Air Superiority
Many months ago, I wrote in fascination that, unlike the U.S. Air Force, the Russian Air Force does not prioritize air superiority. Professor John D. Maurer highlighted this fact in a recent article.
but much of the problem seems to be that the Russian military never planned to seize air superiority
That previous sentence boggles my American mind. As reported in Air & Space Forces Magazine
It [U.S. Air Force] has succeeded so well that success has come to be taken for granted and is a foundational concept in the doctrine of every branch of the armed forces: The Air Force will achieve air superiority.
China plans on challenging U.S. air superiority in the Pacific. Only America and China field 5th generation fighter jets, the key component of air superiority. As these these fighter jets enter the arena, the U.S. military created the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program to dominate the next (6th) generation of air combat. The Warzone summed up this program as follows
NGAD is a broad, multi-faceted effort to field next-generation tactical air combat capabilities that are specially honed to fight deep in contested territory.
I demonstrated in my Preparing for China series that the U.S. will need to fight in territory contested by China to counter their aggression. The NGAD program should enable America to complete this mission. Unlike previous fighter jet programs, the U.S. 6th generation NGAD program focuses on building a “family of systems“ to work in conjunction with the planned new fighter jet. This family of systems will include unmanned drones teaming up with manned fighter jets.
The U.S. has no time to spare, The Warzone reported that China is also working on its own 6th generation NGAD program. America needs to win this race in order to maintain the superiority of its Air Force, but I question its usage of the F-35 in the race for Next Generation Air Dominance. Lockheed Martin recently produced a video showcasing the F-35’s role in this new program. I disagree with how Lockheed employs the F-35 in its video.
Project Carrera
Lockheed Martin’s famed Skunk Works division released a video showcasing the F-35’s role in a program called Project Carrera. This project attempts to create a system for manned fighter jets and unmanned drones to seamlessly team together. If Skunk Works can successfully create this capability then I expect it to feature prominently in America’s NGAD program.
I will highlight two portion in the video above. Starting from the 0:45 mark to the 0:55 mark Skunk Works presents three unmanned drones which will team up with a manned fighter jet. The three drones engage in three specific missions; gathering sensor data, engaging in electronic warfare, and the nebulous sounding non-kinetic effects. In this video non-kinetic effects refers to the drone’s ability to confuse enemy radar by mimicking the signature of the F-35.
From the 2:00 mark to the 2:15 mark we see a depiction of Project Carrera in action. Two electronic warfare (EW) drones along with two sensing drones fly ahead of a F-35 fighter jet. The F-35 stays outside the enemy coast and never enters airspace over the land. I am surprised because I expected to see the F-35 use its stealth to attack the enemy head on.
4th Generation Fighter Jets
I am not opposed to Skunk Work’s Project Carrera, but the video depicts how I would use 4th generation fighter jets. Those fighter jets, unlike the 5th generation F-35, cannot survive against modern anti-air systems, but can carry more missiles. Those two characteristics make 4th generation fighter jets more suitable for the mission described in Sunk Work’s video. Luckily, other defense programs appear to recognize the importance of 4th generation fighter jets.
A secretive program called Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) also teams manned fighter jets with unmanned drones. Boeing produced an image for CCA showing its 4th generation F/A-18 flying next to two drones. This type of partnership can help cover for the F/A-18’s weakness against modern air defense that I previously highlighted.
Like the F/A-18, the 4th generation F-15EX (the newest model of the F-15) will become deadly if partnered with unmanned drones. Many theorize using the F-15EX as a weapons truck because of its ability to carry an insane amount of missiles. For comparison, the F-15EX can carry twenty-two air-to-air missiles while the F-35 can carry only four in its internal weapons bay. The F-15EX will sit back at a safe distance and lob missiles at the enemy while the drones encounter all of the danger.
Conclusion
As we learned in Ukraine, both sides effectively denied each other access to the air because of modern anti-air systems. This would suggest that the U.S. needs to prioritize Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) if it want to deter aggression from peer competitors like Russia and China. I would like to see the U.S. Air Force focus on strategies envisioned in Project Carrera for U.S. fourth generation fighter jets. Those fighter jets need drones to make them relevant on a modern battlefield. Unmanned drones should enable the F-35 to strike deep into enemy territory, but it appears the that U.S. may waste the F-35 by keeping it out of harms way.