Arguably, the most advanced fighter platform in the world today is the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. It is going to be quite shocking under the headline configuration “Beast Mode,” where it will carry 22,000 pounds of internal and external armament, massively increasing its lethality and capability in places where air defense is denied.
This illustration from Lockheed Martin dates back to 2017. It showed the F-35 in what was released, that now-infamous term, “stealth mode,” where it did not carry any ordnance on the outside of its wings to help keep that part of its radar signature reduced, up against “Beast Mode”: F-35 in stealth mode, up to 5,700 pounds carried internally. But this can somehow be addressed in the Beast Mode setup, which allows a much larger load of up to 22,000 pounds in combined weight of air-to-air and air-to-ground munition. “This is the best configuration for situations where the ordnance has to be dropped as soon as possible, with the stealth properties the least critical factor,” said Group Captain Mathew Harper, this time as the Commanding Officer of the No. 35 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force.
“This design feature allows Australian F-35As to be adapted to suit the threat environment and operational requirements. This ‘Beast Mode’ would most likely be used in less contested environments where rapid employment of ordnance is prioritized over maximizing the F-35A’s stealth capabilities,” said Harper.
Generally speaking, “Beast Mode” is used once air supremacy has been won and radar detection becomes almost a secondary concern. The F-35, for its size, carries a huge amount of firepower across six external pylons on the wings and across its internal bomb bay to fit a variety of missions.
The new video was being distributed over most social media pages like Reddit or Instagram. It shows an F-35 releasing five air-to-ground weapons at one go to attack an exactly moving target at the bottom of the post. An Instagram account, RAF 17Sqn post, dated November 28, 2018, where the weapons are exactly employed to attack a moving target that is said to move at almost 40 mph.
Defense expert Ian D’Costa commented that the video shows most likely that the F-35 dropped five Paveway IVs and then got a “Good Effect on Target” (GEOT). Regardless of the specific location of the test, this video is going to show how the F-35 is starting to come into the role of live test.
The enormous internal payload capacity of the F-35 will enable the retention of low observables, “stealth” to be retained for the early phases of a conflict. As enemy air defenses are neutralized, the aircraft would have the ability to transition to externally carried precision strike munitions, which increase their radar signature, thus allowing heavier offensive operations.
And for critics who have often questioned how the F-35 will work in a contested environment, there is already an operational note of success, with the aircraft being used by the Israeli Air Force and US Marines in combat in 2018. Confronted with two drones, an F-35 launched on a go-it-alone mission using the revolutionary AIM-120 AMRAAMs and their advanced targeting systems to intercept drones.
Targeting cost and maintainability issues, the F-35 has registered numerous developmental and operational advancements, despite a few criticisms. The airplane still is a forceful asset that can bring its advanced features into versatile applications, even today amidst modern warfare.
Being one of three variants, the F-35C is designed from the bottom up to be an invisible fighter of the deep, able to perform from naval aircraft carriers. It brings inherent sensors, internal fuel, and weapon capability, thanks to the state-of-the-art manufacturing processes that are a staple of VL-O performance. These functions add to the lethality and survivability of the aircraft in a more contentious environment.
So much of this is hypothetical, though, because the “Beast Mode” in question right now is only 16 air-to-air missiles for Lockheed Martin, and it isn’t developed. Still, the notion that the strike fighters could serve as an arsenal ship for other stealthy fighters would be something fairly compelling for further follow-up.
In a nutshell, this is an F-35 “Beast Mode” that enables extreme flexibility and firepower on one aircraft: a must-have tool in the present-day battlefield environment. Where technology is developed and so is the F-35, it keeps on making the future of air combat the best.