Photo: USAF/Senior Airman Trevor Gordnier
The F-35 Lightning is the youngest military aircraft currently in operation. It arrived onto the scene in the mid-2000s as one of the world's first fifth-generation aircraft (the second one in the American arsenal after the F-22 Raptor), but also as the first-ever supersonic STOVL stealth fighter.
Despite its relatively young age the plane is subject to constant upgrades targeting the various systems it is equipped with. Some of these upgrades are relatively minor, while others target the plane's core components, all in a bid to keep the plane at the top of its game in the fast-changing world of ours.
The latest upgrade being planned for the F-35 targets the plane's vehicle management computer (VMC). That's the artificial brain tasked with both flight control and some mission management, thus a crucial piece of equipment.
The current VMC works, obviously, but one of the plane's main contractors, BAE Systems, believes it has something a tad better to take the F-35 into the next decade: a quad-core computer that should allow "for additional aircraft capabilities while reducing pilot workload."
The new tech will also help enhance some of the F-35's other systems, including the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) and Auto Ground Collision Avoidance System (AGCAS).
The tech is still in the early stages, but a major development in its integration into the fighter plan was announced this week. As per BAE, a number of flight tests of F-35 Lighting IIs equipped with the new computer already took place at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland and Edwards Air Force Base in California, and proved to be a success.
The tests were conducted by both the Navy and Air Force because the new VMC was designed to work just as well in all three variants of the F-35. The company however did not say when it will be ready for mass-scale implementation of the technology.
The VMC is not the only upgrade for the F-35 BAE System is currently working on. The company is a major supplier for the American-made plane, and is in charge of delivering not only the VMC, but also the electronic warfare system, active inceptor control system, and aft fuselage.
It was announced earlier this year BAE systems will supply Block 4 electronic warfare (EW) systems. The new version should allow the pilots flying these planes to better detect difficult-to-observe threats, and see more of these threats at the same time. The system should envelop the plane with a 360-degree bubble of electronic surveillance.
Separately, the F-35 is presently at the center of another major modernization program, the so-called Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3). That would be a total of 75 upgrades targeting various systems of the F-335 in all its incarnations.
The latest upgrade being planned for the F-35 targets the plane's vehicle management computer (VMC). That's the artificial brain tasked with both flight control and some mission management, thus a crucial piece of equipment.
The current VMC works, obviously, but one of the plane's main contractors, BAE Systems, believes it has something a tad better to take the F-35 into the next decade: a quad-core computer that should allow "for additional aircraft capabilities while reducing pilot workload."
The new tech will also help enhance some of the F-35's other systems, including the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) and Auto Ground Collision Avoidance System (AGCAS).
The tech is still in the early stages, but a major development in its integration into the fighter plan was announced this week. As per BAE, a number of flight tests of F-35 Lighting IIs equipped with the new computer already took place at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland and Edwards Air Force Base in California, and proved to be a success.
The tests were conducted by both the Navy and Air Force because the new VMC was designed to work just as well in all three variants of the F-35. The company however did not say when it will be ready for mass-scale implementation of the technology.
The VMC is not the only upgrade for the F-35 BAE System is currently working on. The company is a major supplier for the American-made plane, and is in charge of delivering not only the VMC, but also the electronic warfare system, active inceptor control system, and aft fuselage.
It was announced earlier this year BAE systems will supply Block 4 electronic warfare (EW) systems. The new version should allow the pilots flying these planes to better detect difficult-to-observe threats, and see more of these threats at the same time. The system should envelop the plane with a 360-degree bubble of electronic surveillance.
Separately, the F-35 is presently at the center of another major modernization program, the so-called Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3). That would be a total of 75 upgrades targeting various systems of the F-335 in all its incarnations.
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