As the U.S. finds itself in a new strategic environment where it has to counter
surging China, along with its old and resurgent rival -Russia,
the U.S. Navy has released a vision document about its next-generation strike fighter.
The U.S. Navy has provided several details about the future F/A-XX
fighter that will replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in the 2030s.
The new details and artwork related to the F/A-XX program, among other things,
were contained within an unclassified document titled "Navy Aviation Vision, 2030–2035,"
which the service released now. F/A-XX dates back to at least 2012,
and it is now part of the U.S Navy's larger Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) effort.
As the Super Hornets are retired from service, a combination of F-35C and F/A-XX will ensure
carrier-based power projection capabilities and maintain relevance in complex threat environments.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how the US Navy next generation strike
fighter will look like? Let's get started.
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The new F/A-XX artwork, which only shows a top-down view, depicts a design with a broad,
almost lambda-wing shape and canard foreplanes.
Reports suggest that aircraft may have "ruddervator" tailplanes,
similar in broad strokes to the ones found on Northrop's YF-23 stealth fighter.
YF-23 was thedesign that ultimately lost out to Lockheed Martin's YF-22 which was
ultimately designated as the F-22 Raptor. Several reports have suggested that the YF-23
has even better stealth characteristics than the Raptor.
It is to be noted that there is no guarantee that the exact design is being developed,
and this can only be an indicative depiction.
It is unlikely that the US Navy would disclose an actual advanced aircraft design in this kind of
unclassified document. But it can be very well
gauged that the design will incorporate stealth features and high maneuverability.
The Boeing MQ-25 Stingray is an aerial refueling drone that resulted from the
Carrier-Based Aerial-Refueling System (CBARS) program, which grew out of the earlier
Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program
In October 2017,
U.S Navy released the final MQ-25 Stingray RFP. The competitors were Lockheed Martin, Boeing,
Northrop Grumman, and General Atomics. Boeing came into the competition,
with a full-fledged prototype derived from its Phantom Ray demonstrator which ultimately won.
Stingray is seen as a major force multiplier and is compatible with the current crop of
carrier-based aircraft like the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, F-35C and E-2D Hawkeye.
The next-generation fighter is also expected to work with Stingray
US Navy has indicated that the F/A-XX is being developed so that it can be armed with
longer range weapons, including future hypersonic missiles.
The idea is to further extend the stand-off reach of these planes.
Hypersonic weapons are the ones that can exceed the speeds of
Mach 5 that is 5 times the speed of sound. There is no reliable defense against these
presently and the new fighter will certainly see the incorporation of this type of weapon.
For long-range engagement, more powerful sensors will also be added.
The new crop of sensors will also ensure significant improvement
in overall situational awareness.
US Navy wants the F/A-XX to be able to control a group of unmanned aircraft
carrying munitions, equipped with electronic warfare suites.
The is in line of the Loyal Wingman initiative.
The ultimate goal is to pair manned fighters with unmanned versions of
older jets — in order to boost the lethality of both in air combat.
The Loyal Wingman technology gives the human pilot in a mixed manned-unmanned
section the ability to issue general commands to the pilotless plane — attack, join formation etc.
This has been possible due to new computer algorithms
to allow fighter pilots to control armed drones from inside their own cockpits.
US Navy has stated that it wants F/A-XX aircraft to fly farther and faster
than the existing Super Hornet.
This is an area that will obviously see a lot of focus.
The idea is that the new fighter will be able to reach the battle-zone
in a shortened time span and also the carrier can launch them from a greater range.
The will increase the operational flexibility to a great extent.
The greater range of the aircraft will enable the US
Navy to keep the carrier outside the strike envelops of rivals reducing the risk factor.
F/A-XX will be compatible with the US Navy's secretive new electronic warfare "ecosystem",
known as Netted Emulation of Multi-Element Signature against Integrated Sensors, or NEMESIS.
The new electronic warfare "system of systems" has been clandestinely refined
over the last five years The advanced electronic
warfare program uses swarms in the air and sea to cooperatively fool a wide variety of sensors.
These realistic-looking false signatures and decoys
have the ability to appear simultaneously across disparate and geographically separated
enemy sensor systems located both above and below the ocean's surface.
This will ensure the fighter acts as a node in the larger scheme of things.