For real?
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/usaf-pushes-back-on-f-15-retirement-435721/

The air force is undertaking an analysis that compares the purchase of new F-16s and servicing the F-15s, Harris confirmed.

Just curious, could the SPEAR III or SDB 2 have anti-helicopter capability? If the weapon can use its radar to lock on the target it can calculate the lead so its makes it a lot easier. The SDB 2 is slower than the SPEAR III but has a larger warhead to compensate. That would give the F-35 the ability to counter a mass helicopter assault without having to carry a pure a2a loadout.

So far only one potential supplier has showcased its possible submission which utilizes a regular SRM. The US Navy has a tight budget ( $400 Million for development, qualification and development+operational testing) and has specified a cost in terms of what it is willing to pay for the propulsion system for the ER. Although we have not yet seen Aerojet’s proposals (or indication as to if it is even interested in competing on this) each would have to come in at or under $175,000 for the propulsion APUC, which to me suggests that they would have to utilize something that is already in production on some other program, or something that shares a motor with a future system.

Although I wouldn’t rule out a solid fueled ramjet system, it would be quite unlikely given what they are budgeting in terms of money and timeframe.

Perhaps Spudman could elaborate but the 11-13 inch diameter range rules out both ESSM, and SM6/3/2 motor commonality (MK104/MK136) which would really have been ideal. These requirements could be changed after industry dialogue.

For reference, Orbital’s current proposal includes an 11.5 inch SRM. The program could contract out the propulsion section to a different manufacturer and retain Orbital as the primary integrator. At least at the moment, there does not appear to be a motivation to compete a completely new missile which would then allow full up solutions to be presented. Some of this is likely budget and schedule driven. Milestone-B on the AARGM-ER is scheduled for next year, and they want it in service on the Growler by early next decade (IOC) followed by the F-35C (FOC). From what we know from open source, Aerojet does not have an IRR stack in the 11-13 inch category and it will be highly unlikely that they will have something that can be qualified and available for dev testing before the turn of the decade. The only two systems it has designed using ARC’s VFDR are supporting sub 10 inch or > 13 sections.

If they tried to fit a large AAM/ARM missile in the F-22 and F-35 I think it would make more sense to try and fit 2 per bay. The missile would need to have at least twice the range of a smaller missile that can be carried 3 per bay otherwise it’s not worth it.

The APG-81 is at least a decade newer than the tech in the -77, had A2G SAR from the start (ie not an add-on like the -77) and the F-35 can carry a 2k glide bomb, JSOW, A2G missile, etc. Not only are they developing a winged kit for JDAM, but a powered one too.

https://www.regonline.com/custImages/340000/348932/Documents/JDAMNDIAIntlA-GSymposium2017_ForNDIADropbox.pdf

The F-22 will only ever be able to carry a regular 1k JDAM and an SDB, nothing larger.

The F-22 and F-35 bays have almost the same length, maybe an AARGM-ER would fit in length on the F-22. For the width maybe the AARGM-ER’s tail controls surfaces would be too large it might depend if they’re foldable or not. An a2a capability on the AARGM-ER against tankers/transports/bombers would be nice on both planes.

I wouldn’t bet on that.

In the meantime it’s probably better to avoid getting that close.

More generally speaking I wonder how the F-35s could be used synergistically with the F-22s. The F-35s can use their DAS and EOTS to find lots of targets. With each F-22 being able to carry 8 SDBs, it might be a better bet to use them as strike planes to quickly destroy the enemy forces on the ground. The problem though is that the SDB can’t hit moving targets. It would be great if it could drop the laser SDB but it’s not for anytime soon.

The 2 AIM-9Xs that the F-22 can carry will also have a2g capability, they could be used against radars, TELs, heavy MLRS, etc… and the block 2, with its seeker and datalink might be able to hit moving targets.

Frankly I’m still not convinced that using short range bombs would make sense in the real world against an advanced adversary. However I take it it is probably possible for the F-35 to get within EOTS range to have more accurate targetting data and to datalink the coordinates to the F-22s armed with SDBs. The F-22s can better saturate the target radars with multiple SDBs per strike.

No, it won’t. Mostly because it wasn’t even scheduled to be until the (then notional) block 4/5.

Which were supposed to enter service much earlier, had the plane not been so late.

The Aim-120D was excluded from the weapons integrated in SDD due to the requirement that all SDD weapons be mature. Integration is still ongoing, OT wasn’t complete until 2014 and the SIP 1 IOC was this fall. Integration on the F-22 is due to be complete in 2018.

Should the USAF feel the need, integration of the Aim-120D could be pushed forward. But, considering how tight the SDD schedule and budget is, there is zero chance that the -120D would have been added before 2018. In any case, FY 2017 defense budget RDT&E does not include a timeline of integration of the Aim-120D on the F-35 (FY 2017-21).

Right, the dev schedule is so tight that fielding the 120D faster is wishful thinking… they have so many more basic things to work on.

Integrating the Aim-120D shouldn’t have any issues from- carry, separation, vibration testing. The -120D did require some hardware/software modifications to the launch aircraft for integration on the F/A-18 E/F, F-16, and F-15. I don’t know if the F-22 requires the same modifications, or the F-35.

The 120D requires a different datalink so there is some hardware to change. And just look at how hard it’s been to integrate it on the F-22. The 120D also has more features, so there is surely more software to write to take advantage of that.