That also means that each F-22 is irreplaceable, with many sensitive components no longer manufactured. Since F-22 production was halted in 2009 with just 186 planes, its production lines have been cannibalized to make way for the F-35, which is more flexible but needs to be optimized for air superiority. The race to field sixth-generation fighters has become more urgent for the US considering the relative obsolescence of even its latest fighters, the shifting balance of airpower toward China, and Beijing’s recent advances in sixth-generation fighter technology.Īsia Times noted in May 2023 that the US’ top-of-the-line F-22 faces obsolescence, cost death spiral and impractical upgrades, which makes designing an all-new aircraft more feasible than keeping the late 1990s type in service.

Moving control surfaces an aircraft’s shape, influencing how radar returns are generated and possibly compromising stealth.Įliminating those moving surfaces may remove a critical vulnerability of current-generation stealth fighters, allowing the next-generation to continue operating in heavily defended airspace. The NGAD will likely feature AFC technology alongside thrust vectoring to preserve stealth and increase maneuverability. Boeing’s concept art of the NGAD’s possible design. The CRANE X-Plane program also has interchangeable wings and actuator technology, meaning the core technologies can be tested between Aurora and other aerospace firms like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman. JN.1 ‘step change’ evolution cause for new Covid concern The project features a technology known as Active Flow Control (AFC), which maneuvers the aircraft using jets of high-pressure air from actuators embedded in the aircraft’s body instead of traditional mechanical control surfaces. While there have been many sixth-generation fighter design concepts, a key feature of the class may be a lack of moving control surfaces to preserve carefully laid out stealth shaping.Īsia Times reported in January 2023 that the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Aurora Flight Sciences have been developing the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effector (CRANE) X-Plane program, with a flight demonstration expected in 2025. Intriguingly, it is believed that there are now at least three NGAD technology demonstrator aircraft in existence.Īlthough there is no consensus on what constitutes a sixth-generation fighter, the type will likely feature new and emerging technologies such as modular design, machine learning, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, drone swarms and optionally-manned capability. The report notes that the final decision on what is assumed to be a winner-take-all competition is expected next year. This month, The Warzone reported that the competition to produce the US Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter has likely been narrowed down to three contractors – Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman, the US aerospace industry’s heavyweights.

The US is cranking up its sixth-generation fighter program with a sense of urgency driven by multiple issues that are weighing against its dominant position in fighter technology and air superiority.

Death spiral maneuver air combat