2015 Feb: Jericho RAAF Temporarily Designates Itself as a Fifth Generation Air Force (AI Study Guide)


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Title title

Overview

Fifth‑generation conventionally describes individual combat aircraft characterised by low observability (stealth), advanced sensor fusion, integrated avionics, internal weapons carriage and secure datalinks that enable networked operations and high situational awareness. The term normally applies to aircraft rather than to whole air forces, so declaring a service 'fifth‑generation' is rhetorical and indicates the degree to which a service integrates such capabilities across platforms, doctrine and networks.

 

In February 2015 the RAAF launched Plan Jericho, championed by the Chief of the Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Brown, to accelerate the operational integration of stealth platforms, sensor fusion and networked concepts. The RAAF temporarily designated itself a fifth‑generation air force to reflect this transition and to signal intent to allies, industry and government. The announcement framed the designation as an operational posture and transformational milestone rather than a static classification, emphasising that platform arrival alone did not equal full transformation.

 

Glossary of Terms

𝟏. Fifth‑generation air force: A force whose combat and operational concept integrates stealth platforms, sensor fusion, networked effects and high‑tempo data superiority.

𝟐. Plan Jericho: The RAAF transformation programme established in 2015 to integrate fifth‑generation capabilities across people, platforms and doctrine.

𝟑. F‑35A Lightning II: Australia’s principal fifth‑generation combat aircraft providing stealth, sensor fusion and data‑linking capabilities.

𝟒. Combat Cloud: Distributed, networked operational concept enabling shared situational awareness and effects across platforms.

𝟓. Loyal Wingman: Uncrewed wingman concept demonstrating man–machine teaming and force multiplication in a fifth‑generation context.

𝟔. Sensor Fusion: The integration of disparate sensor data to produce a single, coherent battlespace picture.

𝟕. Effects‑based operations: Planning and execution focused on desired outcomes across multiple domains rather than platform‑centric tactics.

𝟖. Interoperability: The capacity for systems and forces from different nations to operate cohesively in coalition environments.

𝟗. Transformation posture: A declared interim state indicating active transition toward new organisational and operational norms.

𝟏𝟎. Air Warfare Centre: The RAAF organisation responsible for experimentation, doctrine and operational integration in advanced concepts.

 

Key Points

𝟏. Declaration intent: In February 2015 Air Marshal Geoff Brown launched Plan Jericho and the RAAF’s temporary self‑designation as a fifth‑generation air force. The primary purpose was strategic signalling: to show allies and government that the Service had committed to an integrated, information‑centred transformation rather than merely acquiring new platforms.

𝟐. Plan Jericho as the enabler: Plan Jericho provided the doctrinal and programmatic framework through 2015 and beyond that justified the temporary designation by aligning acquisition, experimentation, training and organisational reform to convert platform capability into force‑level advantage through iterative technical insertions and governance mechanisms.

𝟑. F‑35 introduction and capability threshold: The arrival of the F‑35A beginning in 2014–15 constituted the principal hardware threshold underlying the designation; the platform’s stealth, sensor fusion and datalinking enabled new concepts of operation, but the RAAF emphasised that platform arrival alone did not equal full transformation without concurrent changes to doctrine, basing, sustainment and workforce skills.

𝟒. Networked concepts and Combat Cloud: The temporary fifth‑generation label reflected a shift toward Combat Cloud thinking—an emphasis on distributed sensing, rapid information exchange and coordinated effects across manned and unmanned systems—requiring new command‑and‑control approaches, resilient communications and a reworking of air tasking processes to exploit fused data at tactical speeds.

𝟓. Organisational and training reforms: Declaring a transitional fifth‑generation posture compelled accelerated reform in training curricula, professional military education and technical trades to build data‑literate aircrews, mission systems operators and a maintenance workforce proficient in software‑defined systems, digital diagnostics and experimental concepts such as man–machine teaming.

𝟔. Logistics, sustainment and basing implications: The designation spotlighted the need to redesign sustainment for distributed operations, including pre‑positioned spares, rapid software update chains, secure data links and expeditionary support models; supply‑chain resilience and cyber‑hardened maintenance practices became immediate priorities to preserve operational readiness for fifth‑generation employment.

𝟕. Interoperability and alliance signalling: By temporarily using the fifth‑generation label the RAAF signalled interoperability intent to key partners—particularly the United States and Five Eyes—reinforcing commitments to shared datalinks, coalition tactics and joint experimentation, while seeking to influence allied concepts such as distributed lethality, cooperative engagement and combined Combat Cloud constructs.

𝟖. Risk management and cautious framing: The RAAF framed the designation as provisional to manage expectations and legal‑political risk, clarifying that capabilities would mature over years and that doctrine, ROE and acquisition timelines would determine operational utility; this cautious posture avoided premature claims of doctrinal maturity while maintaining strategic momentum.

𝟗. Industrial and innovation incentives: The temporary designation created policy space to accelerate innovation partnerships, crowdsource industry solutions, and de‑risk experimental projects such as Loyal Wingman and AI‑enabled tools by framing them as essential components of an emergent fifth‑generation posture, thereby unlocking funding streams and collaborative pathways with allied and domestic industry.

𝟏𝟎. Enduring doctrinal outcome: Whether temporary or rhetorical, the self‑designation crystallised a persistent shift: doctrine, procurement and training trajectories adjusted to prioritise information‑centric operations, effects‑based planning and integrated manned–unmanned teams, leaving an enduring imprint on RAAF identity and force design even after the transitional label was no longer emphasised.

 

Further Reading