Man this thread has moved fast... 6 pages since I went to bed!
I'm honestly doubting Poland and SK, unless there's a way for this design to trade range for air-to-ground ordnance.
With the USN being more focused on A2G, I think they'd both be more interested in the FAXX than the F-47.
More keeping 3 primes in the game, but if it means bailing them out of the current financials, yes.
I'm about 99% sure that is a reflection.
Canards increase total lift available, so the aircraft can be heavier for the same wing area compared to a tailed aircraft.
However, in the context of stealth, small canards can cause issues with weird reflections and not being big enough to absorb the radar waves. IIRC there was a comment from LockMart about how the canard they were using was so big it was almost a tandem wing (I think this was during the early JSF program). It also needs some kind of sealed edgeless hinge to prevent that edge discontinuity that stealth hates.
To me, it indicates a much lighter aircraft than what I was expecting. I was expecting an F-111, something 105,000lbs or so. Not something F-15 weight.
Anyone have a contact at Boeing to get that patch?
I don't think there's anyone left in the Navy with TF30 or F401 experience. By a decade or more.
But you're absolutely right that GE has more experience in variable cycle tech.
I think we'll see that happen with the CCAs, because they're planning multiple increments out.
You know they make 15x25ft flags, right?
The usual way for that would be QF-47, a Drone (Q) version of the F-47.
I don't think that the other CCAs having 40-series numbers would indicate anything there.
No, the numbers officially restarted in 1962. Some aircraft kept their old-series numbers, like F-4 (F4H) and F-8 (F8U).
But Thunderbolt III wouldn't be impossible for the name.
Competitive fly-offs are actually the exception, not the rule.
The same way the Navy evaluated the design of the F-14 and F-18E/F/G. On paper, times how the manufacturer has performed historically.
Combined response:
I doubt it. I expect Northrop-Grumman to win FAXX.
Navy wants a big, long range strike fighter. The ability to carry large air-to-ground ordnance is a lot higher priority in the FAXX program than a "mere" air-to-air monster like the F-22 (and presumed capabilities of the F-47).
