The US has built and flown a prototype Next Gen fighter...
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Rather not. There seems to be a rather big open area on the upper side in the middle of that thing, possibly the exhaust nozzle (?) (would be an interesting config but would surely help with IR reduction). You would not want to have that on the lower side of an VLO aircraft
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BAE Replica was mounted upside down for RCS testing. It also had very small exhausts. Most RCS testing is performed on prototype shapes and models which are not to scale and therefore don't always have the exact same features as a full scale, finished aircraft.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
AW&ST
https://aviationweek.com/shows-event...a-us-air-force
Kendall Previews New Modernization Agenda For U.S. Air Force
…..For two decades, the Lockheed F-35A served as the standalone replacement for all F-16s and A-10s, but that is no longer assumed. As an ongoing Fighter Roadmap study continues, the Air Force has already established that a certain number of F-16s and A-10s will remain in the fleet through the 2030s—even as Boeing F-15EXs replace aging F-15Cs and the Next-Generation Air Dominance program replaces the Lockheed F-22……
However, a gap still exists in the fighter force structure for replacing about 600 F-16 Block 40/42/50/52 aircraft as they reach flight-hour limits within or beyond the 2030s. The so-called MR-X, a concept for a clean-sheet, low-end fighter design, is a candidate for replacing those F-16s, Kelly said. Other options may include new Lockheed F-16Vs or a light fighter version of the Boeing T-7A trainer.
“MR-X is basically an acknowledgment of [the fact that] we need affordable capacity,” Kelly said. The roughly 600 F-16s are “going to be our affordable capacity for years to come,” he continued. “Eventually though, like anything that’s metal, [if] you bend it enough times you [will] have to replace it. And that’s where the MR-X discussion and options start to come into play.”….
https://aviationweek.com/shows-event...a-us-air-force
Kendall Previews New Modernization Agenda For U.S. Air Force
…..For two decades, the Lockheed F-35A served as the standalone replacement for all F-16s and A-10s, but that is no longer assumed. As an ongoing Fighter Roadmap study continues, the Air Force has already established that a certain number of F-16s and A-10s will remain in the fleet through the 2030s—even as Boeing F-15EXs replace aging F-15Cs and the Next-Generation Air Dominance program replaces the Lockheed F-22……
However, a gap still exists in the fighter force structure for replacing about 600 F-16 Block 40/42/50/52 aircraft as they reach flight-hour limits within or beyond the 2030s. The so-called MR-X, a concept for a clean-sheet, low-end fighter design, is a candidate for replacing those F-16s, Kelly said. Other options may include new Lockheed F-16Vs or a light fighter version of the Boeing T-7A trainer.
“MR-X is basically an acknowledgment of [the fact that] we need affordable capacity,” Kelly said. The roughly 600 F-16s are “going to be our affordable capacity for years to come,” he continued. “Eventually though, like anything that’s metal, [if] you bend it enough times you [will] have to replace it. And that’s where the MR-X discussion and options start to come into play.”….
That’s the feeding hatch for the racing hamsters inside. The thing below is the winged keel to keep it from capsizing at feeding time, when all the hamsters race to the feeding hatch.
I thought it's the observation deck for the oldsters...........
Northrop Grumman ad
Last edited by chopper2004; 2nd Nov 2021 at 09:24.
A bit like this:
https://www.scalemates.com/bg/kits/r...ighter--143703
https://www.scalemates.com/bg/kits/r...ighter--143703
Last edited by Less Hair; 2nd Nov 2021 at 09:23.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
https://www.defensenews.com/breaking...e-fighter-jet/
The US Air Force has built and flown a mysterious full-scale prototype of its future fighter jet
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has secretly designed, built and flown at least one prototype of its enigmatic next-generation fighter jet, the service’s top acquisition official confirmed to Defense News on Sept. 14.
The development is certain to shock the defense community, which last saw the first flight of an experimental fighter during the battle for the Joint Strike Fighter contract 20 years ago. With the Air Force’s future fighter program still in its infancy, the rollout and successful first flight of a demonstrator was not expected for years.
“We’ve already built and flown a full-scale flight demonstrator in the real world, and we broke records in doing it,” Will Roper told Defense News in an exclusive interview ahead of the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference. “We are ready to go and build the next-generation aircraft in a way that has never happened before.”
Almost every detail about the aircraft itself will remain a mystery due to the classification of the Next Generation Air Dominance program, the Air Force’s effort for fielding a family of connected air warfare systems that could include fighters, drones and other networked platforms in space or the cyber realm.
Roper declined to comment on how many prototype aircraft have been flown or which defense contractors manufactured them. He wouldn’t say when or where the first flight occurred. And he refused to divulge any aspect of the aircraft’s design — its mission, whether it was uncrewed or optionally crewed, whether it could fly at hypersonic speeds or if it has stealth characteristics.
Those attributes, he said, are beside the point.
The importance, Roper said, is that just a year after the service completed an analysis of alternatives, the Air Force has proven it can use cutting-edge advanced manufacturing techniques to build and test a virtual version of its next fighter — and then move to constructing a full-scale prototype and flying it with mission systems onboard.
“This is not just something that you can apply to things that are simple systems” like Boeing’s T-7 Red Hawk trainer jet, the first Air Force aircraft to be built using the “holy trinity” of digital engineering, agile software development and open architecture, Roper said.
“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 that’s truly magical.”
Now, the Next Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD, sits at a decision point. Roper declined to say how quickly the Air Force could move its next-gen fighter into production, except to say “pretty fast.” But before the service decides to begin producing a new generation of fighters, it must determine how many aircraft it will commit to buy and when it wants to start purchasing them — all choices that could influence the fiscal 2022 budget.
The program itself has the potential to radically shake up the defense industry. Should the Air Force move to buy NGAD in the near term, it will be adding a challenger to the F-35 and F-15EX programs, potentially putting those programs at risk.……..
The US Air Force has built and flown a mysterious full-scale prototype of its future fighter jet
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has secretly designed, built and flown at least one prototype of its enigmatic next-generation fighter jet, the service’s top acquisition official confirmed to Defense News on Sept. 14.
The development is certain to shock the defense community, which last saw the first flight of an experimental fighter during the battle for the Joint Strike Fighter contract 20 years ago. With the Air Force’s future fighter program still in its infancy, the rollout and successful first flight of a demonstrator was not expected for years.
“We’ve already built and flown a full-scale flight demonstrator in the real world, and we broke records in doing it,” Will Roper told Defense News in an exclusive interview ahead of the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference. “We are ready to go and build the next-generation aircraft in a way that has never happened before.”
Almost every detail about the aircraft itself will remain a mystery due to the classification of the Next Generation Air Dominance program, the Air Force’s effort for fielding a family of connected air warfare systems that could include fighters, drones and other networked platforms in space or the cyber realm.
Roper declined to comment on how many prototype aircraft have been flown or which defense contractors manufactured them. He wouldn’t say when or where the first flight occurred. And he refused to divulge any aspect of the aircraft’s design — its mission, whether it was uncrewed or optionally crewed, whether it could fly at hypersonic speeds or if it has stealth characteristics.
Those attributes, he said, are beside the point.
The importance, Roper said, is that just a year after the service completed an analysis of alternatives, the Air Force has proven it can use cutting-edge advanced manufacturing techniques to build and test a virtual version of its next fighter — and then move to constructing a full-scale prototype and flying it with mission systems onboard.
“This is not just something that you can apply to things that are simple systems” like Boeing’s T-7 Red Hawk trainer jet, the first Air Force aircraft to be built using the “holy trinity” of digital engineering, agile software development and open architecture, Roper said.
“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 that’s truly magical.”
Now, the Next Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD, sits at a decision point. Roper declined to say how quickly the Air Force could move its next-gen fighter into production, except to say “pretty fast.” But before the service decides to begin producing a new generation of fighters, it must determine how many aircraft it will commit to buy and when it wants to start purchasing them — all choices that could influence the fiscal 2022 budget.
The program itself has the potential to radically shake up the defense industry. Should the Air Force move to buy NGAD in the near term, it will be adding a challenger to the F-35 and F-15EX programs, potentially putting those programs at risk.……..
Formula One style engineering involved
https://www.defensenews.com/breaking...e-fighter-jet/
The US Air Force has built and flown a mysterious full-scale prototype of its future fighter jet
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has secretly designed, built and flown at least one prototype of its enigmatic next-generation fighter jet, the service’s top acquisition official confirmed to Defense News on Sept. 14.
The development is certain to shock the defense community, which last saw the first flight of an experimental fighter during the battle for the Joint Strike Fighter contract 20 years ago. With the Air Force’s future fighter program still in its infancy, the rollout and successful first flight of a demonstrator was not expected for years.
“We’ve already built and flown a full-scale flight demonstrator in the real world, and we broke records in doing it,” Will Roper told Defense News in an exclusive interview ahead of the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference. “We are ready to go and build the next-generation aircraft in a way that has never happened before.”
Almost every detail about the aircraft itself will remain a mystery due to the classification of the Next Generation Air Dominance program, the Air Force’s effort for fielding a family of connected air warfare systems that could include fighters, drones and other networked platforms in space or the cyber realm.
Roper declined to comment on how many prototype aircraft have been flown or which defense contractors manufactured them. He wouldn’t say when or where the first flight occurred. And he refused to divulge any aspect of the aircraft’s design — its mission, whether it was uncrewed or optionally crewed, whether it could fly at hypersonic speeds or if it has stealth characteristics.
Those attributes, he said, are beside the point.
The importance, Roper said, is that just a year after the service completed an analysis of alternatives, the Air Force has proven it can use cutting-edge advanced manufacturing techniques to build and test a virtual version of its next fighter — and then move to constructing a full-scale prototype and flying it with mission systems onboard.
“This is not just something that you can apply to things that are simple systems” like Boeing’s T-7 Red Hawk trainer jet, the first Air Force aircraft to be built using the “holy trinity” of digital engineering, agile software development and open architecture, Roper said.
“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 that’s truly magical.”
Now, the Next Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD, sits at a decision point. Roper declined to say how quickly the Air Force could move its next-gen fighter into production, except to say “pretty fast.” But before the service decides to begin producing a new generation of fighters, it must determine how many aircraft it will commit to buy and when it wants to start purchasing them — all choices that could influence the fiscal 2022 budget.
The program itself has the potential to radically shake up the defense industry. Should the Air Force move to buy NGAD in the near term, it will be adding a challenger to the F-35 and F-15EX programs, potentially putting those programs at risk.……..
The US Air Force has built and flown a mysterious full-scale prototype of its future fighter jet
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has secretly designed, built and flown at least one prototype of its enigmatic next-generation fighter jet, the service’s top acquisition official confirmed to Defense News on Sept. 14.
The development is certain to shock the defense community, which last saw the first flight of an experimental fighter during the battle for the Joint Strike Fighter contract 20 years ago. With the Air Force’s future fighter program still in its infancy, the rollout and successful first flight of a demonstrator was not expected for years.
“We’ve already built and flown a full-scale flight demonstrator in the real world, and we broke records in doing it,” Will Roper told Defense News in an exclusive interview ahead of the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference. “We are ready to go and build the next-generation aircraft in a way that has never happened before.”
Almost every detail about the aircraft itself will remain a mystery due to the classification of the Next Generation Air Dominance program, the Air Force’s effort for fielding a family of connected air warfare systems that could include fighters, drones and other networked platforms in space or the cyber realm.
Roper declined to comment on how many prototype aircraft have been flown or which defense contractors manufactured them. He wouldn’t say when or where the first flight occurred. And he refused to divulge any aspect of the aircraft’s design — its mission, whether it was uncrewed or optionally crewed, whether it could fly at hypersonic speeds or if it has stealth characteristics.
Those attributes, he said, are beside the point.
The importance, Roper said, is that just a year after the service completed an analysis of alternatives, the Air Force has proven it can use cutting-edge advanced manufacturing techniques to build and test a virtual version of its next fighter — and then move to constructing a full-scale prototype and flying it with mission systems onboard.
“This is not just something that you can apply to things that are simple systems” like Boeing’s T-7 Red Hawk trainer jet, the first Air Force aircraft to be built using the “holy trinity” of digital engineering, agile software development and open architecture, Roper said.
“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 that’s truly magical.”
Now, the Next Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD, sits at a decision point. Roper declined to say how quickly the Air Force could move its next-gen fighter into production, except to say “pretty fast.” But before the service decides to begin producing a new generation of fighters, it must determine how many aircraft it will commit to buy and when it wants to start purchasing them — all choices that could influence the fiscal 2022 budget.
The program itself has the potential to radically shake up the defense industry. Should the Air Force move to buy NGAD in the near term, it will be adding a challenger to the F-35 and F-15EX programs, potentially putting those programs at risk.……..
https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...0Non%20Openers
One wonders if, this program being such a big secret, they would ever taxi out during the day time.
USAF is generally aware of how much overhead surveillance is floating around up there ... or maybe someone messed up.
USAF is generally aware of how much overhead surveillance is floating around up there ... or maybe someone messed up.
What an odd thing.
Looks to me like a bellows type structure with a clear roof for light and opaque sides for security. Potentially on a rolling structure for moving entire projects around with some amount of obscurity. I can imagine such a thing inside hangars with multiple projects that don't want watchers. You can get similar things for cars - including inflatable cocoons for controlled atmosphere, however they are not mobile.
I have to assume that USAF know what's overhead that airfield every moment of the day, so I then have to assume that this was a deliberate act to send a message.
The other thought I had was that the aircraft had somehow become immobile after leaving the hangar (from tyres to system to engine problems I suppose) and required a cover to protect against the elements until it could be recovered. Presumably skin materials could be very delicate. There is also still the point of being obscured from overlooking vantage points by guys who go out with telescopes attached to their cameras.
Looks to me like a bellows type structure with a clear roof for light and opaque sides for security. Potentially on a rolling structure for moving entire projects around with some amount of obscurity. I can imagine such a thing inside hangars with multiple projects that don't want watchers. You can get similar things for cars - including inflatable cocoons for controlled atmosphere, however they are not mobile.
I have to assume that USAF know what's overhead that airfield every moment of the day, so I then have to assume that this was a deliberate act to send a message.
The other thought I had was that the aircraft had somehow become immobile after leaving the hangar (from tyres to system to engine problems I suppose) and required a cover to protect against the elements until it could be recovered. Presumably skin materials could be very delicate. There is also still the point of being obscured from overlooking vantage points by guys who go out with telescopes attached to their cameras.
That would fall in line with somewhat compact regular Fighter size. More F-35ish than F-22ish. But very reasonable for a Fighter Aircraft. As it appears no real vertical tails (just 'winglets'), thus a design with seemingly high focus on Stealth. Consequently, I would not completely rule out that we are seeing something related to NGAD. However, strange that they would be moving it in an area of high interest (and thus surely excellent coverage from space) during daylight times.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
It’s not a single fighter program, it’s a system program including unmanned Skyborg wingmen.
Looks reminiscent of the Air Force Research Lab concept drawing. Supposed to be 2-3 prototypes from different companies flying….
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Disp...rg-prototypes/
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020...skyborg-drone/
Looks reminiscent of the Air Force Research Lab concept drawing. Supposed to be 2-3 prototypes from different companies flying….
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Disp...rg-prototypes/
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020...skyborg-drone/
Might not be a fighter after all
It’s not a single fighter program, it’s a system program including unmanned Skyborg wingmen.
Looks reminiscent of the Air Force Research Lab concept drawing. Supposed to be 2-3 prototypes from different companies flying….
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Disp...rg-prototypes/
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020...skyborg-drone/
Looks reminiscent of the Air Force Research Lab concept drawing. Supposed to be 2-3 prototypes from different companies flying….
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Disp...rg-prototypes/
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020...skyborg-drone/
https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...0Non%20Openers
Cheers
Something that bothers me about the 'Skyborg' or 'Loyal Wingman'...
The F35 is a single seat fighter - one would think the pilot has a pretty much full time job with their own aircraft. So who's in control of the 'wingmen' - someone on the ground? Seems to me the concept might be better suited to a 2-seater - where a weapons officer type could give basic instructions to the wingmen (which presumably would be semi-autonomous) such as 'attack that bogie' or 'bomb that ground target'.
The F35 is a single seat fighter - one would think the pilot has a pretty much full time job with their own aircraft. So who's in control of the 'wingmen' - someone on the ground? Seems to me the concept might be better suited to a 2-seater - where a weapons officer type could give basic instructions to the wingmen (which presumably would be semi-autonomous) such as 'attack that bogie' or 'bomb that ground target'.
Something that bothers me about the 'Skyborg' or 'Loyal Wingman'...
The F35 is a single seat fighter - one would think the pilot has a pretty much full time job with their own aircraft. So who's in control of the 'wingmen' - someone on the ground? Seems to me the concept might be better suited to a 2-seater - where a weapons officer type could give basic instructions to the wingmen (which presumably would be semi-autonomous) such as 'attack that bogie' or 'bomb that ground target'.
The F35 is a single seat fighter - one would think the pilot has a pretty much full time job with their own aircraft. So who's in control of the 'wingmen' - someone on the ground? Seems to me the concept might be better suited to a 2-seater - where a weapons officer type could give basic instructions to the wingmen (which presumably would be semi-autonomous) such as 'attack that bogie' or 'bomb that ground target'.
The thought 'back in the day' was that you needed a WSO to manage the drones you're dragging along, and then it was tested and found that a pilot could manage 3 to 4 in the right circumstances (and I'm talking back in like 2005 I was told this by someone I believe to be reliable).
It's certainly a new approach so I think some ways of work will change.