In March 2017, the crowning achievement of the Chinese aircraft manufacturer Chengdu, the J-20 Mighty Dragon, entered service for the People's Liberation Army's Air Force. It was the world's first operational stealth aircraft to be designed outside the United States, and its introduction brought America's three-decade monopoly on stealth aviation to an immediate end.
The Mighty Dragon looked similar to the best fighter in the sky today, America's F-22 Raptor. But F-22 production was halted in 2011 after just 186 jets. Today, fewer than 120 are fit for combat. And as each day passes, America's F-22 fleet inches closer to retirement while China's J-20 fleet continues to grow. To keep up, the U.S. has been secretly developing its next generation of stealth fighters over the past nine years.
In 2013, Arati Prabhakar, who at the time was the director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, said that the U.S. had begun studying an "air dominance initiative." Today, a bit more is known about the program. Analysts believe the new jet, known as the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, will have powerful new engines, fly with drone wingmen, and have advanced sensors and radars that use machine-learning and AI to target enemy aircraft.
It's hard to say how stealthy the new NGAD jets will be. The F-22 is already nearly undetectable on enemy radars in most conditions. But aircraft manufacturers achieve stealth—a craft's capability of flying undetected by the enemy—with several overlapping technologies. Stealth fighters like the F-22 are shaped to deflect opposing radar waves. They're also coated in highly classified materials which, on U.S. jets, can absorb as much as 80 percent of radar waves. Stealth planes' engines are designed to make less noise and produce a smaller heat signature, and their onboard radar and communication tools emit electromagnetic frequencies that are harder to detect than most.
Stealth fighters can attack ground forces, perform reconnaissance missions, carry out secretive intelligence operations, and even jam enemy radars. Their ability to perform these functions over enemy airspace with relative impunity makes them vital to any modern air force. As a result, the world is quickly catching up to America's stealth dominance.
In addition to China, Russia also has a new stealth fighter, the Sukhoi Su-57, known as the Felon by most NATO countries. At least nine publicly disclosed new stealth fighter programs are in development around the world, including NGAD. And at least some of these efforts are developing capabilities so game-changing that they've been characterized as an entirely new generation—the sixth generation of fighters. When it comes time to crown a new air combat champion for the 21st century, the honor will almost certainly fall to one of the following eight programs. |
In March 2017, the crowning achievement of the Chinese aircraft manufacturer Chengdu, the J-20 Mighty Dragon, entered service for the People's Liberation Army's Air Force. It was the world's first operational stealth aircraft to be designed outside the United States, and its introduction brought America's three-decade monopoly on stealth aviation to an immediate end.
The Mighty Dragon looked similar to the best fighter in the sky today, America's F-22 Raptor. But F-22 production was halted in 2011 after just 186 jets. Today, fewer than 120 are fit for combat. And as each day passes, America's F-22 fleet inches closer to retirement while China's J-20 fleet continues to grow. To keep up, the U.S. has been secretly developing its next generation of stealth fighters over the past nine years.
In 2013, Arati Prabhakar, who at the time was the director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, said that the U.S. had begun studying an "air dominance initiative." Today, a bit more is known about the program. Analysts believe the new jet, known as the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, will have powerful new engines, fly with drone wingmen, and have advanced sensors and radars that use machine-learning and AI to target enemy aircraft.
It's hard to say how stealthy the new NGAD jets will be. The F-22 is already nearly undetectable on enemy radars in most conditions. But aircraft manufacturers achieve stealth—a craft's capability of flying undetected by the enemy—with several overlapping technologies. Stealth fighters like the F-22 are shaped to deflect opposing radar waves. They're also coated in highly classified materials which, on U.S. jets, can absorb as much as 80 percent of radar waves. Stealth planes' engines are designed to make less noise and produce a smaller heat signature, and their onboard radar and communication tools emit electromagnetic frequencies that are harder to detect than most.
Stealth fighters can attack ground forces, perform reconnaissance missions, carry out secretive intelligence operations, and even jam enemy radars. Their ability to perform these functions over enemy airspace with relative impunity makes them vital to any modern air force. As a result, the world is quickly catching up to America's stealth dominance.
In addition to China, Russia also has a new stealth fighter, the Sukhoi Su-57, known as the Felon by most NATO countries. At least nine publicly disclosed new stealth fighter programs are in development around the world, including NGAD. And at least some of these efforts are developing capabilities so game-changing that they've been characterized as an entirely new generation—the sixth generation of fighters. When it comes time to crown a new air combat champion for the 21st century, the honor will almost certainly fall to one of the following eight programs. |
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