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Welcome to WARN, how the stealth fighter can have a crushing
psychological effect on the enemy : explained by F-35 pilot
idrw.org . Read more at India No 1 Defence News Website httpidrw.organ-f-35-pilot-explains-how-the-stealth-fighter-can-have-a-crushing-psychological-effect-on-the-enemy.
Retired US Marine Corps Maj. Dan Flatley will never forget the crushing feeling of helplessness
he felt the first time he faced a stealth jet while he was flying in an F/A-18. �I
remember indelibly the moment in which the AWAC (airborne early warning and control plane)
called out to me that there was a Raptor [an F-22 stealth fighter] in front of me at very
close range that made me uncomfortable,� Flatley told Business Insider in a phone interview.
�I had no way of targeting him, no way of defending myself.�
Despite years of training to stay focused and level headed under the extreme pressures
of air-to-air combat, a sense of dread set in. Before even seeing the F-22, Flatley had
already surrendered his composure, and therefore his ability to effectively fight back. Years
later, Flatley would come to pilot the F-35 and even design the curriculum for training
pilots in the fifth-generation fighter, where he would tap into the crushing psychological
effect of fighting a plane you can�t find.
While the F-35 represents the most expensive weapons system of all time, and is a frequent
target of government critics who chastise the program for going over budget and schedule
, Flatly says the real strength of stealth fighters doesn�t show up in any budget.
�What the public doesn�t realize is how dominant the difference in information is,�
said Flatley. While the F-35 performs similarly to legacy jets in some areas like speed, turning,
and range, there�s a huge, ever-growing information gap between what the F-35 pilot
sees and what an F-18 pilot sees. The F-35 features six cameras stationed around
the jet and a helmet display that allows pilots to literally look through the jet as if it
wasn�t there. It features the only infrared radar on a US fighter since the F-14, and
uses unprecedented sensor-fusion capabilities to paint an incredibly vivid picture of its
surroundings for miles out. On top of all that, it�s stealth. So while the F-35 sees
everything, it�s seen by almost no one.
Legacy jets, with the help of AWACs � may have a general idea that there�s an F-35
out there, but they don�t know exactly where we are,� said Flatley. The distinct information
disadvantage causes pilots to get tunnel vision, according to Flatley. �Everything they see
becomes the F-35 out there,� said Flatley. �Every radar hit, every communication is
about the stealth jet.
They want to illuminate or eliminate a threat they can�t handle.� The fear and paranoia
caused by the presence of stealth jets in a battle has a widespread effect on adversaries
that � includes extremely capable legacy jets and certainly includes everything available
to adversaries,� said Flatley of updated F-16s, F-15s, and even enemy air defenses
like Russia�s S-400.
Even extremely capable operators fall prey to the F-35�s psychological advantage. �It
has nothing to do with their skill or technology. They�re at such a technological disadvantage,�
said Flatley. �I�ve seen guys in F-18s turn directly in front of me and show me their
tails cause they have no idea I�m there.� In the end, �It aggregates to a completely
inept response to what we�re doing in the air,� said Flatley. �People are so hellbent
on shooting down the stealth fighter that they invariably make mistakes that I can exploit.�