Or, just buy them from China./S
China's Twin Engine F-35 Knockoff
Looks like countries are lining up to buy this F-35 knockoff, and eventually, they will face off in combat.
Posted on 05/16/2025 10:48:36 AM PDT by Fish Speaker
WASHINGTON — In keeping with his penchant for shocking the defense industry, President Donald Trump today seemingly revealed plans to develop a twin-engine version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter known as the F-55, as well as an upgraded “F-22 Super.”
But former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said he was “mystified by Trump’s comments,” and analysts said that what the president described would be a highly challenging engineering endeavor on par with creating a clean-sheet aircraft. They also questioned the wisdom of spending scarce budget dollars on a twin-engine advanced F-35 when the newly announced F-47 is already planned to fill that niche.
“A two engine version of F-35 would be virtually a complete redesign,” Kendall told Breaking Defense. “It’s an option that was never presented and that we never considered, to my knowledge.”
Trump’s comments, made during a business roundtable in Doha this morning, indicated that there is an effort underway to add a second engine to the F-35, creating a jet with a “substantial upgrade” that would be purchased in addition to a future version of the F-35 with more modest enhancements.
“We’re going to do an F-55, and I think — if we get the right price, we have to get the right price — that’ll be two engines and a super upgrade on the F-35,” he said at the event.
“Then we’re going to do the F-22. I think the most beautiful fighter jet in the world is the F-22, but we’re going to do an F-22 Super, and it’ll be a very modern version of the F-22 fighter jet,” he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at breakingdefense.com ...
Mission creep paralyzes every single weapon system for some time now and makes all of them less than they could be...
When the establishment says, “It’s not feasible”, it almost certainly is and the establishment simply can make more money doing something else...
Siren. Could mean a couple different things.
Huge waste of money and obsolete before it was even designed in the age of drones. I don’t care if it is the most stealthy, advanced manned fighter ever built. It will be defeated by a $1000 mass produced drone or a 1-armed saboteur with a hand grenade - if it doesn’t just roll off a deck into some water first. The point being, this is a waste of taxpayer’s money. Let us reindustrialize, and then we will have the know-how and workforce to mass produce drones and similar tech when the need really does come.
IIRC, the F-35 was designed in three variants - A,B, and C models. The idea was a common fighter for USAF, USN, and USMC that shared a lot of common parts.
An updated twin-engine F-35, now, in which variant is that? Just the AF variant, or USN, or the VTOL, or all three?
I see some serious weight issues with the carrier and VTOL planes.
And as it turned out, the three versions are fundamentally different airplanes.
“…what the president described would be a highly challenging engineering endeavor …”
ANY fighter design is a highly challenging engineering endeavor. Would such an aircraft have a reason to exist?
Elon is planning an F35 with a Raptor engine.
Or, just buy them from China./S
China's Twin Engine F-35 Knockoff
Looks like countries are lining up to buy this F-35 knockoff, and eventually, they will face off in combat.
No, thanks ... I'd like to be able to give a post-mission debriefing. 😀
The F-35 is already known as “Fat Amy”...cramming another engine in just makes her butt huge!
Carrier capable?
Trump wants ‘big new beautiful fighter jets’.
Don’t wander from the mission. Stay focused on MAGA!!!
This article is TDS trash. Obviously the President isn’t an engineer and talks off the cuff but has been talking to some of the brightest minds in the world.
This would probably be an export version for sale to F-35 adopters who want a 6th gen capability fighter with interoperability with their F-35 fleets and with allies operating same and they need it near term, like in our lifetime.
The value proposition would be that foreign customers foot the bill for the very substantial tooling and production line set up costs while the US benefits by rock bottom acquisition costs since foreign customers foot the development and production system costs and the teaming agreements drive costs down due to economy of scale due to volume production.
The establishment is heavily invested in keeping and expanding the status quo.
That’s one problem I have with “conservatism” which by definition is about protecting the status quo.
In America, the gov’t status quo needs to be blown up.
Actually, the F-35 is an ideal platform for a laser
I like how they say “experts” and not engineers...
Is this really what Trump asked for or just some more yellow journalism?
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