Doha Profile picture
Jun 26 18 tweets 7 min read Read on X
The F-35's datalink capabilities (1/18) 🧵

The F-35 has 2 primary data links. They are Link 16 and MADL. I'll go over the general stuff and focus more on MADL here since people are kinda familiar with Link 16. + some extra stuff Image
Both Link 16 and MADL are 2 major parts of Northrop's ASQ-242 integrated Communication, Navigation, and Identification system (CNI). CNI was designed to give F-35 advanced communication capabilities, and in total, it includes more than 27 functionalities. Image
Link 16 is the standard datalink for NATO. it operates in the UHF spectrum and uses omni/multi-directional UHF radios to transmit things. Those things can be imageries, tracks of airborne targets, messages, etc. When communicating or sharing things with 4th gen aircraft, AWACS, Image
or most assets, the F-35 will use Link 16. It's good and reliable but has downsides such as slow speed, uses UHF frequencies (kind of an old technique for data transmission), more susceptible to jamming (compared to MADL), limited output, and higher probability of detection/int Image
Then there's the F-35's own unique datalink called the MADL

MADL is a low probability of intercept/detection (LPI/D) datalink that operates in Ku-band (12–18GHz IEEE definition) & utilizes more modern communication tech. It was designed for F-35 to communicate with each other
Image
Image
Unlike the omni directional Link 16, MADL shares data in tight, laser like, narrow direction with high bandwidth. This makes MADL much harder to detect/jam while allowing a much higher volume of data to be transferred.
The full capabilities are unknown, but essentially, it does all the main/key things that Link 16 does but more, better, and faster.

A total of 6 MADL antennas can be seen around the aircraft, and together, they provides spherical coverage.


Image
Image
Image
Image
F-35 multiship communication (data sharing/communication between a flight of 4-6 aircraft):
Image
Image
MADL can also be used by the EW suite (Barracuda) to do EW together with other F-35's Image
MADL was originally designed for F-35 to communicate w each other, but it can also be used to send data to some other assets. Similar to Link 16, MADL can be used to provide detection/track/targeting data to baseline 9 AEGIS equipped warship that have MADL antenna attached. Image
This allows AEGIS equipped warships to shoot down targets, including the ones at over the horizon using SM-6 while relying on data from the F-35's sensors. This capability has been tested in the past, including once in 2016.
(Target shown below is the Beechcraft MQM-107). Image
The Army's Intergrated Battle Command System (IBCS) will also have a terminal to communicate with F-35. This has been proven in testing before where data gathered by the F-35 was shared via MADL. Not just any data, but weapons quality track/fire control magnitude of data Image
I'm sure you've seen articles or headlines saying the F-35 and F-22 can't directly communicate with each other. That's because the F-22 also has its own unique datalink called Intra-Flight Data Link (IFDL). IFDL operates in Q band. The F-22 was supposed to receive MADL, but
mainly because of the cost and the tech being new, it was dropped. So, in order for the F-35 and 22 to communicate w each other using MADL/IFDL, they'd need another aircraft. For example, U-2 with Open Systems Gateway (Project Hydra) or RQ-4 carrying Freedom 550 radio
The F-22 always had a Link 16 receiving terminal, so sharing data to the F-22 wasn't a problem, but receiving from it have been (for any other aircraft that's not an F-22). The F-22 was supposed to receive full Link 16 capability as part of the TAC-Link program, so that'll
allow the Raptor to finally directly communicate with 4th gen, F-35, AWACS, and other assets using Link 16.
Another aircraft that was supposed to receive the MADL is the B-2. Couldn't find anything about whether it received it or not, but there's a good chance it didn't for cost or whatever reason.
MADL also has downsides, major ones being that it's not widely used, nor does other
aircraft besides F-35 and those specialised gateway aircraft use it. And the antennas aren't really cheap.

As part of F-35's Block 4 upgrade (some 88 new/improved capabilities), both Link 16 and MADL will see upgrades.
(This is a few years old and shows 53 of the upgrades) Image

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Doha

Doha Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Doha104p3

Feb 23
Some (most) of the shit Turkish accounts are posting today are pure brain rot.
All the aircraft mentioned except Su-57 and Indian one (which is yet to fly) first flight went well.
The F-35 crashed less than 15 times after 800k flight hours, having one of the best crash record
Image
KAAN flew only once and yall are already over hyping the fuck out of it
Turkish Aerospace industry has come a long way. And congratulations on the first flight, but your aircraft isn't superior to F-35, nor to F-22, and likely not to J-20 either. Some of these posts r stupid.
Also, some Turkish dude made this whatever you wanna call it.
This probably can't be more inaccurate.
Not only is the frontal rcs figures for the F-35 so off, the radar range part is even off.
As someone who's been following this program for a long time, I'm yet to see figures Image
Read 7 tweets
Jan 25
Herritage's new report calls USAF "very weak", mainly due to low readiness rate, shortage of pilots, and pilots not getting enough flight hours.
These are valid concerns, but saying "very weak" is just dumb. Also, not their first time.
heritage.org/military-stren…
Image
While I definitely do not agree w their conclusion, the report also includes some stuff like aircraft and munitions inventory. USAF has 1,432 active-duty fighters, with 886 of them being combat-coded.
Also, more F-35As than any other aircraft variant in *active duty*.
Image
Image
1/ Aircraft age and capability scores
2/ Munition expenditures vs acquisition (I doubt the numbers for FY-24)
3/ USAF budget breakdown
Again, it's Herritage foundation yall

Image
Image
Image
Read 4 tweets
Nov 2, 2023
So, here's a thread on the times the F-35 has been used in combat. (The dates are not in order)🧵 Image
In 2018, 🇮🇱 became the first to use F-35 in combat. According to an Israeli major Gen, “We are flying the F-35 all over the ME and have already attacked twice on two different fronts”. Didn't specify what they hit, but released a photo of F-35I over 🇱🇧
haaretz.com/middle-east-ne…
Image
On April of 2019, USAF used their F-35A for the first time. 2 F-35A's armed with JDAMs conducted airstrikes against weapons cache deep in the Hamrin Mountains and an entrenched Daesh tunnel network in Iraq.
af.mil/News/Article-D…
Read 10 tweets
Jun 17, 2023
Communication problem, Carriers's EW & Air defense aside.
Show me a drone that Is cheap, can hit a *moving ship*, hard to jam, Has the necessary range (1,200+ km at least), has the speed (avg drone speeds 200>kmph, will take u 5 hrs to hit something over 1k km away). (1/
And Carries explosives big enough to do some damage...
if one solves all these problems to an
extent, then the resultant drone will
be quite big, easy to detect, & will cost millions of dollar. That will reduce the size of the drone army significantly.
And if some does manages to hit the Carrier, At best your drone army can hope to cause damage on the flight deck to stop air operations. But the flight deck is armoured too and USN's fire and damage control is legendary.
Read 7 tweets
May 17, 2023
"People talk about in Missile Defence, the difficulty of hitting bullet with a bullet. But I will tell you that where we are with the technology today - we can do better than that. We can hit a spot on bullet, with a bullet and that's actually what we do in our Missile Defence..
tests" - Lt. Gen. Henry, Former Director of Missile Defence Agency.
Basically, with the kinetic HTK warhead on our interceptors (Pac3, THAAD, SM3), hits a specific part of the BM. normally, the warhead. And SM3 has demonstrated that capability IRL when it shot down USA-193.
when SM-3 Block IA shot down the malfunctioning satellite (USA 193), It specifically hit the fuel tank containing toxic hydrazine.
*Target View from SM-3’s Kinetic Warhead prior to impact* 🔽
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation… Image
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(