AIN Defense Perspective » September 12, 2014
by Bill Carey
The U.S. Navy plans to declare the F-35C operational in 2018. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
September 9, 2014, 5:51 PM
Modifying the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter is part of what the U.S. Navy wants to discuss with contractors in a series of “technical interchange meetings” before it develops an analysis of alternatives (AoA) for a future carrier-based strike fighter.
In a September 9 solicitation, the Naval Air Systems Command (Navair) invited companies to participate in the meetings “for the purposes of trade space refinement” before it begins the AoA process next year. Navair said the solicitation is an addendum to the
request for information (RFI) it issued in April 2012 for the FA-XX requirement to replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and its EA-18G Growler derivative in the 2030 timeframe. The RFI described the future fighter as “complementary” to the F-35C carrier variant, which the Navy plans to declare operational in 2018, and an unmanned platform as envisioned by the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UClass) effort.
The RFI addendum states that technical meetings will focus on several areas, one of which is “modification of current platforms (F/A-18 and F-35C).” Among other areas of discussion will be a new start aircraft, recommended mission systems and future avionics technologies, and legacy versus new-start weapons.