When a Quadcopter Becomes the JTAC: How the F-35 Just Took Targeting Orders from a Drone
JTACs aren't being replaced. They're getting an upgrade.
At the end of last month, a small American company called Performance Drone Works (PDW) pulled off something that made a lot of Air Force brass sit up in their padded swivel chairs.
They strapped a Leonardo STAG5 laser designator onto a C100 quadcopter and had it play the role of Joint Terminal Attack Controller for an F-35A Lightning II.
The mission was to mark ground targets so the jet could drop GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs right on top of them.
It worked. In every single trial, the bombs tracked the drone’s laser beam like moths to a flame, hitting targets cleanly at ranges between one and two kilometers. The release footage showed the drone lasing targets while the F-35 circled high above, cool as ever, waiting to unleash its ordnance.
The Air Force, ever cautious, hasn’t officially commented. But PDW was quick to say these trials prove you can designate targets safely without calling in a manned support aircraft like an A-10 or F-16 to do the dirty work.
So, a $20,000 drone just did a job that used to require a pilot risking his life in contested airspace.
The C100 quadcopter itself is modest on paper. It can fly for 74 minutes, cover about 10 kilometers, and haul small payloads. But in this test, it wasn’t about payload. It was about brains, proving that a buzzing four-prop UAV could take over a mission that used to define the human JTAC.
JTACs: The Original Kings of Close Air Support
During the Global War on Terror (GWOT), the Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) was the golden ticket to survival. When firefights erupted and things went sideways, JTACs had the uncanny ability to turn chaos into precision carnage.
Their toolkit was simple but devastating: a radio, a laser designator, and the authority to call down the wrath of the US Air Force.
What set JTACs apart was not just their technical skill, but the trust they earned from everyone in earshot. Infantry units knew that when a JTAC keyed his mic, jets or attack helicopters would be on station within minutes.
Pilots, in turn, trusted the JTAC’s calls like gospel. When a JTAC said “enemy armor, grid 432765, danger close,” the pilot knew he had a professional on the ground who understood friendlies, terrain, and the margins for error. That credibility saved lives, and it made JTACs indispensable in every fight from Fallujah to Helmand.
A typical JTAC call during GWOT would look something like this:
Scenario: A JTAC on the ground is working with a flight of two A-10 Warthogs to destroy enemy tanks.
Initial contact
The JTAC establishes contact with the aircraft, confirms communication, and states the request.
JTAC: "Recoil 11, this is Widow 51, Type 1 in effect. Say when ready for 9-line, over".
Pilot: "Widow 51, Recoil 11 is ready to copy, over."
The 9-line brief:
The JTAC transmits the nine lines of information, which detail the mission parameters. For clarity and efficiency, the JTAC reads each line, and the pilot reads back key details.
Remarks and read back:
JTAC: "Recoil 11, remarks are: One times CBU JDAM. Threat is mobile SAM launcher with infantry last reported 6 miles north of target. How copy?"
Pilot: "Widow 51, read back is: line 4: 60, line 6: 0547-0922, line 8: south 700 meters. One times CBU JDAM. Threat, SAM 6 miles north. How copy?"
JTAC: "Recoil 11, read back is correct. Stand by for inbound call."
Then, the attack run:
After the aircraft begins its attack run, the JTAC provides confirmation and final clearance.
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