What are the Pros and Cons of the F-35 Fighter Jet? Technical Specifications of the Aircraft: Part-2

Why is there a need to switch to the F-35? 

The F-35 is a multi-role and multi-purpose fighter jet. It is a high-tech aircraft that is ahead of its time. F-35 fulfills the roles and missions expected from a conventional fighter jet, and is also capable of collecting data, analyzing the data, and instantly transferring the processed data to friendly forces. It is an advanced network-capable aircraft that can communicate bi-directionally with all air, sea and land elements on the battlefield.

Currently, the majority of fighter jets in most countries' air force inventories are fourth-generation, relatively old aircraft. The F-35 paves the way for non-US allies to acquire fifth-generation aircraft. Thus, countries in the Western world have the opportunity to modernize, in fact transform, their aircraft fleets with a more advanced and network-centric low-visibility fighter aircraft. The era of the fourth generation aircraft is now over. Today's F-35 is as much a pioneering aircraft as the F-16 was in the 1980s. Just as the F-16 is superior to the F-104, the F-35 has taken its place in air operations as a superior aircraft to the F-16. It seems that in the near future, if not today, all countries in the Western Bloc will have to choose to equip their Air Forces with the F-35 or equivalent indigenous aircraft (MMU-like). 

On the US side of the F-35 program, the number of aircraft planned for the three services (Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy) is 2,456. In addition, 14 flight test, research and development aircraft are required. Thus, the US has calculated that 2470 F-35s should be produced for its own country. For the US Air Force, 1,763 F-35As will be produced. A total of 340 F-35Cs will be produced, including 273 F-35Cs for the Navy and 67 F-35Cs for the Marine Corps. In addition, 353 F-35B aircraft will be made available to the Marine Corps. 

Allied countries, including Canada, have participated in the project to purchase a total of 976 F-35 aircraft.

The prominent Technical Specifications of the F-35 aircraft:

Low Visibility (VLO Stealth) Capability:

The F-35 is a very low visibility (VLO) aircraft. It has self-protection and radar jamming capabilities that delay or impede the ability of enemy systems to detect, track and engage the aircraft. In line with commercial expectations, the F-35's stealth capability is defined by 'stealth' far beyond what it is. This has almost turned it into an 'invisible airplane', and has led to a false perception of the aircraft. Rather than the F-35 being invisible to enemy radars, it is more accurate to say that it is seen late. This 'late detection' allows the F-35 to enter enemy airspace quickly, hit targets before the enemy can engage and escape. Lockheed Martin, the aircraft's manufacturer, and the Pentagon claim that the F-35's superiority over its competitors lies in its ability to reach deep into enemy territory virtually undetected by enemy radars, making it the "first to see, first to shoot and first to hit" aircraft.

Low visibility has made the F-35 a stealth aircraft. The F-35's unique airframe design is designed to delay its stealth by deflecting and scattering radar waves from enemy radars. The design of the fuselage (except for the canopy) is 'angled' to scatter most radar waves. The entire fuselage is also covered with RAM (radar absorbing material). RAM absorbs (absorbs, absorbs) the incoming radar wave and prevents the 'return of the radar wave' that makes the aircraft visible. The angled fuselage structure and the use of RAM ensure that enemy radar cannot 'see' the F-35. 

By the way, let's make a parenthesis here about the canopy. RAM cannot be applied directly to the canopy. If it is applied, the canopy will become opaque. For this reason, the F-35 canopy is coated with a layer of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), which gives it a golden appearance. ITO electrically connects the canopy to the rest of the RAM surfaces of the aircraft and prevents the radiation collected on it from spreading to other surfaces. This also prevents the cockpit from being visible to radars. It also prevents jammers, electronic warfare sensors and radiation from other platforms from affecting and jamming avionic and electronic equipment and devices in the cockpit. In short, electromagnetic radiation can neither enter nor exit through the canopy glass.

Let's look again at the structural integrity of the airplane in relation to invisibility. There is, of course, no such thing as complete invisibility, no such thing as the complete absence of any trace left by the aircraft in the air. The stealth feature that is being tried to be added to the F-35 does not in any way provide complete invisibility to these aircraft. The manufacturer does not make such a claim anyway. The F-35 is an aircraft that is as 'invisible' or 'less visible' as possible. The stealth feature can only greatly reduce the radar cross-section, i.e. the ability of radar receivers to see the signal reflected back from an aircraft, but not completely eliminate it. The aircraft appears smaller on enemy radar than conventional aircraft of the same size. It looks more like a bird than an airplane, but it is not invisible. 

The F-35 is a medium-sized fighter jet. The calculated radar cross section (RCS) of an F-35 when viewed from the front is approximately 0.005m2 according to open sources. This is an almost negligible RCS value. There may be slight changes in this RCS value when the aircraft is viewed from the top, bottom and sides, but this can be seen as a detail in terms of our subject. On the other hand, the devil in stealth is in the details. For example, the heat emitted from the F-35's engine increases the infrared (IR) visibility of the aircraft. In this respect, the exhaust region is particularly important. From a VLO perspective, the exhaust IR masking of the twin-engine F-22 is better than that of the single-engine F-35, making the aircraft more invisible. However, the F-35's stealth coatings are easier to maintain, and it is said that even parts can be replaced. The F-22 is a difficult aircraft in this respect, and the lack of maintenance capability of the coatings is a major deficiency for the F-22 aircraft.

Design engineers working on the invisibility of the F-35 have primarily aimed to answer the question of what can be done to make the aircraft invisible in the X-band radar frequency range, which is widely used in air-to-air combat and interception. Radars that use a different bandwidth instead of the X-band can see the F-35 in the same way as they see 'conventional aircraft' without any problem. However, target detection and intercept radars that use such different frequency bands are almost non-existent. Therefore, at other radar frequencies, the F-35 is not such a stealthy aircraft. This weakness makes the F-35 'vulnerable' against enemy air defense weapons and systems. 

Arms Carrying Capacity of the F-35

In stealth configuration, the F-35 can only carry payloads in its internal weapon/ammunition bays. In cases where more weapons/ammunition are required, external stations must also be loaded. In this case, the F-35s with external loads will be no different from conventional aircraft, as the external loads will eliminate the stealth feature of the aircraft. 

If we want to use the F-35 as a conventional aircraft without taking into account its stealth capability, we would be turning the F-35 into an F-16 aircraft with much better sensors, longer range and more advanced electronic warfare capabilities. Once the stealth mode is removed, the F-35 will become a vulnerable aircraft with a high probability of being shot down. However, the flexibility of an air force to switch between stealth mode (with only internal munitions) and monster mode (F-35 with external munitions) as needed could be invaluable in some cases.

The F-35 is much smaller than the F-22, the other US stealth aircraft. Despite this, the F-35 carries more fuel than the F-22. It also has internal and external stations that allow it to carry bomb loads twice as heavy as the F-22 (the F-35 can carry 2,000-pound bombs, while the F-22 can only carry bombs weighing 1,000 pounds or less). This makes the F-35 more desirable than the F-22 for defense suppression (SEAD) and close air support (CAS) missions. The F-35 has 11 payload stations. While all three F-35 variants have 11 stations, there are differences in the payloads that can be carried in some stations depending on the aircraft variant.

The load stations of the F-35B (STOVL) variant are slightly weaker than those on the F-35A and F-35C. Weaker aluminum structural elements are used in F-35Bs. The A and C variants use stronger aluminum and titanium structural elements. While the A and C variants can carry a payload of 2,500 pounds at the 2/10 and 4/8 stations, the F-35B can carry a maximum payload of 1,500 pounds at these stations. The F-35B utilizes these weaker (but lighter) structures to meet the weight requirements associated with STOVL flight.

The Air Force variant of the F-35A carries a 25 mm GAU-22/A cannon on the left wing where it merges with the fuselage. The F-35A does not require the additional gun pod carried by the F-35B or F-35C. In other words, station 6 is not used on the F-35A variant. However, the F-35's gun pod station could serve as a carrier for a "multi-mission pod" bay that could potentially accommodate other systems such as jammers in the future. Should this capability be acquired, the F-35A remains flexible enough to integrate new capabilities into this station.  

F-35 Weapon and Ammunition Handling Stations (Hardpoints)

Supersonic Speed and Extended Range

The F-35 is powered by PW F135 engines manufactured by Pratt & Whitney. This jet engine is the most powerful fighter jet engine currently known. The F-35 is a long-range supersonic fighter capable of reaching speeds of 1.6 mach with all internal stations loaded with weapons and fuel. The Air Force (including the US) purchases the F-35A variant. This variant will replace the F-16C, which has been in widespread use in the past. However, the F-35 is designed to carry more than twice as much internal fuel as the F-16. The ability to carry more fuel means that the F-35 has a much larger operating radius than the F-16. The F-35A has an operational radius of 670 nm, while the F-16C has an operational radius of only 300 nm. With their stealth-optimized airframe, the F-35s can reach longer ranges with a much better flight profile than the F-16s. 

In Part-3, which will be published tomorrow, I will discuss the remaining technical features of the aircraft (Network Centric Operations, Radar, EOTS, DAS and others).