The world's first sixth-generation fighter jet is gradually revealed
2024-08-10
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On July 22, local time, the model of the Tempest fighter jet was unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show in the UK. Image source: Visual China
Comprehensive compilation Zhang Haotian
As the next-generation fighter jet projects of the US Air Force and Navy both encountered setbacks, the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) jointly promoted by the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan has gained more attention and is regarded by the outside world as a strong competitor for the "world's first sixth-generation fighter jet." As the core of GCAP, the concept model of the fighter jet code-named "Tempest" was unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show in the UK a few days ago, showing its ambition to reshape the future air combat mode.
Range and payload are of great importance
The website of the American magazine Popular Mechanics published an article stating that the Tempest fighter model displayed during this year's air show lacked sufficient details, but its huge triangular wings impressed the audience. Compared with the early imagination map, the Tempest's wings are the most obvious part of the change, suggesting that the aircraft can fly farther while maintaining a high degree of stealth, and carry more weapons and fuel, but with some compromises in speed and maneuverability.
Hermann Kleissang, project manager of the British BAE company, confirmed some of the outside speculation during the exhibition. He said: "We need to make it fly farther and carry a lot of payload..." British aviation journalist Gareth Jennings analyzed to the website of the US National Interest magazine that if the model aircraft is scaled up, the wingspan of the model aircraft is almost the same as that of the retired F-111 fighter-bomber; considering that the "Tempest" relies more on stealth capabilities and long-range missiles to break through enemy defenses, it is closer to the FB-22 tactical bomber planned by the US Air Force in the early 21st century but failed to be put into production.
Popular Mechanics stated that the Tempest is nominally a fighter, but its exterior design shows that the design team tends to appropriately sacrifice the aircraft's agility in close combat in exchange for a longer range and payload. The latter two aspects of performance are particularly important when the aircraft performs ground and anti-ship missions. At present, the three countries participating in GCAP are users of US-made F-35 fighters, but they all hope that the next generation of fighters will have stronger performance than the F-35 and have independent intellectual property rights, which is conducive to opening up export markets and facilitating the integration of self-developed airborne weapons from Britain, Italy, and Japan.
The British "Jane's Defense Weekly" website stated that the three countries plan to sign a formal joint venture agreement within 2024. The preliminary research and development of flight simulators and avionics equipment will be gradually launched between 2023 and 2026. Relying on digital development technology, the "Tempest" fighter is expected to be mass-produced by 2035, replacing the "Typhoon" fighters currently in service in the UK and Italy and the F-2 fighters in Japan. Due to tensions with the United States, Saudi Arabia has expressed interest in joining the GCAP program; Sweden has also negotiated with the above three countries and is expected to make a final decision around 2031.
Reflecting the changes in future air combat thinking
The details of the GCAP program are highly confidential, but this does not prevent foreign media from speculating on the performance characteristics of the Tempest fighter. Observers believe that on the basis of ensuring low detectability, supersonic cruise capability and air combat maneuverability, the next generation of fighters including the Tempest will have a series of new technical features, including: more complex data links, networking with friendly units at any time; virtual cockpits, which can monitor the pilot's physiological and mental state in real time; integrated artificial intelligence, efficient command of drone coordinated operations; advanced variable cycle engines and directed energy weapons, etc.
Popular Mechanics said that the GCAP plan is increasingly influenced by the view that future air combat will gradually evolve into a "duel between snipers" with better stealth capabilities, more powerful radars and missiles. Therefore, compared with the emphasis on close-range combat, the party that first discovers the opponent and is good at occupying a favorable attack position without the outside world noticing is more likely to win. High payload and support from drone "teammates" will help consolidate the advantage. A real case is: Over the past two years, over Ukraine, Russian fighter jets have maintained suppression of the Ukrainian Air Force with longer missile ranges; because of trust in long-range firepower, Russian fighter jets rarely actively seek close combat.
Japan and the United Kingdom are both island countries, and their air forces often need to fly across the ocean, which means that the Tempest must highlight the range indicator. In addition, the larger fuel tank means that this fighter can accompany bombers deep into foreign airspace and territorial waters without the risk of aerial refueling near the war zone. When performing attack missions independently, speed and range are equally important as stealth capabilities, because these two indicators determine whether the Tempest can search and track high-priority targets such as mobile missile launchers for a long time and achieve more results in a single attack.
In the new combat mode, the maneuverability of the fighter is still meaningful, but its value to the attack and survivability of the aircraft is declining. It is not difficult to understand why the design of the "Tempest" is more and more similar to the FB-22 20 years ago.
The key to success or failure lies in cost control
The U.S. Aviation Weekly website said that the GCAP project office is currently led by a Japanese official; the core technical support for the program is provided by British military enterprises represented by BAE. Not everyone is optimistic about this plan spanning Europe and Asia. Justin Bronk, an air power analyst at the Royal Service Institute, believes that the UK's current Typhoon fighter project has overspent by about 50%. Some people are worried that the GCAP, which has not yet been implemented, will occupy a large amount of military funds, making it impossible for the British Air Force to refurbish its current aircraft. In this regard, an informed source revealed that the £2 billion required for the project has been in place, and the government is expected to provide at least £950 million.
A widely circulated view is that the next generation of manned fighter jets are too expensive, so it is better to directly purchase drones. The US Air Force's NGAD future fighter project was recently suspended for this reason. The US "Breakthrough Defense" website believes that the US's actions will inevitably affect the confidence of all parties in GCAP. However, some people argue that the actual cost of GCAP is much lower than NGAD, because the former has to consider export needs and the design team adopts a gradual upgrade approach. For example, the initial version of the "Tempest" fighter will use the power system of the "Typhoon" fighter, rather than the complex and expensive variable cycle engine.
The British Labour government did not immediately commit to promoting the development and equipment of the next generation of fighter jets, saying that it would wait until the new version of the "Strategic Defense Assessment" was completed in the first half of next year before making a decision. Some people in the defense industry therefore expressed concerns about the prospects of GCAP. Popular Mechanics quoted sources as saying that some media exaggerated the resistance faced by the plan, "They are either dissatisfied with the Labour Party or want to influence budget allocation through public opinion." The US media believes that for the GCAP plan, a more realistic challenge than "abandoning halfway" may be "lack of funds." Although the new British government has promised to increase military spending to 2.5% of GDP, this depends on the overall fiscal situation of the UK.
Source: China Youth Daily Client
