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This is bad news for China, as U.S. technology has made significant gains against Iranian-backed threats in the Red Sea region.
As you may know, the US Navy destroyer USS Carney was in the news again on Sunday when it shot down a drone launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels against a merchant ship in the Red Sea. The team has been destroying Iranian-supplied drones and missiles in recent weeks, with more than 20 destroyed so far.
You may not have heard of another very important initiative. On October 31, a US-made F-35I stealth fighter jet flown by Israel shot down an Iranian cruise missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis. This was the first air-to-air kill by an F-35 using a cruise missile.
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China, be careful. China has no recent combat experience (thankfully), so it monitors and analyzes military operations, especially when advanced technology or tactics are displayed. China saw what happened to the Houthi cruise missiles. And they know the F-35 can do it against Chinese missiles as well.
The U.S. Air Force’s F-35 is a game changer. One of the planes had just shot down a Houthi cruise missile. (U.S. Air Force)
Americans call the F-35 Lightning II, after the famous P-38 Lightning fighter of World War II. Israel calls its F-35 “Adil,” meaning “the mighty one.”
In my view, the downing of the F-35 cruise missile provided three major lessons that trouble China. First, the F-35’s superior tracking capabilities. Understand that tracking cruise missiles has been a major concern since the 1970s because cruise missiles are much smaller and thinner than fighter jets.
Introducing the paradigm-breaking F-35. After the Oct. 31 killing, Israel subsequently released clear gun-camera-style video showing an F-35 tracking and engaging a cruise missile. The detection and interception confirms that F-35s flown by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and many allied nations can detect and attack cruise missiles that attempt to slip past them at low altitudes. It is critical to the balance of power in the Pacific.
Two retired American fighter pilots broke it. “Man, I’m just impressed that the targeting pod is tracking that. This just goes to show how good the F-35’s EO/IR system is at tracking and monitoring everything that happens. You’ll see,” said CW, an F-16 fighter pilot. “Lemoine and his A-10 pilot’s guest call sign ‘Shanghai’ commented on ‘The Mover and Gronky Show’ posted on YouTube on November 15th.
Two retired American fighter pilots said the F-35’s trail was particularly impressive. “Due to the confusion on the ground, we were able to locate and accurately track the aircraft as it was flying very low and at high speed.”
that’s right. But it’s not just any pod. The F-35 has sensors placed throughout its husky belly. In addition to radar, targeting systems use electrical light waves (like television) and infrared light (also known as heat) to find and track targets. The hot little plumes emitted by Houthi cruise missiles were deadly to the F-35s.
All of China’s wargame scenarios feature large numbers of missiles attacking U.S. forward bases in Guam, Japan, and elsewhere around the Pacific. U.S. Navy ships may also be targeted. China has been making cheesy videos of blowing up US aircraft carriers for years.
The F-35 has an incredible radar that can identify and track ballistic missiles over 1,300 miles away. And maybe even further. The F-35 makes it difficult for China to plan missile barrages, for example, on forward U.S. military bases or ships.
In this photo provided by the South Korean Ministry of Defense, a U.S. military B-52 bomber, a C-17, and a South Korean Air Force F-35 fighter jet fly over the Korean Peninsula during a joint air exercise in South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 20. is shown in the photo. 2022. (Ministry of Defense of South Korea, Associated Press)
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The second lesson is that the F-35 can perform any pursuit while remaining stealthy. This is important if the F-35 operates in and around air defense facilities built by China and Russia. The Iranian government has spent cash upgrading some of its Russian-made air defense batteries, but as the mullahs know, that won’t stop the F-35.
The F-35’s capabilities continue to grow. Israel took delivery of its first F-35 in 2016 and modified it for its own weapons. “This is an open architecture that sits on the F-35’s central system, just like an application on an iPhone,” Beni Cohen, general manager of IAI’s Rahab division, told Defense News at the time.
In the Pacific, F-35s can detect and track missiles and feed that data back into the network, allowing combat AI to generate missile trajectories and give commanders multiple interception options.
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Third, as the Israeli interception showed, Americans are not the only ones flying the F-35. Across the Pacific, the air forces of Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore all purchase and fly the F-35. Also a complete list of European allies. This will greatly enhance joint deterrence.
Lesson for Xi Jinping: American technology wins no matter where you are on the planet.
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