6th Gen. Aircraft: Predictions and Expectations

[war&peace]

They did, the reactor was air cooled.

This is an actual photo of the NB-36H, a nuclear powered strategic bomber:

It was deed too dangerous to civilian populations as a crash meant the spread of radioactive contaminants, and thus cancelled.

Thanks for the info. I have already covered the highlighted part in my post

You need knowledge of heat transfer, water can transport heat 1000 times more efficiently than air. There is no single nuclear power plant uses air cooling, You have to back up your claim with some credible source. Furthermore, aircrafts with supercruise fly at Mach 1.5 or above and the skin of aircraft at much higher temperature during flight and it can't be touched even after landing until it cools down and also the cooling fins will cause a huge amount of drag and thus taking away any advantage...plus in case of aircraft crash which do happen even with F-22, you have a nuclear explosion...Do you even think before your comment..alway backup your myths with some facts otherwise you are just trolling.

Furthermore, that was a low speed and a much larger aircraft. FIghterjet are smaller and fly at supersonic speeds. In addition to the always certain risk of crash and being shot down by the enemy.
And here is the interesting piece

Unlike the planned Convair X-6, the three-megawatt air-cooled reactor in the NB-36H did not power any of the aircraft's systems, nor did it provide propulsion, but was placed on the NB-36H to measure the effectiveness of the shielding.[1]

 

[Skywalker]

Watch the movie called stealth, you will get an idea.

 

[war&peace]

as i said but here is a glimpse of things to come

its already happening and its not a photoshop

as i said but here is a glimpse of things to come

its already happening and its not a photoshop

I know about it but it can't maneuvre like a fighterjet

 

[illuminatidinesh]

I know about it but it can't maneuvre like a fighterjet

why are u hell bent on maneuvaribility? U actually dont need to.

 

[risingsinga]

Well I think, even if it would be piloted by human; his role will be more on the mission instead of flying and taking care of the immediate threats. Also chances are that two versions of the aircraft will one with optionally piloted and the other without a human pilot with a larger carrying capacity and ability to perform maneuvers north of 9 gs.

Good point. I think the stealth technology will be improved to next level and be able to block detection by future radars.

why are u hell bent on maneuvaribility? U actually dont need to.

Why do you think it is not important?

 

[illuminatidinesh]

Why do you think it is not important?

It is important but not to the extent it is hyped. Do u really think they need to go out there for a dogfight?
U see the enemy first- U kill first. ( there is no need for the airshow stunts)

 

[risingsinga]

It is important but not to the extent it is hyped. Do u really think they need to go out there for a dogfight?
U see the enemy first- U kill first. ( there is no need for the airshow stunts)

There are flaws in your assumptions since you are thinking that the competition will be with the same less or no maneuverable aircraft. You cannot win all wars with BVRs since others will also have BVRs or do you think Russians and Chinese do not have BVRs?... Furthermore a 5th gen highly maneuverable aircraft with BVRs and stealth tech will be more potent than a 6th gen without or with less. Also your observation is flawed since with every gen the maneuverability has been going up. Most of the modern aircraft feature thrust vectoring, do you know why?...F-35 and F22 are stealthy but still more acrobatic than F-15, F16 or F-18s and similar is the case with Russian Su-35 and Pak-Fa

This is an actual photo of the NB-36H, a nuclear powered strategic bomber. Notice the air scoop?

Yes but it never made past the test and trials and the interesting things is that nuclear reactor did not power any system on board ...so basically it was to check the feasibility and they conclude it was not feasible and that's the end of story.

 

[fitpOsitive]

I would like to add humbly my question here: Dont you guys think that war planes will no longer be needed when superpowers are developing hypersonic delivery systems like mac 10 or 20? Secondly , with in increase in speed, dont you guys think manned air vehicles will become non-viable?

 

[EAK]

I am expecting something like this...

 

[war&peace]

I would like to add humbly my question here: Dont you guys think that war planes will no longer be needed when superpowers are developing hypersonic delivery systems like mac 10 or 20? Secondly , with in increase in speed, dont you guys think manned air vehicles will become non-viable?

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.

 

[Ultima Thule]

I know about it but it can't maneuvre like a fighterjet

no sir the UCAV's will have more manevureble,if they want too because of human limitation

 

[war&peace]

no sir the UCAV's will have more manevureble,if they want too because of human limitation

Yes that's what I have been saying...perhaps you did not get my idea..because that will be the 6th gen aircraft..Please refer to the OP.

 

[Ultima Thule]

I am expecting something like this...

it was based upon Northrop Grumman SWITCHBLADE project which was rejected by USAF

 

[Silicon0000]

Next Gen. Aircraft: What to expect
F-35s will soon start entering service in large numbers around the world with an initial plan of 3000 aircrafts to be built and with slated service life till 2070, we can say it will outlast the life spans of the many readers of this article. F-35 is a 5th gen aircraft. However there is no universal definition of what a 5th gen aircraft is or what it should be?
A bit of search offered me a few definitions and the most I liked is as follows
“A 5th gen aircraft should have three main characteristics, (1) stealth, (2) super-cruise and (3) super manoeuvrability “ or we can say that 3s’s. However research for its successor i.e. 6th gen aircrafts have already been initiated silently though the details are not available at this stage. However we can make some educated guess and that’s the core idea of this thread; to share and think about future of aerospace technologies especially related to the next gen. It can be sticky thread so that members can add more info as it becomes available. To start discussion, I put my list of expected features/techs in the next gen aircrafts is
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) piloted
2. Flight by Light (FBL)
3. Radiation shields
4. Hyper-cruise
5. Super-stealthy
6. Satellite linking
7. Flexible structures
8. Extreme super manoeuvrability
Artificial intelligence has made great strides in 21 century thanks to the huge amount of research and modern high performance computational capabilities in compact format that can easily be fit modern aircrafts.

Now the thread is open for discussion…The best tip to keep the discussion focussed and enjoyable for all is start by studying the current advanced aircrafts and their systems, if you don’t have the prior knowledge.

Regards
War & Peace

@Oscar @Quwa @Horus @waz @Manticore @Arsalan @SvenSvensonov @Indus Falcon @Khafee @The SC

Buddy you forgot some important features like next generation weapon system like energy weapons, next generation EW suits etc


@ nuclear power fighters and tanks one more thing is to consider is that nuclear power plants needs to be constantly operating which is another issue along with safety concern and heat management.

 

[war&peace]

it was based upon Northrop Grumman SWITCHBLADE project which was rejected by USAF

Do you know why?

Buddy you forgot some important features like next generation weapon system like energy weapons, next generation EW suits etc


@ nuclear power fighters and tanks one more thing is to consider is that nuclear power plants needs to be constantly operating which is another issue along with safety concern and heat management.

I have started the thread so that all can contribute. It is not me who knows all or just want to lecture...it is knowledge sharing thread. Pus what do you specifically mean next gen EW? as this nothing specialy each new gen aircraft has new gen systems too. So please be more specific in details because prefixing next gen. on a PC with a keyboard is not such a big deal.