56 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/MARCH 30-APRIL 12, 2015 AviationWeek.com/awstthe job. In other cases, however, fighters
have onboard systems that allow them
to fly low, dipping under weather in val-
leys, to execute a CAS mission.
An F-15E pilot reports a case where
soldiers were under fire in a valley in
Eastern Afghanistan. “Dropping a
bomb in a situation this chaotic was
not going to work for them through the
weather, [but] we knew how important
it was. It is the scariest thing I’ve ever
done in an aircraft,” he says. “To say
we can’t do it is just wrong; we can. We
have systems onboard that allow us to
do it, that actually look at the terrain.
We have maps that tell us what alti-
tude the terrain should be... and then
you make the decision to go.... We got
down, got low, got fast over the target
and the enemy broke contact and ran.
Often that is sufcient. Once they see
us, they run.”
The Air Force calls these “show of
force” missions, where merely arriving
on the scene repels the enemy. And pi-
lots report the shows of force are nowmore often driving the enemy back—re-
ducing the need to drop ordnance.
Some USAF ofcials admit that re-
tiring the A-10 could expose the mili-
tary to a capability gap, but one that
can largely be addressed with tactics
employed from other aircraft.
“We could shoebox the best solution
to being a platform. But... you don’t
always have the ability to provide what
you want [so] you provide the effect;
there is the potential that there would
be a gap in capability,” says an A-10 pilot.
But Air Force brass say the bottomline is money—there is not enough to
retain a single-mission aircraft. “The
A-10 is incredible at CAS... but other
airplanes are doing the mission,” Air
Combat Command chief Gen. Herbert
Carlisle told Aviation Week. “Any time
you transition an airplane, there is some
inherent risk. But we are committed to
[CAS]... and are using almost every
platform we have to do CAS.”
And as USAF aircraft have become
more advanced with precision target-
ing pods and munitions, so have Army
and Marine helicopters. The downside
of rotorcraft is their lack of speed and
range to get to a target when friendly
forces are based far forward. They
are also susceptible to hostile fire, es-
pecially in a contested environment.
But they are efective when they can
be used; Army AH-64 Apaches and
A-10s, for example, have been called
in to support troops fighting so-called
Islamic State targets.
This is a main thrust behind the Air
Force’s push to discuss CAS; ofcialswant to explain that many platforms
can provide the muscle needed. And
the retirement of the A-10 does not
mean the CAS mission will solely fall
on the unproven F-35.THE TRANSITION
Chief of Staf Welsh emphasizes that
the planned initial operational capabil-
ity (IOC) for the F-35A by December
2016 is just that—an initial capability.
Air Combat Command’s Carlisle is re-
sponsible for the declaration, and he
is focused on three missions: CAS, airinterdiction and limited suppression of
enemy air defenses. He acknowledges
that the F-35’s CAS abilities then will
be “basic.” Suitable munitions at IOC
are limited to 500-lb. laser-guided
bombs and the 2,000-lb. joint direct
attack munition. Pilots will not be able
to fully exploit the synthetic aperture
radar modes until Block 4 software is
in service, years from now, nor will a
video link to the ground controllers be
available at IOC.
“The basic capability in the airplane
we go to IOC with will have some com-
munication capability,” Carlisle says.
“We won’t have the Rover [data-sharing
system]... where they can see the pod
[video] and we can talk guys on [to tar-
gets] very easily.” He says the assump-
tion is that other platforms can handle
the mission while the F-35’s capabilities
are ramping up, unless CAS is needed
in a contested space.
Already officials at the Weapons
School have begun a “CAS investiga-
tion” to examine and codify tactics for
the F-35 operating in CAS missions,
says Lt. Col. Benjamin Bishop, com-
mander of the 422 Test and Evaluation
Sqdn. at Nellis. This includes how the
F-35 pilot will interact with the JTAC.
The findings will be integrated into
the aircraft’s tactics manual. CAS was
the first of the missions to be worked
in part to support Marine Corps IOC,
which is slated for July 1. Bishop
says that the Air Force’s 3i software-
equipped aircraft—those with which
IOC will be declared—and 3Fs are a
“baseline investment” until the more
robust Block 4 is fielded.
“We know that 3i is not going to have
all of the weapons, right? We know
there will be more weapons and more
capability in 3F for the FOC [full op-
erational capability]. So we have to de-
velop the tactics and operationally test
the tactics,” says Maj. Gen. Jay Silveria,
commander of the Air Warfare Center
at Nellis. “We’ll get more capability in
3F and will expand the testing and the
tactics development based on those
other weapons.”
By contrast, the Marines say their
Block 2B F-35s, slated for IOC in July,
will ofer additional capability over the
F-18s and AV-8Bs. “The increased capa-
bility due to the aircraft’s sensor suite
and improved pilot situational aware-
ness will decrease the time required
to employ precision ordnance,” says
Maj. Paul Greenberg, a Marine Corps
spokesman. “This aircraft will be ableCLOSE AIR SUPPORTLOCKHEED MARTIN
With 3F software on
test jet AF-1, various CAS
loadouts with external stores
can be flight-tested.