Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

21st Century CONOPS based on 5th Gen Fighters

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • 21st Century CONOPS based on 5th Gen Fighters

    Here is an interesting paper about 21st century CONOPS based around 5th Gen fighters, courtesy of Second Line of Defense:

    http://www.sldinfo.com/wp-content/up...Operations.pdf

    It's a longer read but is interesting for sure. The author suggests that the recent RAND corp study that showed the US unable to effectively defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack is based on 1st Gulf War-type CONOPS and if 21st century CONOPS are applied the result might be very different.

    Enjoy.
    No One Kicks A$! Without Tanker Gas

  • #2
    Thanks. Looks interesting but what happens to the calculations when Chinese 5th generation fighters enter the picture?

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Skywatcher View Post
      Thanks. Looks interesting but what happens to the calculations when Chinese 5th generation fighters enter the picture?
      I suspect the CONOPS would remain exactly the same, just become harder to execute. I suppose it would come down to which side can either
      1) passively detect the other (who has better IRST/DAS, RWR) or
      2) actively track the other without being detected (who has better LPI AESA)
      (Doing either of these would also be affected by who has better IR/RF signal management). Which ever of these work, it might then come down to who can pass information between assets more effectively without being detected (who has better datalinks, etc.). What is really interesting is when you add electronic attack and jamming.

      If the F-22 & F-35 have better passive sensors, more advanced AESA with better LPI, better IR/RF signal reduction, better datalinks, and better EA (on-board or off-board), I think the CONOPS remain unchanged. I know that's a lot of if's but it will be a tall order for anyone to match the US in all these areas. I think that is the bar against which other 5th Gens will be measured.
      No One Kicks A$! Without Tanker Gas

      Comment


      • #4
        Did I read this correctly? They assume an assignement of 120 F-22s to the defence of Taiwan? Since the US bought/is buying only 187 (right?), what are the chances of having 120 available for such a mass deployment?

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by jlvfr View Post
          Did I read this correctly? They assume an assignement of 120 F-22s to the defence of Taiwan? Since the US bought/is buying only 187 (right?), what are the chances of having 120 available for such a mass deployment?
          Hmmm...I couldn't seem to find that anywhere in the document. However, if it is in there you are absolutely right in that there is no way the US would be able to send 120 F-22s to Taiwan (or anywhere) at the same time.

          A couple questions I had are:

          "Specifically, the Multifunction Advanced Datalink (MADL) is to be used by both the F-22 and F-35 as the centerpiece for their data transfer and, because, the 5th generation aircraft will be transferring data to robotic airborne radars, the MADL will be important for the next generation UAVs as well." - page 4

          Are there currently plans to place MADL on a UAV? Has it been done yet?

          "The 5th generation aircraft will be used as forward air assets to support co-coordinated strike and defense operations. As the Chinese reach out to strike U.S. air assets, the distributed operations of the air and naval forces will use unmanned, 5th generation air assets, legacy air assets, integration with Aegis systems, and reliance on USN strike missiles to provide a comprehensive capability." - page 11

          I know that the new A2A missiles like the AIM-120D are able to be queued by other aicraft. Is there any talk of an aircraft being able to queue a non-A2A missile like a SM-2 launched from a surface ship? I know that isn't exactly what the article is saying but it would definitely be interesting.
          No One Kicks A$! Without Tanker Gas

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Phoenix10 View Post
            Hmmm...I couldn't seem to find that anywhere in the document. However, if it is in there you are absolutely right in that there is no way the US would be able to send 120 F-22s to Taiwan (or anywhere) at the same time.
            Page 13, diagram/map for fuel consumption; right side, there's a box stating 120 x F-22 (and 69 KC-135...)

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by jlvfr View Post
              Page 13, diagram/map for fuel consumption; right side, there's a box stating 120 x F-22 (and 69 KC-135...)
              Good catch. Yeah, I doubt that could ever happen. That's like loading a machine gun with "silver bullets". Maybe if we had 350 (or 762) raptors....
              No One Kicks A$! Without Tanker Gas

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by jlvfr View Post
                Did I read this correctly? They assume an assignement of 120 F-22s to the defence of Taiwan? Since the US bought/is buying only 187 (right?), what are the chances of having 120 available for such a mass deployment?
                The US would have to deploy pretty much every available Raptor airframe we have, which would basically be impossible, especially considering that they're scattered all over the country; it would be doable, but that would mean pulling EVERY flyable airframe, and deploying them overseas with minimal support. I estimate it would take at least a week to get them all TDY'd.
                "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

                Comment


                • #9
                  I don't see why the F-35 couldn't share some of this load. After all, the author's entire stragety is based on fighting a networked battle (not airframe kinematics) and isn't the F-35 supposed to be even better at that than the F-22? Besides, by 2020 there are supposed to be a bunch of F-35s on carriers that could take off closer to Taiwan than Guam.
                  No One Kicks A$! Without Tanker Gas

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Maybe it's just another way to try to sell more F-22s?...

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X