Here is some F-35 EW info thanks to Garrya.

Besides what we already know, it got me thinking and searching…

Turns out that the F-35 has the ALE-70 Towed decoy and that it’s operational as of Block2B.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]249032[/ATTACH]

Here is everything that I could dig out of the current FY2017 budget docs.

http://www.dtic.mil/procurement/Y2017/Navy/U_P40_0182_BSA-1_BA-1_APP-1508N_PB_2017.pdf
http://www.dtic.mil/procurement/Y2017/AirForce/U_P40_76_BSA-4_BA-7_APP-3010F_PB_2017.pdf

DESCRIPTION:
The ALE-70 Towed Decoy is a countermeasures dispenser system designed to fit into the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft. The ALE-70 provides aircraft self-protection against radar guided missiles.
Funds procure all system components: decoys, canisters, and explosive cartridges to deploy the decoys.

F-35 COUNTERMEASURES: Includes all unique countermeasures that provide self-protection for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft, specifically ALE-70, MJU-68, MJU-69 and CCU-168. In addition to F-35
unique countermeasures, MJU-61 and MJU-64 are also used for F-35 self-protection.

ALE-70 = Towed Decoy ($50k each)
MJU-68/69 = Flares http://www.chemring.co.uk/~/media/Files/C/Chemring-V2/PDFs/introduction-to-chemring-for-investors-oct2014.pdf
CCU-168 = Impulse cartridge for the flares https://govtribe.com/project/13-pn-8385852-2-ccu-168b-impulse-cartridge/activity
MJU-61/64 = also flares (4 differenc kinds?)

Absence of chaff info is odd….

This tidbit from the FY2017 budget (looks like the ALE-70 is in Block 2B/3i already:

(14) ALE-70 FY 2015 quantities increased from PB 2016 to accommodate F-35B IOC. FY 2017 quantity change from PB 2016 due to revised F-35B delivery schedule.

F-35 Insulation Fix: All Air Force Planes Flying By End Of Year

http://breakingdefense.com/2016/10/f-35-insulation-fix-all-air-force-planes-fixed-by-end-of-year/

WASHINGTON: Israel and Japan are likely to get their first F-35 Joint Strike Fighters on schedule, and the Air Force‘s operational F-35s should be flying by the end of this year without faulty insulation in fuel pipes that could damage the aircraft, the F-35 Joint Program Office says.

“Rapid progress is being made in fixing 15 operational F-35A aircraft needing modifications to repair non-compliant Polyalphaolefin (PAO) coolant tubes,” the JPO said in a statement. “Modifications started 7 October on the first four aircraft and the work takes about three weeks to complete. All 15 aircraft are expected to fly again by the end of the year.”

Flight operations for the 15 F-35A aircraft were suspended in September following an inspection and discovery of debris in the fuel tank of an F-35A aircraft. A supplier provided insulation that disintegrated when immersed in fuel. Neither the JPO nor Lockheed martin have identified the supplier, which continues to provide the program with insulation. It’s unlikely they’ll make the same mistake twice.

The 42 aircraft still in assembly — including those for Israeli and Japan — should start rolling off the line with fixed insulation in December.

Someone must have thought it was important enough to make a new requirement that needed GPS in order to fulfill it…

But hey, feel free to keep making up reasons why it was not needed.

Now show me the GPS on LGM-118s and UGM-133s, which were stated at 40m and 20m CEP in the IN COMBAT magazine series.

Like I said.. the nuke gyros are large & expensive, not applicable to AAMs or CMs.

btw, The latest UGM-113 has GPS.. gee, I wonder why they added that if a gyro was good enough?

So, no sources and more conjecture.. got it. :stupid:

lol… nukes have large & expensive gyros (several hundred thousand dollars each), unacceptable in size & cost for an AAM or CM.

Nonsense, KEPD 350 manages fine without it and that’s a cruise missile, rated (conservatively IMO) at 500+km. Both KEPD 350 and Storm Shadow are capable of accuracy to within 10m even without the GPS or terminal homing and I hardly think 10m is going to make much of a difference given terminal homing. Furthermore GPS is vulnerable to jamming and can’t be relied on against a peer adversary.

Aside from that obvious nonsense, given the level of inaccuracy in determining the aircraft’s exact range/bearing/speed using radar, the error of an LRG is the least of your problems.

Do you ever do research or use logic?

KEPD has GPS and uses imaging/radar references when GPS is not available (as does Storm Shadow). An AAM cruising up at 30k+ feet does not have any kind of external reference besides GPS (ie, no imaging possible), apples and oranges.

oh yeah, BS on 10m accuracy without GPS or any kind of terminal guidance (ie imaging, radar, etc) after a full length flight.

Which Meteor also has ….

and the documentation saying that the Meteor has a GPS based INS is where?

the MBDA Meteor Wiki page its one of the finest sources to gather information on this particular system, its vastly better than almost every single specialized press article that i´ve read, try it.

From the Wiki

Meteor was selected in competition to meet the UK’s Staff Requirement (Air) 1239 (SR(A)1239), for a Future Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (FMRAAM or FRAAM) to replace the RAF’s BAe Dynamics Skyflash semi-active radar guided missiles. As the primary air-to-air armament of Eurofighter, the missile would be used against a range of fixed and rotary wing targets including Unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles.

Although no detailed performance requirements have been publicly released, they were understood to demand launch success and no-escape zones three times greater than those of the then “state-of-the-art” medium-range missile, AMRAAM.

So the question is simple, what was the “then” AMRAAM in the mid to late ’90s in Europe? Answer, AIM-120B.

I am not saying that the AIM-120D has a larger NEZ than the Meteor, just that the NEZ of the Meteor (in the applicaiton of a “deep magazine” asset for 5th gen spotters) is not far enough to keep them immune to return fire.

btw, The D does not gain it’s expanded NEZ by simply “tweaking”, its flight profile, it changed the profile completely (yeah I know, not new motor yet post C4). Previous BVR AAMs relied on an INS that had to use gyroscopes to maintain its vector and to track the target. The longer the flight, the greater the deviation and lower the chance of intercept. The D introduces two technologies to counter that, a two way datalink and a GPS backed up INS. Now, the missile will know precisely where the target is, its vector, and its own location with much greater detail. It will also be able to relay that info back to friendlies in the area.

This ability to precisely know one’s location and the target’s location allows the D’s flight profile to take a much more arching path that serves two purposes, increased range and increased energy in the endgame (thanks to gravity).