F-35 News. Did a pilot let something slip when talking about 6th gen fighter?

via USNI News.

Lockheed Martin officials provided the media a view of electronic warfare in the near future during a media briefing Wednesday. The High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system is at the core of Lockheed Martin’s electronic warfare work.

The company expects to field a ship-based HELIOS system aboard an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in 2021. However, technological advances are helping the company shrink the size of HELIOS from what is due for installation aboard a ship to what can possibly fit onto an airframe, said Tony Wilson, a Lockheed Martin F-35 test pilot.

“Being a tactical pilot in today’s age is really exciting. During my time, I’ve seen the leap from fourth-generation to fifth-generation, with the integration of stealth and sensor fusion,” Wilson said. “What I’m really looking forward to is the next generation leap. That’s a sixth-gen fighter, where we not only take stealth and sensor integration, but we start adding things like directed energy weapons, drone swarm control.”

For Lockheed Martin, their HELIOS pitch to the military includes how the system offers an infinite magazine, is powered by the ship’s existing power-generation system, is a precision low-cost-per-kill weapon and will be integrated with the Aegis Combat System, said Brendan Scanlon, Lockheed Martin’s HELIOS program director.

“From a fighter’s perspective, we always want more gas, more weapons,” Wilson said.

Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin experts are taking a close look at how adversaries conduct electronic warfare, with the intent of developing capabilities to be shared by the service branches and used on various platforms, said Steve Allen, Lockheed Martin’s Information Operations and Solutions Director.

Story here. 

People that are trying to reason with me always say...stay in your lane...you're a ground guy...you don't know shit about aviation.

Well that's true.  Right as rain.  Spot on.

But instinct is a motherfucker.

So is having people that can give you insight into things if you can muster the discipline (and I've failed at times) to shut up, listen, and put away preconceived notions/biases.

There is one other thing.

You have to gather the courage to look at things as they are, not as you wish them to be.

What's that got to do with the article?  Read the whole thing but check out the highlighted portion.

“What I’m really looking forward to is the next generation leap. That’s a sixth-gen fighter, where we not only take stealth and sensor integration, but we start adding things like directed energy weapons, drone swarm control.”

What?

We're already looking at drone swarm control with unfortunately for us but at the same time fantastic cause they're an ally, Australia leading the way with their wing man concept.  Oh and that is being controlled by a Super Hornet! As far as lasers?  That's air frame agnostic as long as they can make one that works fit into an airplane.

But it gets better and I think he tells us a bit about where the F-35 is now.

“From a fighter’s perspective, we always want more gas, more weapons,” Wilson said.

I want to take you all back to the so called F-35 "beast mode" setup.  Check it out below.

What you see above is the beast mode configuration that has the F-35 fanboys drooling.  Do you notice something?  They put out hundreds of pics but the basic load out are those bombs (I don't know the size), Sidewinders on outer pylons and I assume two AMRAAMs and another two bombs in the bay.

That's hardly formidable.  That's really a weak load out for an airplane that is already in service with 3 services and our allies. 

Real question.  What ordnance can the F-35 carry today?  Has anything else been cleared except for these weapons?  If not then the variety of weapons this plane can carry is PATHETICALLY small.

Even worse?  It won't be cleared for more weapons till about 2024 if I'm reading the Block 4 upgrade chart correctly.  This went from pathetic to criminal.

Then we have the last quote I highlighted.

Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin experts are taking a close look at how adversaries conduct electronic warfare

This my friends.  This is where my instinct took me and this is where I'm chest thumping and shouting to the sky that I was right.

Electronic warfare is the domain that must be won and will be the mother's milk of the future fight.

Lockheed Martin ain't digging into this because they're altruistic.  They're going here because they're greedy bastards.  This is where the money is with regard to future procurement.

But it's beyond telling.

Stealth isn't the end all be all anymore.  It really hasn't been for the longest but most weren't paying attention.  The F-35 talking points told us alot but people chose not to see.

They talked about stealth and only stealth at the beginning of the program.  Then reports came out that systems were being designed to detect stealth. We heard rumblings about the Russians being able to detect the F-35, then we heard about Saab with their GaN AESA that could spot it, then Raytheon and now the Chinese and others are into the game.

Today?

The talking points are all over the place.  The messaging on the F-35 has become confused.

I'm good with that.  Lies are hard to keep track of so it makes sense to me. What can't be denied is that if you look hard enough you can see that military leadership and even LM are beginning to tell us that we need to get started on a 6th gen fighter cause the F-35 just won't cut it.