LIFE AT SEA: Evolving technology helping Navy fight enemies in air and at sea

Only Action News Jax can give you rare access to the most advanced fighter jet in the world.

Action News Jax reporter Lorena Inclán was the only local journalist given access to a realistic F35 simulator.

F-35s are stealthy, powerful and deadly. In the realistic cockpit, a representative of Lockheed Martin showed Inclán how to shoot missiles.

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All the while, the enemy didn’t even see them coming.

“These are like flying computer chips. They’re sensors. They have listening devices in them. They can listen and tell if they’re being radiated,” said Tom Halley, a former Navy pilot who now works for Lockheed Martin.

The jets have six cameras, giving pilots a 360-degree view of the battle field and countless sensors.

“You not only see everything in the air, you see everything on the ground that’s trying to shoot you,” said Halley.

It also provides pilots more protection than a traditional fighter jet.

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“One of the biggest pieces on the F-35 is the survivability,” said Halley. “So if a MIG-29 rolls in behind you at 50 miles and radiates you with his radar you’re going to know he’s there.”

The F-18s aboard the USS Harry S. Truman, and the rest of the fleet, will start phasing them out to make way for F-35s.

But technology isn’t just making a difference in the air, it’s also changing the game at sea.

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Cmdr. James Elmore works in the bridge where the days when you had to chart everything out by hand are few and far between.

“I can click on a contact and have all the information in the world about it,” said Elmore.

But that doesn’t mean the old school way is gone for good.

“If the electronic indications are within a certain distance we always back it up manually,” said Elmore.

More importantly, nothing can replace team work.

Something we saw firsthand during flight operations aboard the Truman where the pilots are in constant contact with the ship.

“As long as we’re all doing our job, there’s no risk,” said Elmore.

Whether it’s in the air, or at sea, everyone has a role to play.

When it comes to protecting our shores, it’s these men and women who get the job done.

Cox Media Group