Featured United States has secretly built and tested a prototype of a potentially sixth generation fighter jet.

[Falcon26]

According to Roper, the aircraft “broke records” and is “magical.”

I can’t wait to set my eyes on this beauty!

It just goes to show how far the gap is between the US and other pretenders. While China struggles to field a credible jet engine & J-20, the US is increasing the distance between it and powers. The world still can’t field a plane that can take on the F-35 or F-22 and the pentagon said, never mind; let’s troll them. The US is generations ahead of Russia, China and the EU. All three will be playing catch-up for the foreseeable future. When it comes to technology, the US military is peerless. Total domination.

 

[waz]

Hi Waz,

On an unrelated topic, who are the moderators on this sub-forum?

Everyone who is a mod bro.

 

[Falcon26]

Everyone who is a mod bro.

A light-hearted comment on tejas was deleted as “trolling” so I was curious.

 

[Get Ya Wig Split]

Also this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1305622088221368324

https://twitter.com/x/status/1305622091144794117

The first @USAirForce #F15EX is coming soon!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1305476448271118336

 

[Rollno21]

Rest of the world is yet to induct a true 5th generation aircraft and the USA has 6th generation testing.

 

[PakFactor]

It just goes to show how far the gap is between the US and other pretenders. While China struggles to field a credible jet engine & J-20, the US is increasing the distance between it and powers. The world still can’t field a plane that can take on the F-35 or F-22 and the pentagon said, never mind; let’s troll them. The US is generations ahead of Russia, China and the EU. All three will be playing catch-up for the foreseeable future. When it comes to technology, the US military is peerless. Total domination.

It’s beyond total domination in a World War type scenario the US can mass produce complex fighters as if they were producing propeller planes flying of the shelf. This mechanism of manufacturing can now be put to ships, subs and missiles in the grand scheme of things.

 

[cloud4000]

I wonder if it will be pilotless with the advance in AI. Wouldn’t surprise me if this was so.

 

[Indos]

View attachment 670149
I bet it is this one

Is this fighter plane or bomber plane ??? Not quite amaze if it is bomber plane since US has already had several futuristic operational bomber plane

 

[Falcon26]

It’s beyond total domination in a World War type scenario the US can mass produce complex fighters as if they were producing propeller planes flying of the shelf. This mechanism of manufacturing can now be put to ships, subs and missiles in the grand scheme of things.

This is the actual game-changer. Advancements in manufacturing process will create competitive edge.

 

[Get Ya Wig Split]

@beijingwalker @Beast @Feng Leng

 

[F-22Raptor]

It just goes to show how far the gap is between the US and other pretenders. While China struggles to field a credible jet engine & J-20, the US is increasing the distance between it and powers. The world still can’t field a plane that can take on the F-35 or F-22 and the pentagon said, never mind; let’s troll them.

As I’ve said for some time, the Chinese have already lost, and most don’t even realize it.

As for the aircraft, is this the biggest surprise since the F-117? This pulls everything forward 10-15 years.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Is this fighter plane or bomber plane ??? Not quite amaze if it is bomber plane since US has already had several futuristic operational bomber plane

So Roper announced last year he wants to see a new X-Plane design flying every year (just like in the 50's and 60's).

So a tailless fighter seems to be a high profile item.
Wing warping is another one.

 

[PakFactor]

As I’ve said for some time, the Chinese have already lost, and most don’t even realize it.

As for the aircraft, is this the biggest surprise since the F-117? This pulls everything forward 10-15 years.

Yes, but don't get to cock either -- while China is behind it's developed lot faster than other US rivals or ally's they've been able to absorb in tech and information quite rapidly. We are entering a new phase in a Cold War II; and it'll be interesting to watch.

And remember this is more of ground breaking manufacturing processes than anything else --

 

[Indos]

Rest of the world is yet to induct a true 5th generation aircraft and the USA has 6th generation testing.

It will indeed demotivate Air Force/Military planner to acquire 4 generation fighters. I think we still have around 6 years before the planes being mass produced with possibility that it will also be banned to be sold to other Air Force outside USA for at least another 10 years.

But we need to wait whether it is fighter or bomber.........since bomber planes with less maneuverable capability always look more stealthy.

 

[Bilal Khan (Quwa)]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1305899249008336896

The US Air Force has built and flown a mysterious full-scale prototype of its future fighter jet
Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has secretly designed, built and flown at least one prototype of its enigmatic next-generation fighter jet, the service’s top acquisition official confirmed to Defense News on Sept. 14.
The development is certain to shock the defense community, which last saw the first flight of an experimental fighter during the battle for the Joint Strike Fighter contract 20 years ago. With the Air Force’s future fighter program still in its infancy, the rollout and successful first flight of a demonstrator was not expected for years.
“We’ve already built and flown a full-scale flight demonstrator in the real world, and we broke records in doing it,” Will Roper told Defense News in an exclusive interview ahead of the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference. “We are ready to go and build the next-generation aircraft in a way that has never happened before.”
Almost every detail about the aircraft itself will remain a mystery due to the classification of the Next Generation Air Dominance program, the Air Force’s effort for fielding a family of connected air warfare systems that could include fighters, drones and other networked platforms in space or the cyber realm.

The real story there isn't the 6th-gen tech demonstrator, but the industry concepts driving it.

//Instead of buying a large quantity of a single fighter over decades and retaining each plane for 30 years or more — as is currently the norm — the “Digital Century Series” model, proposed by Roper, posits that advanced manufacturing and software development techniques make it possible for the Air Force to rapidly develop and buy aircraft more frequently, much as the service did during the 1950s when it bought six fighters from six companies just years apart from each other during the original Century Series.​

In August, Air Force’s advanced aircraft program office completed a business case analysis of the Digital Century Series model meant to validate whether the idea was technically feasible and, more importantly, whether it could save money.​

​

Leaders found that by applying digital manufacturing and development practices — as used by the T-7 program, as well as in the development of the NGAD prototype — it could drop the total life cycle cost of a next-gen fighter by 10 percent over 30 years compared to legacy fighters like the F-35 and F-15, Roper wrote​

​

But for the same price as a single variant of a digitally manufactured fighter produced with a 30-year life cycle, the Air Force could buy a new fighter every eight years and replace them after 16 years — before the plane reaches the 3,500 flight-hour mark here it starts needing heavy overhauls and expensive modifications to extend its service life. .//​

The US Air Force has built and flown a mysterious full-scale prototype of its future fighter jet

Does this give the Next Generation Air Dominance program more momentum, or does it open it up to more scrutiny?

www.defensenews.com

​

If we're smart in Pakistan, we'd try figuring out these parts of the NGAD (e.g., 'Digital Century' etc) for AZM. We may not be able to do it with the main NGFA, but we can try for ALCMs, disposable UCAVs (e.g., loyal wingman drones), and so on.

Heck, it may be doable for the NGFA too if we continue with the JF-17's 'block building' approach, but take it to extremes by actually introducing new design changes every 10 years while using the same "guts" (e.g., engine, jigs, etc) as much as possible.