In what could be an important step to significantly increase the electronic warfare capabilities of the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter, the Pentagon just awarded Lockheed Martin a $97.3 million contract to integrate AGM-88G High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles across all F-35 variants. It will put higher capability in suppressing and destroying enemy air defenses with the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as international F-35 program participants.
The AGM-88 HARM is a high-speed, air-to-ground tactical missile meant to neutralize enemy radars and air defense systems, which have already shown their worth in Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have successfully utilized the missile in suppressing the Russian air defenses, a contribution that no doubt will be critical in modern warfare. Its integration into the F-35 fleet is aimed at ensuring a robust stock of anti-radar munitions, hence providing a great tactical advantage.
The work under the contract with Lockheed Martin is for reprogramming all the newest lots of F-35 aircraft. From its origin on the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the AGM-88 HARM is now the multi-platform AGM-88e Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile for use on the F-35 series, F/A-18 Hornet, Super Hornet, and E/A-18G Growler.
The push to modify the AGM-88 HARMs for the F-35 likely emanates from a need to ensure stocks of anti-radar munitions are ready while the much more advanced AAGM-88E production ramps up. The AGM-88 HARM, which is capable of supersonic speeds and has a reach of up to 30 miles for targets, is one of the heavier-hitting pieces in the arsenal of the U.S. and its allies.
The conflict in Ukraine has once more brought to the fore the prominence of electronic warfare in modern combat. Sure enough, both Ukrainian and Russian forces are using their respective electronic warfare systems intending to locate, target, destroy, and degrade each other’s capabilities. The Pentagon has sent an unspecified number of AGM-88 HARMs to Kyiv, where Ukrainian maintainers modified their Soviet-origin aircraft to be compatible with the missile. This has enabled the Ukrainian Air Force to successfully conduct air defense system suppression to enable follow-on strikes.
In addition to the integration of the AGM-88G, the Pentagon on June 1 awarded Lockheed Martin a $26.7 million contract to develop a structural modification for the F-35 that enhances its SEAD/DEAD capabilities. This retrofit design will be installed on both U.S. and foreign F-35s in Lots 14 and 15, a process expected to be completed by August 2022. The modification will allow the F-35 to conduct “full up” SEAD and DEAD missions, detecting, fixing, and attacking ground-based air defense threats.
The F-35’s ASQ-239 electronic warfare suite passively detects enemy air defense system emissions and geolocates these targets in concert with the F-35’s other systems. Air Force leaders emphasized that the F-35, with its stealth capabilities, will become the main platform for SEAD/DEAD missions in the coming decade, a role currently performed by the F-16 with the HARM.
Lockheed Martin’s integration of the AGM-88G AARGM-ER with the F-35 represents a significant capability milestone for the aircraft. The AARGM-ER is a precision-guided munition developed to detect and destroy air defense radars, and it will enhance the F-35’s ability to survive in high-intensity conflict radio frequencies. Development of this integration effort has been in progress for several years and will include all three variants of the F-35 operated by the USA and its allies.
The US Navy has been working to integrate the AARGM-ER with its Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler carrier-based fighters, with the service having completed several successful test fires already in 2021. Separately, the US Air Force is developing an iteration of its own, known as the Stand-in Attack Weapon, but the work with the existing AARGM-ER where it concerns the F-35A will provide joint air and naval forces with an additional capability for the suppression of enemy air defenses.
The F-35’s growing electronic warfare capability will pay huge dividends in obtaining air superiority and tip the scales in very many operations to come.