Navy UCAS-D drone. Aviation Week photo.
by DAVID AXE
For the first time, the Pentagon has released a 30-year plan for warplane purchases. The plan includes several notional airplanes that haven’t really been widely discussed before. These are mostly conjectural programs, with no firm requirements and, as yet, no real funding. But they’re useful placeholders until our needs and resources become clearer in coming years:
* Air Force F-X: starting in 2025, a fighter to replace the F-22, for which the Air Force will “consider both manned and unmanned options”
* Marine Corps Group 4 drone: slated for 2018, this appears to essentially be a Marine version of the Air Force’s MQ-9 Reaper
* Air Force Joint Future Theater Lift: planned for the “far term,” this should be a replacement for the C-130
* Air Force C-X: starting around 2020, a strategic airlifter to replace the C-5
Related:
What do Chinese Experts Think of Russia’s Stealth Fighter?
American Aerospace’s False Doom
Imagining the “Air Force after Next”
The Emerging U.S. Counter-Insurgency Air Force
U.S. Air Force’s Failure of Imagination
Advocating a Systemic View of Air Superiority
What’s Wrong with the F-22?
Gates Budgetpalooza: Air Force Loses Altitude
The Day U.S. Air Power Was Saved from Itself
F-22s versus Russia’s Rusting, Ramshackle Air Force
Analysts: Buy Fighters, or Die
Boeing Unveils New “Stealthy” F-15
Getting the Most from Your New F-22
Related posts:
- What do Chinese Experts Think of Russia’s Stealth Fighter?
- F-15Cs for Future Ground Attack?
- Future Air Force a Lot Like the Present, with Risk
- How to Turn Drones into Dogfighters
- The Diplomat: U.S. Eyeing Asian Arms Race?
- Air Force Weighs F-22 Future as F-35 Falls Apart
- The Many “Beasts” of Kandahar
[...] War is Boring has the thrilling list of imaginary US aircraft under [...]