the u.s air force is finalizing technology requirements for a new jet fighter to enter
service sometime in the 2030s known as penetrating counter air the new fighter
will replace the f-22 raptor and maintain american air superiority in future conflicts
citing the existence of advanced russian weapons such as the s-400 air defense missile system
and the su-57 formerly pak fa fighter air combat command commander general mike holmes
told aviation weak and space technology that while the f-22 and f-35 will continue to be
improved eventually you'll run into a limit in your ability to improve those platforms
the u.s hasn't designed a clean sheet fighter in 20 years
and penetrating counter air pca will differ from the f-22 and f-35 in some ways
to deal with new strategic realities for one thing pca will emphasize range particularly in order
to fly escort missions for b-2 and b-21 bombers over russia and against china in the asia pacific
the problem is an efficient engine that sips fuel is a different beast from a
high performance engine meant to give fighters an edge in air-to-air combat
the air force hopes for the best of both worlds with the so-called three steam
propulsion which uses a third airstream to make the engine more efficient or provide more threat
pca will also be stealthy and likely lose vertical tail fins that are standard on all aircraft from
the p51 mustang to the f-22 raptor vertical tail fins are a major impediment to achieving durable
stealth against various types of radars and were first ditched with the b2 spirit bomber
in fact there will probably never be a us combat aircraft built with a vertical tail
fin ever again unless stealth technology was so compromised it became irrelevant
aviation week also reports that the u.s air force is seeking funding for a new
air dominance air-to-air weapon likely to replace the aim-120 amram medium-range air-to-air missile
amram is a 30 year old missile and is being eclipsed by other designs including japan's
aam 4b and the uk's meteor missile the air force has requested 294.7 million dollars in fiscal 2018
to continue studying pca and nailing down specifications
the development and flight testing of the yf-23 do offer important lessons for the air force
as it begins studying a replacement for the f-22
if the air force applied the lessons it learned from the yf-22 and yf-23 to a new fighter concept
it would meticulously study the problem before loosely defining it for the industry to solve
the yf-22 and yf-23 were very different airplanes each with its own design trade-offs and approaches
to achieving the fast far stealthy requirement the yf-23 was faster the yf-22 arguably was nimbler
the yf-23 pushed the boundaries of avionics technology the yf-22 probably was easier to build
in overseeing the yf-22 and yf-23 the service for example insisted that lockheed and northrop hide
their prototypes from enemy spy satellites by never displaying the planes out in the
open bewildered northrop engineers solved the problem by covering the yf-23 with plastic tarps
that promptly blew away in the strong winds at edwards air force base in california