Nasams Taiwan 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 [https://www.19fortyfive.com/2025/01/forget-chinas-stealth-fighter-america-flew-a-6th-generation-ngad-years-back/], 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 [https://www.airandspaceforces.com/navy-next-gen-fighter-ngad-pause/]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 [https://news.usni.org/2025/01/20/report-to-congress-on-u-s-air-force-next-generation-air-dominance-fighter] 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 I’d be surprised if this were not currently being explored, because with proper high-speed networking with satellites and ground sensors, a laser-armed fighter might be able to maneuver into position to “see,” “track,” and “destroy” traveling ICBMs or even hypersonic weapons. Ideally, it would need to align with or network with “kill vehicles” now being engineered with advanced seekers capable of discerning decoys and debris from actual ICBMs. Raytheon, for example, is working on several exo-atmospheric kill vehicle sensors able to pinpoint ICBMs from a cluttered space environment to perform intercepts. Imagine if these countermeasures and missile defense technologies were fortified by and connected with hypersonic, laser-armed manned fighter jets capable of receiving target detail and destroying enemy threats. The MDA is already working on the kind of “power-scaling” necessary to use surface and land-fired weapons to essentially “burn a hole” through the metal of an enemy ICBM. Human Hypersonics A manned hypersonic jet may seem too far beyond the realm of the possible, given the difficulty humans would have “surviving” the heat of hypersonic travel. However, was the idea of this presented by Hollywood in Maverick with the DarkStar? Perhaps, but that does not mean the technology is here. Perhaps cooling technology [https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/forget-f-22-f-35-or-ngad-what-7th-generation-fighter-could-be-2070-208309/]or protective gear will emerge such that humans will actually be able to survive hypersonic speeds? If not, a 7th-generation attack stealth fighter might be fully unmanned, as very high levels of autonomy already exist. Unmanned fighter jets can not only fully maneuver without needing human intervention, but have also out-performed manned jets in some simulated dogfights. Nevertheless, there are doubtless many elements of human cognition, emotion, intuition and other more subjective variables which mathematically-derived computer algorithms cannot replicate. What would 7th-generation stealth look like? Perhaps further miniaturization of sensors, computers and weapons enable a much smaller and therefore stealthier platform to achieve the same or greater level of lethality? Kris Osborn [https://warriormaven.com/author/krisosborn] is the Military Technology Editor of 19FortyFive and 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.
