F-35 Completes Key Combat Simulations - Rick Abell Explains

Former Air Force Engineer Rick Abell explains a recent article covering the F-35 program and its recent completion of key combat simulations. From his entry into the USAF as a Civil Servant in 1964 till his retirement in 1997, Mr. Eric "Rick" Abell worked on or led the development and fielding on almost every aircraft and related system in the USAF including the A-7, A-10, F-15, F-16, YF-17, F-117, YF-22, YF-23, F-22, B-1, B-2, and several classified programs. He has also worked extensively with the US Navy and US Army.
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The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
Views presented are my own and do not represent the views of DoD or its Components.

[@jqmachgunner2577]

Rick is a legit expert and a treasure. He elevates this channel to the top military aviation must watch channel.😊

[@roderickcampbell2105]

Rick is one hell of a guy alright. And this was one great video. More Rick would be a "good thing".

[@mikemontgomery2654]

I’m glad he’s explaining facets of the F-35 program that people don’t know or understand.

[@JethroRose]

agreed, he's the best guest I've seen so far. because he cuts through the bullshit and calls it as it is

[@lawrenceedger292]

Love hearing Rick explain things in a clear and understandable manner.

[@pollylewis9611]

Thank you, Mover, for having Rick on, he brings so much knowledge to a whole other level I could watch and listen to you guys all night long!

[@DNowlan1]

Just a compliment to the good stuff Rick was saying. In order to get this done they needed to run this through the Verification Sim (VSim) and the contrast between what happened with the F-22 and F-35 could not be starker. As Rick alluded to with the F-22 there was no way they could duplicate a Warsaw Pact threat. That was where the F-22 VSim came in and apart from a few bumps on the road it came together pretty quickly. The tale of the VSim/JSE for the F-35 was the polar opposite. Originally it was LM job. By 2013 the VSim still hadn't been completed and the program was about to fail when NAVAIR took it over in 2015 and the F-35 VSim became the JSE. It then took another 8 years to develop properly. It still didn't stop LM from parading around like the VSim was validated. Testimony to the Australian Parliament back in 2012 bore this out. The fact it took the F-35 VSim/JSE this long to get to this point should be screaming alarm bells.

[@importjunky3106]

Stories from the old timers that know a thing or two because they’ve seen a thing or two are the best. Hope you can get Rick back on in the future.

[@Blackcloud_Garage]

I could listen to Mr. Rick all day. More please 👍👍

[@lawless201]

Rick will forget more about the aviation industry in a day then most people will ever learn in a lifetime. Nothing gets my hand off the mouse quicker then seeing him on the screen, unless it's to skip to a part when he's saying something.

[@timgosling6189]

One of the great things about the post-Cold War world was that we could actually go out and buy the threat systems. The only problem was making sure they were to a representative standard, not some degraded or export version.

[@fl1tz4r]

Ukraine has been a godsend in this regard, since their stuff is all original and not export models

[@major__kong]

Operational Test & Evaluation. The process was put into place I think in the 80s because program managers and services were lying through their teeth about system performance. So the warfighter wasn't getting what they asked for. So DoD put this process in place to get an objective assessment.

[@randc47]

I could listen to him talk all day!

[@phillami10]

This video is so pertinent, so professional and so interesting ... it blows my mind !!! Learned so much ... Thank you guys !! Keep at it !!

[@Notyou5556]

F35 is a super computer that flies

[@jor4288]

loved it!

[@tzebra]

Would buy Rick a bottle of his favorite just to sit back and listen and learn.

[@paulholmes672]

Rick, as usual, nailed it, having dealt with wRight Pitiful (Wright-Patterson AFB) in the late 80's and the F-16 A/B to C/D changeover, among other things. My son's best friend is in one of the program offices there and not much has changed. I bet this man has thousands of hours of stories, for his time in the Directorate.

[@skyepilotte11]

Good show...

[@superfleapilot7484]

US F-35 passes important simulation test…Meanwhile in the Mid East…Israeli F-35s complete 300th combat sortie. 😳

[@fl1tz4r]

TBF most of that has been dropping bombs and a few drone interceptions. Not unlike what we’ve done with them

[@AaronMal1978]

This episode brings back bad memories from the Force Management module from ILE. Gotta love JCIDS.

[@gonepostal9101]

Love all the F-35 bashers. That’s exactly what the Air Force would like you to believe.

[@johnpatrick1588]

I hope it works because the days are coming we will need an edge.

[@tomwilson1006]

Now if they could only integrate some of the F-35’s sensors/capabilities into the F-22. I heard they’re upgrading some of the Raptors, which is a good thing bcuz in my opinion, we should have built a lot more of those, unfortunately they were way too expensive

[@BlyGuy]

Like that even matters when we just sent $100+ billion to a non-ally in Ukraine and now Biden and the rest of the clown show want to send another $100 billion to Ukraine and Israel.

[@RobertWilliams-ox4hz]

Am I the only one who doesn't think Fat Amy is ugly?

[@maverickjoga]

no

[@bjjace1]

No

[@shadowrealms2676]

Shes a beast

[@billbrockman779]

Like most aircraft, to me it depends on the aspect I’m viewing. For example, the Rafale is gorgeous mostly but looks weird to me from certain angles. Same with F-22 and F-35 to me.

[@ThomasHendrickson]

F35 looks cool

[@a24396]

Pilots of the F-35 call it an absolute beast, and the REDFLAG record (>70:1) seems to substantiate that claim.

[@pogo1140]

Depends on if the Red Force was given leeway to be creative or if they were required to follow the script

[@a24396]

@@pogo1140 As I understand it: this was averaged over multiple REDFLAGs and the script was defensive counter-air, fighter sweeps, and CAP was expected to engage the strike missions that were trying to attack OPFOR targets. The ROE allowed a BVR fight. The A2AD environment was "sporty" and used emulations/simulations of the latest threat systems. Respawn rules allowed REDFOR to regenerate forces while BLUFOR was not allowed to respawn. Most capable threat forces were used. Targets selected for BLUFOR were not reasonable/feasible for current 4th GEN forces. In this environment, the F-35 was able to dominate. Of course it's all training and simulations - it's only real when the consequences are actually life or death. But the F-16 and F-15 both validated the high opinion they built in their exercise performance before their combat debuts, the F-35 is undoubtedly similar.

[@pogo1140]

@@a24396 the question is were red air allowed to go off script as in use tactics not in the red air playbook which was written in the 1970's. Looking at the current air war we are seeing real red air tactics and employment changing from what is in Red Flag's red air playbook

[@a24396]

@@pogo1140 The goal of REDAIR is not to always win or to provide an unrealistic experience. The goal is to "punish mistakes" and allow BLUFOR to "win" only when they do everything right. And with the capabilities of the F-35 in play, it's become VERY difficult for REDFOR to exploit BLUFOR's mistakes. An example that comes to mind is there were a series of simulated air defence (SA-13, SA-17, SA-22, SA-20, etc. The whole gambit...) that were put place to complicate the BLUFOR strike missions. And the F-35 systems identified those simulations as "decoys" and just suppressed the emitters. The REDFOR had a LOT of trouble even presenting an adversary that could force an F-35 strike package to respond. Most of the time the F-35 chose to engage, or not. So... I can't tell you about a more current version of the procedures in place other than to ask you if it really makes sense to design an exercise that isn't reflective of the actual battle conditions that will be fought in.

[@BlyGuy]

The pilot with the better SA (situational awareness) almost always wins the fight. When you put a few 35's up against 4th and 4.5 gen fighters, they have a highly detailed picture of the battle space, making it like shooting fish in a barrel.

[@horizob]

So let me get this straight: After you build 900 aircraft, you make the decision if the plane is good or not and then move to full scale production? LRIP=900 aircraft?????

[@stevenbrown5572]

I’m just concerned about the lack of range with the f-35

[@RenTheOriginal]

Well we've since lost 2x F-35s to mishaps…

[@GregWampler-xm8hv]

Wow only 4 years late and I bet that 2019 was pushed back from 2015 or so. Yeah smokin' right along with that wonder of the air the f-35. I keep asking but no one willing to step up and address that FULL 50 seconds of afterburner use. Man what fighter doesn't wish they had that massive restriction 😎

[@chrisvandecar4676]

Well, thanks goodness we can start the production line........oh wait😎

[@debracawthron4137]

👍

[@advr-advancedracing4548]

Hello

[@taproom113]

Question - Was that the straight skivy ... or disinformation? Answer - Yes. Well done, Carry on ... ^v^

[@corystansbury]

When was the F-35B ever supposed to take off vertically with a full combat load? It's STOVL... It's right in the acronym

[@warped-sliderule]

AND now that Ukraine has shown us what SA-300/SA-400 can/can't do, one could better estimate the F-35 effectiveness against these systems. Also map this to China's air defenses...

[@astaroth7188]

did he said "Gott ist mit uns!" ????? 2:35

[@trunkmonkee247]

But going fast wasn’t one of them

[@johnpatrick1588]

Can the super plane fly near lightning now like all other planes? The plane is named Lightning after all.

[@TheJustinJ]

😂 Funny observation. Imo, F-22 should have been Lightning II. Because its a twin engine, twin tail max performance fighter. F-35 should be F-135 Thud II.

[@EliteF22]

LRIP = 900 aircraft. That is bloat.

[@rickrick196]

It seems to me that weapons, radar etc are more important than stealth

[@rickrick196]

Improvements in Missiles, Radar etc is what I meant

[@BradyBegeman]

@@rickrick196AIM-260 baby, but also stealth is *everything*.

[@yomama629]

Having an aircraft that can't be detected from long range and can't be targeted at any useful range is extremely important, of course radar, sensors, and networking among others is also very important but there's a reason aircraft like the Rafale or Gripen stand no chance against a 5th gen, and that's because they're not stealthy and will therefore always get shot down first

[@zerofire3172]

​@@BradyBegemanall the eggs in one basket. We dont need speed we have stealth. We dont need weapons bc we have stealth and datalink so we can use other planes weapons. We dont need manueverability bc we have stealth

[@forzaelite1248]

@@zerofire3172 They have plenty of speed given they can carry their payload up to Mach 1.6 which is something most legacy aircraft struggle with, and if they really needed more they can fund GE's ceramic research to bump up thrust by some 20%. Same for weapons, there's a Sidekick adapter available for whoever asks, and in the first place the lack of missiles is a lack of _AMRAAMs_ and not missiles in general. Search the Peregrine or AIM-160; they're dual purpose and half the size to carry more. And maneuverability wise, I highly advise you read "Out Of The Shadows: RNLAF experiences with the F-35A" online to see what happened practically when people thought the same thing. All the eggs in one basket isnt applicable logic when you have shipping containers of eggs to send halfway across the world; the capability required is on another level.

[@zacharyramsli8002]

Why can't both be true? It was "acquisition malpractice" and it is "a fantastic fighter." Seems dumb to say it has to be one or the other.

[@jedhaney3547]

..."if it's a real flop, it'll be canceled.".. *Looks at Zumwalts... -_-

[@MrSteve8511]

I remember when Full Rate Production was supposed to be done in 2012😂😂... this is such a disaster.

[@crusty251]

classic: 'we need more money'... 'what the hell for?!'

[@pogo1140]

They had a point. The US has been purchasing bad guy SAM's, SPAAG's, Radars and jets since the 60's just for testing

[@PATRIOT_Acronym69420]

@@pogo1140but you can’t fly 5th Gen fighters in open air testing against them in a wartime configuration.

[@pogo1140]

@@PATRIOT_Acronym69420 you can over in dreamland.

[@PlayerAfricanChieften]

find the downed junk the carolinas first lol, this plane should be trashed, might as well give it to the taliban. F-22 is still the best US aircraft to exist

[@gonepostal9101]

Very uninformed comment.

[@scottkelley1558]

The newest stuff tends to be best overall as the technology and capability improves

[@blshouse]

The F-22 is like the F-117. Innovative, groundbreaking, and technically obsolete nearly from the day it started actual service.

[@PATRIOT_Acronym69420]

Great video! The older gentlemen left some stuff out which he may not be in the know about. This was just as much an evaluation of the JSE as it was the F-35. JSE is the best way and only way to conduct test and evaluation, refine TTPs and conduct 5th Generation training against high end air and surface based threats. The environment is based on very high fidelity, physics based modeling of threat aircraft, emitters and air vehicle modeling. I have it on good authority that the Navy and Air Force Weapons Schools, CAF and fleet units frequent JSE and say it is the best training they ever receive. 🇺🇸🫡