Semper Fi

According to Gen Joseph Dunford, Commandant of the Marine Corps, the F-35B has “the requisite performance envelope and weapons clearances, to include thetraining, sustainment capabilities, and infrastructure to deploy to an austere site or a ship. It is capable of conducting close air support, offensive and defensive counter air, air interdiction, assault support escort and armed reconnaissance as part of a Marine Air Ground Task Force, or in support of the Joint Force. ” This decision to clear the most technologically complex version of the F-35 for operational use – four years before the Systems Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase is due to be completed – is in part being driven by the USMC’s pressing need to replacea slew of legacy types, including classic Hornets, AV-8B Harriers and the EA-6B Prowler.

But in the wider context of this $400 billion program, with its history of cost and schedule overruns, the Marines’ declaration of IOC makes an echoing and emphatic statement about one stakeholder’s belief in the F-35, five years on from when the future of the program hung in the balance.

Still, despite meeting the very IOC performance targets set out by the Marine Corps, the F-35B still faces challenges that must be surmounted, be they its problematic logistics system (ALIS), issues with fracturing aluminium bulkheads and ongoing software problems.

Path to IOC

F-35B IOC was achieved on July 31 after an intensive seven-week operational testing program (OT-1) aboard the USS Wasp, which was followed by a five-day operational readiness inspection.

OT-1 saw six F-35Bs from VMFA‑121 and VMFAT-501 conduct 100 shipboard short takeoff and vertical landing sorties off the Wasp, assessing the integration of the F-35B while operating across the spectrum of flight operations, maintenance operations and logistical supply chain support while embarked at sea.

According to the USMC, 10 pilots, backed up by 120 Marines, USN personnel and civilian contractors, “safely conducted 106 F-35B takeoffs and landings during day and night extended range operations; participated in multiple large force exercises; confirmed reliability of Block 2B software configuration; confirmed aircraftto- ship network communications interoperability; trained and certifieda new F-35B landing signal officer; proved the efficacy of the F-35B landing signals officer’s launch and recovery software; documented the crew’s ability to conduct scheduled and unscheduled day and night maintenance activities; confirmed the suitability of F-35B maintenance support equipment for shipboard operations; and safely conducted day and night weapons loading. ” In another program first, a 4,000kg P&W F135 power module, the heaviest part of the F-35B’s engine, was delivered to the deck of the USS Wasp by an MV-22 Osprey as the ship steamed 100 miles off the coast of Virginia.

In total, 76 flight hours were achieved during OT-1, but that number would have been higher had aircraft availability rates been better. According to a memo from the Defense Department’s director of operational testing (obtained by Bloomberg), “aircraft reliability was poor enough that it was difficult for the Marines to keep more than two or three of the six embarked jets in a flyable status on any given day [despite] Marine maintainers [having] rapid, ready access to spare parts from shore”.

The Marines dispute the 50 per cent availability rate, arguing it was closer to 65 per cent, but whatever the actual figure, it does point to ongoing maintenance issues, whether they be the aircraft’s fuel system (as was the case on the Wasp) or logistical shortfalls. ThePentagon requires an 80 per cent availability rate for six deployed aircraft in future operations.

The Corps has acknowledged that spare parts are a problem for the F-35B, and is working hard to bed down the ALIS Automatic Logistical Information System, the webbased information management system that will automatically capture, analyse and communicate F-35 maintenance and support data. In practice, it enables daily operations of the F-35 fleet, including mission planning, flight scheduling, aircraft maintenance, and the tracking and ordering of spare parts.

According to F-35 program head Lt Gen Christopher Bogdan, the scale of ALIS has been hugely underestimated by the program and it will be years before the aircraft and ALIS are on the same page. In the meantime, according to Lt Gen Bogdan, maintainers will have to adapt as best they can.

For the F-35B, trials aboard the Wasp were conducted using ALIS Standard Operating Unit Version 1 (ALIS SOU V1), a modularised, man-portable laptop designed for use on carriers. (The F-35B achieved IOC with the latest increment, V2, as specified. )

Bugs in the system

The Marines’ decision to stand up the F-35B comes despite ongoing debugging of the aircraft’s interim 2B software, which has preventedit from exploiting its much-vaunted data fusion capability. In short, data fusion relies on merging streams of data sourced from the aircraft’s electro-optical targeting system, radio-frequency electronic warfare system and advanced electronically-scanned array radar, which is then synthesised by software and displayed on the pilot’s visor.

A key plank of the F-35’s operational doctrine calls for the aircraft to operate as a node in a network of other F-35s, collecting and sharing data via its multifunction advanced datalink (MADL). This distributed system permits more flexible targeting options but is proving a hard nut to crack in practice. Testing has revealed shortcomings in the fusing of inputs, resulting in an inaccurate battlespace picture for the pilots in multi-ship formations.

Despite an ongoing remediation effort, Dr J Michael Gilmore, the director of operational test and evaluation for the Department of Defense’s weapons systems, has admitted that the aircraft’s data fusion “will finish with deficiencies remaining that will affect operational units. ” The Marine Corps, for its part, is waiting on the F-35’s next software load, 3F, for an improvement in the aircraft’s data fusion capability, and for now is adapting to this performance shortfall by operating in a 2+2 configuration (as opposed to a dedicated four ship formation) and transmitting images to JTACs via less stealthy Link 16.

ORI

Before the F-35B could be stood up, VFMA-121 was subjected to the week-long operational readiness inspection. Subject matter experts drawn from HQ Marine Corps, Weapons and Tactics and Training visited MCAS Yuma and conducted

The squadron’s aircraft performed well in all five IOC operational scenarios. LT GEN DAVIS

an assessment of the squadron’s maintenance, sustainment and operations. The week culminated in a surge day, in which the squadron mounted a maximum effort to test levels of preparedness.

Marine Corps Deputy Commander for Aviation Lt Gen Jon Davis released a statement at the conclusion of the ORI which read, in part: “The performance of the VMFA‑121 during the ORI in all evaluated maintenance, flight operations, and exams was exceptional. The squadron’s aircraft performed well in all five IOC operational scenarios: close air support, air interdiction, armed reconnaissance, offensive counter air and defensive counter air. This included live ordnance deliveries. The demonstrated capability of the squadron in the ORI, and in their run up to it, have given me the confidence that they meet our IOC criteria and, if required, could respond to a contingency,giving our nation its first sea-based 5th generation strike fighter capability. As such, the Commandant of the Marine Corps has decided to declare VMFA-121 initial operationally capable. ”

Weapons load

The USMC has cleared its F-35Bs to carry the AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM, JDAMs and the laser-guided GBU-12. Currently, the F-35B is without its gun, the GAU-22/A, a four-barrel version of the 25mm GAU-12/U Equalizer five-barrel cannon that equipped the AV-8B. Current planning calls for this podded gatling gun, with its 220-round magazine, to be fitted to the aircraft as part of the 3F software update, scheduled for fiscal 2017.

The way ahead

Even without its 3F software load, new night-vision helmet, Small Diameter Bomb II or GAU-22/A gun, the Marine Corps is emphatic that the F-35B offers greater ‘Day 1’ warfighting ability than its AV‑8Bs. To the USMC, the F-35B is the future – there are currently more than 50 Marine F-35B pilots, supported by over 500 maintenance personnel committed to assuming autonomous, organic-level maintenance support for the jet.

Currently, the Corps plans for AV‑8B unit VMA-211 to convert to the F-35B in fiscal year 2016, followed by VMA-311 in 2018. It plans to eventually operate over 400 F-35s, mostly B models and some F-35Cs.

To date the Marine Corps’ customary spirit of ‘can do’ has seen it surmount the technical hurdles presented by the F-35B. No doubt the USAF and USN, whose own IOC dates are approaching (2016 and 2018 respectively), are thinking the same thing: if anyone can, it’s the Marines. The squadron’s aircraft performed well in all five IOC operational scenarios.
LT GEN DAVIS