The F-35B laser Jet?

[Signal Witch]

Whatever happened to the F-35B laser jet?



Back in the late 2000s, Aviation Week and others floated a bold idea: repurpose the F-35B’s lift-fan shaft to power a directed energy weapon. The shaft moves over 20 megawatts of mechanical energy, more than enough, in theory, to support a high-power microwave or laser system.

The concept quietly faded, but what if it didn’t die? What if it’s evolving?

Imagine a specialized F-35B variant with the lift fan removed. In its place, a megawatt-class generator feeds a dedicated DEW or HPM system, paired with a powerful AESA array for jamming, disruption, or even hard-kill.

One or two of these per squadron could act as a stealthy EW guardian, like a modern-day Growler, but with:

• Missile defense via seeker disruption
  
• Electronic attack on enemy radars, aircraft, or ships
  
• Full stealth and fusion with the rest of the F-35 formation
  

Is it feasible?
 
With power from the shaft, yes. The biggest hurdle would be thermal management, but advanced cooling systems or cryo tech might make it work.

If it exists, it's probably buried in a black program. If it doesn't, maybe it should.
Was this always part of the plan, or are we overdue for a DEW variant in the F-35 fleet?

What do you think?
Comment below...

[Zaphod58]

I’ve seen some interesting things about DEW/HPMs in the last few years. I don’t see any reason they couldn’t replace the lift fan with one. If they aren’t looking at doing it they’re bigger idiots than even I thought.

[Mantiss2021]

DEW's seems to be the most effective means of defense against hypersonic weapons, especially low-altitude hypersonic weapons.

Potentially much cheaper than ground-based kinetic defenses.

I can also envision an autonomous DEW platform deployed to loiter at high altitude as a "Sentinel" of sorts.

[Maxmars]

I wonder how they control cavitation... or would that not be an issue with advanced targeting systems?

(I hope this question isn't basely insulting.)  I'm not a pilot... I'm curious.

I expect that a beam of energy has to travel along a medium over the length of a vibrating aircraft... I assume it's much different from bullets.  Isn't this the definition of a line of sight weapon?

I'm out on a limb here...

[Zaphod58]

I wonder how they control cavitation... or would that not be an issue with advanced targeting systems?

(I hope this question isn't basely insulting.)  I'm not a pilot... I'm curious.

I expect that a beam of energy has to travel along a medium over the length of a vibrating aircraft... I assume it's much different from bullets.  Isn't this the definition of a line of sight weapon?

I'm out on a limb here...

That's one area that the Airborne Laser Laboratory in the 70s was able to make pretty big strides in. It was designated as an NKC-135 and carried a 10.6 micrometer Carbon Dioxide laser. It successfully shot down targets ranging from AIM-9 Sidewinders to target drones between 1975 and 1984. The YAL-1A expanded on their work with its deformable mirror for targeting. The mirror could change shape up to 1,000 times a second to compensate for atmospheric conditions.

[Maxmars]

Thanks... I couldn't imagine a solid state emitter for such a laser "beam."

I figured, removing the element of time and ballistics, firing an energy weapon is like firing a cannon in a vacuum.

So at a distance minor platform vibrations could be a real problem...

for the education.

[EXETER]

Whatever happened to the F-35B laser jet?

[Image: https://denyignorance.com/uploader/image...194301.jpg]

Back in the late 2000s, Aviation Week and others floated a bold idea: repurpose the F-35B’s lift-fan shaft to power a directed energy weapon. The shaft moves over 20 megawatts of mechanical energy, more than enough, in theory, to support a high-power microwave or laser system.

The concept quietly faded, but what if it didn’t die? What if it’s evolving?

Imagine a specialized F-35B variant with the lift fan removed. In its place, a megawatt-class generator feeds a dedicated DEW or HPM system, paired with a powerful AESA array for jamming, disruption, or even hard-kill.

One or two of these per squadron could act as a stealthy EW guardian, like a modern-day Growler, but with:

• Missile defense via seeker disruption
  
• Electronic attack on enemy radars, aircraft, or ships
  
• Full stealth and fusion with the rest of the F-35 formation
  

Is it feasible?
 
With power from the shaft, yes. The biggest hurdle would be thermal management, but advanced cooling systems or cryo tech might make it work.

If it exists, it's probably buried in a black program. If it doesn't, maybe it should.
Was this always part of the plan, or are we overdue for a DEW variant in the F-35 fleet?

What do you think?
Comment below...

Lock-Mart has been developing laser weapon pods sized to fit on fighter aircraft for quite a while, now. I think their latest is the LANCE pod. I can't find any specs for it online because I assume they would be classified, but I believe it would be around 100 kW.  All the modern laser weapon systems seem to be using fiber lasers. Fiber lasers are pumped with laser diodes, so only electrical power is needed--there are no consumables.  They are also very efficient as lasers go, so most of the power goes into the laser beam and not into heat that has be dissipated with an onboard cooling system.  They also produce very good beam quality which means that the laser spot on the target gets its work done quickly.  These are all major improvements over the CO2 laser that was used on the NKC-135 and the chemical laser used on the YAL-1A.  That said, I think the highest power fiber lasers that could realistically fit on a fighter aircraft are probably about 100 to 200 kW.  That's based on weight and volume estimates.  

So that size of laser output would not need MW input power.  The trick, in my opinion would be in packaging the thing.  If you're going to use a low observable platform like the F-35 you don't want to destroy its low observability by hanging all kinds of doodads and geegaws on the outside.  You would want some kind of window the laser could fire through.  That's probably a solvable problem.

A laser in the 100 to 200 kW power range could definitely be useful for defense against surface-to-air,  air-to-air missiles, and other aircraft probably within about a 10 km range or so. Whether that would be tactically useful or not is a different question.  If an F-35 was carrying one of these, it probably couldn't carry much else, so it would only make sense if it was used to protect a high value package besides itself in contested territory.

[Signal Witch]

Lock-Mart has been developing laser weapon pods sized ...

 Good rundown. You’re spot on about the shift from chemical to fiber lasers, that’s what’s making tactical pods like LANCE possible now. Officially, LANCE is in the 50-60 kW range, but it was designed to scale up, possibly to 100 kW or more as tech matures.
 
Mounting one on a stealth jet like the F-35 is tricky though. An external pod kills your signature, so future platforms like NGAD or F/A‑XX will likely integrate DEWs internally or use retractable emitters.
 
As for use cases, a 100 kW-class laser could absolutely help defend against missiles or drones within 10 km, but it's not a magic shield. Targeting, cooling, and beam control still matter. That’s why it would likely be used to protect high-value assets, not just for self-defense.
 
 
One thing to keep in mind is that when people mention a DEW being considered for the F-35B, it might not be a laser at all. There’s credible talk about non-kinetic microwave systems or directed RF weapons instead. These are generally better suited for disabling electronics, sensors, or drone swarms, and they’re more compact and potentially easier to integrate without compromising stealth or flight characteristics.
So while lasers like LANCE get a lot of attention, the future DEW for the F-35B might lean toward RF solutions, especially given the platform’s space and thermal limitations.

[Zaphod58]

One thing to keep in mind is that when people mention a DEW being considered for the F-35B, it might not be a laser at all. There’s credible talk about non-kinetic microwave systems or directed RF weapons instead. These are generally better suited for disabling electronics, sensors, or drone swarms, and they’re more compact and potentially easier to integrate without compromising stealth or flight characteristics.
So while lasers like LANCE get a lot of attention, the future DEW for the F-35B might lean toward RF solutions, especially given the platform’s space and thermal limitations.

There have been some pretty impressive microwave systems since CHAMP was tested. I'd lean more towards it being an HPM system rather than laser, if they were to integrate it into the F-35.

[Quantum12]

I had to look up DEW. I don’t know the lingo. Direct Energy Weapons…