6th Gen. Aircraft: Predictions and Expectations

[illuminatidinesh]

Stealth is already very researched and its limits are being reached, while the world of radar detection has a lot of potential to be improved.

As to what will define the 6th generation fighter will be it's energy weapons, especially those which will be able to target A2A missiles and destroy any incoming threats. The speed of the fighter itself, the ease of deployment and its interlinking with piloted fighters will all create a perfect 6th generation fighter.

None of this contradicts what i said infact you are supporting my point, STEALTH is gross term - maybe u are mentining the RCS reduction, even then how do u know they have reached the limit?
The next gen is going to have advanced EW suit, Integration , situational awarness , data link ...... U are going to face an enemy who will blind you, hit you and u never know wat hit you. The enemy is not going to be there for street fight, period.

 

[Gufi]

The next gen is going to have advanced EW suit, Integration , situational awarness , data link ...... U are going to face an enemy who will blind you, hit you and u never know wat hit you. The enemy is not going to be there for street fight, period.

You described the goals of a F 35 not a 6th generation fighter....

 

[Blue Marlin]

6th gen birds will be able to control other uav/ucavs to help result in a successfull mission
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/07/07/airbus-future-fighter-command-drones/

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

6th gen birds will be able to control other uav/ucavs to help result in a successfull mission
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/07/07/airbus-future-fighter-command-drones/

5th gens too...

http://www.defensetech.org/2015/05/...anned-strategy-has-f-35-pilots-flying-drones/

 

[Blue Marlin]

5th gens too...

http://www.defensetech.org/2015/05/...anned-strategy-has-f-35-pilots-flying-drones/

i forgot to mention that but im not so sure if the f22 can do that tough

 

[war&peace]

Old article but very relevant to the current discussion

Sixth generation fighter aircraft: rise of the F/A-XX
X-51 WaveRider Unmanned Scramjet Aircraft[/paste:font]
The aircraft was developed to meet the requirements of the US Air Force (USAF) as part of the WaveRider programme.

Lofty criticism has also been levied at the estimated cost of the development and procurement of such an aircraft, with estimates ranking the programme to cost in excess of $40bn. With the military already investing heavily in the next generation bomber programme, and with military spending facing increasing cuts owing to various financial crises, funding of that scale is unlikely to be welcomed.

Former US Marine Corps Lt General Emerson Gardner told FlightGlobal of his scepticism surrounding the F/A-XX programme, saying: "It's not going to happen. There's not any money there."

Other criticisms of the programme include an alleged lack of commitment to the carrier-variant F-35 aircraft following a raft of problems in their development, a problem that former USMC deputy aviation commandment George Trautman cited, telling FlightGlobal: "It sort of validates the naval aviators' overall lack of commitment to the F-35. It shows how much they're in bed with Boeing to include a whole host of retired navy aviators who work for Boeing."

Although the programme itself promises to push the US Air Force and US Navy's capabilities beyond what is already aerial superiority, Boeing's vision of an all-encompassing strategy for the future of US aircraft still clearly has several hurdles to overcome before it can be considered feasible.

To read the full article
http://www.airforce-technology.com/features/featuresixth-generation-fighters-boeing-lockheed/

 

[risingsinga]

Old article but very relevant to the current discussion

Sixth generation fighter aircraft: rise of the F/A-XX
X-51 WaveRider Unmanned Scramjet Aircraft[/paste:font]
The aircraft was developed to meet the requirements of the US Air Force (USAF) as part of the WaveRider programme.

Lofty criticism has also been levied at the estimated cost of the development and procurement of such an aircraft, with estimates ranking the programme to cost in excess of $40bn. With the military already investing heavily in the next generation bomber programme, and with military spending facing increasing cuts owing to various financial crises, funding of that scale is unlikely to be welcomed.

Former US Marine Corps Lt General Emerson Gardner told FlightGlobal of his scepticism surrounding the F/A-XX programme, saying: "It's not going to happen. There's not any money there."

Other criticisms of the programme include an alleged lack of commitment to the carrier-variant F-35 aircraft following a raft of problems in their development, a problem that former USMC deputy aviation commandment George Trautman cited, telling FlightGlobal: "It sort of validates the naval aviators' overall lack of commitment to the F-35. It shows how much they're in bed with Boeing to include a whole host of retired navy aviators who work for Boeing."

Although the programme itself promises to push the US Air Force and US Navy's capabilities beyond what is already aerial superiority, Boeing's vision of an all-encompassing strategy for the future of US aircraft still clearly has several hurdles to overcome before it can be considered feasible.

To read the full article
http://www.airforce-technology.com/features/featuresixth-generation-fighters-boeing-lockheed/

A highlight will be the self-healing structures

 

[fitpOsitive]

Aircraft with combat capabilities will always exist but they will morph and evolve...Even today there are ballistic missiles but those did not replace the aircraft.

i will humbly insist that ballistic missiles are not hypersonic and they are not agile. Sooner world is moving towards more agile and hypersonic delievery systems. Its like a missile fired from mongolia to attack ghana, but in midst of flight instructed to change its destiny to malta. and all that takes place with 2 hour. So who gonna need aircraft? That was my point.

 

[AMDR]

I don't know what other nations are thinking about 6th generation fighters but the USAF and USN seem to be pulling back from that concept. Their reasoning is "Why am I going to spend hundreds of billions of dollars and 25+ years to develop a single aircraft when I can spend the same amount (maybe less) and 10-15 years less to develop a network of unmanned and manned platforms with different missions that fit my needs better". Whether other nations will follow this line of thinking, I do not know.

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Some quotes to note, emphasis mine:

From: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/usaf-backs-off-sixth-gen-fighter-in-quest-for-air-423994/

“Exquisite capabilities ended up being late-to-need,” says USAF chief of strategic planning and integration Col Alex Grynkewich, who led the Air Superiority 2030 effort. “This generational paradigm is outdated. We needed that integrated network of capabilities; there is no silver bullet.”

“F-X would have been most likely like a sixth-generation fighter and would have had a 20 or 30-year development programme,” Holmes said at an Air Force Association forum in Washington DC on 7 April. “What we want to try to do is solve the problem faster than that by looking out across the range of options and building what we’re capable of building instead of waiting for the next generation.”

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

Various aspects of a future System of Systems

• integrated network systems
• operationalize combat-focused space and cyber forces
• increase range and payload
• increase speed, maneuverability and stealth for the air space penetration components
• Modest investments will also be made to upgrade and life-extending fourth-generation aircraft and modernize the F-22 Raptor
• Leverage automation and machine learning

The goal is to operationalize a future air superiority network by 2025."

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My personal opinion is that there will be no single "Sixth-Generation Fighter", it will be something like what you see on the graphic to the right, where the left is the old style of thinking. This program which this graphic pertains to is a technical experiment being done by DARPA

Developing multiple new classes of mission-dedicated UAVs seems to be the leading proposal when it comes to this, as indicated. The advantages of such a system are noted in the graphic above. Connect these new UAVs with already existing or planned platforms like the drone-controlling F-35, modernized F-22, B-21, B-2, and the "Arsenal Plane" and you have a extremely robust and modular network that cannot be taken out easily but still can saturate opposing forces with weapons and sensors. The new tech that was supposed to be featured on a Sixth-Generation can be backfitted or implemented on the later variants of these UAVs, if possibile.

TL;DR - Multiple distributed networks of aircraft instead of a sixth generation fighter