The Ministry of Defence has defended the combat effectiveness of the UK’s F-35B fleet after MPs pressed the department on how it intends to address the aircraft’s lack of a dedicated standoff strike weapon, the UK Defence Journal understands.
Ben Obese-Jecty MP asked the department what steps were being taken in response to the Public Accounts Committee’s report on the UK’s F-35 capability, which highlighted the absence of a standoff weapon for attacking ground targets from outside high-threat zones.
Responding, Defence Minister Luke Pollard said the F-35B’s fifth-generation design already provides a high level of battlefield survivability and targeting performance. He said the aircraft’s stealth, electronic warfare tools and threat-detection suite together “provide the capability to dominate a highly contested battlespace.”
Pollard argued that even without an organic standoff munition, the UK can still deliver long-range strike effects by exploiting the F-35’s data-fusion architecture and targeting feeds. He said the jet’s secure links allow it to pass “threat and advanced targeting information” to UK and allied forces in real time, coordinating with land, maritime and air platforms equipped with standoff weapons to “achieve a wider decisive Joint Fires effect.”
The Public Accounts Committee had previously warned that the lack of a standoff weapon was a material capability gap in high-threat environments, noting that integration of the planned Spear 3 missile has slipped into the early 2030s.
Pollard said future munitions planning for the F-35B will be detailed in the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan.
Will Small Diameter Bomb make the list in the defence equipment plan as an interim until Spear3….Like Spear, 8 could be carried internally.
I did read that the MoD were looking to acquire GBU-53B Stormbreaker (SDB 2). I think I misread it in the vain hope they were actually buying the weapon. But it seems it was purely investigative. Perhaps the the defense investment plan might shed some light on it.
Technically the F35B can carry 16 SDBs in total, with 8 internal and 4 under each wing, the A and C version can carry 25 of them.
What a load of bull. Clearly they aren’t the pilots who have to take these risks and to talk about them being able to provide the data fusion and targeting feeds isn’t exactly what the aircraft were acquired for as their prime function. Especially when operating from carriers. What actual long range strike weaponry are they supporting in this way, none airborne unless they can bring Typhoons in to the fray, ironic to say the least and rather wasteful exploitation of a carrier group. Yes all sounds good when spouted in complex word games but I wonder how practical, useful and effective in reality. All sounds rather like covering inadequacy and shortcomings with generous dollops of pr magic camouflage. Bet they have a committee for that, let’s hope the big words are not tested any time soon.
Could still integrate Storm Shadow, especially as we are building new inventories of them. If we can integrate them onto Soviet era Su-24s in Ukraine surely we can do that for an F-35 as well?
Yes, but that was needs must. The normal way makes sure it costs a fortune so the MIC cash in, my standard cynicism.
But, does it fit in a Bs internal weapons bay, and why would a stealth asset need Stormshadow with that long a stand off range? Surely Meteor, Spear 3, and an ASM are where we need to act.
Hi M8, Now turn that around and do the opposite, why bother buying more F35A at all, if you can avoid the need of a Stealth Aircraft by firing a long range stealthy missile. And let’s face it you aren’t stealthy in daylight no one has invented an invisibility cloud yet !
What concerns me is allthis emphasis on Stealth on Aircraft that by 2060 will be using 60 year old tech to hide in an aircraft that isn’t exactly top of the line in air to air ! Just remember the F117 was Stealthy until it wasn’t and someone figured out how to detect it and shoot one down.
Fact is the US MIC in the form of LM have so screwed up the software, broken so many promises and missed all their targets that the US just cancelled half of their yearly orders.
Life would have been so much easier if Cameloon and Odbourne had stuck it out converted the CAs and bought the F35C.
Well you know my view on the A purchase.
A simple gimik, and funding cut, dressed as news and an improvement.
4-2 to Scotland though!
If you think that UK weapons would have been intergrated any faster had we bought the C model, you are having delusions.
yes you can integrate just about integrate any weapon, but Locheed Martin is the gatekeeper, and US its biggest customer prefers to sell US weapons
Uk F35 b is amazing but toothless the minister meant to say
We make 15% of a plane that can’t use British weapons… something badly wrong there. I personally feel that we should suspend orders until such time as the F35 can fire British missiles – until it can it may be staelthy but it can’t do the job we want it for.
Let’s be real, we are by no means an important enough partner to the F-35 programme anymore to pull that stunt and expect anything from it.
The answer is simple, just purchase the AGM-158 JASSM off the shelf and job done!! Why in God’s name do our government make such a complicated mess and leave our pilots devoid of this capability when we could very easily have one of the best stand off missiles in the world
As usual we are completely “armless” in combat!!