Air Force introduces new secret jet fighter (1 Viewer)

[Krodwhodat]

The Air Force Secretly Designed, Built, and Flew a Brand-New Fighter Jet — Popular Mechanics

And it all happened in just one year. Yes, that's mind-blowing.

apple.news

 

[Saint_Ward]

No vertical stabilizer?

I realize that's concept art. it would help minimize the radar cross section.

 

[Grumpy Old Manatee]

If it's a secret, why would they introduce it? And, will it support an 8-10lb cat?

 

[gummbo70114]

It it's a secret, why would they introduce it? And, will it support an 8-10lb cat?

Maybe if you had some L brackets under the wings

 

[efil4stnias]

No vertical stabilizer?

I realize that's concept art. it would help minimize the radar cross section.

it has one....you just cant see it.

thats whats new.

cloaking.

 

[Rickboy]

It it's a secret, why would they introduce it?

Most likely they want to start flying it during the day time. Also, they may be looking to get funding for production.

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

The PM article is nothing but a vague, click bait article. More background on what they are attempting to do.

The US Air Force’s radical plan for a future fighter could field a jet in 5 years

The U.S. Air Force is seeking rapid-fire plane production as it tries to surpass the capabilities of near-peer competitors like Russia and China.

www.defensenews.com

Sep 2019...

The Century Series approach would be a notable departure from the Air Force’s former thinking on its future fighter. In its “Air Superiority 2030” study released in 2016, the Air Force described a long-range, stealthy sensor-shooter called “Penetrating Counter Air,” which would act as NGAD’s central node networked with sensors, drones and other platforms. The Air Force would use prototyping to speed along key technologies in the hope of maturing them early enough for inclusion in advanced aircraft fielded in the early 2030s.
But what Roper calls the “Digital Century Series” would flip that paradigm: Instead of maturing technologies over time to create an exquisite fighter, the Air Force’s goal would be to quickly build the best fighter that industry can muster over a couple years, integrating whatever emerging technology exists. The service would downselect, put a small number of aircraft under contract and then restart another round of competition among fighter manufacturers, which would revise their fighter designs and explore newer leaps in technology.
The result would be a networked family of fighters — some more interrelated than others — developed to meet specific requirements and including best-in-breed technologies aboard a single airframe. One jet might be optimized around a revolutionary capability, like an airborne laser. Another fighter might prioritize state-of-the-art sensors and include artificial intelligence. One might be an unmanned weapons truck.

The US Air Force has built and flown a mysterious full-scale prototype of its future fighter jet

Does this give the Next Generation Air Dominance program more momentum, or does it open it up to more scrutiny?

www.defensenews.com

Now the Popular Mechanics article took some liberties to what Dr. Roper actualy said to Defense news and its difference meaning is significant.

The U.S. Air Force revealed this week that it has secretly designed, built, and tested a new prototype fighter jet. The fighter, about which we know virtually nothing, has already flown and “broken records.”

“We’ve already built and flown a full-scale flight demonstrator in the real world, and we broke records in doing it,” Will Roper told Defense News in an exclusive interview ahead of the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference. “We are ready to go and build the next-generation aircraft in a way that has never happened before.”

 

[Taurus]

The Skunk Works whole mission was to do things like this. It's good to see an effort to get back to that.

 

[tomwaits]

Did the massive F-35 budget overruns actually go to fund this thing?
FYI - Pentagon still needs an audit...

 

[mattgdg]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the F-117s that were pulled out of mothballs for test flights at Tonopah?

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

If it's a secret, why would they introduce it? And, will it support an 8-10lb cat?

 

[staphory]

No

I wonder if this has anything to do with the F-117s that were pulled out of mothballs for test flights at Tonopah?

No, they were actually in flyable storage. When they are in that status they do have to be flown from time to time.