FCAS will give Europe a new fighter to
replace the fleet of Eurofighter
typhoons. french-built rafales
and Spanish ef-18 hornets by 2040. Francis Dassau aviation is leading the
development of the new generation
fighter NGF while airbus represents
Germany's industry and Indra leads
Spain's participation. the demonstrator portion of the FCAS program is slated to run through 2026 or
2027.
UK's Tempest
Tempest is a multi-billion pound British
military project and is expected to
become operational in 2035.
this aircraft is being designed to
incorporate intertwined open
architecture technology to cater to a
multitude of threat profiles.
Earlier reports had suggested that the
tempest would be a crewless aircraft
however the latest reports indicate that
it may have a virtual co-pilot.
Tempest is expected to combine a core
aircraft with a whole network of
capabilities such as uncrude aircraft
and advanced data systems to form a next-generation mix designed to enter service
from the mid-2030s, a UK ministry of
defense said in a statement in July last year.
Post-Brexit the UK's fighter jet program
is seen as a direct competitor to
Europe's other next-generation combat
aircraft project the FCAS. Additionally, it was announced on
September 15th at the DSEI arms trade
show in London that japan could emerge
as the next partner in the tempest
program which could give a big boost to
the project.
American NGAD
Testifying before the house armed
services committee on the fiscal 2022
budget air force chief of staff general
Charles Q. Brown jr said that there may be two
variants of NGAD one with long-range
missions for the indo-pacific and one
more oriented to the relatively short
ranges between possible battle areas in
Europe.
He clearly emphasized the importance of
air dominance as a priority and informed
the house that he wants NGAD to possess
the multi-role capability. He emphasized that the aircraft's
primary role will be air dominance but
will possess the ability to strike
ground targets as well.
Brown further added that USAF plans to
reduce its fighter jet fleet to just
four types of aircraft including the
f-35, f-15ex, f-16
as well as NGAD. The NGAD fighter is expected to fly
alongside the f-35 with the latter being
the cornerstone aircraft.
The u.s
department of defense has published its
budget request for 2022, which included
revised funding for NGAD. The USAF is looking for 1.5 billion
dollars to support NGAD which accounts
for an increase of roughly 623 million
dollars.
On September 15/2020, USAF acquisition
chief will roper announced that the
service had flown a full-scale flight
demonstrator as part of the NGAD program.
The Eurasian Times had quoted roper
earlier as saying we are ready to go and
build the next generation aircraft in a
way that has never happened before. We're
going after the most complicated systems
that have ever been built and checked
all the boxes with this digital
technology. In fact, we've not just checked the boxes
we've demonstrated something truly
magical.
5th gGen f-22 Raptor Vs 6th Gen Fighter Jets
There are 5 universally accepted
features that characterize a 5th
generation fighter aircraft, stealth
advanced maneuverability advanced
avionics systems, multi-role capabilities
and network or data fusion capabilities.
The era of the fifth-generation aircraft
began in 2005 with the induction of the US F-22 Raptor into the US military
machine. The F-22 had long reigned as the
undisputed fifth-gen ruler of the skies, zooming much ahead of Russian Su-57 and
Chinese J-20.
In contrast, a 6th gen aircraft is likely
to comprise everything that defines a
5th gen fighter jet besides some
additional features. There is a school of thought which
believes that the next generation
aircraft could be unmanned, whilst
maintaining the option of keeping a
manned crew.
The USAF under its skyboard program and
the u.s defense advanced research
projects agency DARPA under its
ambitious artificial driven ace
initiative are collectively working on
unmanned artificial intelligence-driven
automation and have already made some
headway.
Combat drones like the Russian hunter b
combat drone and the American valkyrie
are AI-enabled drones. Swarm drones are likely to feature in
the 6th gen fighter programs. Sophisticated ai driven heads-up
displays, hud, and data fusions to enhance
a pilot's situational awareness and
reduce cognitive load during air combat
or other predictions.
Smart munitions and weapon systems are
ever-evolving with their ranges and
autonomous capabilities growing at a
blistering pace. The future of air operations may see the
use of recon drones to acquire target
information following which potent
munitions may be unleashed at ranges
previously unheard of.
The u.s marine corps, USMC has already
been able to relay targeting information
from an f-35 to an m-142 HIMARS artillery rocket system in proximity to
the aircraft. With the artillery system acting on the
data and firing on the target, this
technology is becoming increasingly
democratized and is likely to see a more
widespread application.
An additional aspect that may truly mark
six gen fighters would be the ability to
operate in previously non-permissive
environments with lowered operational
risk. This may be achieved by leveraging a
combination of low observable technology
and advanced electronic warfare
capabilities including the USN patented
laser-induced plasma filament holograms
which may spoof enemy air defense
systems and hostile infrared missiles.
Mark Steven a laser expert at Lockheed Martin while speaking to reporters said
Lockheed Martin is working to fly a
laser on tactical fighters within the
next five years. We're spending a lot of
time to get the bean director right, most
jets are restricted to passive defense
mechanisms against missile attacks from
enemy forces.
The aircraft in a bid to evade attacks
can either fly outside the missile
sensor arc launch flares to distract an
infrared missile seeker or confuse the
missile guider by spreading strips of
aluminum foil, known as chaff.
The pod-mounted lasers should equip the
fighters with an effective means to take
down threats. another point worth noting is that the
5th gen jets like F-22 or F-35 are not
that old and only began around 2005 and
most of the nations do not have access
to 5th gen technology.
