The US Navy Wants 1300 Sea-Launched 5th and 6th Generation Stealth Aircraft

Video Above: Maj. Gen. Pringle on Manned-Unmanned Teaming

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

The Navy plans to arm its carriers with more than 1,000 5th and 6th generation airplanes to pursue sustained air superiority, achieve massive sea-based power projection and surge its maritime warfare posture decades into the future.

The Chief of Naval Operations Navigation Plan 2022 specifically calls for 1,300 “flexible, long-range and lethal carrier-based aircraft, consisting of a mix of 5th Generation manned aircraft and Next Generation Air Dominance Family of Systems.”

This language, articulated in the text of CNO Adm. Michael Gilday’s plan, raises a number of pressing and highly significant questions and introduces several interesting possibilities. For example, a close reading of the text would clearly seem to suggest that 6th-generation stealth fighter aircraft may well launch from carriers much like the F-35C, something which clearly moves the now-airborne aircraft way beyond merely functioning as a next-generation, land-launched F-22. This would make sense, particularly in the context of Gilday’s reference to a “family” of NGAD systems, meaning 6th-Generation aircraft will likely emerge in the form of several variants to include a carrier-launched capability.

Secondly, Gilday’s text contrasts “manned” F-35 jets with a “family” of NGAD systems as if to indicate that there will be “unmanned” variants in a group of networked 6th-generation platforms. This makes sense in several respects, meaning that a 6th generation family of aircraft will likely include “drone” variants built to fly alongside manned aircraft. 

This concept makes particular sense given the rapid progress in the realm of autonomy, AI-enabled flight and manned-unmanned teaming. Multiple 5th and 6th-generation aircraft will increasingly be able to operate groups of drones from the cockpit without needing to send data through a ground control station. This capability, now already successfully tested through Air Force programs such as Valkyrie and Skyborg, will likely continue to evolve quickly to the point where manned fighters can operate small groups of semi-autonomous drones from the air, reducing latency and massively expanding operational scope.