The RCAF's Next Generation Fighter (CF-188 Replacement)

[GK .Dundas]

(Boris Badeov accent) What problems ?
Mother Russians has deep and significant historical ties to these Waters....Hokay, maybe as long ago as Tuesday last... But they are still ours.
Because we say so.

 

[armrdsoul77]

This guy gets a lesson in an F35 simulator. Very impressive.

 

[Kirkhill]

F35 Replacement -

Industry target - 300 MUSD each
DoD target - 30 MUSD each

“That’s not going to happen,”

Sixth-generation fighter at F-35 costs? 'That’s not going to happen,' industry predicts. - Breaking Defense

“That’s not going to happen,” one defense industry official told Breaking Defense, adding that there are “distinct differences” in design parameters, materials and fleet sizes that drive higher costs for a sixth-generation fighter versus older, more prolific jets like the F-35 and F-15.

breakingdefense.com

If the Air Force wants to field an optionally-crewed sixth-generation fighter jet at a price around that of an F-35 or F-15EX, the only plausible option is by taking out most of the aircraft’s key mission systems — things like radar, other sensors and datalinks — and putting them into the CCAs that will fly near the jet, said a second industry official.

That would allow the service to focus on optimizing the range, improved stealth and aerodynamic performance of the sixth-generation fighter, but would have a few major downsides, the official said.

‘Quiet quitting’ NGAD​

While aerospace companies are not permitted to confirm their involvement in the ultra-secretive NGAD program, Breaking Defense understands that Lockheed Martin and Boeing were vying for the NGAD contract before the Air Force hit pause on the program this summer. (Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden acknowledged last year that Northrop no longer planned to compete for NGAD, though she has since said the company could reassess that decision depending how the Air Force rescopes the competition.)

Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with AeroDynamic Advisories, said the focus on the cost-element of Kendall’s comments is burying the more significant acknowledgement from the Air Force — that it no longer needs a “super fighter” like NGAD and is more interested in disaggregating capabilities and networking them together.

Which raises the question about whether it needs a manned fighter altogether if it can just put those capabilities into drones, said Aboulafia, who joked that the Air Force may be “quiet quitting” the NGAD program.

“The idea of backing away from a next-gen super fighter is just anathema to the service’s DNA,” Aboulafia said. “There’s no doubt about its utility in all military scenarios… it’s the formula that’s always worked. No drawback at all, except, oh Jesus, it costs $300 million. And we don’t want to spend that because you’ll never get the mass you need.”