Russia & China are considered to be near-peer
rivals of the U.S.
Russia under President Putin has seen a resurgence
when it comes to military hardware.
It has taken up many promising programs which
include stealth bomber PAK DA, stealth drone
Okhotnik-B, and stealth fighter Sukhoi Su
57.
Chinese have managed high economic growth
in the last 2 decades and have devote a large
amount of resources to its military.
It has also carried out large scale espionage
and reverse engineering of western and Russian
hardware and is now in a position to churn
out many things indigenously.
It has touted its Chengdu J-20 as one of the
leading fighters in the world
In case of conflict, the Su 57 and J-20 are
expected to have a confrontation with F-35s
and the result will have a very big impact
on the overall outcome.
But F-35 has a trump card which will play
a critical role.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why
AN/AAQ-37 Electro-Optical DAS in F-35 will
make sure no Chinese or Russian jet will be
able to counter it in combat?
Let’s get started
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The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II which
is a single-seat, single-engine, all-weather
stealth multirole fighters is undergoing final
development and testing by the United States.
The Pentagon began the F 35 program in 2001
with an aim to develop a cost-effective replacement
for the U.S. military’s F15 fighters, F
16 and F18 fighter bombers and reconnaissance
aircraft and A10 close in support warplanes.
The F-35 has three main models: the conventional
takeoff and landing F-35A (CTOL), the short
take-off and vertical-landing F-35B (STOVL),
and the catapult-assisted take-off but arrested
recovery, carrier-based F-35C (CATOBAR)
Apart from the United States, the primary
customer and financial backer, the United
Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia,
Norway, and Denmark are also part of the program.
Many other nations like Japan and Israel are
also deploying the fighters.
These major partner nations, including the
U.S, plan to acquire over 2,000 F-35s through
2035, which, if delivered will make the F-35
one of the most numerous jet fighters.
On 2 August 2016, the U.S. Air Force declared
its first squadron of F-35A fighters combat-ready.
The fighter aircraft is expected to remain
in service till 2050.
The AN/AAQ-37 Electro-optical Distributed
Aperture System (DAS) is the first of a new
generation of sensor systems being fielded
on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint
Strike Fighter.
The AN/AAQ-37 DAS is designed and produced
by Northrop Grumman.
DAS consists of six high-resolution infrared
sensors mounted around the F-35's airframe
in such a way as to provide unobstructed spherical
(4π steradian) coverage and functions around
the aircraft without any pilot input or aiming
required.
The DAS provides three basic categories of
functions in every direction simultaneously:
* Missile detection and tracking (including
launch point detection and countermeasure
cueing)
* Aircraft detection and tracking (situational
awareness IRST and air-to-air weapons cueing)
* Imagery for cockpit displays and pilot night
vision (imagery displayed onto the helmet-mounted
display)
The F-35's DAS was flown in military operational
exercises in 2011, has demonstrated the ability
to detect and track ballistic missiles to
ranges exceeding 800 miles (1,300 km), and
has also demonstrated the ability to detect
and track multiple small suborbital rockets
simultaneously in flight.
A DAS test system has also been used to track
tank gun and mortar fire.
So, the F-35 can track a plane, produce a
weapons-grade firing solution- and fire its
missiles without using the very powerful AN/APG-81
which active electronically scanned array
(AESA) radar system.
Viewers may note that once a radar is scanning
in active mode it can be picked up by enemy
sensors.
Hence, the DAS in F-35 also plays a critical
role in preserving the stealth characteristic
of the jet.
The Russian Sukhoi Su 57 has 101KS-V Infra-red
search and track systems and J-20 is thought
to possess a DAS.
The core of the DAS is the high-resolution
infrared sensors.
Both these countries lag behind when it comes
to this.
As per most observers, while F-35 can detect
and track a heat source like a ballistic missile
at a range of almost 1000 miles, the Russian
can do it at a range of around only 100 miles
or 161 km.
The quality of tracking is also superior in
F-35 as it is able to create a 3D trail.
The situation for the Chinese jet is expected
to be even worse than Russian as they have
limited homegrown R&D.
J-20 is actually derived to a large extent
from stolen F-35 design documents.
For example, NSA or National Security Agency
of the U.S concluded that the Chinese compromised
key components of F-35 that include AN/APG-81
active electronically scanned array radar,
methods used by the turbine to cool gases
emitted by F 35’s engine as well as other
heat reduction techniques.
But as in most cases, it is hard to place
the bits of the puzzle in the correct position
if you don’t have a deep understanding of
the overall picture.
The important point is that not only is the
DAS able to collect the information and but
the Sensor Fusion of F-35 makes sure that
the data is easy for the pilot to consume
so that he can take proper action.
At the heart of this is the Sensor Fusion
engine that processes the myriad data the
F-35 collects with its different sensors and
combines it into a holistic picture.
The F-35’s cockpit has a single screen that
is able to show the relevant information in
a concise format due to Sensor Fusion.
As clear from the view of other cockpits,
we see there are multiple screens that work
independently.
Sensor Fusion is one of the key features of
a 5th generation fighter and its clear that
the F-35 is way ahead in this regard.
This will be critical when it comes to the
air to air engagement as an F-35 pilot will
be in a better position to leverage the advanced
technologies present in the jet.
Also, it is to be noted that F-35 can share
the data so that the situational awareness
of every warfighter present in the vicinity
is increased exponentially.
Last year a record $34 billion deal between
Lockheed Martin and the Department of Defense
was reached.
The multi-year contract has laid out plans
for the jets to be delivered in ‘lots',
the first of which will be of 157 jets
The contract will reduce the price of F-35A
to around $80 million per jet.
Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition
Ellen Lord had said in a statement,
“This is a historic milestone for the F-35
enterprise, and marks the largest procurement
in the history of the department.”
He added, “I am proud to state that this
agreement has achieved an estimated 8.8% savings
from Lot 11 to Lot 12 F-35As”
While the F-35 production is ramping up, both
Su-57 and J-20 are in low rate production
and the order size is way less.
So, it is clear that F-35 will likely have
a number advantage apart from the fact that
it is technically superior especially because
of the massive edge the DAS provides.
