The F-35 Is The Test bed For The 22nd Century

The often maligned F-35 for its glitches is finally getting some fantastic press when it can now connect to tons and tons, by weight, in a weapons bay on an LHA or LHD navy ship. A system link allows communication from the F-35 to the fleet's ships. The intended ship becomes an F-35 by extension without revealing where the actual F-35 is located as it fires its own missiles at any enemy platform found by the F-35. The next 70 years of the F-35 usefulness is providing a test bed for new naval weapons systems weighing more than the F-35 itself.

Why is that important? A new terminology can be used for modern warfare. In this case, it is transferability. The F-35 becomes a sub-satellite or a sub orbiting eye above the battle space deployed specifically in a spot to render firepower onto an enemy over two-thirds of the planet containing water. Furthermore, the F-35A  covers the remaining land mass issuing information to tanks, missiles, and bunkers. By the year 2100, a supersonic drone will do more than what the F-35 can do today! But the F-35 will have tested all the drones new systems. 

There is a war window for adversaries, which is today! The time element is beating any incursion from abroad. Simply, "others" won't be able to keep up with the F-35 capability as its plug and play era of advanced electronic and offensive capability for the F-35 is ahead of everything else. Once it is loaded into the F-35 in that aforementioned plug and play environment it can advance beyond what "others" have available. 

In the year 2100 its hard to imagine what the state of war will become but it should include autonomous warfare for the destruction of everything that threatens. The F-35 becomes that testbed for autonomous warfare as new systems and weapons are plugged in and deployed according to changes within the battlespace. There is a future for laser warfare but something may replace it by the year 2100. It may be a particle beam shot at a system. Or an EMP shot coming from a drone's power system. The F-35 engine has immense power today but in seventy years, two power systems may exist on a super drone. One for motive power and one for weapon capability. But all in a smaller package than today's examples.

Therefore the bridge to the future will include another incremental step in the next thirty years. It will include a batch of capability items from space, air or ground. In the more traditional mindset, the modern airforce will have the evasive flying capability or greater stealth. An F-60 or so, name, may come to the forefront. It should be semi-autonomous where a human may be present in airspace directing the slave drones to its point of attack. A stepping stone for those who will not let the human out of a tangible battle chain. The "guy" in the basement is fighting, but a "guy" in the sky will be supervising the fight.

The F-35 will pave the way for all of what can be imagined for weapons systems and flying capability, joining with everything offensive or defensive.