F-35 JSF Sensors – the Most Valuable Electronics Programs Ever?

Teal Group Corp.’s Senior Analyst Dr. David L. Rockwell has updated all F-35 JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) sensor programs in Teal’s Military Electronics Briefing, including detailed analysis based on the most recent DoD sources and documents: January 2022’s Director of OT&E report, the FY23 DoD budget released in April 2022, the GAO’s annual F-35 report publicly released on 25 April 2022, and the Congressional Research Service (CRS) report updated on 2 May 2022. The MEB includes three reports discussing the major F-35 sensor systems for EO/IR, Radar, and Electronic Warfare/SIGINT.

These three major programs will each be the largest military electronics program ever in their respective areas. The F-35 APG-81 radar and MIRFS avionics systems may also be the largest military electronics program of all time. Combined, these three reports in the MEB will account for a total of at least $67.4 billion of RDT&E and procurement funding over the next ten years – worth more than $7.5 billion annually beginning in the middle of this decade. And the subcontracting opportunities will be huge.

The F-35 JSF’s EO/IR (Electro-Optical/InfraRed) system was developed as a fully integrated system comprising a distributed aperture missile warning/situational awareness/IRST (InfraRed Search and Track) system and a targeting FLIR/IRST. The two components for past and current F-35s are Northrop Grumman’s AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System (DAS) and Lockheed Martin’s AN/AAQ-40 Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS).

In June 2018, Lockheed Martin chose Raytheon to develop and deliver the Next Generation DAS for the F-35, with initial production planned for Lot 15 JSFs. Lockheed Martin is developing the Advanced EOTS in-house, an evolutionary system planned to be available for the F-35’s Block 4 software upgrade.

Teal Group forecasts the Next Generation DAS and Advanced EOTS programs – for all new production JSFs as well as upgrades to pre-Lot 15 aircraft – will be worth more than $2.4 billion every year after the middle of this decade (when added to legacy DAS/EOTS funding) – to be worth a total of $20.4 billion in our ten-year forecast period. Teal Group forecasts there will never, ever, be a bigger EO/IR program, and subcontracting opportunities will be huge.

The MIRFS (Multi-Function Integrated RF System) is the integrated avionics system developed for the F-35. The most important and expensive sensor in MIRFS is the AN/APG-81 MFA (Multi-Function Nose Array), which includes an active electronically-scanned array (AESA) that functions as the antenna for the JSF radar as well as for communications and electronic support measures (ESM) systems.

Teal Group forecasts APG-81 MIRFS/MFA funding will exceed $3 billion every year from the middle of this decade to the beginning of the next, but this massive annual amount may then drop off if air forces cut back F-35 orders (and total procurement numbers) sooner than planned today, as we suspect is likely (discussed in detail in the Military Electronics Briefing). But in our ten-year forecast period, the vital MIRFS/MFA system for the F-35 will be worth $27.4 billion overall – one of the largest, if not the largest, military electronics programs in the world. And, of course, subcontracting opportunities will be huge.

Finally, The F-35 JSF EW (Electronic Warfare) Suite (now designated AN/ASQ-239) was designed by BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman to integrate the stealthy JSF design with low-observable sensors including within-wing-mounted antennas and other stealthy and internal systems such as the AN/ALE-70 Towed Decoy and other largely classified EW systems. The ALE-70 is an internal countermeasures dispenser system providing self-protection against radar guided missiles as well as SEAD/DEAD (Suppression/Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses) “Wild Weasel” capabilities – a capability which would be First-Day Crucial for any conflict with Russia or China, and which has not been fully available to U.S. forces since the retirement of the last F-4G in 1996.

According to JSF prime Lockheed Martin, “Advanced electronic warfare capabilities enable the F-35 to locate and track enemy forces, jam radio frequencies, and disrupt attacks with unparalleled precision.” All three variants of the F-35 (A/B/C) carry APG-81 AESA radars with sophisticated electronic attack capabilities, providing false targets, network attack, advanced jamming, and algorithm-packed data streams. Combined with the ASQ-239, according to Lockheed this combined system allows the F-35 to reach well-defended targets and suppress enemy radars. In addition, the ASQ-239 provides fully integrated radar warning, targeting support and self-protection, to detect and defeat surface and airborne threats. In sum, “While F-35 is capable of stand-off jamming for other aircraft – providing 10 times the effective radiated power of any legacy fighter – F-35s can also operate in closer proximity to the threat (‘stand-in’) to provide jamming power many multiples that of any legacy fighter.”

Teal Group forecasts F-35 JSF EW Suite (AN/ASQ-239) funding will exceed $2 billion every year from the middle of this decade to the beginning of the next. In our ten-year forecast period, the vital EW Suite for the F-35 will be worth $19.6 billion overall – one of the largest, if not the largest, electronic warfare programs in the world. Again… subcontracting opportunities will be huge.

For full details, analysis, numbers, and forecasts, see Teal Group’s Military Electronics Briefing.