Shocking news from USAF: Already Flying!!

Cool. But then they kept the F-117 secret for quite a while

It's less impressive that they managed to keep it secret as it is that a full-scale prototype flew years earlier than the most optimistic estimate. When's the last time a new design flew on time, much less early?

Honestly not super surprising to me. 5th gens really reinvented the fighter world and how air superiority/etc was going to work going forward. 6th gen is being designed with the lessons from that and a known role

So a switch to a new fleet business model. Makes sense. Especially when trying to stay on the developmental edge.

Also REALLY stoked they they're verbalizing a switch to specialty aircraft as part of this model rather than generalists. You don't need a high speed stealth fighter in permissive skies when you're targeting is a mortar pit.

Also - the current sub-contracting structure where a single plane is politically engineered to create jobs in hundreds of districts / countries is a massive supply chain vulnerability that needs to be eliminated.

Get Off My Lawn said:

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So a switch to a new fleet business model. Makes sense. Especially when trying to stay on the developmental edge.

Also REALLY stoked they they're verbalizing a switch to specialty aircraft as part of this model rather than generalists. You don't need a high speed stealth fighter in permissive skies when you're targeting is a mortar pit.

Also - the current sub-contracting structure where a single plane is politically engineered to create jobs in hundreds of districts / countries is a massive supply chain vulnerability that needs to be eliminated.

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Specialty is good, but it's going the direction of the high end fight, not the low end dropping bombs on mortars. The AF and military at large are pivoting towards the existential threat in China. 6th gen is going to push the technology R&D game beyond what China is able to match without stealing IP... or at least that's the hope. Too much of our current stuff has been compromised already.

So unfortunately this probably signals less money going to COIN unless you're talking more RPA's which may have some game in that arena.

Oh, sure. I can appreciate that. But by going from a "jack of all trades" model to role specific aircraft, it leaves the CAS mission unaccounted for unless the AF provides specific aircraft for those tasks. Which HOPEFULLY means they give us another work horse rather than pretending that their racecars can just cover down on those missions.

I'm sure they'll eventually be replacements for them, but in a permissive environment allowed by 5th and the upcoming 6th gen fighters, I think the viper/mudhen/warthog combo has a lot of life in it.

Mudhen is a new one to me. Thanks, Google, for explaining it.

Definitely less common. Felt weird typing strike Eagle next to viper and hog

According to my source, the surest way to show you don't have a clue is to call a Viper by the official "Falcon".

Even showed me a stolen valor blog where some woman claimed to be one of the first female F-16 pilots, but called it "Fighting Falcon" over and over.

Get Off My Lawn said:

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So a switch to a new fleet business model. Makes sense. Especially when trying to stay on the developmental edge.

Also REALLY stoked they they're verbalizing a switch to specialty aircraft as part of this model rather than generalists. You don't need a high speed stealth fighter in permissive skies when you're targeting is a mortar pit.

Also - the current sub-contracting structure where a single plane is politically engineered to create jobs in hundreds of districts / countries is a massive supply chain vulnerability that needs to be eliminated.

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I don't read that at all. USAF can't afford a fleet of compartmentalized single-mission combat aircraft anymore and is firmly committed to the vast bulk of its fighter fleet being multirole aircraft. Everything has to do double or triple-duty so they can switch roles to help service whatever mission set has priority at any given moment in a conflict. Even the F-22 has an attack capability. Whatever 6th generation design is finalized, it will apparently be optimized for air superiority, but will almost certainly also have a useful attack capability, too.

Imo the raptor has an "attack capability" because it sold better to congress that way.

In a peer to peer/near peer fight the raptor is going to flying the 6x2 loadout

CharlieBrown17 said:

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Imo the raptor has an "attack capability" because it sold better to congress that way.

In a peer to peer/near peer fight the raptor is going to flying the 6x2 loadout

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Of course, but the Raptor first flew 23 years ago and was funded in a whole different budgetary era. The new reality is firmly behind multirole aircraft, as evidenced by the plan to buy 1700 F-35s.

I'm not saying that the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter won't be optimized for air superiority, but my point in responding to the earlier post is that it is not a leading indicator of a renewed emphasis on single-role combat aircraft.

I'm just hoping that these planes will be out soon enough to fly... like in the next 5-10 years. Most likely dreaming there though. I might get a crack at switching to the f35 but going to this newness would be pretty sweet too.