Then came the AIM-120A AMRAAM missile, which could seek and strike targets beyond visual range.
"It was a complete game-changer for the way we operationally employed the F-16," said retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Jon Norman, who was flying the F-16 at the time. He now leads Air Power Requirements and Capabilities for Raytheon Missiles and Defense, a Raytheon Technologies business. "Those fourth-generation aircraft that before had to stay back - now, all of a sudden, they're part of that combined package."
The integration of the AMRAAM missile onto the F-16, and the way it changed how that aircraft is used, shows how infusing new technology can keep older fighter jets relevant and effective.
That practice is especially important today. With U.S. and allied fourth-generation fighters still in the skies, fifth-generation fighters like the stealthy F-35 fully operational and sixth-generation fighters under development, Norman and his colleagues across Raytheon Technologies are working to ensure all those aircraft - past, present and still to come - can fly and fight alongside one another to achieve what military experts call air dominance.
Engine power and thermal management
Engines do more than make planes go. They also power the electronics - a critical function for platforms like the F-35, a multirole fighter with a technology stack that makes it more like a flying supercomputer and command post.
The F-35 runs on the strength of the Pratt and Whitney F135 engine, which has powered the plane through multiple upgrades in weapons, software and other systems.
With a new set of F-35 improvements known as Block 4 on the way, Pratt and Whitney is proposing a redesigned power module for the F135 known as the Engine Core Upgrade. It would bring a boost in range and thrust, along with about $40 billion in cost savings and a significantly faster production schedule than a competing proposal for a new engine.
The Engine Core Upgrade "is the only solution that will field fast enough, in meaningful quantities, to make a difference to the warfighter," said Jennifer Latka, Pratt and Whitney's vice president for the F135 program. "From a taxpayer perspective, an upgrade to the existing engine costs a fraction of a brand-new engine. And that's both near term and long term."
Powering the F-35
A separate but related improvement to the F-35's cooling system would help tap into the platform's long-term potential.
That cooling system works by drawing compressed air from the engine - air that the engine would otherwise use to create propulsion - and sending it through heat exchangers. That's normal, but the problem is the current system uses more of that air, also called "bleed air," than expected. To make up the deficit, the F135 has to run hotter, leaving it more susceptible to wear and tear.
To address that problem, Collins Aerospace, a Raytheon Technologies business, has proposed the Emergency Power and Cooling System, which uses bleed air more efficiently and has double the cooling capacity of the current system.
Advanced and networked weapons
Much like the AMRAAM missile gave the F-16 new life back in the early '90s, upgrades to those and other munitions are bringing new power and capability to the current fleet.
Only this time, the new armaments will do more than go farther or faster. They'll work together in groups. They'll respond to new information in real time. And they'll produce battlefield intelligence of their own to share with the rest of the force.
"We're thinking beyond the way a weapon is traditionally used," Norman said.
Take, for example, a pair of munitions sent to destroy an adversary surface-to-air missile launcher and clear the way for friendly forces to enter the airspace. Those munitions would work as a team, sharing sensor data directly with one another and fine-tuning their course rather than relying on the long-distance communications link with command and control. Then, when one strikes the target, the other could relay a battle-damage assessment to determine whether further strikes are necessary.
"The weapons are phenomenal sensors. They can help us prioritize targets or retarget in flight," Norman said. "The fourth- and fifth-gen fighters are all depending on that target being down. Instead of them trying to figure it out and having to task another mission, these weapons give them force protection."
And if they're working in a group against multiple targets, and the munition assigned to the main target is destroyed or otherwise lost, another would take the lead in its place. One example of such a munition is the StormBreaker Smart Weapon, a network-enabled weapon that can strike moving targets in all weather conditions. It is fielded on the F-15E Strike Eagle.
Future advanced weapons will likely take years to develop, test, integrate and field, Norman said, so in the meantime, improvements to existing systems can help fill the gap. A series of upgrades to the AMRAAM missile known as F3R, for example, will include new software, 15 upgraded circuit cards in the guidance section and newer, faster processors.
"We have a lot of growth capability because of the upgrade of the electronics stack in AMRAAM," Norman said. "We provide that gap coverage while the services are working to develop these new effectors."
Advanced sensors
Advanced sensors can put power back into older fighter jets - especially those with niche roles.
For example, the F-15 is valuable in strike scenarios because it carries more weaponry than the F-35, which stores its armaments inside the airframe to maintain its stealth advantage. So if the F-15 is the best-armed fighter on a mission, it only makes sense to give it the best targeting information available.
"The more aircraft you have flying with capable sensors, the more targets you can detect and track and the more airspace you can sanitize," said Eric Ditmars, president of Secure Sensor Solutions at Raytheon Intelligence and Space, a Raytheon Technologies business. "You get a much more robust set of intelligence, and you bring the pilots home safely, which is what we're all about."
One recent advancement in airborne radar is the PhantomStrike fire control radar, a compact version of Raytheon's previous active electronically scanned array, or AESA, radars. The new radar weighs about half as much as its predecessors, it takes up less room, it uses about 33 percent less power and it requires no liquid cooling mechanism. That makes it a good fit not only for fighter jets but for unmanned platforms as well.
Another advantage: the radar uses open mission systems architecture, an approach militaries favor because it makes systems cheaper and easier to upgrade.
"If the system is static, it's not going to be able to grow and meet the ever-evolving threat. We're trying to support that," Ditmars said. "We have to start by meeting the current needs of the customer and then enable them to customize a system with any future component or capabilities they need."
Networked platforms
With multiple U.S. friends and allies developing sixth-generation fighters and using proprietary technology, making sure those platforms can communicate as a coalition will be a key to air dominance, said O'Brien, whose business specializes in secure radio communications among military platforms.
Secure communications means more than keeping adversaries from eavesdropping - it also requires making sure joint and partner forces receive only the appropriate level of detail. It's similar to cross-platform play in the video game world, where players around the world participate in a game in real time, on different consoles, with computer clouds in the middle of it all filtering and tailoring what each player sees.
"They have to figure out how to partition effectively to support both their own security and interoperability," O'Brien said. "Every nation has to be able to protect its own integrity through what's accessible in the system. It's a highly complex problem to solve."
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