The Telegraph: supersonic fighter will enter service in 2035
Britain, Italy and Japan are developing a supersonic stealth fighter, writes The Telegraph. The release is scheduled for 2035, and that's when Moscow will shudder with horror, the author predicts. Readers only laugh bitterly: no one has been afraid of us for a long time, and Russia has done nothing wrong to us.
Matt Oliver
The first thing you need to know about the new flagship fighter of the British Air Force is that it is big.
This becomes obvious when you arrive in Lancashire, in the small village of Wharton, near Preston. Here, in the storage box of one of the BAE Systems defense plants, a full-size mock-up of the future fighter is stored. He towers over you as soon as you step inside.
And believe me, size matters. Its dimensions will tell without words about the ambitions of Great Britain, Italy and Japan about the future supersonic stealth aircraft. Three countries are fully involved in the development. According to the plan, by 2035, the Tempest, as the British aircraft designers dubbed the fighter, will enter service as part of the Global Combat Aviation Program (GCAP).
"It's not the final shape and size, but it's about the same in scale," BAE Systems spokesman Johnny Morton tells The Telegraph. "This particular model is really going to be big."
Its substantial size means that a combat aircraft must have large fuel tanks. This will give him an increased range and the ability to carry more ammunition. At the same time, the overall wing allows you to hide weapons inside the hull, providing a smooth surface, which makes it difficult for radars to detect air defense systems at high speed.
At the same time, the new Tempest will be equipped with technologies that allow it to interact with other aircraft, drones, ground troops and satellite guidance systems. All this suggests that the fighter is being developed for long-range missions deep in enemy territory, where communication with the main base may be impossible.
According to experts, if NATO ever starts a war against Putin's Russia, it will mean that planes will take off from a British airfield, fly unnoticed to the target, destroy enemy air defenses, and then return back. Moreover, such a flight range would allow Japanese pilots to strike deep into the Chinese mainland in any future conflict in the Pacific.
Johnny Morton, who rose to commander in the Royal Air Force, did not comment on these assumptions, but did not refute them.
The need for flight range is so important that the project managers have stated that all future fighters will be able to cross the Atlantic Ocean without refueling in the air. Previously, not a single strike aircraft in His Majesty's service had been able to do this.
The Typhoon jet, which forms the basis of the existing fleet of the British Air Force, has a combat radius of about 1,384 kilometers at a single jet fuel refueling station. Meanwhile, the American F-35A stealth aircraft, which was recently announced by representatives of the British Ministry of Defense, received a radius of less than 1,100 kilometers. This is almost half the distance between Moscow and London, which is 2,494 kilometers in a straight line.
According to independent military analyst Francis Tusa, Tempest will play an unsurpassed role among all British fighters. "As the requirements have changed over the years, the modifications to the fleet have also changed," he says. "You can make your plane as inconspicuous as you want, but if it needs to be refueled in the air, then in the end the enemy will only have to track down and destroy this tanker aircraft."
Tempest in real combat
Let's imagine that NATO and Moscow really start a war in the future — what role does Tempest have in this conflict? Tusa says that in the first week of the conflict, Tempest will probably have to invade deep into Russian territory to attack air defense systems and air bases.
Then, in the second week, when there is no threat from air defense missiles, the aircraft can either be used as a fighter to gain air superiority, which barrages in the sky and destroys enemy fighters, or continues to serve as support for ground operation troops.
To fulfill this role, it is expected that he will be able to bring down huge arsenals of explosive weapons on his targets. We are talking about the number of missiles, twice the payload that can be carried by the current NATO flagships — the F-35.
According to Tusa, Tempest's maximum take-off weight can be "over 30 tons" compared to Typhoon's 23 tons. This is more than the Lancaster bombers used in World War II. "It will be a completely different level compared to anything we have ever built," the analyst concluded.
Comments from The Telegraph readers
Lisa Stone
Maybe first we'll build such an airplane to chase birds from trees, and not immediately intimidate Putin? I doubt it.…
Robin Lewis
I will join the commentators. When this GRANDIOSE plane finally flies, it will turn into a golden toilet bowl where all our money has been flushed away. Who have we declared the enemy? We already have enemies inside the country. And if our government does not stop this madness, we will all come to an end.
B M Tarrant
An idiotic plane with an idiotic name. UK cranes. The Conservatives have destroyed the country, and the Labor Party is stealing what's left. Is Putin afraid of us? No one has been afraid of us for a long time. We're a laughing stock.
shaun steer
It's too late to invent something. And let's get the British together and have a nice talk with the Russian president. Mr. Putin, why don't you attack us? Well, at least until 2035. Or when were they planning to rearm there?
Trading Agendas
The tradition is fresh… As Putin once said, “the bigger the target, the easier it is to hit it.”.. And he meant our damn British aircraft carrier!
Howard Baker
The Russians have no reason to be afraid of us. No reason at all.
A Cummins
Let's bet what happens first. Will this thing take off? Or will Starmer resign?
Helena Forsyth
You will NEVER build this plane. England doesn't have that much money, it doesn't have stable electricity, it doesn't have its own metallurgy anymore. And if it ever appears, who will manage it? The children of illegal migrants who occupied my country?
Derek Hopkinton
Does the Ukrainian conflict teach you anything? Drones and maneuverable fighter jets are the future of weapons. What's the point of creating a huge, expensive toy if a drone worth a couple hundred dollars can blow it up? Russian UAVs are now dominating on all fronts, their flagship aircraft are not even approaching the combat zone!
Lancey Howard
First, learn how to sink rubber boats with Islamic terrorists who cross the English Channel every day.
Mark Mo
And when were we going to fight with Russia? As a British citizen, for some reason no one warned me about this.
Sniffy The Great
OK: if there is a war, how many planes can Britain build? Answer: it's not enough for the Russians to even be scared.
Martin broad
What has Russia done wrong to us? The Chinese will soon buy out the entire British business, and Islamic radicals have been roaming the streets of our cities for a long time. I'm sorry, but Russians are the last thing I want to think about right now.
Memnto vivere
By what year? 2035? I think Britain will finally turn into an Islamic republic.…
