F-35 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER IS A LEMON

[F16_Filur]

F-35: Pierre Sprey vs Lt Col David 'Chip' Berke debate | Dragon029
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pgiq-TlmSo

[F16_Filur]

Hehe, kul att läsa de gamla kommentarerna här efter flera år, särskilt när man hunnit glömma vad man skrivit. Har fortfarande svårt att se F-35 någonsin bli anpassad för krig, även om den säkert ett värde som "first strike" där användaren ej hunnit hamna under verklig press. Den är dyr och jag har sett siffror på att bara 50% kan hållas på linjen. Förstår inte hur den ska kunna mäta sig mot utvecklade varianter av våra "Eurocanards", Su-57 osv. Den som lever får se, och kanske sipprar det fram intressant info från våra norska användare efterhand. Postar igen 2040.

X32 Boeing's Joint Strike Fighter | The X Planes Series by PilotPhotog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWXTGAVWKsY

Intressanta kommentarer även om videon bara hunnit bli en dag gammal. Här är några utvalda.

nJuhNeer
för 2 timmar sedan
This is probably the most detailed, accurate account I have heard of this aircraft, with maybe one small exception:  the reason the X-32B could not achieve supersonic flight after an STO and before a VL is that the intake cowl was fixed in place rather than actuated fore and aft as originally intended.  The intake cowl was designed to translate forward, allowing higher intake airflow for slow takeoffs, hovering, and vertical landing.  Boeing had to remove the actuation from the prototype to offset hundreds of pounds of tools left in the wing box by disgruntled technicians during production.  As I recall, all the tooling was left in one side of the wing and ballast had to be added to the other side to restore the balance, but the added weight irreversibly threw off the design CG (fore/aft).

nJuhNeer
för 24 minuter sedan (redigerad)
FlyingBrickyard Truth is often stranger than fiction.  I worked on the X-32 program, and all of the above is true.  The wing box was the largest single bonded composite layup at the time, and after the upper and lower halves of the delta wing were joined, they couldn't be separated.  Mechanics dumped huge hand tools inside the wing box just before joining, after final inspections of the upper and lower wing sections.  Shortly after, they went on strike.

The problem wasn't discovered until the completed wing was weighed, and it came up several hundred pounds overweight.  X-ray analysis revealed the problem.  Engineers decided to drill a few small holes and inject potting into the wing to stabilize the loose tools.  Subsequently the balance issue was addressed by adding ballast to the opposite wingtip.  Only the X-32B was affected.

Elthenar
för 2 timmar sedan
The 35 was just a better design. The VTOL system was clearly better. It had none of the issues with ingesting hot gas and it was far easier on the flight decks. It also was able to have it's engine conventionally mounted, making the non VTOL versions better.
The 32 did have one big advantage, it would have been able to carry 6 air to air weapons by default. The 35 is scheduled for an upgrade to do the same but it still hasn't happened.

XYZ AERO
för 1 timme sedan
The X-35s lift fan is actually also 1000 Kg dead weight like lift engines. That is the reason why the F-35 B has no internal gun.

robert griffin (bästa kommentaren)
för 5 timmar sedan
I think both should have gotten a contract. X-32 was a cool if sorta ugly bird. Kinda like me!

Napolian Solo
för 5 timmar sedan
Thanks for making this video! I like the X32 cause it looks so much like a lifting body craft.

P Mullins
för 9 timmar sedan
One-airframe-fits-infinite combat-aviation needs, is a Big Lie. 
That's always corrupt-political Marketing Propaganda.

Daniele Delfino
för 7 timmar sedan
@PilotPhotog well... x32 is revolutionary tech on many aspects... its engine alone can take a video, but  at least some details about its closing exaust, or plans for its intake..

Bill Kong
för 6 timmar sedan
If you actually look at the plane without the intake it's very sleek. Could have been a good looking light fighter with two intakes and g404's. Doesn't look like they can accommodate a very big radar.

EliteF22
för 4 timmar sedan
The X-32 would have suffered the same the fate.  The requirement to build a common airframe for three services clusterf@@ked the JSF program from the start.  Just take a look at how much larger the F-35 is compared to the X-35 to see how much work remained to develop the tech demonstrators into combat aircraft.

Kabayoth
för 4 timmar sedan
If the X-35 has shown anything, the premise of the JSF program was severely flawed. The X-32 never had a chance. The notion of making either of these birds replace an A-10 is laughable. The do-everything concept turns into a cargo plane very quickly.
As much as I despise these two planes, I quite enjoy the content. Keep up the good work.

nJuhNeer
för 3 timmar sedan
The USAF and USN test pilots on this program said it handled great.  It would've made a great CTOL / CV aircraft.  I agree the tail redesign had nothing to do with its losing the competition.

Chris Huber
för 9 timmar sedan
Honestly, the tail wasnââ,¬â,,¢t the issue.  The intake and the limitations it put on the STOVL variant was its undoing.  It would have been a great carrier and land based fighter, but STOVL needed work.

Jason Lee
för 8 timmar sedan (redigerad)
It was internally nicknamed the Guppy. The "Monica" was a derogatory nickname given by test pilots who did not like it, and likened its large intake to the person at the focus of the  Presidential scandal that just completed.

Verkar som att den gamla dokumentären från 2003 tagits bort i tidigare länkar. Här är den igen från två olika uppladdare.

Battle Of The X-Planes (JSF documentary from 2003) - Lockheed X-35 / F-35 and Boeing X-32 | MDx media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_WPLeDmU6o

Battle Of The X-Planes (JSF documentary from 2003) - Lockheed X-35 / F-35 and Boeing X-32 (1:55:26) | Voldorac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-9ZfpjSyeM

Plus lite annat

2018/09 LECTURE: The X-35 vs X-32 - The F-35 Competitive Concept Demo | RAeS Heathrow Branch (ny för mig, ej sett än) (1:17:35)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTxUmxUYqcU

Boeing X-32A/B JSF competition video compilation (all videos) | MDx media (20 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUDIrnqJnHw

Understanding The Boeing X-32 | Military Matters (4:20 min lång, kort sammanfattning från uppladdaren)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpjsBe0880U

Boeingââ,¬â,,¢s F-32 Joint Strike Fighter is Better Than Lockheed Martinââ,¬â,,¢s F-35.? | All In One A-1 (intressant sammanfattning från 03:00 om hur slutvarianten skulle skilja sig mot prototypen)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZPrnKtuk1g

YF-23 The World's Only INVISIBLE airplane | InVisibleTechTV (reklam för en köpfilm "Web of secrecy. Black Widow II declassified.")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPgm-4TZ9Kk
Har ej sett denna på tuben men verkar extremt intressant. Uppladdningen är 9 år gammal. Länken www.yf23fighter.com funkar och leder sen till https://yf-23fighter.vhx.tv/ där man kan köpa eller hyra filmen digitalt för 3-5 USD. Länken till DVD funkar inte.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2044076/
Ok, en googling leder hit https://www.flixhouse.com/cat/documentaries/video/web-of-secrecy-yf-23-black-widow-ii-declassified?t= och det verkar exakt samma som från Western Museum nedan.

YF 23 black widow II | Western Museum of Flight (51 min, 4,9 mn visningar för 5 år sedan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYLiMYGBE2Q

[F16_Filur]

För att gå tillbaka till F-35 så (förutsatt att allt fungerar som tänkt) har jag svårt att se hur detta plan kan komma att behålla ett övertag mot exempelvis Gripen vad gäller omvärldsbild, "sensor-suite", sömlös uppgradering, datalänk, hjälmsikte, man machine interface osv. Allt detta kommer ju att uppgraderas på gen 4++-planen över de närmaste 20 åren, så även om F-35 för tillfället har något unikt med exempelvis DAS så finns stora chanser att andra system kommer ikapp där och att F-35 till och med laggar på en del systemområden jfr med konkurrenterna. Det verkar med andra ord som att det man betalar extra för är det kantiga stealth-skrovet, coating och de inre vapengömmorna. Skulle 20 års radarutveckling hos potentiella fiender seriöst förminska detta övertag så blir det en väldigt dyr pjäs att ha stående i hangaren. Märk väl att detta är sett från ett bästa tänkbara scenario där planet inte har en massa andra problem vilket verkar vara fallet. Att då basera HELA sitt flygvapen på detta system förefaller som vansinne. Tänk om det inte handlar om nato-uppdrag i samarbete om 1-2 decennier och varje land mer behöver försvara sig själv? Det jag kan se att den är bra på är att bomba välförsvarade högprioriterade mål, SAMÃ,´s och kanske funka bra som grupp i BVR-strid, men det är ju inget verkligt balanserat enhetsflygplan. Israel är ett intressant fall med två aktiva F-35-flottiljer och ett ganska litet antal införskaffade, 16 st räknat från sommaren 2019. Har även för mig de har någon inhemsk modifiering på sina, så de kan säkert motivera en användning för vissa delikata uppdrag de närmaste tio åren framåt, men 80-90% hos deras flygvapen utgörs av andra typer. Finlands val och utlåtande kring F-35 ska också blir intressant att ta del av.

En enkel googling gav följande nytt:

Här finns en intressant video på 6:42 (ej youtube eller vimeo) plus en massa relaterade artiklar och videos som jag ej orkat kolla på. Inga kommentarer. Verkar inte vara äldre än våren 2020.
https://www.defensenews.com/smr/hidden-troubles-f35/

Mer ingående om problemen när artikeln skrevs sommaren 2019 samt kommentarer
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019/06/12/supersonic-speeds-could-cause-big-problems-for-the-f-35s-stealth-coating/

The F-35B can fly for 80 cumulative seconds at Mach 1.2 or 40 seconds at Mach 1.3 without risking damage.

But for both the C and B models, flying at Mach 1.3 over the specified time limits poses the risk of inducing structural damage to the aircraftââ,¬â,,¢s horizontal stabilizer.
...
The concept of operations for the F-35 is to kill an enemy aircraft before it can detect the fighter jet, but relying on long-range kills is a perspective that, for historical and cultural reasons, naval aviation distrusts. In the Vietnam War, when air warfare began heavily relying on missiles and moved away from the forward gun, it caused a spike in air-to-air combat deaths.

The lesson naval aviation took away was to prevent the latest and greatest technology from offsetting the learning of fundamentals, and it was the impetus behind the formation of Top Gun 50 years ago, a naval strike fighter course for training and tactics development.
...
ââ,¬Å"If you want to use it on the first or second day [of a conflict], it has to be stealthy, so you canââ,¬â,,¢t hang a lot of external stores, which means you have to use internal fuel and internal weapons. And that means you have to launch fairly close in and youââ,¬â,,¢ve got to be close enough to do something to somebody. And that usually means you are in a contested environment,ââ,¬Â the aviator said.

ââ,¬Å"So youââ,¬â,,¢re saying that I canââ,¬â,,¢t operate in a contested environment unless you can guarantee that Iââ,¬â,,¢m going to be however far away from the thing Iââ,¬â,,¢m trying to kill,ââ,¬Â the aviator added. ââ,¬Å"If I had to maneuver to defeat a missile, maneuver to fight another aircraft, the plane could have issues moving. And if I turn around aggressively and get away from these guys and use the afterburner, it starts to melt or have issues.ââ,¬Â

The issue is compounded for the Navy, which must operate forward for months at a time, because any significant issues with coatings or the structure of aircraft would require a depot-level repair. And so a damaged aircraft would remain damaged until its host ship return to home port, reducing the combat effectiveness of the air wing.

ââ,¬Å"We might have to be operating at sea for eight months, so if you damage something on week one, guess what? Itââ,¬â,,¢s damaged for the rest of the deployment. And it affects your ability to evade detection by the enemy ââ,¬â€ you just degraded that asset permanently until you can get it somewhere where it can be fixed, at great expense and time,ââ,¬Â the aviator said.

However, a naval aviator currently in service said the afterburner problem may not be that troubling to pilots, who must frequently work around a jetââ,¬â,,¢s limitations. The key, he said, is understanding how often the issue occurs.

"I think you'd do well to go back and look at all the times they used the afterburner and that didn't happen," he said. "We're talking about tens of thousands of sorties at this point that this aircraft has flown."

Other aircraft that the Navy operates also have afterburner limits, he explained.

ââ,¬Å"I think that number needs context,ââ,¬Â he said. "It looks scary on its own, but [the Super Hornet] has afterburner limits. Theyââ,¬â,,¢re not that restrictive, but they have them. The aircraft has an afterburner, you want it to work.

Finns en siffra på 2200 km (F-35A) för hur långt man kan flyga på det interna bränslet.

A German company says its invented a new radar it says it capable of detecting the radar-evading F-35.The radar, TwInvis, reportedly tracked two F-35s for 93 miles. The radar relies on sorting out radio signals bouncing off aircraft, allowing it to detect aircraft designed to evade radar.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a29307410/radar-tracking-f-35/

C4ISRNet reports that two U.S. Air Force F-35As visited Germany in 2018 to participate in the Berlin Air Show. Hensoldt set up a TwInvis radar system at the air show...but the F-35s never took off. However, the company did also set up one of the radar sets downrange of the airport and caught the planes taking off, tracking them for 150 kilometers (93 miles).

For now, TwInvis is only really useful as an early warning radar, warning defenders of a stealth fighterââ,¬â,,¢s approach. TwInvisââ,¬â,,¢ radar is not sophisticated enough, at least not yet, to guide radar-guided missiles. But the article notes it could provide enough location data for an infrared guided missile (like the AIM-9X Sidewinder) to search for a targetââ,¬â,,¢s hot engine exhaust.

The technology sounds promising, but there were a number of factors that helped TwInvis detect the F-35s. One, they knew when the F-35s were coming and were able to use the signals from the jetsââ,¬â,,¢ ADS-B transponders to help identify the aircraft. In wartime, adversaries will not know the planes are coming and ADS-B emitters will be turned off.

...

TwInvis could be part of a package of complementary systems designed to help detect stealth aircraft. It is also apparently the only system that can detect the F-35 at 93 milesââ,¬â€it would be a mistake to rule it out just yet. As the radar develops and operators refine their tactics, it could become even more effective.

Kort artikel som nämner några problem, men de repeteras i de andra artiklarna
https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-still-struggling-with-more-than-dozen-big-problems-2019-6?r=US&IR=T


Sist en mer totalt positiv beskrivning från en av piloterna och även en intervjuvideo på ca 4 min.

An F-35 Pilot Explains What It's Like to Fly the Joint Strike Fighter.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a26630729/f-35-pilot/

Lots of people love the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, one of the most advanced, stealthiest warplanes on the planet. And lots of people loathe it, pointing to the ballooning costs and arguing America's newest fighter is more flash than function. But what's it like to fly it?
...
ââ,¬Å"The first time I saw an F-35 was in 2015 at Nellis AFB [in Nevada],ââ,¬Â Lee recalls. ââ,¬Å"They were new and sleek, albeit a bit husky. Their clamshell canopy along with the pilotââ,¬â,,¢s Darth Vader helmet stood out. Looking into the cockpit I could see what looked like a massive iPad on the dashboard...the memory of [the F-35] taxing by is definitely seared in the back of my mind.ââ,¬Â
...
ââ,¬Å"I flew F-16ââ,¬â,,¢s for seven years before I had the opportunity to cross over,ââ,¬Â Lee continues. ââ,¬Å"F-35ââ,¬â,,¢s were number one on my list of around 20 different assignments.ââ,¬Â

Lee accumulated nearly 400 hours of combat flight time with the F-16 Fighting Falcon before flying the F-35. Today, though, up-and-coming pilots have a much more direct route. Last year, the U.S. Air Force graduated its first class of what the fighter pilot community calls ââ,¬Å"5th-gen babies.ââ,¬Â These fledging aviators were born into the world of the F-35 and its array of advanced systems. ââ,¬Å"They havenââ,¬â,,¢t had to endure some of the frustrations, such as an old mechanically scanned radar, that come with fourth generation fighters,ââ,¬Â Lee says.
...
ââ,¬Å"I can remember my first day when the base commander gave us a pep talk and then asked us how many wanted to be fighter pilots,ââ,¬Â says Lee. ââ,¬Å"All 30 of us raised our hands, to which he replied ââ,¬Ëœgood luckââ,¬â,,¢ and walked out of the room.ââ,¬Â

Lee went on to fly the T-6 high-performance prop plane for six months until seven pilots were picked for the ââ,¬Å"fighter track.ââ,¬Â For another six months, these seven freshman pilots cut their teeth on T-38 supersonic jet trainers. After a year of flying, only four out of a class of 30 had the right stuff to become a fighter pilot.
...
ââ,¬Å"The F-35 buttons and software were derived in large part from the F-16,ââ,¬Â he says. ââ,¬Å"There are more buttons, and each one has more functions, but in general, each one does something similar to what it did in the F-16.ââ,¬Â

Familiar or not, the first flight inside $100 million worth of state secrets makes even a seasoned fighter pilot sweat. ââ,¬Å"There are no two-seat versions of the F-35. The first time you fly, youââ,¬â,,¢re by yourself,ââ,¬Â says Lee. ââ,¬Å"As soon as you take off, the only person that can bring the jet back and land is you."

He continues: ââ,¬Å"Once you become proficient in flying a fighter we call it ââ,¬Ëœstrapping the jet on our backsââ,¬â,,¢ because it feels like you and the jet are one entity. My first flight was far from it and each switch actuation took several seconds to consciously think aboutââ,¬â€which in the air, flying a mile every 6 seconds, feels like minutes on the ground.ââ,¬Â
...
While many parts of a mission easily translate from an old warbird to the new one, the F-35 offers a never-before-seen level of streamlined situational awareness. The F-35ââ,¬â,,¢s low-radar observability may be the planeââ,¬â,,¢s flashiest capability, but pilots love how the F-35 fuses data from multiple sources into a single field of view. Itââ,¬â,,¢s really what separates the aircraft from anything thatââ,¬â,,¢s flown before (nja  ).

ââ,¬Å"In the F-16, each sensor was tied to a different screen...often the sensors would show contradictory informationââ,¬Â says Lee. ââ,¬Å"The F-35 fuses everything into a green dot if itââ,¬â,,¢s a good guy and a red dot if itââ,¬â,,¢s a bad guyââ,¬â€ itââ,¬â,,¢s very pilot-friendly. All the information is shown on a panoramic cockpit display that is essentially two giant iPads.ââ,¬Â

The F-35's ability to integrate all that information into an easy-to-interpret display doesnââ,¬â,,¢t just benefit one pilot. As Lee points out, that integrated feed improves the situational awareness of any other aircraft around an F-35.

ââ,¬Å"Advanced sensors, sensor fusion, and networking capabilities allow us to be the ââ,¬Ëœquarterbackââ,¬â,,¢ in the air,ââ,¬Â Lee says. ââ,¬Å"Because ââ,¬Ëœ4th-genââ,¬â,,¢ fighters will be around for several decades, a significant part of our job is maximizing their potential. We can let them know where the enemy is by voice or over the network.ââ,¬Â
(KANSKE DEN VETTIGASTE UPPGIFTEN FÖR F-35?)

The F-35 also received iPhone-like software updates and patches that translate directly into added capabilities and improved performance in the physical world. Lee says that the aircraftââ,¬â,,¢s software wouldnââ,¬â,,¢t permit the F-35 to turn nearly as hard as its air frame allowed until just such a software update last year. In five to 10 years' time, the F-35 might look the same, but its performance will be almost unrecognizable.

ââ,¬Å"Some may argue that certain ââ,¬Ëœ4th genââ,¬â,,¢ attributes are better today, but they arenââ,¬â,,¢t looking 10 years into the future,ââ,¬Â says Lee. ââ,¬Å"Those platforms are over 40 years old. Theyââ,¬â,,¢ve been phenomenal workhorses but iterative improvements aren't going to win a high-end conflict in the 2030s.ââ,¬Â (FINNS ETT PROBLEM MED DET RESONEMANGET DÅ USA KALLAR PLAN UTVECKLADE I SLUTET PÅ 60- SAMT BÖRJAN PÅ 70-TALET FÖR FJÄRDE GENERATION MEDAN JAG TIDIGARE HÖRT FLYGVAPNET ANGE DE SYSTEM SOM BLEV OPERATIVA PÅ 90-TALET SOM FJÄRDE GENERATION. JA37 SKULLE DÅ LIGGA PÅ EXTREM FRAMKANT SOM VAPENSYSTEM BETRAKTAT BLAND ÖVRIGA 3:E GEN SOM F-16, F-18, F-15, MIRAGE 2000 OSV. DRAKEN, PHANTOM, F-104 MFL SKULLE RÄKNAS SOM 2:A GEN OCH ALLA ÖVRIGA SOM TUNNAN, VAMPIRE, ME-262, MIG-15, F-86 SOM 1:A GEN MED DÅ LANSEN SOM EN ÖVERLAPPANDE FAS. SOM PIERRE SPREY NÄMNDE TIDIGARE HÄR, DET HÄR GENERATIONSSNACKET ÄR BARA "MARKETING", MEN MED USA-TERMINOLOGI SÅ BORDE GRIPEN, RAFALE OCH EUROFIGHTER VARA GEN 4+. F-22 OCH F-35 borde EGENTLIGEN KALLAS GEN 4+ MED STEALTHSKROV.)

These new updates mean pilots must stay on top of these changes. Failing to study up on the latest update could mean ââ,¬Å"being left behindââ,¬Â says Lee, or even life-threatening. But its these steady flow of updatesââ,¬â€along with its stealth and sensor fusion chopsââ,¬â€that make the F-35 the new apex hunter of the skies. (SEKTLIKNANDE SKRIVBORDSSNACK VÄLDIGT LÅNGT FRÅN KRIGETS VERKLIGHET  )

ââ,¬Å"The reason the F-15 and F-16 have remained relevant for so long is because they were a forward-leaning departure from 3rd-gen fighters," says Lee. (TVÅ BRA DOGFIGHTERS SOM LAGGADE LITE BAKOM JA37 SYSTEMMÄSSIGT, MEN DE SAKNAR TEX FÖRMÅGAN TILL SÖMLÖSA UPPGRADERINGAR, OCH TYPISKA AMERIKANSKA MANÉR ÄR JU ATT KLUMPA IHOP DESSA MED BETYDLIGT MODERNARE EUROPEISKA NOSVINGEPLAN DÄR DENNA BEGRÄNSNING INTE GÄLLER. ANTINGEN PGA OKUNNIGHET, MARKETING ELLER BÅDA DELAR. UAEÃ,´S F-16 BLOCK 60 SKA FÖR ÖVRIGT VARA DEN VASSASTE VERSIONEN NÅGNSIN LEVERERAD OCH BÄTTRE ÄN DEN BLOCK 70 SOM ERBJÖDS INDIEN SENAST. VAR ETT TAG SEN JAG LÄSTE OM DETTA OCH HITTAR INTE KÄLLAN JUST NU, MEN VÄRT ATT SÖKA PÅ.)

[F16_Filur]

Ex Block 60
https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/the-uaes-f-16-block-60-desert-falcon-fleet-04538/

The most advanced F-16s in the world arenââ,¬â,,¢t American. That distinction belongs to the UAE, whose F-16 E/F Block 60s are a half-generation ahead of the F-16 C/D Block 50/52+ aircraft that form the backbone of the US Air Force, and of many other fleets around the world. The Block 60 has been described as a lower-budget alternative to the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, and thereââ,¬â,,¢s a solid argument to be made that their performance figures and broad sensor array will even keep them ahead of pending F-16 modernizations in countries like Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore.
...
Block 60: Political Issues
In the course of development, 2 key issues came up with respect to the F-16 Block 60. One was the familiar issue of source code control for key avionics and electronic warfare systems. The other was weapons carriage.

As a rule, the software source codes that program the electronic-warfare, radar, and data buses on US fighters are too sensitive for export. Instead, the USA sent the UAE ââ,¬Å"object codesââ,¬Â (similar to APIs), which allow them to add to the F-16ââ,¬â,,¢s threat library on their own.

The other issue concerned the Black Shahine derivative of MBDAââ,¬â,,¢s Storm Shadow external link stealth cruise missile. The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) defines 300 km as the current limit for cruise missiles, and the terms of the sale allow the United States to regulate which weapons the F-16s can carry. Since the Black Shahine was deemed to have a range of over 300 km, the US State Department refused to let Lockheed Martin change the data bus to permit the F-16E/Fs to carry the missile.

The Mirage 2000-9 upgrades that the UAE developed with France addressed this issue, giving the UAE a platform capable of handling their new acquisition. As of 2013, UAE F-16E/F fighters will finally receive the SLAM-ER precision attack missile, giving them the shorter-range but very accurate strike capabilities.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29897/heres-what-the-ball-on-the-nose-of-uaes-block-60-f-16e-f-desert-falcon-does

The F-16E/F is an F-16, but it is one unlike any other F-16 variant in the world. The aircraft is more of a redevelopment of sorts the F-16 than just another incremental upgrade. Originally, when the program spun up in the 1990s, with an order eventually being placed for 80 advanced F-16s in 1998, the aircraft was going to be an even more drastic redesign of the F-16, similar to how Japan's F-2 fighter came to be, but with a large delta wing and other aerodynamic tweaks.

That ambitious concept was jettisoned in favor of drastically enhancing the Block 50/52 F-16C/D Viper. In the end, just developing the F-16E/F cost the UAE a whopping $3B, with the first jet taking to the skies in December of 2003. Years of testing and training would follow, with the first aircraft delivered to the UAE beginning in May of 2005. In total, the force consists of 55 single-seat F-16Es and 25 two-seat F-16Fs, the latter of which include fully missionized rear cockpits. Now very mature, the F-16E/F fleet is already undergoing a series of upgrades.

The Block 60 includes a load of enhancements. It has conformal fuel tanks like some of its late-block predecessors, but its F110-GE-132 General Electric turbofan puts out 32,000lbs of thrust. That's 3,000lbs more than the Block 50's F110-GE-129. It was built with Northrop Grumman's AN/APG-80 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system, which was at the time of introduction into service, and still is, incredibly capable. You can read about the benefits of fighter-sized AESAs in this past piece of ours, but for the F-16, which is something of the hallmark of multi-role fighters, being able to perform multiple modes, such as air-to-air and air-to-ground, simultaneously and seamlessly equals a massive leap in capability and situational awareness.

The jet also has an advanced defensive countermeasures and situational awareness system called the Falcon Edge Integrated Electronic Warfare Suite (IEWS). It includes an active jamming system and passive electronic support measures that provide enhanced situational awareness of radio-frequency threats in the jet's vicinity. It can geolocate those threats and allow the F-16E/F to rapidly target them with precision-guided munitions. It has no less than eight expendable countermeasure dispensers that are tied into its self-defense system and it is also capable of controlling towed fiber-optic decoys. It isn't perfectly clear, but the Block 60 appears to have been built with a missile approach warning system, or at least the ability to be fitted with one, as well.

The Block 60's cockpit was also a big upgrade over the Block 50/52. Three large flat panel displays replace the old smaller multi-function and analog display layout. A wide-angle HUD with holographic video projection capability is also fitted. The rear cockpits of the F models are built for two-crew combat operations, with displays and interfaces to support it. Advanced data links and highly-secure, beyond-line-of-sight communications systems are also installed on these jets, as well. The Desert Falcon was built with a new and greatly improved environmental control system (ECS) to reliably cool all these electrical systems even in the extreme desert heat.