Declaring initial operational capability (IOC) for the F-35A will benefit the Air Force more politically than in the skies, according to a pair of analysts.
Teal Group Vice President of Analysis Richard Aboulafia told Defense Daily Tuesday foreign customers are questioning buying into a program that hasn’t entered service. Aboulafia said while the Air Force wants to get the F-35A out in combat to show it off for these international customers, the problem is that there are “very few” scenarios that would call for an aircraft with the high-end capabilities of the F-35A, the conventional variant of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
Another analyst, Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank, told reporters Tuesday he thought any decision on scaling back the Air Force’s desired full production rate for the F-35A should not be made for another four or five years to avoid scaring foreign partners. Air Combat Command (ACC) chief Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle told reporters Tuesday the Pentagon he’d optimally like to produce 80 F-35As per year, but given the fiscal constraints, he’d settle for 60.
Harrison said he was skeptical that the Air Force would reach its desired full production level because of competing modernization priorities. These include an overhaul of the nuclear weapons ensemble as well as the new B-21 bomber. The Air Force wants to maintain as many international partners in the program as possible to help drive down the unit cost of the aircraft. The F-35 foreign partners are Australia, Canada, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, the United Kingdom and South Korea.
The Air Force officially declared IOC for the F-35A on Tuesday, which Carlisle said means the aircraft is capable of providing basic Close Air Support (CAS). Carlisle said basic CAS means the aircraft doesn’t have certain capabilities that the full operational capability (FOC) aircraft will have, things like an infrared pointer that is used on the A-10 and link architecture. Carlisle said the Air Force will continue to improve on the link architecture so eventually airmen can exchange information with other planes.
Carlise said the Air Force still has a lot of work to do after declaring IOC. He said the service is still facing challenges with the scope displays and how information is depicted. Carlisle said operational testers found some information didn’t make sense initially and that pilots had to perform a lot of work just to get basic information. He said the Air Force will continue to work on the scope issue.
Another problem yielding not enough information with too much work is with the pilot vehicle interface. Carlisle said the pilot vehicle interface manages the sensor, communications and navigation suites and that a hands on throttle stick (HOTS) function allows the pilot to change knobs without moving his or her hands, but the pilot vehicle interface isn’t working properly. Carlisle said the Air Force will continue to work on this as it moves into software block 3F.
Harrison said the IOC declaration meant the Air Force was past its most challenging program issues. He said though there will probably be still some kinks that come up in the coming years, most of the potential for major cost overruns and technological challenges are in the past.
“The program is not doing everything [the Air Force] wanted it to do,” Harrison said. “But they are at a point now where it has stabilized…It’s still a milestone of progress.”
The F-35 is developed by Lockheed Martin [LMT] with subcontractors BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman [NOC].