F-35C`s long road ahead - AW&ST

Will U.S. Navy’s F-35 Be Ready On Time? Lara Seligman The U.S. Navy’s USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier will be headed to sea loaded with war-ready F-35Cs for the first time in 2021, if all goes according to plan. But the F-35C carrier variant has a long road ahead before it can kick off its first operational deployment. The Navy version of Lockheed Martin’s new fighter has made major progress over the last year. The “Rough Raiders” of VFA-125, the “Grim Reapers” of VFA-101 as well as VX-9 recently completed carrier qualifications on the USS Abraham Lincoln, greenlighting the first nine F-35C pilots to take off and land.  At NAS Lemoore, California, the “Argonauts” of VFA-147, which will support the 2021 deployment, in February began their transition to the F-35C. The JPO is working to implement three hardware fixes The Navy will not declare the F-35C combat-ready until it demonstrates 3F capability during IOT&E IOC will likely happen in 2019 The Navy will continue working on interoperability, communications and weapons integration Meanwhile, the Joint Program Office (JPO) has resolved three major deficiencies on the F-35C: a “green glow” that obscures pilots’ vision during nighttime carrier landings; violent vertical oscillations during carrier launches; and overloading of the wings when carrying Raytheon’s AIM-9X air-to-air missiles, the aircraft’s primary dogfighting weapons. These accomplishments mark significant progress toward the Navy’s goal of declaring initial operating capability (IOC) between August 2018 and February 2019, and kicking off the first F-35C operational deployment in 2021. But Rear Adm. Dale Horan, director of the Navy’s F-35C integration office, told Aviation Week during an interview late last month that the Navy has decided not to declare the F-35C combat-ready until it successfully demonstrates its full warfighting software—3F—during the final test period, initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E).   The Navy can sign off on IOC early next year and still be within the target. But that window is getting tighter: Due to delays in finishing the F-35’s $60 billion development period, IOT&E is not scheduled to begin until this September, at the earliest.

The F-35C is preparing for its first operational deployment aboard the USS Carl Vinson in 2021. Credit: Petty Officer 2ndClass Brian Wilbur/U.S. Navy

“IOC is capability- and event-driven, it’s not date-driven,” Horan says.  The Navy also is working to implement fixes to three technological challenges.  The most worrisome is the “green glow” on the Gen III Helmet Mounted Display. It uses an active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) to project symbology electronically onto the pilot’s visor. But the display’s backlighting produces a green glow that can obscure the outside environment, particularly in low-visibility conditions, making it difficult for pilots to detect outside light sources and the cues they need to land safely. Early next year, the Navy expects to field the first production version of a new helmet that uses an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, instead of the AMLCD. The F-35 enterprise has been testing a prototype of the helmet, and so far the OLED does not have the same backlighting problems as the AMLCD version, Horan says.  In the meantime, the Navy has devised an interim software solution that will allow pilots to adjust the display on the AMLCD helmet using the aircraft’s hands-on throttle and stick. Although only experienced pilots are permitted to carrier-qualify and fly missions using the AMLCD helmet, use of this modification means the Navy can move forward with operational test, Horan says. “It’s not perfect, but it has helped.”  The Navy also is satisfied with a solution to another significant problem seen during carrier operations: violent vertical oscillations during catapult shots. Pilots reported these oscillations were so severe that they could not read flight-critical data, according to the Pentagon’s director of operational test and evaluation. The oscillations also caused most pilots to lock their harnesses during launches, making emergency switches hard to reach. Testers discovered that the tension setting on the repeatable release holdback bar—the bar that holds the nose gear immediately before the catapult shot—was too strong, Horan explains. Engineers relaxed that tension slightly, which reduced the oscillations. In addition, the Navy is teaching pilots to pay more attention to the way they strap into their seats.

During the most recent at-sea period aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, the team tested ALIS and JPALS, and maintainers performed their first unassisted F-35C tire change. Credit: Staff Sgt. Peter Thompson/U.S. Navy

Horan acknowledges that “it’s still a pretty aggressive catapult shot,” but the Navy is now satisfied the oscillations do not pose a safety or health risk to the pilots. Vice Adm. Paul Grosklags, chief of Naval Air Systems Command, has stood down the tiger team he set up to work on the problem and considers it resolved.  Finally, the Navy still is working to replace the outer wings of the existing F-35Cs to allow the aircraft to carry Raytheon air-to-air AIM-9X Sidewinders. Testers discovered during flight trials in 2015 that the outer, folding portions of the wings were not strong enough to support the loads induced by pylons with the AIM-9Xs during certain maneuvers. Flight-testing of the enhanced outer wing design has been completed, and now the Navy is racing to install the modifications in time for IOT&E, Horan says. Four of the six aircraft required for IOT&E have received the fix, and Horan is confident all six will be completed in time to start the test period on schedule later this year. After that, two kits per month will be delivered to the fleet until all the F-35Cs have the fix, Horan said. AIM-9X capability is planned for the 3F software block.  In addition to implementing software and hardware fixes, the Navy must integrate the F-35C with the carrier airwing. During the carrier-qualifications period, the Navy tested the deployable version of the Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS), the aircraft’s internal logistics system, which has been a source of headaches for the other services. Although overall ALIS “worked as advertised,” operators saw challenges in learning how to optimize ALIS for a shipboard environment, specifically in getting the system to communicate seamlessly with the ship, Horan says. “As with any new system, it’s complex, and we will work to improve it, to make it work better.”  The team did successfully demonstrate use of the Joint Precision and Landing System, which uses GPS to auto-land aircraft safely on the ship, and maintainers performed their first unassisted F-35C tire change.

The “Rough Raiders” of VFA-125, the “Grim Reapers” of VFA-101 as well as  VX-9 recently completed carrier qualifications on the USS Abraham Lincoln, greenlighting the first nine F-35C pilots to take off and land. Credit: Staff Sgt. Peter Thompson/U.S. Navy

But the most critical test of the Navy’s ability to actually use the new fighter is planned for this summer with an operational test detachment on the Lincoln. During the at-sea period, the service will have its first opportunity to integrate the F-35C with the carrier airwing, Horan says. This could prove challenging from a data-sharing perspective. The F-35 operates on Link 16 and the stealthy Multifunction Advanced Data Link, while the rest of the airwing passes data over the Tactical Targeting Network Technology.  But Horan is confident this integration ultimately will be successful. “Anytime you integrate a new aircraft into a system as complex as a carrier strike group, there will be challenges,” Horan notes. “I’m confident we have the solutions in the works to make it do what it needs to do.” Meanwhile, the Navy is taking other steps to prepare for real-world operations. Horan is sending F-35Cs to every “Top Gun” class to hone tactics, and next year will conduct a wargame that simulates an F-35 carrier deployment. The Navy no doubt will see challenges in getting the new fighter ready for its close-up, and is continuing to work on areas such as interoperability, communications and weapons integration, Horan says. But he stresses that pilots, once they get in the cockpit, have no qualms.  “We see a fair amount of negative press on this airplane, but the pilots love this airplane,” Horan says. “I want young pilots to hear that, I want kids in college to hear that. If they are thinking about flying for the Navy they should want to fly this airplane, because it’s a really exceptional aircraft.”