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Model of Japanese ATD-X Fifth Gen Fighter Aircraft ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Hunini) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar Japan has opened talks with Western defense contractors—including Lockheed Martin and Boeing—to develop a next-generation air superiority fighter. Tokyo is locked in a regional dogfight with Beijing to maintain control over the skies over the Sea of Japan. The new Japanese aircraft could be based in part on the technologies being matured on Mitsubishi’s X-2 ATD-X stealth fighter concept demonstrator. The X-2 prototype is set to take to the skies for the first time in days, reports Reuters. “They have begun exploratory engagement to look at our capabilities,” a source with a Western defense contractor told the news agency. “There is no policy decision and no program of record for the next fighter. There is only some discussion that, logically, there will be a fighter at some point.” Japan needs to replace i...

USAF F-22 Raptor ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / USAF) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar The Pentagon erred in prematurely terminating the stealthy Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter program—having miscalculated how quickly the Russians and Chinese would develop new aircraft. While the Raptor is not likely to brought back into production, the Air Force and Navy have started work on a next generation air superiority capability. The basic problem stems from a mistake that was made in the aftermath of the Cold War. During the 1990s and the early 2000s—with the Soviet threat evaporating—the Defense Department did not anticipate facing off against a near-peer threat in the foreseeable future. That assessment was wrong—as Russian and Chinese developments have shown. “The department and the Congress made a decision that we would not see a near-peer threat within a number of years, and that decision also proved to be—and that judgm...

Image source- Internet Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan-Gady The U.S. Navy and Air Force agreed to jointly work on a next generation air superiority fighter with multirole capabilities and the ability to execute manned and unmanned missions, Kris Osborne over at military.com reports. According to Rear Admiral Michael Manazir, the U.S. Navy’s Director of Air Warfare: There is an opportunity to field an unmanned system in the F/A XX program. We are collaborating with the Air Force on the technologies that would be required to operate an air system that gives us enhanced capabilities in the future. The new aircraft, named the F/A XX, is meant to start replacing the majority of the United States Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft by 2035. The F/A XX is also intended supplement the F-35C Lighting II and the UCLASS unmanned aerial vehicle. U.S. military officials stress that the work is purely conceptual at this stage and that no pla...

Image credits- The National Interest Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar The U.S. Navy’s sixth generation F/A-XX replacement for the service’s aging fleet of Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters should be designed primarily for an air-to-air role. A strike capability can be treated as a secondary concern, at least that’s the view of some industry officials. According to some industry insiders with deep knowledge of both the Lockheed Martin F-35C Joint Strike Fighter and the Super Hornet, neither jet can adequately handle new threats like the Chinese Chengdu J-20 or the Russian Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA. The Chinese J-20 is particularly threatening, according to one senior industry official with an extensive fighter pilot background. “When you see these next-generation fighters, the PAK-FA out of Russia and the J-20 out of China and some of their new missile technology, our advantage is dwindling,” said one senior industry official. Typically,...

Image credits- The National Interest Source- The National Interest Author- Zachary Keck The U.S. Navy’s next generation air superiority fighter will not be “super-duper fast” or employ much in the way of stealth, a senior navy official announced on Wednesday. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the Navy’s top officer, divulged some details about the Navy’s so-called Next Generation Air Dominance F/A-XX fighter jet during a speech at an industry conference. “I don’t see that it’s going to be super-duper fast, because you can’t outrun missiles.” Greenert said, the Washington Examiner reported. “And you can’t become so stealthy that you become invisible — you are going to generate a signature of some sort,” he also noted, adding “You know that stealth may be overrated…. If something moves fast through the air and disrupts molecules in the air and puts out heat – I don’t care how cool the engine can be – it’s going to be detectable.” In lieu of steal...

Sukhoi FGFA ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons/ Credits- Alex Beltukov)   Source- Russia & India Report Author- Viktor Litovkin Last week the director-general of the Foundation for Advanced Research Andrey Grigoryev told journalists at the Open Innovations Forum that “Russian scholars have already started work on the creation of a sixth generation fighter jet. The new model will be manufactured from composite materials.” “Our task is to lay the groundwork for the creation of a 6th generation fighter jet. Such projects are also now being considered. They are primarily associated with materials and engines,” Grigoryev added. Number Six’s new look Many specialists from the aircraft industry or Russian Air Force have made repeated comments about the sixth generation fighter jet. They may be found in the statements of the UAC (United Aircraft Corporation) president Mikhail Pogosyan, and the remarks of the director of the UAC’s Military Aviation Programs Di...