Even as they work to get different versions of the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter operational, the Air Force and the Navy are working together on a search for the next generation of capabilities that could provide air dominance 20 years or more in the future. But it may not be a fighter aircraft as that currently is envisioned, the Air Force’s top officer said April 2.
“We haven’t been building a new airplane for a couple years. We both need to get a jump start on that,” Gen. Mark Welsh said in response to a Seapower question at an Air Force Association event.
“I think it’s important that everybody understand, this isn’t necessarily an airplane. It’s how do you provide air dominance down the road? There are probably a number of things you have to do to do that,” Welsh said, mentioning cyber and space as capabilities “that may have an effect on it,” 20, 30 or 50 years in the future.
“I don’t know what it’s going to look like. We have no idea yet. But that’s the work they’re undertaking, to try to figure out what are the things that could make a difference,” he said.
The study also must consider “what’s the most realistic approaches as far as technology … and what are the affordable options and what are the unobtainable choices?” Welsh said
The collaborative analysis of alternatives (AoA) brings together to some degree the separate programs started by the two services on what some are calling a sixth-generation fighter. The Air Force is operating under the F-X program to replace its F-22 Raptor, the world’s only operational fifth-generation fighter. The Navy is seeking a replacement for its F/A-18 Super Hornets, a late fourth-generation jet, under the Next Generation Air Dominance program, or F/A-XX.
In congressional hearings in March, VADM Paul Groslags, principal military deputy to the Navy assistant secretary for Research, Development and Acquisitions, and RADM Michael Manazir, director of air warfare, said the Navy was looking for an aircraft with wide capabilities to replace the Super Hornets and the EF-18G Growler electronic warfare jet that is based on the Super Hornet, when those aircraft approach their expected service lives in the 2030s.
Neither of the two services’ programs would affect their F-35s, which is considered a fifth-generation fighter due to its stealth, advanced sensors and data fusion capabilities.
Although the cooperative AoA has been sanctioned by Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, neither service has indicated an intention to develop variants of the same aircraft, like the F-35. In fact, the two services may have sharp differences on what capabilities they would like in the new air dominance platform. Air Force officials have cited stealth as a key requirement, but Chief of Naval Operations ADM Jonathan Greenert said he considered stealth less important than other performance factors, such as speed, range and payload.
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