Lockheed Martin is preparing new features for the F-35, including the ability to fly unmanned
American aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin is preparing new advanced features for its fifth-generation fighter jet. These include improved stealth capabilities, more modern weapons, and plans to convert it into a remotely piloted aircraft. According to company director Jim Taiclet, this could happen within two or three years. Lockheed Martin originally reserved these technologies for its upcoming sixth-generation fighter jet project, Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD), but the contract to develop the aircraft, provisionally designated F-47, was ultimately awarded to Boeing.
Ferrari among fighter jets – this is how Lockheed Martin confidently presents the advanced features of its latest aircraft, the F-35 Lightning II. The disappointment of not winning a huge government contract for the next US Air Force NGAD aircraft is being dispelled by the introduction of improvements to the current model. These improvements include a whole range of new technologies that are set to take the most advanced aircraft of its kind to the next level.
‘We don't just think of the F-35 as a standalone aircraft, but also how it can be integrated with sixth-generation aircraft and unmanned aircraft, and how it can optionally be unmanned,’ said Lockheed Martin director Jim Taiclet at a Bernstein Research strategy conference, adding that he believes this will significantly enhance all of the aircraft's capabilities. ‘We believe this is the right way to look at the air superiority programme of the future. It's not just about whether the aircraft is faster, can perform tighter manoeuvres or has the longest flight time, but how it interacts and can interact with the broader ecosystem to create air superiority,’ Taiclet continued.
On a broader scale, the aim is to completely upgrade the already advanced systems, including improved stealth capabilities, i.e. making the aircraft more difficult to detect, which would help the F-35 evade infrared and radar signals, the integration of artificial intelligence into guidance and remote piloting, and improvements to weapons originally designed for sixth-generation aircraft. The aircraft could also gain better electronic warfare capabilities and network connectivity to make any autonomous systems work even more reliably. According to Lockheed Martin, the upgraded F-35 will achieve 80% of the capabilities of the planned NGAD fighter, currently referred to as the F-47 after the 47th President Donald Trump, at half the price.
However, this will be a gradual development, which according to Jim Taiclet could take two to three years. ‘You can't introduce too much new equipment or too much new software at once without disrupting the production flow,’ Taiclet said, referring to the many customers still waiting around the world, including the Czech Republic.
The existing F-35s are currently undergoing a modernisation programme called Technology Refresh 3. This mainly involves improvements to the information technology inside the aircraft's brain, including a new processor, more memory and a more sophisticated display for pilots. This part of the hardware has already been mass-produced and is being installed along with updated software, primarily at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth facility in Texas. The combat-ready fighter jets should be ready by the end of this year after the current wave of repairs.
Autonomous or unmanned aircraft are a top priority for the US Air Force, given developments on global battlefields in recent years. This has led to the Collaborative Combat Aircraft initiative, which focuses on linking current manned aircraft and drones and enabling greater cooperation and coordination so that these aircraft can operate side by side or participate directly and autonomously in combat operations. In potential new conflicts, these unmanned aircraft will serve as support for manned aircraft and, in the future, will even decide battles that are too dangerous for manned aircraft.
In this regard, the United States' biggest competitor is China, which is already developing its own version of a 6th generation fighter jet. Beijing's propaganda is already spreading videos claiming that the aircraft is already flying and is in the testing phase. However, according to a number of military analysts, the communist state is still in the development phase and they question much of the data presented by the Chinese side, even though it is making some progress. The Americans thus still have a slight lead in this arms race.
