# USAF now looking to swarms rather than 6th gen fighter



## a_majoor (16 Jun 2016)

Interestign conversion taking place here, rather than thinking about new platforms, the USAF and USN are looking at networks and swarms of devices to carry out missions. While there are lots of conceptual issues with this approach (cyber attack, jamming and attacking the physical emitters all come to mind), this is certainly new thinking on the part of the USAF:

http://nextbigfuture.com/2016/06/us-air-force-and-navy-look-to.html



> *US Air Force and Navy look to operationalize a future system of systems by 2025 instead of building a Sixth Generation fighter*
> 
> The USAir Force’s new view – that the F-22 and F-35 replacement may be a system of systems and would include unmanned aerial vehicles – puts the service squarely in line with the Navy. In 2015 Navy Secretary Ray Mabus predicted that the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter would be the last traditional manned fighter the Navy would buy. In January the Navy began a requirements study for the Next Generation Air Dominance program – the effort formerly known as F/A-XX, or the sixth-generation fighter program – and Navy aviation leadership told USNI News that the effort would be conducted with input from the Navy but not in a joint manner.
> 
> ...


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## a_majoor (15 Sep 2016)

Russia's forecasting of what they see as a 6th generation fighter:

http://rbth.com/defence/2016/09/02/what-will-6th-generation-fighters-be-like-in-the-us-and-russia_626557



> *What will 6th-generation fighters be like in the U.S. and Russia?*
> September 2, 2016 MIKHAIL KHODARENOK, GAZETA.RU
> Early development work on a sixth-generation fighter is underway in the U.S. and Russia. Military experts discuss the type of aircraft that may appear in the foreseeable future, and how soon we could realistically expect to see these planes in the skies.
> 
> ...


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## MarkOttawa (6 Sep 2019)

Does seem as if USAF moving away from actual sixth-generation NGAD fighter:



> 1) U.S. Air Force Family Of Systems Trumps Next-Generation Fighter
> 
> For the U.S. Air Force, the succession of era-defining fighters—World War II’s P-51, the Korean War’s F-86, the Vietnam War’s F-4, the Cold War’s F-15 and the F-22 today—is over. The future of air superiority belongs to a collection of capabilities, such as aircraft and satellites new and familiar integrated on a shared network and fighting as a team.
> 
> ...



2) Lots more, with further links, videos, images: 



> "B-21s With Air-To-Air Capabilities," Drones, Not 6th Gen Fighters To Dominate Future Air Combat
> _The Air Force's vision of the future of aerial combat has evolved greatly as of late and has moved away from plans for new, costly manned fighters._
> 
> he U.S. Air Force is still working to iron out just what it thinks air-to-air combat will look like a decade from now and what types of aircraft it will need to come out on top in any future fight. As part of its ongoing Next Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD, the service is exploring a wide array of manned, unmanned, and pilot-optional concepts, as well as advanced associated technologies, including increased network connectivity and autonomous capabilities. At the same time, however, it has steadily moved away from plans for a once much-touted sixth-generation fighter jet.
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## daftandbarmy (6 Sep 2019)

MarkOttawa said:
			
		

> Does seem as if USAF moving away from actual sixth-generation NGAD fighter:
> 
> 2) Lots more, with further links, videos, images:
> 
> ...



I was first introduced to this concept in 1987 at RMCS Shrivenham and, I assume, it was an idea that was in play long before that. Nice to see it finally coming off the drawing board, apparently.


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## MarkOttawa (27 Dec 2019)

USAF looking for that revolution in aviation affairs (USN, USMC, US Army also looking at major shake-ups)--excerpts (full article may be subscriber only):



> In 2020, All Eyes In The Pentagon Are On 2030
> 
> Three different visions of the future of U.S. air and space power from the air, land and maritime perspective will come to the fore in 2020.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## daftandbarmy (27 Dec 2019)

More job security for the Infantry! Yes!


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## Kirkhill (28 Dec 2019)

Does that mean revisiting the Key West Agreement?  Is the new dividing line between orbital and sub-orbital projectiles?


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## a_majoor (19 Oct 2020)

Speculation on the "Sixth Generation" aircraft has heated up with the USAF announcing they had built a prototype in just one year. This article looks at the short timeline and the various network/UAV/UCAV approaches the USAF has been examining and comes up with an interesting speculation: the aircraft is a variation of the B-21 Raider designed to carry and control swarms of UCAVs carried aboard and released near the target area or combat box.

The B-21 certainly would have the range, and carrying a launcher full of UCAVs rather than bombs or missiles isn't much of a stretch. The aircraft has room for one or more controllers, communications gear and even an on board server rack to provide the network horsepower for all of this, and if the aircraft is treated as a control platform rather than a "fighter", it makes sense.

Integrating this into conventional air operations may be a bit more challenging, since there will be a big performance gap between a B-21 derived platform and an F-35, not to mention accounting for long flight times if the "F-21" has to be launched from the United States and fly to the area, but conceptually a F-15EX could serve as a launch platform as well (perhaps carrying the UCAVs in a stealth carrier under the aircraft, much like the Enhanced Super Hornet concept).

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a34148871/air-force-secret-new-fighter-jet-speculation/

The Air Force's Secret New Fighter Jet May Not Even Be a Fighter at All



> The world continues to search for clues surrounding the mysterious new fighter jet that the U.S. Air Force secretly designed, built, and flew in just one year. We're still debating whether or not the Air Force already showed us what the new fighter looks like, and now, one defense blog raises an even more intriguing question: What if the Air Force's new fighter jet isn't actually a fighter jet at all?
> 
> ✈ You love badass planes. So do we. Let's nerd out over them together.
> 
> ...


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