US F/A-XX and F-X 6th Gen Aircraft News Thread

[Deino]

Unfortunately mods no longer have the ability to merge threads! We may have to ask Webby.

Strange, ... I still can.

Threads merged !

 

[Air Force Brat]

Oh Burn Shots fired...
nope. the name they chose says it all Penetrating Counterair. IE Stealthy Air dominance and even if they accelerate it it's still late 2020's F35 is soon to mid 2030's as is. And as thise keeps going part of me is more and more thinking F22 Reprocured and upgraded to C model as the PCA, F35 updated to D, E and F models with the Navy getting a new F/Axx to replace the Super advanced Mega Ultra (Boeing's marketing department needs this as they are running out of Verbs) Hornet.

yep, I still think an F-22 upgrade would get the future headed in the right direction!

 

[Air Force Brat]

In my opinion Brat you want the best of both worlds.
you want the range and reach but you don't want a bomber with Air to Air missiles. You want to be able to maneuver because F22 is not a bomber with missiles F35 is not a bomber with missiles these machines can still mix it up when they need to.

absolutely and why not, my opinion hasn't changed in two years, it won't change in the next two!

 

[Air Force Brat]

OK, the Boeing is growing on me, the LockMart chick with tails?? not so much

I must have been having a "brain fart" when I penned this KRAP! Lets build that LockMart and keep our twin angled tails!

 

[anzha]

Just as the first Block III F/A-18E/F Super Hornets are rolling off the Boeing production line, the Navy is launching a new plan for what comes next, senior aviators told lawmakers Thursday.

The Navy is finalizing its analysis of alternatives (AOA), due within the next two month, Rear Adm. Scott Conn, the Navy’s director of air warfare (OPNAV N98), said during a House Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee hearing.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

, the Navy had started an AoA requirements study for the Next-Generation Air Dominance program. The goal was to replace the capabilities of the Super Hornets and the electronic attack EA-18G Growlers. At the time, Navy officials said the study would evaluate manned, unmanned and optionally manned airframes as part of a family of systems.

The report, Conn said at today’s hearing, “will inform future choices reflected in future budget cycles in terms of what do we need to do to get after the lethality that we need at a cost that we can afford.”

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

It should be noted, the USN has been spending about $5M/year on their NGAD/NGF and their AOA will be done.

The USAF spent over $450M this year and $1B next.

 

[anzha]

The Air Force is planning to employ a previously used "vanguard" approach for experimentation and innovation of next-generation air dominance capabilities.

Testifying at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said, "One of the things that we are going to do is go back to using vanguard programs, where we use the authorities you've given us to prototype, to experiment and to rapidly innovate."

...

"I think if you look back there's probably a legitimate criticism of some of our major defense programs where there are multiple miracles required in a program. That's probably not the way to set yourself up for success," she said.

"And so, rather than looking at a particular platform, our next-generation air dominance will identify the technologies that we need to develop and test and then make decisions along the way on how we will deploy those technologies," Wilson added.

In the late 1970s, Air Force Systems Command created "Vanguard" as a technology management approach that both determined the systems, costs, schedules and plans needed for acquisition and coordinated all research and development in the service.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

 

[anzha]

After developing the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lighting II together, the US Navy (USN) and the US Air Force (USAF) are parting ways.

The USN’s next-generation fighter won’t be jointly developed with the USAF. That’s because the USN does not plan to use its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) aircraft on penetration missions in highly-contested air space as the USAF aims to do with its next-generation fighter, says Angie Knappenberger, USN deputy director of air warfare, at the Navy League Sea-Air-Space conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

...

Yet, the USN isn’t quite ready to call its NGAD a sixth-generation fighter.

“Sixth generation isn’t really something that we are using. Our [analysis of alternatives (AoA)] has really gone after capabilities and how those capabilities contribute,” says Knappenberger, explaining that the AoA report was just finished. “We expect the results of the AoA later this year.”

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

That's sounding like a Gen 5.5 sorta thing.

 

[Jura The idiot]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

That's sounding like a Gen 5.5 sorta thing.

LOL they need to edit complimentary in
“It will have to be a complimentary system to the F-35,” says Knappenberger. “It’ll have to be a complimentary system to some of the weapons that we currently have.”

 

[Lethe]

The Navy and Air Force never want to work together, that isn't news. The political system has to dictate a compromise. At the very least, the services should be required to use the same newly developed engine, radar and other sensors, ECM systems, communications, etc. OR to re-use something from an existing or other platform under development (F-22, F-35, B-21).

The earlier the political system intervenes to dictate a compromise, the easier the process will be. At the moment there seems to be no coordination whatsoever, so a rough landing on the reality runway is inevitable.

 

[Brumby]

LOL they need to edit complimentary in
“It will have to be a complimentary system to the F-35,” says Knappenberger. “It’ll have to be a complimentary system to some of the weapons that we currently have.”

The defining phrases from the Flight Global article in my view are the abdication of penetrating counter air by relying on standoff weapons. It is effectively an oxy moron statement because carrier aviation is power projection and air dominance is basically penetration. If the intention is to abdicate penetrating air to the USAF then the USN should not be spending developing funds on a NGAD program. There is already a stealthy platform in the USN to conduct standoff mission - it is the F-35C.

"the USN does not plan to use its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) aircraft on penetration missions in highly-contested air space as the USAF aims to do with its next-generation fighter
" and "Instead, the USN would conduct penetrating airstrikes against an advanced adversary with long-range standoff missiles or the mission would be deferred to the USAF, says Knappenberger."