Northrop Developing 6th Gen Fighter Plans

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Northrop Developing 6th Gen Fighter Plans




Country : United States Defence News

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

By : Defense News




LOS ANGELES — Northrop Grumman has stood up a team dedicated to developing a "sixth-generation" fighter, years before the Navy or Air Force intends to issue requests for information on potential replacements for current aircraft.

• LOS ANGELES — Northrop Grumman has stood up a team dedicated to developing a "sixth-generation" fighter, years before the Navy or Air Force intends to issue requests for information on potential replacements for current aircraft.
  
  It's an aggressive move that Tom Vice, president of Northrop's aerospace division, hopes will pay off in a big way for his company.
  
  "Northrop Grumman will compete for the next generation fighter," Vice flatly declared, noting that there is a program manager already leading a team of Northrop staffers on the program.
  
  When asked whether he envisioned Northrop acting as a prime contractor on a future fighter, he added "of course."
  
  Vice's comments were made during a trip to Northrop facilities in California, arranged and paid for by the company.
  
  Both the Air Force and Navy have begun preliminary planning for what is referred to as next-generation air dominance or, more colloquially, "sixth-generation" fighters. After working together on the F-35 joint strike fighter, the two services are currently looking at procuring their own respective jets.
  
  The Navy's programs is dubbed F/A-XX, while the Air Force's effort is known as F-X. In September, Col. Tom Coglitore, Air Superiority Core Function Team chief at Air Combat Command, told Defense News he wants to see Milestone A acquisition activity in early fiscal 2018.
  
  Vice indicated that Northrop is looking at a supersonic, tailless airplane design as a potential solution, something he noted no one has ever done before.
  
  "You don't see any supersonic airplanes today without tails," Vice said. "Why? It's really hard. But if you think about new ways to do advanced computing, very high speed processing, new materials – that's why the research we do is so important, so we can build what could likely be the next-generation fighter in 20 years. It's going to require that kind of technology, because to build that airplane is going to be really, really hard."
  
  He also hinted that making a system optionally manned would be relatively easy for the company.
  
  While Vice may be confident in his program, outside analysts have questioned whether Northrop can survive long-term as a attack airframe manufacturer, especially if it loses out on the Air Force's long range strike-bomber program.