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

Ultra

Ultra

Junior Member
TerraN_EmpirE said:
........Even the best high-power lasers are only 32-33% efficient, meaning 2MW of heat is generated for every 1MW of energy that can be formed into a laser beam, Vice says.
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Erm........... Is it just me or does that maths just looks wrong?
33% of 2MW is not 1MW. Shouldn't it be 660,000 KW??
 
S

Scratch

Captain
Ultra said:
Erm........... Is it just me or does that maths just looks wrong?
33% of 2MW is not 1MW. Shouldn't it be 660,000 KW??
Click to expand...

What TerreN ment, I'm quiet sure, was that out of an implied 3MW total input, only 1MW output via the Laser beam is achieved, while the remaining 2MW are wasted as heat.
 
TerraN_EmpirE

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Scratch I was Quoting the Article, It's not my statement.
I figure Mr. Vice ( the man being quoted ) may have been rounding.
Also Correct me if I am wrong but I thought 1 MegaWatt (MW) = 1000 KiloWatts so 2 MG should be what 2000 KW So how do you get 660,000 Kilowatts or 660 MegaWatts I mean that's equal to the power rating of a single Turbine generator used in major power plants. If you want to multiply by 33 then you should get what 33,000 KW? but it's a percentage of efficiency so the maths are likely more complex then simple multiplication.
 
Brumby

Brumby

Major
In discussing lasers for the 6G program, it is useful to remember that the USAF is interested in three categories of lasers. These include low-power lasers for illuminating, tracking, targeting, and denying/defeating enemy sensors; moderate-power laser protective weapons system, presumably to eliminate incoming missiles; and high-powered lasers for offensive operations against other aircraft or ground targets.

IMHO, it is probably too aggressive a timeline to consider the high-powered end for the 6G program.
 
TerraN_EmpirE

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Well Brumby The First Class of Lasers Are pretty much available now, The Second Class is in is The more critical goal for the nearer term with the third for the more distant. first flight of the F-X/FA-XX are aimed for the mid 2020's that 10 years for the aircraft, but not necessarily for the weapons systems. So maybe a few years post flight perhaps 2029 or 2030. In the past 15 years we have already seen an amazing amount of laser tech leap frogging So at least for the low and Moderate powered Lasers I think It's actually realistic by 2025, the higher end may come online later and added by early operational ready birds say 2035 barring Alien invasion.
 
S

Scratch

Captain
I would argue that airborne lasers capable of illuminating / tracking are operational for quite some time now. Like laser designators on targeting pods. Or the laser range finder in the Rafale's OSF sensor suite.

At least the low power defensive type is also operational in the form of DIRCM systems / the AN/AAQ-24, blinding IIR missile seekers with laser pulses. And something like that is supposed to show up on the F-35 in several years I believe. A power output capable of achieving a hard kill against missiles might be the next step, and seems quite feasable to me within a decade.

"Offensive" lasers to blow up other jets is a different thing. But maybe enough to affect the structural integrity or shape of the airframe over a short distance.
 
Brumby

Brumby

Major
upload_2015-12-14_16-17-3.png

Beam power requirement in excess of MW is required to be generated on board an aerial platform if it is of any practical application due to its limited effective range of maybe up to 10 nm. A medium to long range AAM will easily outranged it. Additionally, it will favour a larger aerial platform rather than smaller one.

A similar take on "A Vision of Future Aerial Combat" by CSBA
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These historically informed trends suggest that the ongoing transformation of aerial combat may steadily reduce the utility of some attributes traditionally associated with fighter aircraft (e.g., extreme speed and maneuverability) and increase the value of attributes not usually associated with fighter aircraft (e.g., sensor and weapon payload as well as range). As a result, an effective sixth-generation fighter aircraft may look similar to a future bomber or use a modified version of a bomber airframe—it may even be the same aircraft with its payload optimized for the air-to-air mission. The following video illustrates a possible future aerial combat battlescape where notional future enemy fighters with fifth-generation characteristics encounter friendly fighter aircraft developed for an evolved air-to-air combat concept of operation.
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The accompanying short animated video is worthwhile watching on future trend of A2A.
 
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