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The US Air Force (USAF) has revealed a raft of fighter, strike, transport, special mission and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) development programmes in a 30-year plan released in February.
The proposals were included within the US Department of Defense's (DoD's) Aircraft Investment Plan covering the period between FY11-FY40 that it submitted for the first time in February as part of the FY11 budget request.
Under the plan, USAF expects to allocate funding to initiate the development of replacements for both the Lockheed Martin F-22 multirole fighter and C-5 Galaxy strategic transport aircraft by Fiscal Year (FY) 2020.
According to the document, a "successor aircraft [for the F-22] would be needed by about 2025", with accompanying charts suggesting that funding will be allocated within the USAF budget for the programme, nominally identified as 'F-X' in the document, by FY20. By FY40 the DoD expects the recapitalisation of the fifth generation to be underway.
A process to determine exactly what capabilities will be required from the future fighter fleet has already begun with the plan stating that "it is anticipated that a family of systems - mixes of manned and unmanned aircraft, with varying stealth characteristics and advanced stand-off weapons - will shape the future fighter/attack inventory".
In the meantime the air force expects to spend USD1.9 billion over the next 10 years upgrading the F-22 in order to ensure the type remains the "premier air-to-air fighter aircraft", while procurement of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is expected to reach its peak production rate for the air force of 80 aircraft per year in FY16. By that time the US Navy (USN) and US Marine Corps (USMC) would be funding an additional 45 aircraft a year.
http://www.janes.com/news/defence/jdw/jdw100215_1_n.shtml
The proposals were included within the US Department of Defense's (DoD's) Aircraft Investment Plan covering the period between FY11-FY40 that it submitted for the first time in February as part of the FY11 budget request.
Under the plan, USAF expects to allocate funding to initiate the development of replacements for both the Lockheed Martin F-22 multirole fighter and C-5 Galaxy strategic transport aircraft by Fiscal Year (FY) 2020.
According to the document, a "successor aircraft [for the F-22] would be needed by about 2025", with accompanying charts suggesting that funding will be allocated within the USAF budget for the programme, nominally identified as 'F-X' in the document, by FY20. By FY40 the DoD expects the recapitalisation of the fifth generation to be underway.
A process to determine exactly what capabilities will be required from the future fighter fleet has already begun with the plan stating that "it is anticipated that a family of systems - mixes of manned and unmanned aircraft, with varying stealth characteristics and advanced stand-off weapons - will shape the future fighter/attack inventory".
In the meantime the air force expects to spend USD1.9 billion over the next 10 years upgrading the F-22 in order to ensure the type remains the "premier air-to-air fighter aircraft", while procurement of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is expected to reach its peak production rate for the air force of 80 aircraft per year in FY16. By that time the US Navy (USN) and US Marine Corps (USMC) would be funding an additional 45 aircraft a year.
http://www.janes.com/news/defence/jdw/jdw100215_1_n.shtml
