The United States has embarked on a search for a new air-to-air platform to replace what is already a formidable lineup of such beasts. They’re looking at, among other things, a so-called sixth-generation of crewed fighter aircraft, meaning a craft that is flown by a real live person sitting in the cockpit.
The US Navy has already started production — and in a pinch deployment — of its next-generation fighter, the F/A-XX, the intended replacement for the F/A-18 Hornet currently aboard America’s fleet of aircraft carriers.
Not to be out-done by the navy, the United States Air Force has fielded its designs for a version of a Next Generation Air Dominance —NGAD — fighter of its own. It’s not currently as advanced as the USN’s program, to the delight of the navy — inter-service rivalry and all that — and to the chagrin of air force generals.
These programs are horrendously expensive, so I guess it’s kind of good the air force is taking the time necessary to make sure that they “get it right,” not that the navy didn’t do this with the FA-XX.
But for the air force, the two problems that keep surfacing have to do with two important things: weapons capacity and range. The United States currently fields by far the most capable series of aircraft on the planet. The F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightening II are far and away the most advanced aircraft on the planet. Both fifth-generation fighters. — meaning “stealth” fighters — are virtually invulnerable to anything a potential enemy might put up against them, either in terms of aircraft or ground-based radars. Even fourth-generation F-15’s and F-16’s have radar suites that make them masters of the skies still, and they’re not even stealthy.
But the problem with all four of these aircraft comes down to the same thing: weapons capacity and range. The biggest missile haulers by volume are the F-15 and F-16, both established multi-role fighters, but they have a range of less than 1000 miles, so make that 500 miles if you plan on returning to home base, and something less than 1000 if you’re going to land elsewhere closer to the target area. This might work just fine for some places, but it has absolutely no bearing if you happen to be fighting in the Pacific Ocean somewhere. As such, these planes need to be based within operational range of their intended targets, something that makes them vulnerable to missile attacks. And you don’t want your air force to be wiped out on the ground. The navy’s in better shape, since aircraft carriers move around — they’re among the fastest ships in the navy despite their size — and so are harder to track for a potential enemy in the wide expanse of an ocean. Air Force bases are stationary, meaning they’re easier targets.
Neither the F-22 or F-35 solve this problem, despite their wizardry. Plus, these two platforms carry far fewer missiles in order to maintain their stealth attributes, having to carry their payload internally.
So, what to do?
A stealthy weapons-carrying platform with extended range. Things that make folks go hmmm.
One day, I guess some guy over at Air Force HQ fell out of his chair reaching for donut crumbs on the carpet and hit his head, resulting in a “Eureka” moment for both himself and the air force for which he toils.
“We already have that,” he cried, as he was stretchered off to the attending ambulance, co-workers nodding sympathetically at the loss of another great guy who had fallen victim to DOS, or Donut Obsession Syndrome. It’s one of the big killers over at the air force.
But then it started to click in. The United States does have a stealthy weapon-hauler, the B-2 Spirit bomber. You can just pack the missiles in there, even internally, and it still cries out for more. Any kind of missiles too, so it can carry different missiles for different jobs, something that had limited the other traditional platforms. And it had range to burn, capable of 35-hour round trips without refuelling, meaning you can launch these things from the mainland United States to their target half a world away and have them return to their home bases in the continental United States. That’s impressive, though I’d hate to be driving. I don’t think air force pilots consider Yeti’s full of hot coffee to be on their pre-flight checklists.
Purists scoffed at the notion. A sub-sonic bomber could never survive in contested airspace against a near-peer enemy. It would be like being in a dogfight while flying the Goodyear Blimp.
But who said anything about being in that contested airspace? Your weapons platforms don’t have to be in the middle of the fray anymore, they have something called stand-off distance, where they can fire their weapons from a large distance while lurking out of range of the enemy’s assets. The B-2’s radar array is the most advanced there is, and it can see farther than anybody else can. So it can simply fire its missiles from afar, depending on the range of the missiles, of course. And if, for some reason, that isn’t enough, the B-2 is designed to fly with “loyal wingmen,” un-manned drones that fly in formation with Big Momma and who take their orders from same. And these are all kitted-out with missiles as well. And they can be vectored closer to targets before firing their ordnance, all controlled by the B-2. As well, the B-2 can order the firing of missiles from other weapons platforms, like the four jets mentioned earlier, because they’re all integrated into the same network. So the B-2 acts like a quarterback, even having access to the weapons suites of the more than capable fighters — quarterbacks in their own right — who would likely be closer to the action.
So while the B-2 is agonizingly slow compared to the fast-movers, it proves that slow and steady can still win races.
This gives the Russians, Chinese, North Koreans, and Iranians something to chew on moving forward. All I can say is, chew away, boys.
In closing, I’d just like to mention one final thing. You know how the air force is considering adapting the B-2 as perhaps its NGAD fighter? They’re also looking at the venerable B-52 for the same mission set. That’s a seventy-five year old bomber that can carry a HUGE payload of things that go bang and light up the night. And it has a radar package far more advanced than the latest Russian or Chinese fighters.
Almost an embarrassment of riches. And far less expensive than creating a new fighter. When it comes to NGAD, they already have one. Sorry, they already have some.
Get that man a donut.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 