USAF/USN 6th Gen Fighters - F/A-XX, F-X, NGAD, PCA, ASFS News & Analysis [2008- 2025]

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shin_getter said:
Personally I think main categorization would be range, speed, and basing requirements and role would change with the payload.

Personally I'd probably categorize the following:
Strike Package CCA:

Persistent Drone:

Rapid Cycling drone:

Support Drone:
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That's a way to look at it I hadn't considered. Thanks!
 
quellish said:
Broadband stealth requires a large, draggy aircraft. Not what you want in a fighter. Having a very low signature at low frequencies generally isn’t worthwhile for anything but ISR or a bomber. For a fighter districting every part of the RF kill chain is not worth the effort.

In the 1990s the state of the art in signature reduction was -70dbsm. It would be reasonable to believe things have advanced since then. RCS ranges have been continuously upgraded to measure smaller and smaller signatures.

Shaping, not materials get you to these numbers. No material is physically able to absorb more than X dbsm of RF energy, and even then the material would be too thick/heavy for an aircraft.
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Long time lurker here. With due respect to your world-class OSINT skills and encyclopedic knowledge, this post is off the mark.
 
joewee said:
Long time lurker here. With due respect to your world-class OSINT skills and encyclopedic knowledge, this post is off the mark.
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Care to elaborate?
 
Got to watch some of the YouTube videos that some people put on regarding military aviation most of them are down right bad and should be avoided at all costs. I have watched some of them myself years ago but have since learned to avoid them.
 
Any talk or thoughts on airforce interest in a unmanned tanker platform? Something XQ47 like , but scaled up since it's not constrained by carrier use? Seems it would be a great CCA to extend the legs of NGAD in the pacific.
 
I am sure there will be interest in the USAF in an enlarged unmanned tanker platform along the lines of the XQ-47, it would be a good idea to develop such an air refuelling tanker for the USAF to replace legacy aircraft completely like the KC-135 fleet.
 
I’ve not heard of such a project being mentioned. There is however talk of making the next tanker a purpose built blended wing-body type to reduce its signature. I’m not sure losing the manned component buys anything in the tanker size classes; the studies of a unmanned B-21 sized drone determined that you pretty much might as well have facilities for pilots and make craft optionally manned, given the minor cost of cockpit in such a large aircraft in terms of weight, fuel, and money
 
I have seen images on the Web and in books for years about the next tanker being a blended wing body aircraft Josh_TN, and it is interesting that the USAF are even talking about making the aircraft optionally manned.
 
Tool_Shed_Toker said:
Any talk or thoughts on airforce interest in a unmanned tanker platform? Something XQ47 like , but scaled up since it's not constrained by carrier use? Seems it would be a great CCA to extend the legs of NGAD in the pacific.
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KB-2 Spirit?

That could be a very useful second life for the B-2 once the B-21 fleet is sufficient.
 
FighterJock said:
I have seen images on the Web and in books for years about the next tanker being a blended wing body aircraft Josh_TN, and it is interesting that the USAF are even talking about making the aircraft optionally manned.
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To the best of knowledge they are not talking about any unmanned tankers at all, but previous studies with aircraft in this size range (B-21) seem to indicate there’s no value in a dedicated unmanned platform of that size.
 
I wonder how deep into the black the NGAD is? SAP Level 1 clearance? Which was as we all know the clearance level that the F-117A was given when that program started.
 
FighterJock said:
I wonder how deep into the black the NGAD is? SAP Level 1 clearance? Which was as we all know the clearance level that the F-117A was given when that program started.
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Not very. Similar to ATF in the mid 80s. NGAD is an acknowledged program.
 
Josh_TN said:
I'd not heard of that...do you have a source?



If your assumption fundamentally impacts the performance of a design, then yes I think there can be harm in overestimating.



Supercruising will increase an aircraft's IR signature. But it will also extend the range of the aircraft's weapons and allow it to leave the envelope of opponent weapons faster. Given the adaptive engine designs that GE and PW are working on, it seems likely the USAF can have its cake and eat it too - it can probably have a fuel efficient engine that allows for supercruise. I don't see why you would want to delete the option, even if it might not be useful in every single tactical situation. Presumable you would delete the afterburner as well?





The ranges are still much shorter than for a radar search against a 4th generation aircraft. IRST is also somewhat weather dependent.



We will agree to disagree. Also, if not in the Pacific, then where?
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The contrarIan Kat knows as little about airplane design as he does about tanks. Granular details to extrapolate how what anyone else says is wrong.
 
Area 51 of modern aviation? :D Quite some amusing irony (or anti-irony) in that line!
 
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Okay so here's an interesting talking point regarding the coatings... What are your thoughts on the VX and other squadrons that have been seen flying with the infrared coatings and how may that pay into the NGAD and F/A-XX programs?
 
specializedoptions1@gmail said:
Okay so here's an interesting talking point regarding the coatings... What are your thoughts on the VX and other squadrons that have been seen flying with the infrared coatings and how may that pay into the NGAD and F/A-XX programs?
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Those are the obvious first steps, kinda like HAVE GLASS V.

I suspect that those IR coatings will be baked into the skin materials on NGAD.
 
specializedoptions1@gmail said:
Okay so here's an interesting talking point regarding the coatings... What are your thoughts on the VX and other squadrons that have been seen flying with the infrared coatings and how may that pay into the NGAD and F/A-XX programs?
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What infrared coatings?
 
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