USAF radical plan to field new fighter in 5 years

[chopper2004]

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/2019/09/16/the-us-air-forces-radical-plan-for-a-future-fighter-could-field-a-jet-in-5-years/

USAF reckons new radical plan for next generation fast jet could be fielded within 5 years.

Cheers

[dead_pan]

Ahh, the F35.001

[tartare]

Easy to be cynical after the massive clusterf*ck over the F-35 development.
But it's interesting that the B-21 appears to be progressing very quickly, hitting all milestones and budgets.
Heaven forbid they've actually learned something!
Back to the principles of Kelly Johnson, Pierre Sprey and John Boyd...?

[etudiant]

To design a new fighter, one must first decide which elements need improvement and why. Should it be stealth, sensor fit, endurance, armament or maneuverability and why.
That first step is absent afaik in all of these discussions, so there is a hodgepodge of new designs whose main feature is that they are new. That seems like a waste of money.

If memory serves, the US used to maintain a half dozen design bureaus, each of which was able to offer a creditable proposal for the ATF competition, won by the F-22.
The came the last supper, when the DoD told the industry that it would no longer support that many and that the firms should merge.
Seems the DoD has discovered the downside of their consolidation, no competition, no innovation. If they really were serious, they would open the competition to Sukhoi, Dassault, BAe and perhaps the Chinese.

[Lonewolf_50]

If they really were serious, they would open the competition to Sukhoi, Dassault, BAe and perhaps the Chinese. I was with you up until that sentence.
When your IQ hits 50, sell.
Three words: Defense Industrial Base

[Fonsini]

It’s probably already flying, they just need 5 years to debug the avionics.

[chevvron]

But it's interesting that the B-21 appears to be progressing very quickly, hitting all milestones

Yeah just like the B737MAX did.

[racedo]

Fielding it is easy, getting it to do what it is supposed to do will take a bit longer.

Is Fighter including a human pilot or will it be unmanned drone ?

5000 unmanned drones targeting an area cost a bit less than 1 fighter.

[tartare]

Yeah just like the B737MAX did.

I'm sorry you've lost me.
Has the B-21 has been rushed through development by cynical management, ignoring engineers, in the face of a compliant regulator (or in this case USAF)?
Certainly not beyond the realms of possibility... but as far as I'm aware, no-one's even seen a real picture of the thing yet... let alone knows anything about it's development trajectory.