Possible configuration of the Boeing F-47 NGAD

[EmoBirb]

It costs them nothing to add two black blobs to confuse forum nerds and the Chinese

The Chinese probably already know very well how the actual thing is at least going to look like. Intelligence gathering and espionage a very real.

 

[Avimimus]

The Chinese probably already know very well how the actual thing is at least going to look like. Intelligence gathering and espionage a very real.

That is the old joke, right? That both the Soviets and the Americans know everything, it is just their publics who are in the dark.

I think the actual reality is that it is possible to have pretty water-tight programs and institutions. There will be lots of ways information leaks indirectly, but it is probably within the realm of possibility to keep an airframe quite secret.

 

[VishnuOsiris]

Man, one of the mods has no sense of humor.

I commented that I'd seen an April Fool's post of the F-47 looking like the Firefox from the movie.

Deleted for "spamming" when I'd explicitly said "today" on April first.

TBH I've always loathed this "holiday" anyway. I got over this by age 12. I'm edgy and cool, you see.

 

[bercr]

Many interesting concepts of 6th generation fighters here from designer Rodrigo Avella https://www.behance.net/rodrigoavella.

This one was designed in 2016...

https://www.behance.net/gallery/33882210/Sixth-Generation-Fighter

 

[A Tentative Fleet Plan]

Many interesting concepts of 6th generation fighters here from designer Rodrigo Avella https://www.behance.net/rodrigoavella.

This one was designed in 2016...

https://www.behance.net/gallery/33882210/Sixth-Generation-Fighter

That's a McDonnell Douglas study from 1994:

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/mcdd-impact-of-agility-requirements-on-configuration-synthesis-study-1994.45200/

 

[quellish]

I think the actual reality is that it is possible to have pretty water-tight programs and institutions. There will be lots of ways information leaks indirectly, but it is probably within the realm of possibility to keep an airframe quite secret.

This program isn’t one of those water tight ones. An hour or so before the NGAD announcement there was a USAF-affiliated person in the Starbucks on M street showing off a PowerPoint on it (F-47) on his laptop to anyone who would give him attention.

Or at least that’s the story I heard.

 

[kijimi]

This program isn’t one of those water tight ones. An hour or so before the NGAD announcement there was a USAF-affiliated person in the Starbucks on M street showing off a PowerPoint on it (F-47) on his laptop to anyone who would give him attention.

Or at least that’s the story I heard.

Poor guy had been working on it for eight years and just needed to let it all out lol

 

[Scott Kenny]

This program isn’t one of those water tight ones. An hour or so before the NGAD announcement there was a USAF-affiliated person in the Starbucks on M street showing off a PowerPoint on it (F-47) on his laptop to anyone who would give him attention.

Or at least that’s the story I heard.

Wouldn't surprised me.

My favorite XO was working at the Pentagon, was at some function when he got picked up by a very smart lady with Slavic features. She was smart and nice and interested in where he worked, so he reported her to the spooks. "Oh, yeah, we know her. Go ahead and date her, she's an industrial spy and stays well clear of military stuff."

A couple months later, he was at a meeting in Norfolk when one of the meeting staff turned the TV on in the room.
"YN2 what the hell?"
"Whatever you were talking about in here is not as important as the events RIGHT NOW."
And my favorite XO got to see the plane hit HIS OFFICE at the Pentagon.

 

[Reddington777]

I personally find two of the MDD planforms to be pretty convincing - namely the one just posted above and the medium maneuverability one.

Also in addition to the vertical tails, I think concepts where the chines leading up to the nose are completely or almost completely parallel arent correct. Its not accounting for the perspective distortion enough or at all. It looks to me like they should taper toward the nose like depicted in the MDD diagram. I've used perspective matching software a lot for an aircraft carrier project and at angles that are shown in the two publically released inages, a difference of a pixel or two can already cause a lot of distortion.

Ofcourse I could be wrong and the plane actually looks that crazy.

 

[Yellow Palace]

My favorite XO was working at the Pentagon, was at some function when he got picked up by a very smart lady with Slavic features. She was smart and nice and interested in where he worked, so he reported her to the spooks. "Oh, yeah, we know her. Go ahead and date her, she's an industrial spy and stays well clear of military stuff."

I suppose the advantage for the spooks is that if they know who she's dating, she can be fed the things they want her to know.

A former manager of mine went on a motorcycle tour of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The security folks were quite happy for him to go, but asked if they could take a look at his holiday pictures when he got back. And if there happened to be some shipyards in the background, well, such was life...

 

[Avimimus]

I agree with you, maybe like this one.

Yes, that is what I'd been thinking of!

 

[EmoBirb]

I think the actual reality is that it is possible to have pretty water-tight programs and institutions. There will be lots of ways information leaks indirectly, but it is probably within the realm of possibility to keep an airframe quite secret.

That's certainly in the realm of possibility, no doubt. However I wouldn't be surprised if they knew how it generally looks, although probably not aware of its actual capabilities, specs etc.

As for how it looks, my bet is on an enlarged X-36 or something akin to that one graphic that could be seen in the background of some Boeing PR, which also is essentially an evolution of the X-36 layout. All in all, I don't think it will deviate too drastically from what we've been teased with over the years, be it through research papers or advertisements.

Just as how I'm fairly confident that Lockheeds proposal was most likely a large triangular F-22 style aircraft, which is in line with rumors of LMs design being more an evolution, rather than a revolutionary one like Boeings. Similar to how the J-36 looks to be an evolution on the J-20s foundation. Both (LM NGAD and J-36) being further optimized for range and signature reduction.

The Boeing ad thingy I meant:

 

[Reddington777]

enlarged X-36 or something akin to that one graphic that could be seen in the background of some Boeing PR, which also is essentially an evolution of the X-36 layout.

This plan form has elements of both the medium and high maneuverability MDD diagram and it has the giant chisel nose on the render. I definitely like this possibility. The canards shape also matches what I envisioned when I saw the two released photos. They're the right triangle kind instead of the equilateral kind on the X-36.

 

[Scott Kenny]

I suspect that the final shape is going to be a mix of X-36 and Bird of Prey.