A Hypersonic, Space-Traveling, Laser-Firing 7th-Gen Stealth Fighter by 2050?

By Kris Osborn, President, Warrior Maven

As the secretive Next Gen Air Dominance 6th-gen aircraft takes flight, and the Air Force fast-tracks supportive drones called Combat Collaborative Aircraft, few might be inclined to consider the prospect of a 7th-generation fighter. 

This may seem beyond the scope of current thinking, yet its likely someone at the Pentagon is thinking about this and working on concepts of operation to support an entirely new generation of stealth fighters to emerge beyond the 2050s..  Sure enough, there are some key technological barriers yet to be broken, something which invites speculation regarding the realm of the possible 7th-generation. Could it manage manned hypersonic flight, space travel, generative AI and new, unprecedented dimensions to stealth? 

It would be nothing short of spectacular to envision a manned hypersonic stealthy jet capable of transiting beyond and within the earth’s atmosphere to conduct secret attacks, perform otherwise impossible surveillance missions or even engage in space warfare should that become necessary  

War in Space

As much as the Pentagon hoped space would remain a sanctuary for collaborative multi-national exploration, the domain has now long-since been weaponized by US rivals. This of course has inspired the creation of a US Space Force and the necessary task of preparing the US military for offensive and defensive space war.   A manned hypersonic stealth jet, able to exit and then return to the earth’s atmosphere, could likely perform unprecedented missile defense operations and, if needed, destroy enemy satellites.  With the appropriate speed, networking and targeting technology, it seems entirely conceivable that a manned hypersonic space fighter could track and intercept or destroy enemy ICBMs transiting through space during its mid-course phase. 

Perhaps stealth fighter-jet laser weapons will be possible by this point, as the Air Force Research Laboratory continues to work on miniaturizing expeditionary sources of electrical power sufficient to incinerate ICBMs in space? 

Lasers for Missile Defense