A sixth-generation jet fighter is a conceptualized class of fighter aircraft design that is currently in development.
Several countries have announced the development of a sixth-generation aircraft program, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, Germany, and France.
The Sixth-Generation fighter developers can be divided into two categories:
1) United States: which has developed and deployed two stealth fighter types. Currently, the United States has two projects: the Air Force’s ‘Penetrating Counter-Air’—a long long-range stealth fighter to escort stealth bombers—and the Navy’s FA-XX. So far, Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and Northrop-Grumman have unveiled sixth-generation concepts.
2) Russia: which has deployed its stealth Su-57 stealth fighter jets, but is talking up a conceptual sixth-generation MiG-41 interceptor
3) France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom: These countries that have skipped or given up on their attempt to build Fifth Generations jets. These latter countries have concluded that doing so is so time-consuming and expensive that it makes more sense to focus on tomorrow’s technology than try to catch up with today’s. In addition, They are in the preliminary stages of developing sixth-generation FCAS and Tempest fighters. ; Japan, is contemplating a domestic sixth-generation F-3 stealth jet, but may settle for a foreign-inspired fifth-generation design.
Related Link: Lockheed Martin Proposed new Air superiority fighter: Hybrid F-22/F-35
The various Sixth-Generation concepts mostly feature many of the same technologies. Two critical characteristics of Fifth-Generation fighters will remain centrally important to the Sixth: stealthy airframes and long-range missiles.
Read the Full Article at nationalinterest.org
