according to DefenseOne Lockheed Pitching F-22/F-35 Hybrid to U.S. Air Force
So F22/35 Hybrid or F-15X? Seems both of those planes are in consideration right now. I wonder how long it would take to get an F-22 Super Raptor flying?
according to DefenseOne Lockheed Pitching F-22/F-35 Hybrid to U.S. Air Force
The U.S. Navy has selected for the long-awaited MQ-25A Stingray carrier-based unmanned refueling tanker contract to build four air vehicle prototypes.
The $805.2 million contract for four prototype UAVs will aid the service in fulfilling the carrier air wing’s tanker gap while simultaneously relieving the /F Super Hornet fleet of the air-to-air refueling mission. But the decision is likely to mean even better news for Boeing in the long run, as the service plans to purchase up to 72 Stingrays.
Three companies competed for this evolution in the future of naval aviation: Boeing, Inc. (GA-ASI) and Skunk Works. The Navy has been exploring this project since 1999 before nailing down requirements in 2017, and industry provided radically different concepts.
Boeing and GA-ASI pitched a wing-body-tail UAV configuration, while Lockheed Martin proposed a flying-wing design.
Boeing is a huge player in carrier aviation, but the company chose to adapt a design from the precursor to the MQ-25A, the now-canceled Unmanned Carrier Launched Surveillance and Strike (Uclass) program. GA-ASI entered the competition as the underdog because this would have been the most complex aircraft the company had ever built. Lockheed Martin has experience with the carrier air wing by being the prime contractor for the . Boeing was the only company to build a prototype, which has not yet flown.
The Navy anticipates delivery of the first MQ-25A developmental aircraft in fiscal 2020, first flight in fiscal 2021, and declaring the aircraft combat-ready as early as 2024.
Uclass was focused on a UAV operating from an aircraft carrier equipped with strike, stealth and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability.
The service’s acquisition executive, Hondo Geurts, says the Navy was able to award a prototype contract roughly a year after finalizing MQ-25A requirements because the service focused on just two key performance parameters (KPPs), which allowed industry to be creative with its solution.
The service’s two KPPs for the MQ-25 are carrier compatibility and a sea-based tanker.
In 2017, the chief of naval operations deemed the MQ-25, the Large Diameter Unmanned Underwater Vehicle, and the surface ship laser weapon system as accelerated acquisition programs. The Navy used a similar approach in defining requirements for the multibillion-dollar guided-missile frigate replacement program, Geurts says.
“What was really interesting about that is the requirements were really well informed by technology—what’s probable,” he says. “The same thing with the MQ-25, [a] very rapid requirements process—we had a lot of design trade space open for solution providers.”
The service requested $719 million in fiscal 2019 research and development funding for the MQ-25. The Navy is the systems integrator for the program’s three segments: aircraft; carrier; and control system and connectivity.
The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act that was enacted Aug. 13 directs the service to modify the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier George Washington (CVN 73) to accommodate the MQ-25.
The fiscal 2019 defense policy conference report notes the Navy should modify CVN 73 during its four-year refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) maintenance period, which began in 2017 at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia.
“The conferees believe that once fielded, the Navy should prioritize deploying the MQ-25 to the Pacific area of operations,” the report says. “In order to enable such deployments, the conferees believe that it is imperative that CVN 73, as the potential next forward deployed aircraft carrier, undergo the necessary modifications and alterations during its RCOH to enable MQ-25 operations as soon as possible.”
The new law gives the Navy wiggle room to complete necessary MQ-25 modifications during the RCOH or during a single follow-on maintenance period. A legislative aide told Aerospace DAILY it is imperative the only forward-deployed carrier is outfitted with the first carrier-based UAV.
“Nothing in this language should be interpreted as prohibiting the full installation of MQ-25 alterations and equipment during RCOH should developments allow it,” the report says. “Additionally, the conferees fully expect future Navy budgets will support this plan.”
Neither is being "considered" They are being pitched. Basically Lockheed Martin and Boeing are trying to get the USAF interested in possible buys.So F22/35 Hybrid or F-15X? Seems both of those planes are in consideration right now. I wonder how long it would take to get an F-22 Super Raptor flying?
Neither is being "considered" They are being pitched. Basically Lockheed Martin and Boeing are trying to get the USAF interested in possible buys.
Neither is being "considered" They are being pitched. Basically Lockheed Martin and Boeing are trying to get the USAF interested in possible buys.
US defense contractors spend a lot of time coming up with things that they (or foreign customers) dreamed of, and pitch it over to the DoD.Sorry, considered may have been the wrong word, but given how close reports of both of these projects for an interim air superiority fighter emerged, I have to speculate the imputes might have been generated by military.
More like 6-8 years and production 10-12 with IOC 17-18 years. With the limited buy of F22 The Airforce has been looking into a gap filler due to the age of F15 that were supposed to be boneyard now.Apparently, the USAF went to Lockheed and Boeing to ask if there was a way to cheaply make 4th gen fighters cheaply to replace the F-15 temporarily until the NGAD/PCA/whateverTheAcronymThisWeek is ready. Boeing came back with the 15X. Lockheed didn't bite. Instead, they are offering what they want the Japanese to buy: a hybrid F-22/F-35.
The F-15X runs about $65M/each.
The Frankenstein-22C would run around $190M if 140 are bought. Maybe as low as $170M if more are.
However, keep in mind the F-35A is running at just under $90M right now and will get down to ~85M to $80M.
Neither the Franken-22C nor the 15X are worth it when you run the numbers. Especially if you take into account the additional logistics of a new aircraft.
With the funding profile of the 6th gen going where it is, there are likely to be demonstrators in the air within 3 or 4 years. Then a selection and an LRIP within 10. Why muck that up with the 15X or 22C?