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They could either run 400+ aircraft in FB-22+ or FB-23+ style as a quick and dirty PCA to get rid of the legacy aircraft (and maybe F-22) alongside the F-35 and push a NGF out to 2050 or beyond, upgrade or SLEP legacy aircraft on the cheap,
wait until F-35's are really combat capable and then start in on a 2035-40 PCA in earnest.
Or sit tight and turn a B-21 variant into a 2030 PCA fill-in running the lines concurrently to run those numbers up and costs down.
Or go nearly all F-35 come block 3 quick while you wait for a 2045 PCA ( which would seem really unideal to me, but would make a lot of accountants happy, and would probably get you the most airframes in total in the fastest timeframe for similar dollars than any other proposal).
F-22/F-35 hybrid (I added this one). This would likely kick out PCA a decade.
The new F-117 (I added this one)
I don't think the F-35A is really good enough until 2045.
originally posted by: C0bzz
Does anyone know how much IRST detection range scales with object size?
I'm wondering if we could simply compare physical laws such as the radar range equation, to tell us what the future of air combat envisages.
originally posted by: RadioRobert
a reply to: mightmight
Any follow-on has to be or replace PCA.
The two biggest manufacturers of military aircraft have been busy marketing new versions of their fighter jets to the U.S. Air Force, but the service’s top official told Defense News in an exclusive interview that it’s not actually interested in purchasing either of them at the current moment.
...
But just because those companies are offering new jets, doesn’t mean that the Air Force wants them.
In an exclusive Sept. 5 interview, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said she believes the service needs to expend its precious financial resources on stealthy, fifth-generation platforms — specifically the F-35 — and thus buying even an advanced fourth generation fighter like the so-called F-15X is not in the cards.
...
What about a new fifth generation plane that would combine the F-35 and F-22?
Wilson shut down that idea as well, saying that proposal "is not something we’re currently considering.”
TOKYO -- The Ministry of Defense has decided to develop a new aircraft to succeed the F-2 fighter, as proposals from three American and British companies for a replacement failed to meet the ministry's costs and capability requirements, government officials told the Mainichi Shimbun.
mainichi.jp...
originally posted by: RadioRobert
a reply to: C0bzz
Sounds like unrealistic requirements then...