MILTECH - The sixth-generation fighter jet program is among the most exciting secret weapons development projects in the aerospace industry. They are usually of two types: those that are advertised everywhere, and those that are not well known.
While Chinese and Russian programs fall into the second category, those developing in Japan and Europe are among the first.
But the American Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) project falls somewhere in between. Its method and budget are always discussed, and the United States Air Force (USAF) has even announced that they have already tested such an aircraft. However, unlike the Tempest, FCAS or F-X, the US revealed very little about the aircraft's design or even its appearance. That is, unless we study the technical and 3D elements of NGAD. Although there are many opinions, they are all different.
A system of systems
There are many reasons for these differences. First, there are two programs called NGAD, one overseen by the USAF and the other by the US Navy (USN). Both envision the fighter of the future not as a separate aircraft, but as a system - a collection of different aircraft that perform different tasks as a team.
While human military aircraft are still at the center of this arrangement, much of that offensive capability rests with groups of drones that control aircraft of all shapes and sizes.
Also, many companies are currently working on these programs. The Pentagon has removed its regular procurement process to favor companies that hire workers to do different jobs, such as making different parts or systems. And while recent reports indicate that at least this new approach has been abandoned for the USAF's NGAD program, the procurement process for the sixth generation fighter is still different from how the fifth and fourth generation aircraft are selected .
The result? The attack of the technical concept, and many participating companies show that they are taking NGAD, focusing on the part of the system they are responsible for creating often neglecting everything else.
So what are these companies up to? What can we find out about NGAD just by looking at these images?
Northrop Grumman’s laser-toting flying wing
The image of the launch of the sixth-generation fighter jet, attributed to Northrop Grumman, completely led to the NGAD program. They started in at least 2009 and showed off a twin-engined tail-plane with a direct-fire missile. Although this image may have a connection to the research program being carried out at the time, there is not enough evidence to judge whether the company invested heavily in the sixth generation jet at that time.
However, these first images bear some resemblance to the look that the company presented in 2015, just one year after the start of the NGAD program. The image shows a tailless hybrid aircraft, firing lasers and incoming missiles. The theme of power weapons was directly transferred from the photo released in 2009, and it looks like that. However, this new display is a true piece of concept art rather than a placeholder intended to represent a laser weapon.
The jet has no tail, with an air vent behind the port, the most unique design. "It's like a baby B-2, and it's getting into our sweet spot," Chris Hernandez, Northrop's vice president for research, said at the time. However, this image appears to be very good and gives a little detail.
A year later, the company released a follow-up to its previous concept, a television commercial called "Just Wait", which detailed the arrangement. It showed three planes flying in formation, they looked like photographic versions of the previous photo, with twin afterburners, one pilot and a delta wing.
In 2021, the design was revisited, this time in another Northrop Grumman promotional video. It has a hangar full of computer generated airplane models, which the company seems to be working on, and in the foreground, the shape is clearly visible.
Apart from many similarities, the new model is different from its predecessors. The wind shows the weight and moving forward from the airport, the nose of the plane rises higher compared to the previous model. This is clearly a different iteration of the model. If he keeps the same wireless plan, he also has new cells.
However, these changes are minor compared to the changes that other companies have made over the years.
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