6th generation fighter aircraft

>>34852287

Semi autonomous or optionally autonomous. Possibly manned with control links to missile boating drone wingmen or other UAV support.

7th gen might see plasma stealth.

>>34852287
Everything a F-35 has + Mach 2 super cruise + macross missile spam clouds

>>34852287
Passive defense. It would have to be made of some ultra-strength material capable of withstanding missile strikes. Material would also have to be light enough to significantly reduce dry weight for equivalent surface area.
Weapons capacity. Has to be able to carry 12+ AMRAAMs or equivalent missiles internally. Gun will either be a laser or a GAU-8 redesign made of said ultra-light ultra-strength material.
TWR. At least 1.35 @ full fuel and weapons load.
Sustained Mach 3 capable.
Turn rate of >50 degrees/second.

>>34852287
Probably lasers.

>>34852287
flyaway cost above $1.5 billion per

it's not a new generation until it costs ten times as much

>>34852287
>what kind of capabilities would a fighter aircraft have to have to be considered a meaningful step up from current 5th generation fighters?

Whatever lets it win against Fifth Generation fighters in most conceivable scenarios. Above all else, it needs to shoot the other guys down first, without being shot down in turn.

>>34852287
We're never going to get to 6th generation fighters, the reason why people are pushing the air force to adopt a cheap dedicated COIN craft is because we're about to hit a resource crisis that will cause a massive restructuring of western society.

>>34852580
>the only western leader within the last hundred years to realize and act against resource scarcity for the survival of our people was hitler, why can't anyone understand this?
shoo

>>34852624
What?

>>34852624
Wasn't thinking about that when I made that shitpost, but I'll try to remember it next time and account for it when ever I wanna meme about a looming apocalypse.

>>34852580
>resource crisis
we have plenty of carbon, build a damn space tether

>>34852287
Take a look at features both the Boeing and Northrup F/A-XX fighters have in common

>VLO All Aspect
>Extreme networking and high bandwidth
>Optionally manned
>high power generation capabilities
>Both talk of DEW capability
>Ability to control drones, both UAV and UCAV
>Fully integrated 360 IR detection and targeting, next gen GaN
>Variable cycle engines

>>34852287
>MFW 7th or 8th gen fighters become spiritual successors to the A10
>essentially a hypersonic plane capable of limited space flight built around a single massively strong laser
>fly into earths upper atmosphere or even NEO and can take down jets from out of their effective range and even are capable of taking down satellites

Soon.

>>34852580
>resource crisis
Hurr peak oil

>>34852298
>plasma
>Stealth

No such thing. It has such an obnoxious heat signature that it's already been all but abandoned by everyone with how effective IR detection has become

>>34852287
>hyper sonic speed?
Not practical outside of specialised roles.
>active camouflage?
Visual detection range is tiny; under 5 nautical miles in real scenarios (closer to 2 most of the time).
>'Lasers'
F-35 and possibly even legacy fighters will receive DEW at some point.

IMO 6th gen fighters may never exist, this is why NGAD/PCA are looking at a 'system of systems' approach.
>>34852298
>Semi autonomous or optionally autonomous.
Manned fighters are autonomous.
>Possibly manned with control links to missile boating drone wingmen or other UAV support.
This is a capability the F-35, a 5th generation fighter, will have.
For the record i think you are correct as to the general direction of air superiority, however i don't think you can really call a subsonic flying wing UCAV a 6th generation fighter.
>>34852305
Flying supersonic is very bad for infrared signature, there's no point to being radar VLO if you are detectable at 50nm by IRST.
>>34852369
lol

>>34852287
able to fight above atmosphere but with reentry capability would be a step up like a true aerospace fighter.

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>>34852758
>able to fight above atmosphere

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>>34852816

>>34852816
Not him but shooting the satellites of the enemy is a big (BIG) plus.

>>34852886
That's what ASAT is for.
A fighter is at best just a reusable booster stage for an ASAT interceptor

>>34852816
Chinese satellites.

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>>34852886
>>34852947
Been there, done that, didn't go into space.

Optionally manned
Controls slave drones
Very long range
Laser missile defense
Longer missile bays for longer range missises to go with upgraded sensors

I think because of budget concerns the B-21 support fighter will be the only true 6th gen fighter.

The F-35 will see major upgrades including lasers and we will see some medium range naval strike drones finally.

File: Northrop-Grumman-Long-Range-Strike-Bomber-concept-LRSB.jpg (53KB, 534x401px) Image search: [Google]

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>>34852287
Since dogfighting seem to be a thing of the past, what about a bomber sized stealth fighter, able to loiter for a very long time, with very large missile bays for carrying lots of long range missiles, not very maneuverable but still fast and equiped with an all aspect active defense ?

Just add a couple small and nimble slave drones to protect it if ennemy fighters manage to get into dogfight range, and its superior detection range (since bigger plane generaly means bigger radar) and firepower would make it able to own the airspace all by itself.

It would look like pic related but would function as a way to achieve air superiority. Think air battlecruiser.

>>34853499
On the face of it, that sounds dumb. But so cool I need it to be true.

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>>34853499
I think this is a better representation of what you are talking about. I think it could work, but a smaller platform would save costs, and I don't think the next fighter needs to be that big anyways. It certainly will have to be bigger than the F-22 because it needs enough range to go on missions with the B-21.

japanese future concept fighters didn't have tail fins. pretty weird looking. reminded me of those halo shuttle gunships.

>>34853681
>On the face of it, that sounds dumb
It's actually a pretty common prediction.

http://csbaonline.org/research/publications/a-vision-of-future-aerial-combat

>>34853784
Got any more on that, shit sounds awesome.

There wasn't any mention of active-defense in that video though. Is it even worth trying to shoot down an AMRAAM-sized target?

>>34853499
You'd need at least two crewmen (one to fly the plane, one to babysit the drones) though depending on how many drones you're working with, you might need two or three guys dedicated to drone wrangling. Possibly a relief man in the mix if the missions get super long. Might even need a dedicated commander to coordinate everything if the pilot's job gets too hairy.

I'm thinking something close to a stealthy B-1. Lots of internal space for VLRAAMs/self-defense interceptors, but still reasonable agile. Maybe an abandonment of super-cruise and going back to "stealthy but subsonic most of the time, SANIC FAST if we need to get somewhere right now."

should the drones fly alongside the whole time, or should there be a FICON/Tip-Toe deal going on?

Is there a good place to read up on all this new stuff? I never even heard about IR stealth and cooling systems as stuff fighters needed to worry about until now.

They will probably be crewed by 2, and have drone wingmen.

>>34853499
Long have I dreamed of an "arsenal plane" of sorts, being a B-2 sized platform carrying an AESA with enough long-range capability to make an E-3 or an SPY-6's radar range/resolving ability look old hat, and mounting a pair of rotating launchers carrying dozens of air-launched standard missile derivatives, along with possibly a bunch of AMRAAMS for point defence. Load it with a HELLADS or a similar DEW for point defence.

Now, you have a stealth flying Arleigh Burke that can pick off Chinese air assets from Japanese or Filipino airspace without breaking a sweat.

THAT's what a modern air dominance asset looks like.

>>34853957
>should there be a FICON/Tip-Toe deal going on
this

>>34852886
>He actually wants to start a nuclear war by targeting sattelites.

Guess where the majority of a nation's Early warning systems get their data from anon.

>>34852287
Being american
Being made by LM
Costing 10 times the initial budget
Having 10 times less flying hours than expected
Being 10 decades late

Meanwhile, the civilised world will be overrun by savages armed with rocks and spears.
But we will totally knock these spears from 450 miles away with 50M$ missiles flying at mach 8 that we will setup on "low collateral damage" to only damage the spear and not the savage holding it.
What ? Don't you know if you kill your ennemies, they win ?

Seriously it will be about low cost building processes, evolution and versatility of the platform itself, survivability, maintenance and local parts production on the go using 3D printing and powder metallurgy. Same goes for weapons.
Oh, and energy weapons of different kinds. Possibly on missiles themselves.

This indeed could be the dawn of a new class of flying frigates or medium bombers, on the same class the B-61 blackwidow, A-20, A-26, B-25 were compared to other WW2 aircrafts, considering the size of these platforms will be decisive. Hence the need for newer, low cost materials and building processes allowing a reduction of the gap between what these aircrafts would cost using today's standard production methods and what they will cost using these newer ones.

6th gen will be more about affordability and reactivity of the manufacturers to adapt their products to new threats rather than about sheer performance of a definitive airframe.
It's only logical if you honestly look at the aircrafts programs of the last 30 years an at the new threat represented by China.

>>34852369
Lay off the X-Com, bud.

>>34852287
Liquid breathing systems. It adds weight but significantly increases the maximum amount of gees a pilot can take.

>>34852886
Not when you give the planet Kessler syndrome

>>34854617
Pilot is only one of the limiting factors for G-limit, high-G is not a free lunch; you have to heavily reinforce the aircraft structure as well, which increases cost, maintenance, wingloading and reduces range and payload.
You also need stupendous thrust and a maneuverability optimised planform to sustain 9g at combat weights/altitude, let alone more than 9g; this further compromises the design, reducing range and payload and potentially stealth as well.

Since manoeuvring combat is so rare, it's better to compromise away from high G designs to get the benefits from low G designs.

>>34854572
Damn now that's a thought.
(You) need more (You)s

>>34852968

> When you wonder how to paint a satellite kill in your aircraft
> When you tell the bar it was a guns kill

>>34854298
So a CL-1201 then?

>>34854781
thanks anon
here's how the big boys see it :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If4JGx4MAQc

>>34852580

In that event sixth gen craft are like fifth gen craft except they run off corn-based fuels, h2 fuel cells or onboard nuclear reactors. The military will get what they need to ensure order.

Also more deepsea mining.