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U.S. Naval Aviation and Weapons Development in Review
By Commander Guy M. Snodgrass, U.S. Navy
Naval aviation’s greatest achieve-ment during the past year may not be the advancement in its
platforms, although increasing stabil-ity in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and Gerald R. Ford (CVN-70)-class aircraft carrier programs, more clarity regarding the future of several airframes, and con-tinued advances in weapons and payloads certainly help. Instead, the continued maturation of integrated fires control and multi-platform cooperative-engagement capabilities likely steal the show as invest-ments from the preceding decade continue to bear fruit.
Naval Integrated Fire Control–Counter Air (NIFC-CA)
The increasingly interconnected nature of naval aviation has been made possible through the past decade’s multi-platform transition to new air-frames. Swapping out platforms dedi-cated to a singular purpose with newer aircraft incorporating modular designs and multi-mission capa-bility allow carrier strike group com-manders—and other senior leaders—to think more about the desired effects than about a particular air-frame. These newer, modular platforms also bring an ability to interoperate more seamlessly through the incorporation of advanced data links, such as the widely available Link-16, facilitating the early stages of NIFC-CA.
A key component in overcoming anti-access and area-denial concerns, the use of NIFC-CA will make possible multiple airborne and seaborne platforms to build
and share a common operational picture while significantly extending the range of cooperative targeting. More than this, the most appropriate platform and weapon pairing can be selectively employed on another platform’s target-quality track file. Such an opportunity, and the correspond-ing survivability that comes with it, is al-ready available today. Platforms optimized for detection—such as the E-2 Hawkeye, P-8A Poseidon, or MH-60R Seahawk—can serve as the “hunter,” while another platform—such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet—can serve as the “killer,” deliver-ing a wide variety of ordnance on demand. In its simplest sense, the hunter can pre-cisely fix the target while the killer loiters at a safe distance, only consummating the attack when it is advantageous to do so. Advanced weapons, like the AGM-154C-1 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), are also
ity of a kill. Such capabilities are within reach today and will only continue to ex-pand with the incorporation of the E-2D Hawkeye and F-35C Lightning II.
While the advent of NIFC-CA will increase significantly the carrier strike group’s sensing capabilities and effective range, aircraft and payloads still remain key.
Strike/Interdiction AircraftF-35 Lightning II: The F-35 program
continued to mature rapidly throughout the year. Lieutanant General Chris Bog-dan, head of the J-35 Joint Program Of-fice, noted that while development chal-lenges certainly remain, costs continue to stabilize amid greater schedule certainty. Several testing milestones were met with the F-35B and F-35C programs, allow-ing the U.S. Marine Corps to successfully
declare initial operating capability (IOC) in sum-mer 2015. Demonstrat-ing the anticipated lon-gevity required of the fifth-generation fighter, the Joint Program Of-fice announced in early 2016 that production of the F-35 would con-tinue through 2038, and planned operations would be extended an additional six years, from 2064 to 2070.
Underpinning the ca-pability of the F-35’s advanced systems—ev-erything from the AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System and AN/APG-81 active elec-tronically scanned array radar to sensor fusion and battlespace-man-agement capabilities—
is its onboard software. Spanning more than 8 million lines of code, four times as many as the F-22 Raptor, the current Block 2B software provides initial warf-
The hunter and the killer: An MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter and an F/A-18E Super Hornet launch from the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). The coordination of two platforms for cooperative targeting is “a key component” of naval integrated fire control–counter air.
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re-targetable airborne, enabling future sce-narios in which the F/A-18 could “launch and leave” while an MH-60R updates the weapon in-flight, increasing the probabil-
www.usni.org PROCEEDINGS • 85
ighting capabilities such as enhanced data links and a live-weapons capability. Block 3F software will enable full warfighting capabilities and is expected to be avail-able in mid-2017, one year prior to the U.S. Navy’s F-35C variant reaching IOC in 2018.
F-35B short-takeoff and landing (VSTOL) variant: Having moved from Eglin Air Force Base to Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in July 2014, the “War-lords” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 501 (VMFAT-501) participated in the first F-35B shipboard operational test (OT-1) on board the USS Wasp (LHD-1) in May 2015. OT-1 demonstrated the capability to deploy on board an amphibious ship and lays the groundwork for future deploy-ments. Subsequently, in July the “Green Knights” of VMFA-121 became the first F-35 squadron to declare an initial op-erations capability, signaling the ability to perform real-world close-air support, armed reconnaissance, and counter-air missions.
The Green Knights are stationed at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma along with 17 F-35B aircraft. VMFA-211 will join them following a planned transition from the AV-8B Harrier this summer. The first operational deployment is currently scheduled for January 2017, when VMFA-121 travels to MCAS Iwakuni in Japan. (Of note, Japan is planning to eventually acquire 42 F-35As.) The U.S. Marine Corps intends to buy 353 F-35B and 67 F-35C variants to replace the aging AV-8B Harrier and F/A-18D Hornet.
F-35C carrier-based variant: The largest of the F-35 variants, specifically designed to provide improved slow-speed performance and handling in the aircraft carrier environment, continued developmental testing with Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23). Several significant milestones were achieved, including the successful carriage, release, and separation of external weapons (specifically, a GBU-12 laser-guided bomb) in September, as well as a second successful aircraft carrier developmental-testing phase (DT-II) on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in October. DT-II continued to expand the F-35C’s envelope in the at-sea environment, testing Joint Precision
Approach and Landing System (JPALS) upgrades intended to make landings aboard the aircraft carrier safer and less task-intensive for pilots. DT-II also conducted the F-35’s first catapult shot in afterburner, additional night arrested landings, and the maintenance and fit tests necessary for the aircraft and support equipment to work on board an aircraft carrier. The final developmental-test sea trial, DT-III, is planned for August 2016. Additional testing throughout the year focused on the external gun pod validation testing as well as the 23 March release of an AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), the first smart weapon released from the F-35C’s internal bay. The JSOW has a range to 70 nautical miles when released from high altitude.
Current plans include an August 2018 IOC and the standing up of Strike Fighter Squadron 125 (VFA-125) as the West Coast Fleet Replacement Squadron at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. Overall, the Navy plans to buy 260 “C” variants.
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet : First deployed in 1999, the Super Hornet continues to receive software updates to improve its overall level of capabilities. Pushed to the fleet in 2016, the recently received H10E software upgrade provides improvements to multi-sensor integration, aircraft displays, short-range tracking, and combat identification. H10E also provides improved stability for the APG-79 AESA
radar system. Several improvements in H10E are designed to lay the groundwork for H12E and H14E, the next two software upgrades dedicated to more extensive air-to-air and air-to-surface improvements. A new capability called “Magic Carpet” will also accompany the planned 2017 fleet delivery of the H12E software load. Magic Carpet is the most significant change to carrier aviation in decades, providing the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G with updated heads-up display symbology and new flight-control laws (similar to the F-35C) designed to greatly simplify aircraft carrier approaches and landings. Magic Carpet successfully completed 181 passes to the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) in 2015. Evaluation will continue until its 2017 release, bringing a cutting-edge update to a 17-year-old airframe.
The long-awaited AIM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) began load testing on the Super Hornet in November 2015. LRASM is a precision-guided, antiship standoff missile designed to meet the needs for a long-range weapon in an anti-access/area-denial environment. Expected to have precise target discrimination, LRASM will be able to independently target a specific ship within a task group without off-board intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) information. Captive-carry flights were conducted through December 2015 and successfully completed in January 2016.
An F-35C Lightning II launches off the flight deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in October 2015, during the aircraft’s second successful carrier developmental-testing phase.
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The AIM-120D Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) was also fielded during the past year, providing significant improvements in range and probability of kill. A two-way data link, GPS-aided inertial navigation unit, larger no-escape envelope, and an improved high off-boresight mode provide additional capabilities in the air-to-air arena.
Electronic AttackEA-18G Growler : An a i rborne
electronic attack platform designed to offensively suppress an enemy’s electromagnetic spectrum while operating in a high-threat environment, the Growler also received the H10E update in 2016, providing Joint Tactical Terminal Receiver (JTT-R) as well as enhanced combat identification and expanded jamming assignment capabilities. The JTT-R, in development since 2009, incorporates an ultra-high-frequency receiver designed to provide near-real-time, over-the-horizon situational-awareness information—such as targeting and blue force tracker locations—through satellite communications.
The Next Generation Jammer, devel-oped by Raytheon, also continues to develop as it matures toward a planned 2021 IOC. The Next Generation Jam-mer uses an active electronically scanned array radar and an advanced deception-techniques generator to combine elec-tronic warfare, communications, radar, cyber, and signals-intelligence capabili-ties into an externally carried podded system. The preliminary design review, a critical step forward, was completed in November 2015.
The U.S. and Australian Departments of Defense are also cooperating to im-prove the AN/ALQ-227 Communications Countermeasures Set avionics suite to help locate, geo-locate, and jam enemy communications. Like the Next Genera-tion Jammer, the AN/ALQ-227 improve-ments are planned to reach IOC in 2021.
Early Warning E-2D Advanced Hawkeye: A replace-
ment for the venerable E-2C, the E-2D incorporates numerous improvements into an already proven carrier-based platform. The Advanced Hawkeye fea-tures a new avionics suite, including an
AN/APY-9 active electronically scanned radar with mechanical rotation, new radio systems, mission computer, inte-grated satellite communications, flight management systems, improved engines, and a glass cockpit. The AN/APY-9, in particular, significantly enhances the E-2’s early-warning capabilities with its capacity to see smaller targets at greater ranges in more environments than the E-2C’s radar it is replacing.
The Advanced Hawkeye is key for NIFC-CA, serving as a central node to relay between both airborne platforms and surface ships, significantly expand-ing radar line-of-sight and weapons-employment capabilities. This concept was demonstrated when an E-2D used its radar to provide over-the-horizon tar-geting information to a shore-launched SM-6 Standard Missile used to intercept an overland cruise missile. Improving the Advanced Hawkeye’s NIFC-CA capa-bilities will fall to the Tactical Targeting Networking Technology (TTNT), a new data link designed to massively increase both bandwidth and range.
The first operational E-2D squadron, the “Tigertails” of VAW-125, transitioned
Buttressed with significant software upgrades—and testing the forthcoming, game-changing “Magic Carpet” software load—an F/A-18E Super Hornet lands aboard the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) in April 2015.
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in 2015 and deployed on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) that same year, marking the first deployment of an “increment one” NIFC-CA carrier strike group. The Tigertails will move from Naval Station Norfolk to join Carrier Air Wing Five as part of the perma-nently forward-deployed naval force at MCAS Iwakuni in 2017. The “Bluetails” of VAW-121 were the second squadron to transition to the E-2D. In total, the U.S. Navy plans to purchase 75 E-2Ds by 2027.
Maritime Patrol & Reconnaissance P-8A Poseidon: Designed as a replace-
ment for the P-3C Orion, Boeing deliv-ered the first production P-8A Poseidon antisubmarine aircraft to the U.S. Navy in March 2012. The P-8A is primarily an antisubmarine platform but also has ISR sensors installed. With a versatile internal weapons bay and external hard-point ca-pability, the P-8A can carry bombs, tor-pedoes, depth charges, and air-to-surface missiles.
The APS-154 Advanced Airborne Sen-sor (AAS) active electronically scanned array radar completed its first flight on the P-8A in May 2015. A follow-on to the APS-149 Littoral Surveillance Radar System, the AAS is externally mounted under the P-8A’s fuselage and provides a wide-area ISR, targeting, and mast/
periscope detection capability. The AAS provides weapons-quality sensor and trackfile data, enabling the Poseidon to prosecute the target itself or to hand off targeting to another platform.
Other key components of the P-8A currently in development include the SSQ-125 multistatic active coherent (MAC) sonobuoy, Automatic Information System (AIS), and High-Altitude ASW Weapons Capability (HAAWC) systems. The SSQ-125 MAC sonobouy, featuring digital signal processing and GPS capa-bilities, provides undersea target location and tracking using multiple ping types and optimized waveforms, and serves as the P-8A’s primary wide-area acoustic search system. The AIS transponder and receiver will enable the P-8A to more ef-fectively track and classify surface ships, while the HAAWC kit will provide a long-range standoff capability for high-altitude torpedo employment, allowing the P-8A to optimize detection and loiter time by remaining at altitude rather than descending to release an Mk-54 torpedo.
The P-8A has entered the 7th Fleet area of operations, with the first deploy-ment to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa occurring in 2013. Routine deployments have continued since that time, typically with one P-3C and one P-8A squadron working in tandem. The U.S. Navy is planning to buy 117 aircraft.
Tiltrotor AircraftCMV-22B Osprey: Chosen to replace
the C-2 Greyhound for carrier onboard-delivery missions, the U.S. Navy intends to procure 44 Bell-Boeing tiltrotor CMV-22Bs in 2018 for delivery in 2020. Le-veraging heavily off of the U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 that carries Marines into battle, the CMV-22 will include an ex-tended-range fuel system (increasing the current range of the MV-22 from 860 to 1,150 nautical miles), a high-frequency radio for long-range communications, and a public address system.
One possibility for the newly redes-ignated CMV-22B is to shuttle the F-35 engine’s power module, the largest and weightiest part of the F-135 engine, to and from the aircraft carrier or amphibi-ous ship. This role was demonstrated in May 2015 when an F-135 power module was carried out to the Wasp during sea trials.
Unmanned Aerial VehiclesMQ-8C Fire Scout: The Northrop
Grumman MQ-8C combines the proven ISR architecture of the MQ-8B with the extended range, payload, and cargo-hauling capacity of the Bell 407 heli-copter, delivering twice the endurance and three times the payload capacity of the MQ-8B. A fully autonomous, four-bladed helicopter, the MQ-8C provides
An E-2D Hawkeye prepares to launch from the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) in April 2015. The Hawkeye is assigned to the Tigertails of VAW-125—the first-ever operational E-2D squadron.
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expanded situational-awareness capabili-ties to compatible surface combatants through the Navy’s Mission Control System. Earlier this spring, the MQ-8C successfully tested the wideband line-of-sight data link, designed to provide the high-speed transfer of time-sensitive ISR information to ground forces and surface ships. Ship-based testing of the MQ-8C is scheduled to begin in 2017.
MQ-XX: The “yet-to-be-designated” Carrier-Based Aerial Refueling System
platform is the latest iteration of the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike program, sig-naling a move away from an all-in-one unmanned strike platform to an aircraft with a primary aerial refueling role, al-beit with additional ISR and data link relay capabilities. MQ-XX will lever-age heavily from the proof-of-concept flights performed by the X-47B, which successfully demonstrated the ability to autonomously launch and recover from
an aircraft carrier, as well as divert to a shore-based airfield. Fielding the MQ-XX program will free Super Hor-nets from the current organic tanking role, preserving the strike fighter’s flight hours for its primary mission while in-creasing the carrier air wing’s available striking power. The Navy envisions that the open standards employed in its de-sign will enable greater flexibility and affordability to the platform after it has been integrated as part of the air wing.
MQ-4C/RQ-4 Triton: The Northrop Grumman MQ-4C was developed under the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program, intended to provide a real-time, wide-area ISR capability to complement the P-8A Poseidon. A derivative of the Global Hawk, the Triton is optimized for long-endurance missions in the maritime environment with a sensor suite capable of tracking ships over time by gathering information on their speed, location, and classification. Equipped with an X-band active electronically scanned radar and AIS, the MQ-8C can effectively survey 2,700,000 square miles of sea during its 24-hour on-station time. The Triton is also equipped with a multi-spectral electro-optical/infrared sensor capable of automatically tracking what the X-band radar detects.
Another historic first: The Navy’s unmanned X-47B receives fuel from an Omega K-707 tanker while in flight over the Chesapeake Bay in April 2015—marking the first aerial refueling of a UAV.
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An F-35C makes a successful arrestment at Naval Air Warfare Center Lakehurst in March 2016, where work has been under way on redesigned advanced arresting gear for the Gerald R. Ford class.
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The MQ-4C Triton performed its first flight in May 2013 from Palmdale, Cali-fornia. Since that time the MQ-4C has continued flight and operational testing, including conducting orbits in the 5th Fleet area of operations. The MQ-4C completed an operational assessment in February, clearing the way for low-rate initial production and an IOC and initial deployment to the Pacific in 2017. The Navy plans to purchase 68 Tritons.
Aircraft CarriersGerald R. Ford (CVN-78): A follow-
on to the Nimitz-class carriers, this is the first new carrier class to take to the seas in more than four decades. Improve-ments from the Nimitz class include a larger flight deck, increased electrical-generation capability, an electromag-netic aircraft launch system (EMALS), and redesigned advanced arresting gear. Technological improvements in the Ger-ald R. Ford class and reduced manning will result in a $4 billion reduction in operating costs over the course of each aircraft carrier’s lifetime as compared to the Nimitz class.
In 2014, problems were first identified with the advanced arresting gear, resulting from premature failure of the water twister used to absorb and dissipate the energy from an aircraft catching the arresting wire across the flight deck. The water twister was redesigned, and the first aircraft ar-restment with the new design was success-fully completed with a land-based version at Naval Air Warfare Center Lakehurst in March 2016. Despite its first-of-a-kind status, the electromagnetic launch system has fared better, with the first successful tests occurring in May 2015. Since then EMALS has launched the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, F/A-18E Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye from the Lakehurst test site.
The Gerald R. Ford also incorporates the dual-band radar originally built for the new Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyers. The radar can simultaneously operate over the S-band and X-band fre-quency ranges, providing superior cover-age as well as tracking capabilities.
The Gerald R. Ford’s keel was laid in November 2009; the last structural portion was installed in May 2013; and the ship
was christened in November 2013. As of September 2015, construction was 93 per-cent complete. Delivery to the U.S. Navy is expected in late August or early September 2016.
John F. Kennedy (CVN-79): Fabrication on the John F. Kennedy began in 2011; the keel was laid in August 2015; and the first phase of a two-phase delivery is currently scheduled for June 2022. The second phase of delivery, during which key combat sys-tems will be installed to limit obsolescence, will be conducted through 2025, coinciding with decommissioning of the USS Nimitz (CVN-68). Based on the high cost of the dual-band radar system caused by the trun-cated Zumwalt-class program, the John F. Kennedy will be the first aircraft carrier to use the Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar, saving the carrier program $180 million in the process. Currently in development, the radar will replace the SPS-48 and SPS-49 radars used by the Nimitz-class carriers.
Commander Snodgrass is the commanding offi-cer of Strike Fighter Squadron 195 (VFA-195), per-manently forward-deployed to Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, as part of Carrier Air Wing Five.
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