Posted on 04/07/2013 10:46:46 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Boeing unveils updated F/A-XX sixth-gen fighter concept
Boeing
The Boeing concept also features canards, which is somewhat of a surprise because the motion of those forward mounted control surfaces is generally assumed to compromise a stealth aircraft's frontal radar cross-section. But the lack of vertical tail surfaces suggests the aircraft would be optimized for all-aspect broadband stealth, which would be needed for operations in the most challenging anti-access/area denial environments.
Also of note in the manned version of the company's F/A-XX concept is the placement of the cockpit-rearward visibility appears to be restricted without the aid of a sensor apparatus similar to the F-35's distributed aperture system of six infrared cameras.
The Boeing F/A-XX concept is a response to a USN request for information (RFI) from April 2012 soliciting data for a replacement for the service's Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler fleets in the 2030s. The Super Hornet fleet is expected to start reaching the end of the jet's 9000h useful lifespan during that time period.
"The intent of this research is to solicit industry inputs on candidate solutions for CVN [nuclear-powered aircraft carrier] based aircraft to provide air supremacy with a multi-role strike capability in an anti-access/area denied (A2AD) operational environment," the navy RFI stated. "Primary missions include, but are not limited to, air warfare (AW), strike warfare (STW), surface warfare (SUW), and close air support (CAS)."
Navy leaders had said at the time that they expect any new F/A-XX design to have greatly increased range and offer far superior kinematic performance compared to existing tactical aircraft.
Not for long, if we have no money.
That is the thing I have the biggest problem with in all this.
OUR SIDE is all for making things in China.
Now because of that, we are facing a relentlessly growing, relentlessly more powerful and egotistical even, China which has now grown to the extent that China now makes and exports more than America does.
And America’s products are SHRINKING.
We must do this differently. I agree we should keep defense strong, but we should keep AMERICA strong.
All our jobs need to be protected, and brought back home.
Now.
Mind you in all this:
I am not in the military.
I do not know, and do not want to know, anything about what may or may not be ... whatever. Don’t even go there.
But it sure seems right now, our appetites have gotten (far, far) ahead of our budgets.
We need to bring US production home. Not just jets.
All sorts of things.
Now.
I would hazard a guess and say that a modern stealth fighter is orders of magnitude more complex than the WWII era bombs. Just the avionics software alone has millions of lines of code which has to be of much higher quality than typical software applications.
My point was that the F-35 was supposed to have a carrier variant as well, and given that it hasn’t even done well as a regular land-based aircraft, Boeing is making sure they have a proposal ready to go when the Navy comes calling.
yeah there are some F35s out there for testing, evaluation (which is going poorly) and training. None are deployed for combat nor will any be deployed for combat anytime soon. The F22 one the other hand is operational and in production. Maybe we should scrap the F35 and go with the F22 instead.
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