As China unveils sophisticated stealth prototypes like the J-36, the Navy faces a critical ultimatum: accelerate its sixth-generation fighter or risk losing maritime air superiority.
By Kris Osborn, Warrior Maven
As unlikely as it may be and as difficult as it may seem to imagine, the Pentagon may be evaluating what its maritime power-projection force would look like without an F/A-XX. Is it realistic that the highly anticipated jet might not exist? Or perhaps seriously delayed due to global operational demands and pressing budget obligations? Is the war in Iran eroding acquisition budgets? Navy leaders have been quite vocal that indeed the service needs the F/A-XX immediately. It appears they are quite correct.
Any decision to greatly delay, postpone or “re-evaluate” F/A-XX plans would seem extremely ill advised for many clear reasons. Ultimately, it seems unlikely that the DoW will delay the much needed aircraft, and a certain measure of deliberation is to be expected, yet the prospect of any delay is understandably generating a sense of urgency at the Pentagon. The most significant reason for urgently fast-tracking the F/A-XX can be summed up in one word: China. The People’s Liberation Army has been making headlines in recent months with the arrival of several 6th-generation stealth platforms seen in “glimpses” on social media. Very little actual “detail” about the J-36 and J-50 are known, yet available images of both would suggest that, at very least, the two aircraft appear quite stealthy.
J-36 & J-50
The largest departure from conventional expectation can likely be seen in the J-36, as it is a larger, “3-engine” stealthy fighter-bomber kind of hybrid aircraft configured with a larger blended-wing-body horizontal configuration. This kind of shape would favor stealth, large payload and possible high-altitude, high speed bombing missions. Three engines would likely generate more “speed” and agility than what a pure “bomber” might be capable of, yet the larger fuselage and horizontal shape would indicate bomber-like stealth. While three engines would likely generate a larger heat signature tougher to hide from infrared sensors, the design could add speed and agility typically not associated with bombers. At the same time, the J-36 also has fighter-jet-like attributes as well, such as an angular, aerodynamic front end, and jet-like fuselage blended with fighter-jet-like wings. China’s J-50 also appears extremely stealthy and is much smaller and likely faster than the J-36; the J-50 appears fully as a pure stealth fighter jet, yet with a 6th-generation type of tailless flat back end. Much like available images of the U.S. 6th-generation platforms, both PLA AF planes have no vertical fins or tails, designs which clearly lower radar signature by not having sharp or protruding, vertically-angled tails. It would appear that engineers have uncovered ways of enabling fighter-jet-like agility, vectoring and angled maneuver without needing fins or vertical structures.
6th-Generation Stealth
Available renderings of U.S. 6th-generation aircraft show a similar horizontal structure, meaning fighter jets with a fully horizontal, bomber-like blended wing-body kind of configuration, yet with fighter-jet speed.
The existence of these rival Chinese platforms arguably adds a sense of urgency to U.S. Navy and Pentagon efforts to accelerate F/A-XX with sufficient funding and developmental focus. Surely the U.S. Navy’s F-35C is engineered as an “upgradeable” platform able to stay relevant and competitive into the 2070s, and the F/A-18 has shown itself to be a perpetually sustainable and upgradeable 4th-generation platform able to fly years beyond its service life. In the case of the F-35C, software upgrades continue to massively expand its weapons envelope, as the aircraft will soon fly with the advanced Stormbreaker bomb.
Incremental software drops bring the promise of continued upgradeability, something which includes an ability to integrate new generations of weapons as they emerge. Furthermore, advances in AI-enabled computing, sensing and radar range and fidelity will in future years enable the F-35 to massively improve without having to redesign or rebuild hardware. At the same time, it is likely that breakthroughs in computing, stealth, sensing and weapons integration can best be leveraged in a 6th-generation aircraft. Given the unprecedented scope of new attributes likely associated with the F/A-XX, and the apparent seriousness of the Chinese threat, a U.S. Navy future Carrier Air Wing powered only by an F-35C and F/A-18 would likely be woefully ill-equipped for an extremely serious and fast-changing threat environment.
Kris Osborn is the Military Technology Editor of 1945. Osborn is also President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University