Message posted by Altner (Member since 09/21/2022) on May 19, 2023 at 14:33:21 PST:
This topic has already been discussed a lot on this forum and on the internet. I'm looking forward to seeing the first pictures of the NGAD, but unfortunately, it's not going to happen anytime soon. "The NGAD will likely remain highly classified as long as the Air Force can keep it. Kendall, drawing on Cold War practice, said he was reluctant to share the shape and characteristics of future fighter aircraft for fear that the U.S. would give its adversaries a head start in developing countermeasures." On that basis, it could be that NGAD will enter service quietly, and the F-117 is the perfect example of how it can do that, or at least that it will still be highly classified when it enters service. But will the Groom Lake team really have given us a glimpse of a Northrop Grumman NGAD manned fighter prototype in January 2022? I sometimes think it's a shame that no one was present on the tikaboo peak at that time. More than 1000 UAVs are planned to be purchased and they will join the NGAD, these UAVs will also have the capability to join other aircraft for example the F-35, up to 30 suppliers could be involved in the construction of the UAVs, this seems to be the big news of the 6th generation, the NGAD would be composed of 5 key technologies, which would not all be assembled on the same platform, and all of this will form a kind of "combat cloud" that will allow things that were not possible before. Apparently the NGAD is still in the design process and has not yet passed the Stage B review process. Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are obviously the trio of manufacturers who are making the NGAD. As for the engines, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney are both competing to build the future NGAD engine. The NGAD program has gone backwards, so it's a real puzzle that will have to be put together The NGAD will be armed to the teeth and will likely have all the latest aeronautical technologies the world has seen to date, "Enhanced sensor capabilities as well as advanced capabilities to connect with satellites, other aircraft or other assets could also be part of the NGAD family of systems." "The NGAD will include attributes such as enhanced lethality and the ability to survive, persist, interoperate, and adapt in the air domain, all in highly contested operational environments. I'm curious to see its performance in air combat. I find that the 6th generation is still very very vague, so vague that some things will not be usable for a long time. Now the war will be fought to see who will have the best shield to defend themselves, and who will have the best technology to pierce that shield, yes, stealth technology will be pushed to its limits in the future. I look forward to seeing what plasma will bring to stealth (plasma stealth).
If it is indeed the NGAD, I expect something exceptional when it is unveiled, and I sincerely hope the NGAD doesn't have as many problems and failures as the F-35.
One of the new stealth concepts would be to send up drones to act as decoys to fool the enemy, behind which manned fighters would hide to strike.
Replies: