6th Generation Aircraft Discussion

Bhurki

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Few programs have been initiated to produce the 6th generation of aircrafts. (only mentioned if proof of funding exists)

1) Tempest (UK/Sweden/Italy)
2) SCAF (France/Germany/Spain)
3) Next-Gen Air Dominance (USN)
4) Penetrative Counter-Air (USAF)
4) F-3 (Japan)
 
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Bhurki

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Budget Shows Flightworthy Sixth-Generation Fighter Engines Ready By 2025


Details of the first of two mostly secret initiatives to support the U.S. Air Force’s five-year-old pursuit of a sixth-generation successor to the Lockheed Martin F-22 are now released and reveal that a critical technology for the Next-Generation Air Dominance program could become flightworthy by mid-2025.

GE Aviation and Pratt & Whitney are scheduled to complete separate competitive designs for a Next-Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) system by the second quarter of 2022 and finish assessments on a full-scale engine three years later, according to Air Force budget documents.
 

Bhurki

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U.S. Navy Cuts Super Hornet Production To Develop Next-Generation Fighter


Next year’s order of two dozen F/A-18E/F Super Hornets would be the last on the books for the Navy under this plan. In 2019, Super Hornet maker Boeing won a $4-billion multi-year contract to buy 78 Super Hornets through FY 2021.


According to the justification in the documents, the money the Navy for planned a subsequent multiyear buy of 36 Super Hornets from FY 2022 to 2024 would be rerouted to “accelerated development of Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) and other key aviation wholeness investments,” read the documents.
 

Abhijeet Dey

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With 6th Generation fighter are already Taking shape, Is Time for India to Start Developing 6th Gen Fighter?

 

Abhijeet Dey

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Bhurki

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With 6th Generation fighter are already Taking shape, Is Time for India to Start Developing 6th Gen Fighter?

It is atleast 20 years away incase of India.
 

Bhurki

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well major component of 6th gen fighter will be variable cycle engine. which I don't see with China and Russia near future but by looking them I will not be surprised if they launch their half baked 6th gen fighter jet within few years.
Could say the half baked thing about Russia since they are under constant pressure from NATO and have to do a show of power thing, but China could, with the massive investment they are doing with respect to aviation industry, achieve enough technical abilities to produce good quality engines, even in a nascent technology like VC engines.

That said, a VC engine isn't exactly the cornerstone for 6th gen. It merely helps by providing a further option of growth in thrust, efficiency, thermals and electrical output, so that future tech like directed energy weapons could be incorporated without disturbing performance characteristics. The sensors and networked capability is where the real growth will happen.
 

panzerfeist1

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well major component of 6th gen fighter will be variable cycle engine. which I don't see with China and Russia near future but by looking them I will not be surprised if they launch their half baked 6th gen fighter jet within few years.
I dont know what defines a 6th gen but their technology in A.I. seems to be pretty good up there because they do have a stealth drone that is bigger than the rest and the one that actually test fired weapons like glide bombs. Some U.S. companies rely and acknowledge them to be ahead of this field and of course plenty of ground drone projects that are operational. I also see their country is always 1st place on International Collegiate Programming Contests and I am sure skills in programming is heavily needed.

They are making hypersonic aircraft projects. https://www.militarynews.ru/story.asp?lang=RU&nid=516338&rid=1

"Roscosmos is developing radiolucent heat-shielding materials for radomes for hypersonic aircraft, according to the materials of the State procurement portal.
According to the materials of the portal, the state corporation is looking for a contractor for "developing a technology for manufacturing radiotransparent heat-protective materials for fairings of hypersonic aircraft based on volumetric frames made of refractory continuous fibers." The research work was called "Thor".
Work should be completed by September 2020. They allocated 346.9 million rubles.
"

There were references of mach 4 or 5 for the mig-41 but again I do not know if hypersonic or near hypersonic speeds is a prerequisite to be a 6th gen fighter.

There was alot of talk of photonic radars excluding Russia since I already made it more than clear on the Su-57 thread where they are at. https://phys.org/news/2014-03-fully-photonics-based-laser.html

"team of researchers in Italy has developed the first fully photonics-based coherent radar system. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the team describes how they built their new radar system and what it might mean for the future of radar systems. Jason McKinney of the US Naval Research Laboratory offers a News & Views perspective piece on the development of the radar system in the same issue and outlines issues involved with attempting to implement such a system into real world applications"

The radar system the team built is still just a prototype, though it does appear feasible. The team tested its abilities by monitoring real aircraft taking off at a nearby airport and then comparing what they observed with data from traditional electronic signal based systems. They report that the systems matched very closely. That of course is just an initial test, as McKinney notes, much more research and testing will need to be done before the researchers will know if such a system could provide better results than conventional systems. Also, another area of concern is range, which could impact jitter, and thus the accuracy of the system.


The timeline of photonic radar announcements were not that far apart upon Italy and Russia's discovery, but the news reports I have been receiving from Russia seem more consistent and up to date with plans of production. So far Russians have also made announcements that their photonic radars exceed conventional radars while here of course we have not seen the same thing since the US claims they have the same issues as the Italians who have not provided better results than conventional radars. Raytheon has plans as well https://news.arizona.edu/press-release/ua-selected-photonics-project. This might be considered a 6th gen radar requirement.
 

fire starter

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I dont know what defines a 6th gen but their technology in A.I. seems to be pretty good up there because they do have a stealth drone that is bigger than the rest and the one that actually test fired weapons like glide bombs. Some U.S. companies rely and acknowledge them to be ahead of this field and of course plenty of ground drone projects that are operational. I also see their country is always 1st place on International Collegiate Programming Contests and I am sure skills in programming is heavily needed.

They are making hypersonic aircraft projects. https://www.militarynews.ru/story.asp?lang=RU&nid=516338&rid=1

"Roscosmos is developing radiolucent heat-shielding materials for radomes for hypersonic aircraft, according to the materials of the State procurement portal.
According to the materials of the portal, the state corporation is looking for a contractor for "developing a technology for manufacturing radiotransparent heat-protective materials for fairings of hypersonic aircraft based on volumetric frames made of refractory continuous fibers." The research work was called "Thor".
Work should be completed by September 2020. They allocated 346.9 million rubles.
"

There were references of mach 4 or 5 for the mig-41 but again I do not know if hypersonic or near hypersonic speeds is a prerequisite to be a 6th gen fighter.

There was alot of talk of photonic radars excluding Russia since I already made it more than clear on the Su-57 thread where they are at. https://phys.org/news/2014-03-fully-photonics-based-laser.html

"team of researchers in Italy has developed the first fully photonics-based coherent radar system. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the team describes how they built their new radar system and what it might mean for the future of radar systems. Jason McKinney of the US Naval Research Laboratory offers a News & Views perspective piece on the development of the radar system in the same issue and outlines issues involved with attempting to implement such a system into real world applications"

The radar system the team built is still just a prototype, though it does appear feasible. The team tested its abilities by monitoring real aircraft taking off at a nearby airport and then comparing what they observed with data from traditional electronic signal based systems. They report that the systems matched very closely. That of course is just an initial test, as McKinney notes, much more research and testing will need to be done before the researchers will know if such a system could provide better results than conventional systems. Also, another area of concern is range, which could impact jitter, and thus the accuracy of the system.


The timeline of photonic radar announcements were not that far apart upon Italy and Russia's discovery, but the news reports I have been receiving from Russia seem more consistent and up to date with plans of production. So far Russians have also made announcements that their photonic radars exceed conventional radars while here of course we have not seen the same thing since the US claims they have the same issues as the Italians who have not provided better results than conventional radars. Raytheon has plans as well https://news.arizona.edu/press-release/ua-selected-photonics-project. This might be considered a 6th gen radar requirement.
I though that ultra wide band aesa radar with shared aperture will be future.
 

Bhurki

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Navy Quietly Starts Development of Next-Generation Carrier Fighter; Plans Call for Manned, Long-Range Aircraft

 

LDev

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The US Air Force has not disclosed which manufacturer has built this 6th gen aircraft now undergoing test flights. Given below are renderings from the major aerospace defense contractors. The common factor is the absence of a vertical stabilizer in all three, which will help broadband stealth:

Boeing's concept



Lockheed's concept



Northrop Grumman's concept
 

Hiranyaksha

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The US Air Force has not disclosed which manufacturer has built this 6th gen aircraft now undergoing test flights. Given below are renderings from the major aerospace defense contractors. The common factor is the absence of a vertical stabilizer in all three, which will help broadband stealth:

Boeing's concept



Lockheed's concept



Northrop Grumman's concept
I think it was decided way back that NG will be the contractor . I also knew that they were in hiring process for the this program 4-5 years back.
 

Dessert Storm

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Few programs have been initiated to produce the 6th generation of aircrafts. (only mentioned if proof of funding exists)

1) Tempest (UK/Sweden/Italy)
2) SCAF (France/Germany/Spain)
3) Next-Gen Air Dominance (USN)
4) Penetrative Counter-Air (USAF)
4) F-3 (Japan)
Does it mean US has learned from the mistake of putting all apples in one basket called JSF?
 

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