How Does The F-35s Distributed Aperture System Improve Pilot Situational Awareness?

Summary The F-35's Distributed Aperture System by Raytheon enhances pilots' situational awareness significantly. Both Raytheon's EODAS and Lockheed Martin's EOTS have proven successful in combat with the Israeli Air Force. Royal Australian Air Force and Israeli Air Force F-35s have performed well despite US-owned reliability issues.

The F-35 Lightning II is here to stay. As mentioned in previous articles on this fifth-generation fighter, despite all the controversies surrounding the technical foibles and expensive cost overruns that afflict US-owned F-35s, the aircraft continues to attract foreign military sales (FMS). The Israeli Air Force has used the warbird in combat with satisfactory results, and, as some Royal Australian Force (RAAF) officers recently told me: " We love them! " U.

S.-owned F-35s are notorious for their reliability issues. Yet the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-35s are performing just fine, thanks.

The F-35 has many technological capabilities that give it an edge, one of which is the Distributed Aperture System. With this in mind, let's examine how the DAS significantly boosts its pilots' situational awareness. EODAS basics: the Raytheon perspective The F-35 itself is a product of Lockheed Martin's "Skunk Works" program, the same entity (founded by the late great Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson [February 27, 1910 – December 21, 1990]), which also produced the following legendary aircraft: The F-22 Rapto r The SR-71 Blackbird The U-2 "Dragon Lady" .