Einomies1
Respected Leader
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Toinen moottori mahdollisesti valjastetaan sähköntuottoon energia-aseille?
Looking beyond the F-35: Penetrating Counter Air
The US is looking beyond the fifth-generation F-35 with plans already underway for the sixth-generation 'Penetrating Counter Air' concept, which will be operated by the US Air Force and Navy and, potentially, allies like Australia.
With the growing success of Russian and Chinese fifth-generation fighter aircraft like the Su-57, J-20 and JF-31, the US has kicked off a suite of development programs to replace the ageing F-15 Eagle and fifth-generation F-22 Raptor air frames.
This Penetrating Counter Air (PCA) concept will seek to complement the US Air Force F-35 and the US Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fleets, serving niche roles including air dominance, air supremacy, fleet air defence, air interdiction and precision strike.
Stemming from the the US Air Force 'Air Superiority 2030' study in 2016, which proposed that the US Air Force would require a 'Next Generation Tactical Aircraft' (Next Gen TACAIR) air superiority/dominance fight jet to enter service in the 2030s.
"The future system will have to counter adversaries equipped with next generation advanced electronic attack, sophisticated integrated air defence systems (IADS), passive detection, integrated self-protection, directed energy weapons, and cyber attack capabilities. It must be able to operate in the anti-access/area-denial (A2AD) environment that will exist in the 2030-2050 time frame," the US Air Force solicitation states.
The US Navy is also looking to capitalise on the the program to develop a next-generation fighter aircraft, building on the initial Navy plan to replace the Super Hornet fleet as announced in 2012, particularly when it comes to service interoperability and sensor fusion to enable enhanced target designation, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data communication with their Air Force counterparts.
However, the Navy requirements do differ from the requirements of the Air Force, particularly with a focus on increased range and speed over the existing Super Hornet platforms to serve in A2AD environments, especially in the western Pacific to improve the survivability of the US Navy's aircraft carriers, which are increasingly becoming targets for advanced Chinese anti-ship cruise and ballistic missile systems.
These capability differences mean that the Pentagon, Air Force and Navy would avoid the joint development program model established by the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Despite this, there is a focus on ensuring that both branches would procure common systems and subsystems to be integrated with the next-generation fighter aircraft.
This early stage of solicitation has seen a number of aerospace companies, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman, present preliminary designs for consideration, with features including:
Toinen moottori mahdollisesti valjastetaan sähköntuottoon energia-aseille?
Looking beyond the F-35: Penetrating Counter Air
The US is looking beyond the fifth-generation F-35 with plans already underway for the sixth-generation 'Penetrating Counter Air' concept, which will be operated by the US Air Force and Navy and, potentially, allies like Australia.
With the growing success of Russian and Chinese fifth-generation fighter aircraft like the Su-57, J-20 and JF-31, the US has kicked off a suite of development programs to replace the ageing F-15 Eagle and fifth-generation F-22 Raptor air frames.
This Penetrating Counter Air (PCA) concept will seek to complement the US Air Force F-35 and the US Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fleets, serving niche roles including air dominance, air supremacy, fleet air defence, air interdiction and precision strike.
Stemming from the the US Air Force 'Air Superiority 2030' study in 2016, which proposed that the US Air Force would require a 'Next Generation Tactical Aircraft' (Next Gen TACAIR) air superiority/dominance fight jet to enter service in the 2030s.
"The future system will have to counter adversaries equipped with next generation advanced electronic attack, sophisticated integrated air defence systems (IADS), passive detection, integrated self-protection, directed energy weapons, and cyber attack capabilities. It must be able to operate in the anti-access/area-denial (A2AD) environment that will exist in the 2030-2050 time frame," the US Air Force solicitation states.
The US Navy is also looking to capitalise on the the program to develop a next-generation fighter aircraft, building on the initial Navy plan to replace the Super Hornet fleet as announced in 2012, particularly when it comes to service interoperability and sensor fusion to enable enhanced target designation, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data communication with their Air Force counterparts.
However, the Navy requirements do differ from the requirements of the Air Force, particularly with a focus on increased range and speed over the existing Super Hornet platforms to serve in A2AD environments, especially in the western Pacific to improve the survivability of the US Navy's aircraft carriers, which are increasingly becoming targets for advanced Chinese anti-ship cruise and ballistic missile systems.
These capability differences mean that the Pentagon, Air Force and Navy would avoid the joint development program model established by the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Despite this, there is a focus on ensuring that both branches would procure common systems and subsystems to be integrated with the next-generation fighter aircraft.
This early stage of solicitation has seen a number of aerospace companies, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman, present preliminary designs for consideration, with features including:
- Low observable, flying wing shaped air frames;
- Both twin and single engine variants;
- High precision, high capability directed energy weapons;
- Large, traditional weapons (air-to-air, air-to-ground) payloads;
- Command and control capabilities to support 'swarm' drone operations;
- Advanced sensor suites, combining traditional ISR and sensor fusion;
- Optionally manned/unmanned pilot configurations;
- Electronic warfare capabilities; and
- The potential for artificial intelligence to support pilot decision making.
