'Air domination'...what?

FA has a pretty good piece on the F-22 that points out the history of high-off-bore-sight (HOBS) helmets and dogfight missiles.

It is 10 years since the F-22 has been put into service and it still has no HOBS ability with the helmet and sidewinder.

At the time of F-22 IOC, the U.S. military was already working on putting this ability in our conventional fighter aircraft. Today, all of our normal fighter aircraft have it. I use the word "normal" because the F-22 and F-35 program are anything, but.

The high off-boresight seeker (HOBS) system consists of the JHMCS and the AIM-9X high off-boresight air-to-air missile. The AIM-9X is an advanced short-range dogfight weapon that can intercept airborne targets located at high off-boresight lines of sight relative to the shooter. The combination of JHMCS and AIM-9X results in a weapon that can attack and destroy an airborne enemy seen by the pilot. This weapon can be employed without maneuvering the aircraft, minimizing the time spent in the threat environment.

In July 2000, Boeing received U.S. Navy approval for JHMCS to proceed into low-rate initial production and deliver 36 systems as part of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft that would be delivered in fiscal year 2002.

The Navy began F/A-18E/F Super Hornet flight testing of the JHMCS in April 2001.

On Aug. 29, 2003, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) awarded Boeing a $24 million contract to produce 100 JHMCS destined for the U.S. Air Force F-15 and F-16 aircraft and the Navy’s F/A-18E/F aircraft.

DOD contracts for full production followed in February and June 2004 for U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard F-15 Eagles and Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons, along with U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.

The system’s first operational use was during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Customers for the system include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Turkey and Switzerland.

The USAF  should have known better. After the Cold War ended so many years ago, the U.S. military knew that Soviet (now Russian) HOBS was a threat. Yet, did not make it a mandatory IOC item for the F-22.

The Operation:DENY CHRISTMAS fishing episodes during the 1990s and leading up to Operation:ALLIED FORCE showed that broken down operators of the HOBS equipped MiG-29 could be beaten, especially with the beyond-visual range AMRAAM.

Yet, against real players, AMRAAM can be jammed out or otherwise negated by high performance aircraft ruin the AMRAAMs "no-escape-zone" (NEZ) after launch.

It is not a guarantee that long-range shoot-down attempts will make everything good. So...HOBS and guns. And maybe someday, energy weapons.

By the time the F-22 gets real HOBS / AIM-9x ability, it could be 10 years from retirement due to airframe fatigue and other issues.

So far, America has spent over $83B on the F-22 and to-date well over $100B (source:CRS) on the defective F-35. Well on our way to spending $200B for nothing but 120-some, combat-coded F-22s that will have to be retired in the late 2020's.

Value!

So when the F-35 is fielded, its AMRAAMs and external-carry-only HOBS/AIM-9x (ASSRAM for UK), may be just enough to beat down 3rd rate-threat capability from years ago. As fielded, the F-35 will be ready to fight Opeation:ALLIED FORCE fought in 1999. A job done better by existing, reliable and cheaper-to-operate systems.

F-22-like capability is needed to face current and future threats. But it has to be done without the incompetent leadership.


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