Hell yeahhttps://www.twz.com/air/usaf-confirms-bombers-could-have-a-major-air-to-air-combat-role>Aviation Week was first to report on the potential for bombers to help bolster the Air Force’s air-to-air combat capacity after obtaining a copy of a new long-term fighter force structure report submitted to Congress last week. https://aviationweek.com/defense/budget-policy-operations/usaf-outlines-new-fighter-goals-may-eye-bombers-ccas-help>a B-21 that also has air-to-air capabilities” and can “work with the family of systems to defend itself, utilizing stealth – maybe that’s where the sixth-generation airplane comes from.”https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/USAFs-Dogfight-Power-Curve/
>family of system>Sensor centric>Ai>Enemy data center>CCWsWar has gotten so puzzed its using corpo marketing buzzwords
Makes sense.Modern air to air combat is just about spamming missiles from max range where the target info is forwarded by an AWAC or another powerful radar source.My schizo theory will be that future fighters won’t have crazy speed and agility like the F-22 they will basically just be large missile hubs with some stealth coating.
>>656043507 year old article about a report from a literal whoNah, I’m good>>65604363Journalists and think tanks are not war
>makes air to air combat really gay
>>65604381looks like he's laughing about it too.
>>65604363Yes. Using single words to boil down complex ideas or concepts is how people generally communicate in technical fields. >family of system>Sensor centric>Ai>Enemy data center>CCWsis easier than saying >a large and complicated collection of different types of military vehicles, aircraft, ships, weapons, computers, electronic equipment, communications devices, and supporting machinery, each of which performs a particular function but is designed to exchange information and coordinate its activities with the others, making use of various types of equipment capable of detecting objects or activities by observing visible light, measuring heat, transmitting and receiving radio waves, intercepting electronic signals, or collecting information from satellites orbiting the Earth, with the information gathered by all of these different devices being transmitted through interconnected communications networks to computers running specially developed programs that examine, compare, organize, and interpret large quantities of information in order to identify patterns, distinguish potentially hostile activity from ordinary activity, estimate the location and movements of opposing military forces, and present possible courses of action to human personnel responsible for making decisions, including identifying, locating, monitoring, and potentially [post too long]
>>65604363>>65604439>attacking the buildings, underground facilities, communications installations, electrical infrastructure, and computer equipment used by an opposing military organization to receive information from its forces, store and process that information, communicate instructions to subordinate units, and coordinate military operations, with attacks potentially being carried out using guided weapons equipped with conventional explosive warheads rather than nuclear devices, which may be launched from aircraft flying through the atmosphere, naval vessels operating on the surface of the ocean, submarines operating beneath it, or stationary and mobile launching equipment positioned on land, and which use various combinations of satellite navigation, onboard computers, terrain measurements, and other guidance equipment to travel toward predetermined locations before detonating an explosive charge intended to damage or destroy the selected physical object, thereby interfering with the opposing military organization's ability to gather information, make decisions, transmit instructions, coordinate the activities of its personnel, and continue carrying out its intended operations.
>>65604377If you can afford it, you want both.That's what B-21 + F-47 isBoth provide similar capability, the F-47 trades range/payload for kinematic/aerobatic performance. B-21 does the opposite.Together they allow the USAF to provide a heavy compute node to direct CCAs in basically any situation. In heavily contested/pentrating roles the F-47 takes point while the B-21 stays back to provide long range A2A/A2G capability, and in less contested environments you can forgo the F-47's entierly and use a B-21 as the heavy compute node along with CCAs and F-35s.The US and China are realistically the only two nations that can afford a heavy manned stealth platform like the B-21, the only other manned 6th gen program in the world is GCAP, which is looking to be F-111 sized, or a heavy fighter/light bomber in size/scale/payload. Basically trying to blend both the F-47 and B-21 into a single airframe (though it's much closer to the F-47 than B-21 in scale/role).
>>65604447>F-47>Constructor: Boeing grim
>>65604474F/A-XX tooBoeing has a 6th gen monopoly.
>>65604474Boeing/McDonnell fighter programs have historically run pretty smoothly. Super Hornet was probably the smoothest new fighter airframe acquisition since the end of the Cold War. By all available evidence they also demonstrated a much better product than either Lockheed or Northrop in both competitions.
>>65604496Literally how, I thought Lockheed Martin had this kind of stuff in the bag?
>>65604350Can we bring back the Genie missile while we're at it?
>>65604554F-35 is the biggest military procurement program in world history. This was a massive windfall for them. It also means the Lockheed Martin’s aeronautics division has not really had the bandwidth to focus on anything else for upwards of two decades. During that time Boeing was chasing down every bit of DARPA work they could get their hands on, as they had relatively little new going on. They also bet big on new production infrastructure before they won either contract. This all paid off greatly. They seem to have beat Lockheed to flying a demonstrator by several years, while also producing a better product.
