USAF/US NAVY 6th Generation Fighter Programs - F/A-XX, F-X, NGAD, PCA, ASFS news

[Avimimus]

Is there something wrong with Sandboxx?

Lack of rigour. Makes mistakes. Not the worst on youtube (by any means), but also not fully reliable.

 

[B2Blain]

I realllllyyy don't want Boeing anywhere near NGAD.

Definitely. Especially if it has doors. I will say that once the competition is over and Boeing shows their design I think at least visually people will be impressed. Granted, the X-32 is a low bar.

 

[bobbymike]

Lack of rigour. Makes mistakes. Not the worst on youtube (by any means), but also not fully reliable.

Plus like someone made a video about what they read in a two week old NYTimes

 

[Forest Green]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dv4SMJnqiw

 

[Avimimus]

Area 51 of modern aviation? Quite some amusing irony (or anti-irony) in that line!

 

[FlyGuy369]

Okay so here's an interesting talking point regarding the coatings... What are your thoughts on the VX and other squadrons that have been seen flying with the infrared coatings and how may that pay into the NGAD and F/A-XX programs?

 

[Scott Kenny]

Okay so here's an interesting talking point regarding the coatings... What are your thoughts on the VX and other squadrons that have been seen flying with the infrared coatings and how may that pay into the NGAD and F/A-XX programs?

Those are the obvious first steps, kinda like HAVE GLASS V.

I suspect that those IR coatings will be baked into the skin materials on NGAD.

 

[quellish]

Okay so here's an interesting talking point regarding the coatings... What are your thoughts on the VX and other squadrons that have been seen flying with the infrared coatings and how may that pay into the NGAD and F/A-XX programs?

What infrared coatings?

 

[siegecrossbow]

What infrared coatings?

Maybe he is referring to the mirror coating we saw on F-22?

 

[Scott Kenny]

Maybe he is referring to the mirror coating we saw on F-22?

Certainly what I assumed.

 

[quellish]

Maybe he is referring to the mirror coating we saw on F-22?

That’s not an infrared or laser-resistant coating.

 

[Scott Kenny]

That’s not an infrared or laser-resistant coating.

Then why is it silvery/reflective (leading to assumptions about thermal conductivity) and only on the leading edges?

 

[quellish]

Then why is it silvery/reflective (leading to assumptions about thermal conductivity) and only on the leading edges?

It’s not only on the leading edges, it covers most of the aircraft.

 

[Scott Kenny]

It’s not only on the leading edges, it covers most of the aircraft.

Which, if it was some type of themal conductor, would spread the heat load from the leading edges across most of the airframe.

 

[Josh_TN]

I do not think there is a definitive answer for what the reflective coatings (seen on several aircraft types) do. It is suspected to be IR related as far as I’ve seen in open source.

 

[quellish]

I do not think there is a definitive answer for what the reflective coatings (seen on several aircraft types) do. It is suspected to be IR related as far as I’ve seen in open source.

There are some "media outlets" who have "reported" on the reflective coatings that do not conduct "reporting" or "journalism" as many of us know it. These organizations read forums - such as this one - or Instagram, etc. and create a story out of what *others* are reporting. They go no deeper than reporting what others have said or told them. A tiny scrap of information - like a photo - and then sensationalist speculation to meet a minimum word court and draw clicks. Secret. Shrouded in secrecy. Mysterious aircraft. Laser armor. Etc.



If you are looking to these sources for definitive answers you will be disappointed.

These media outlets - such as popular web sites - do little or no original research or investigation. They do not undercover new information. They do not verify or credit sources. They do not fact check.

On the other hand, there are those that are cagey, or who may answer questions with statements like

"I should not comment on that until potential litigation moves forward...."

Of course, if real, definitive answers were posted, those other media outlets would pick them up and create a story that gets clicks and is republished all over the world, without crediting the original source that worked very hard to obtain the answers. This forum is full of such individuals - experts, dedicated enthrusiasts, passionate airplane nerds who expend a great deal of time and effort to uncover facts. They are the apex predators of the secret projects world, Sharks in Lawnchairs. These media outlets are parasites that get fat off the work of others.

Let's make critical thinking great again!

 

[TomcatViP]

Free drink on my tab!

 

[FlyGuy369]

The best information I can find potentially ties it to the Senior Spud program from the 90s, a would be IR coating to help manage absorbed energy from Radar sources. But who knows!

 

[sienar]

Synthetic Haze

 

[FlyGuy369]

Found these earlier.

 

[dark sidius]

Found these earlier.

Lockheed design ?

 

[FlyGuy369]

Lockheed design ?

Yes! It was in the background of some sort of symposium.

 

[flateric]

Found these earlier.

nothing new except replaced background actually

 

[dark sidius]

This is the second Lockheed Ngad design , it is different than the Skunk Works last iteration

 

[FighterJock]

An interesting design dark sidius, no vertical tail fins, obviously points to the possible use of three dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles.

 

[flateric]

This is the second Lockheed Ngad design
View attachment 719070

This is not

 

[FighterJock]

So more fan art again?

 

[flateric]

You are making circles with several months period

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/usaf-us-navy-6g-fighter-programs-f-a-xx-f-x-ngad-pca-asfs-news.3536/post-635834

 

[dark sidius]

This is not

Ngad demonstrator ?

 

[dark sidius]

An interesting design dark sidius, no vertical tail fins, obviously points to the possible use of three dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles.

Extract of the video.This one is the Skunk work video extract. What is it if this is not NGAD related ?

 

[Uuuuiiiuu]

Extract of the video.This one is the Skunk work video extract. What is it if this is not NGAD related ? View attachment 719107

In sure lockheed is teasing their next gen fighters via cartoonish artistic impressions.

 

[flateric]

Extract of the video.This one is the Skunk work video extract. What is it if this is not NGAD related ?

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/usaf-us-navy-6g-fighter-programs-f-a-xx-f-x-ngad-pca-asfs-news.3536/post-652902

 

[TomS]

Right now, one of the few things we do know about NGAD is that it's still considered sight-sensitive (otherwise we'd have actual photos). It's very unlikely that LM is leaking even cartoon images that are related to NGAD in any meaningful way.

 

[bobbymike]

My WAG it won’t be tailless it will be closer to that “Lady Liberty” design from awhile ago.

 

[dark sidius]

My WAG it won’t be tailless it will be closer to that “Lady Liberty” design from awhile ago.

I dont think so , all 6 th gen rendering , Northop/Boeing/Lockmart show tailless projects..

 

[Josh_TN]

I do not think any renders are truly indicative of anything. The project has too much secrecy. That said, I would bet on broad band stealth being prioritized over maneuvering given an even money bet. But I would not be super confident of any aspect of NGAD given how little we know not just about any possible aircraft or demonstrators but also the requirements.

 

[Scott Kenny]

I do not think any renders are truly indicative of anything. The project has too much secrecy. That said, I would bet on broad band stealth being prioritized over maneuvering given an even money bet. But I would not be super confident of any aspect of NGAD given how little we know not just about any possible aircraft or demonstrators but also the requirements.

The only thing I'm reasonably confident about NGAD is that it will have longer range than even an F-22.

I'm guessing NGAD will have bays deep enough to hold 2000lb bombs (while F-22 does not have bays deep enough to hold anything bigger than a 500lb bomb). As an additional item to the deep bays, I'm guessing some kind of missile rack that would allow two-deep AMRAAMs or AIM260s when not carrying bombs.

 

[dark sidius]

I do not think any renders are truly indicative of anything. The project has too much secrecy. That said, I would bet on broad band stealth being prioritized over maneuvering given an even money bet. But I would not be super confident of any aspect of NGAD given how little we know not just about any possible aircraft or demonstrators but also the requirements.

The higly classified B-21 was the same , and the 2015 rendering was right

 

[flateric]

I dont think so , all 6 th gen rendering , Northop/Boeing/Lockmart show tailless projects..

This is LM rendering.

 

[Josh_TN]

The higly classified B-21 was the same , and the 2015 rendering was right

Some of the of the B-21 renderings (I do not remember which specific ones) were published by the USAF itself, which IMO is much more likely to be close to the real thing. Moreover in the case of a subsonic stealth bomber, there really is a particular optimal shape and not much else to be done - I'll be quite surprised if PAK-DA or Y-20 deviate from the general layout of B-21, even if the size and details like cockpit and intakes are different.