The Critics are Getting Lined up Already for the 6th Generation Fighters

War is Boring has a reprinted article about what the US Navy ought to be investing into for the F/A-XX. The article's thesis is the FA-XX ought to be a F-14 replacement, not an F/A-18E/F SuperHornet replacement. The F/A-XX is at current, according to the authors, aimed at the latter.

All of this is under the assumption that the F/A-XX and F-X will be cut and paste replacements for the F/A-18E/F and F-22. I don't think this will be the case.

I think we'd have some fun discussing what the 6th gen will be and do, but...not sure we're at the right place or that.

a reply to: anzha
What the navy really needs in the future are f-xx. Not f/a-xx. I'm a big fan of the 35, I think it's electronic warfare capabilities combined with its excellent stealth protection will make it a game changer in first day strike. It is however not the the end all be all, it needs companion aircraft like all other aircraft currently flying for the U.S. The 6th gen naval aircraft needs to be a lot of what the f-14 was and as little as possible of what the f-35 is. It needs to be fast and powerful and capable of being an interceptor and air superiority fighter. With the super hornet and lightning on board the carrier wouldn't need many fighters of similar cut the f-22 providing over watch. Ideally there would be no air to ground capability built in so that it could be made dominant enough and with long enough range that the carrier air wing would need less of them. It does need to be less maintenance intensive than the 14 was though, ultimately that's what killed the tomcat..

So is the F-35 formally Joint Strike Fighter a fighter, a bomber or both and is the F-xx supposed to be air superiority only?

I suppose the requirement will be based on exaggerated potential future threats to a carrier such as a ballistic missile or an aircraft launched missile or submarine / other ship?

Does a carrier need an equivalent stealth bomber as the LRS-b and a dedicated fighter of F-22 caliber, I would say yes if they want to stay relative as the carrier fleet projecting power, if you compromise with a multi role then maybe you lose something?

But I thought that's what the JSF was supposed to be? Is it a compromise?

www.lockheedmartin.com...
LM 6th gen picture.

a reply to: darksidius

Anyone know what is being manufactured in that "Advanced Composites" image?

a reply to: Forensick

The F-XX is the Air Force sixth gen aircraft. The F/A-XX is the Navy sixth gen aircraft.

The F-35 is a strike fighter, just like the F-18 is.

a reply to: gfad

You can't see enough of it to tell. It's a UAV of some sort it looks like from the size though. It could be an RCS model, but I'd be UAV. Possibly the Sea Ghost.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I'd do things a bit differently, but we've discussed that for the FA-XX.

If the 6th gens are further along, then does that mean there are things in the air now? You have mentioned the avionics have been worked on, but not said the 6th gen had something up and zooming about.

a reply to: anzha

No, they're waiting on the airframe until they have a better idea what the services are looking for. They each have several designs on paper already, to cover a range of options. But they're already testing systems, sensors, etc. Those are going to be the same as far as the basics go regardless of which design they go with.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Gotcha. Misunderstood based on your comment that it would be run like the LRS-B.

I think its safe to say we'll have to wait until the 7th gen for the direct brain machine interfaces though. Firefox level we could almost do now though.

a reply to: anzha

Yeah, I should have been more clear on that. It will be like the bomber in that they'll have mature systems ready to go, and won't have to go through a huge development process from a cold start. Most of the systems will have been integrated, at least to a degree, and a lot of the bugs worked out.

a reply to: Zaphod58

It seems like in the modern world, we should consider the electronics, sensors & software as the real technology, and the airframe as an add-on feature.