian International Airshow.

“If we project that out based on the initiatives we have in place, we believe as we move out to the 2035-2040 timeframe we can get that cost down to under what a fourth gen is today,” in the range of $20,000-25,000 per flight hour.
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