F-35 Block 4 : 5 most important upgrades !

The F-35 fighter is the technically most advanced fighter jet currently in serial production.
It is capable of performing a diverse array of missions, from air-to-air combat to precision bombing to radar jamming to intelligence gathering. With 16 countries having committed to purchasing it, the advanced jet is receiving widespread acceptance across various nations.
While the original configuration is very well thought out, it will need significant upgrades to maintain its edge as the fighter will be operating till 2070.

In line with this, the Joint Program Office has begun executing the most ambitious round of upgrades since the fighter’s inception two decades ago, called Block 4.

Block 4 will introduce over 75 major upgrades to the fighter.

In this video, Defense Updates analyzes how F-35 is getting much more lethal ?

#defenseupdates #F35 #f35lightning

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[BV-frbf]

35% increase in range would have been GREAT for F-35Cs (US Navy)

[Dethrey_]

1300 km range for electronic warfare capabilities from the new F35 upgrades in 2023. Heck we will take it, excellent news.

[puirYorick]

Thanks for reading those press kits for us.

[johnmcdonald-]

How could you not talk about aim-260. It’s literally in final stages of testing and will be on aircraft in the near future.

[GM-fhjp]

The new adaptive cycle engines are for NGAD and its Navy brother.
Be nice to have them in the F35 but I'll bet THAT would have been expensive.
Those big numbers on range and thrust will certainly be eye watereringly expensive, I suspect.

[RobertReg]

Great stuff! My fav was tracking missiles @ 1000+ miles

[NinjaKiller]

These upgrades are always welcome. The 6th Gen is right around the corner as well, and I’m pretty sure the US is hard at work on building the framework for the 7th gen fighters.

[philchristmas]

The already dominant F-35 just got even more dominant. 🇺🇸💪

[MrWhiskers]

I guess it’s a good thing Canada is getting the F-35 block 4? Phew!😊

[ericclausen]

This upgrade will make em the killers they were meant to be and the doubling of air to air missile's was nice

[myplane]

I was completely flabbergasted when they decided not to go with the Hybrid option from GE. I'm guessing there were numerous issues with the powerplant outside of what we (the public) were told for them to have cancelled what seems like a no brainer. Adding a third more range to the F-35C would have been a game changer and an F-35 that can go Mach 2... I just don't get it???

[tonysu]

Some interesting detail in this video but doesn't actually describe why Block 4 is supposed to a more significant upgrade than all previous upgrades.
My understanding is that ordinary upgrades can be performed on a regular schedule without too much trouble due to the F-35's somewhat revolutionary architecture where all software is modular and easily replaceable and most hardware is similarly modular and replaceable. Block 4 is an upgrade where hardware is being changed and installed which ordinarily can't fit into a previous technology. There might be different dimensions that can't be avoided, different physical connections, maybe a completely different way to basic architecture how pieces interact with each other. When these kinds of changes need to take place, you can't simply slip out the old and slip in the new, some extensive surgery is required. One major upgrade was mentioned in this video that is an example of not simply replacing the old with new, and that is increasing the weapons bay capacity from 2 to 3 mounts each (2 bays). That probably requires replacing all the mounts completely and wiring new harnesses and other connections that didn't exist before. I believe another new Block 4 feature that wasn't mentioned in this video are conformal fuel tanks.

Yes, that adaptive engine technology that GE proposed would have been nice but sounds like it was way too expensive at a time when the F-35 is trying to be operated and sold less expensively. Adaptive engine technology isn't dead but is being predicted to be ready by sometime in the mid 2030's. The concept is interesting, instead of how fanjet engines work today which is mostly a one-speed that you either feed more or less fuel, the engine has what might be thought of as a complex transmission that can adjust for different desired levels of performance vs efficiency so that when cruising the engine can run lean while when power is needed, the engine can run rich. There's undoubtedly a lot more than just fuel mixture but the idea is to get more of what's desired only when needed.

[ericclausen]

Make a really long range missile's that would still be stealthy with two longer range missile's and I hope everyone of them is upgraded by now

[Valokaari]

I am geeking out that Finland bought this, Block 4 & TR3, F35!! I bet the eastern neighbor likes that very much now that Finland's F35s will be linked with other NATO systems!

[cmputar]

Sad that the F35 won’t be getting the new adaptive cycle engine.

Might be for the best, you never know what such a dramatic upgrade could do. Block 4 already has many many pretty crazy upgrades.

In 10-20 years the airforce will likely revisit this question when they start pushing up against power and cooling limits involved with future upgrades.

In the meantime, this choice is going to make the 6th generation fighters even more OP in comparison to the F35.

[ramonpunsalang]

GE is likely the favorite to supply the engine for NGAD, leveraging tech done for the proposed F-35 engine upgrade.

[galvinstanley]

I'm sure they are already working on block 5 right now, for the next upgrades.

[HDramboDwango]

Why are they using Meteor when the AMRAAM 240 is coming and the Peregrine missile and upgraded Aim 9x?

[verdebusterAP]

Hence why the F-35 is the best around. If the USAF and USN give the NGAD and FA/XX the same road map, they would be just as good

[madkabal]

So what Critreia will these jets need to reach order for them to be named F-35D F-35E after the upgrades?