Experts told about the problems of the American project of the sixth generation fighter NGAD
Against the background of the fighting in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, discussions continue in the United States around the appearance and functions of the sixth-generation fighter, created under the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program in order to adopt it in 2030. "Newspaper.Ru" figured out what this plane might look like.
The White House's defense budget proposal for fiscal year 23 announced $9 billion for research and development, testing and evaluation of the NGAD project. At the same time, the project is in the so-called trust fund and will receive, if approved by Congress, an undisclosed funding scheme. It is not known what exactly the money will be spent on.
So far, the only hint of the promising appearance of the sixth-generation fighter is contained in the promotional video of the manufacturer, Northrop Grumman - among the line of aircraft, experts have seen the nose of the future aircraft with a single cabin and engine air intakes in the upper part of the body.
The following is officially known about the functions of this machine: it will be a kind of "think tank" that manages a number of unmanned "wingmen" who will move hundreds of kilometers forward to conduct reconnaissance, as well as independently destroy targets.
"That is, it is a carrier of very smart intelligent weapons. And his task is to fly fast, fly far and take more combat load," he told the newspaper.Ru" editor-in-chief of the industry portal Avia.ru Roman Gusarov.
Director of the HSE Center for Integrated European and International Studies, military expert Vasily Kashin noted that interaction with drones will be possible "only with the help of powerful artificial intelligence, which should receive a qualitative leap in development."
Roman Gusarov noted that similar functions are now being implemented in Russian fifth-generation Su-57 aircraft.
"The Hunter heavy drone is comparable in size to the Su-57. By and large, one aircraft can lead several such large shock carriers. And all they need is to work under the control of the operator: he identified the targets, distributed them among the carriers, and their task is only to bring the weapons to the desired point and release the missile, which already has a target," Gusarov said.
According to him, both satellite grouping data and information from special reconnaissance drones that have advanced to the operation zone in advance and monitor the situation can be integrated into the same system.
"Since the sixth generation aircraft will most likely be purely composite, many systems will not exist as separate units, but will be integrated directly into the fuselage and airframe of the aircraft. That is, conditionally, some radar will not be inserted separately into the aircraft, but will already be soldered into the wing, the sensors will be inside. That is, the modernization will consist in docking a new wing, a new nose fairing, and it is not necessary to disassemble and assemble the entire aircraft for this," Gusarov gave an example.
The expert noted that the aircraft of the future should have a much larger radius of combat use than the current fighters.
"This aircraft will have to be able to move with a large number of weapons over long distances - that is, to fly, strike and return. Now half of the fuel is spent on take-off and landing," Gusarov explained.
At the same time, according to him, supermaneuverability for a sixth-generation fighter will not be necessary at all. "As the combat experience of the application shows, the main thing is that you have a good radar and good means of destruction, so that you, even without entering the air defense zone, can strike," the expert noted.
"We absolutely do not know what shape, taking into account the development of technology, combat aviation will take by the 30-40s, whether it will not turn out that what is being bet on will become a thing of the past - for example, whether it will not become completely unmanned or whether there will be an emphasis on simpler ones, but cheap and mass systems with artificial intelligence - in fact, such as cruise missiles. Maybe it will turn out that these super-expensive fighters will become a thing of the past. They will be replaced by a swarm of drones," the expert concluded.
Denis Telmanov
