Lockheed Martin is pivoting to upgrade the F-35 after losing major sixth-generation fighter jet contracts. It promises near-NGAD capabilities at half the cost.
Last month, the United States Air Force announced that it had selected Boeing to develop and produce the manned fighter at the center of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. The “sixth-generation” aircraft, which President Donald Trump proclaimed would be the F-47, will be the key system of systems that could also include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that serve as “loyal wingmen.”
The future fighter will eventually replace the Air Force’s fleet of Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air dominance fighters. However, the exact number of F-47s that could enter service and when is unknown, but it will keep Boeing’s assembly lines in St. Louis in operation for decades to come.
The announcement that Boeing was selected to produce the F-47 also came just weeks after rival aerospace firm Lockheed Martin was eliminated from the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX program. This will eventually replace the Boeing-made F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the modernized variant of the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.
The future carrier-based multirole fighter is now in a proverbial “dogfight” between Boeing and Northrop Grumman.
It had been expected that the U.S. Navy would name the company soon, but the selection process continues to drag on.
Whether it is Boeing or Northrop Grumman, it leaves Lockheed Martin out of the “sixth-gen” fighter business, which is especially noteworthy as it effectively coined the term “fifth-generation” while touting the features of its F-35 Lightning II. The aerospace and defense giant is taking an interesting course of action in response to losing out on the NGAD and F/A-XX contracts.
What Is Special About the Fifth-Generation-Plus Jet?
During the company’s recent earnings call, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet suggested that the company will further supercharge the F-35, delivering what he said would be a “fifth-generation-plus” aircraft. Though such a description was likely meant to differentiate it from how Boeing designated its F-15EX Eagle II as a 4.5 generation fighter, it is hard not to think of the numerous streaming services that utilize “plus” or “+” in the name!
Taiclet opted to focus on the selling points of a fifth-generation-plus fighter.
“There are techniques and capabilities… that were developed for [our NGAD bid] that we can now apply here,” Taiclet told analysts in the call.
“We’re going to take the [F-35′s] chassis and turn it into a Ferrari.”
He compared racecars, stating, “It’s like a NASCAR upgrade, so to speak, where we would take the F-35 [and] apply some of those co-funded technologies both from NGAD and the F-35 program.”
Taiclet further suggested the improved F-35 would offer upwards of 80 percent of the capability of the F-47 but at “half the price.” Though the exact technology remains unclear, Lockheed’s chief said it includes improved passive infrared sensors, allowing the F-35 pilot to detect potential adversaries at a far greater distance without exposing the Lightning II’s location. In addition, the improved stealth technology developed for Lockheed Martin’s NGAD prototype could be used with the F-35.
“My challenge here on my aeronautics team is, let’s get 80 percent of six-gen capability at half the price. And that’s something that, these engineers, you know, wouldn’t have agreed to if they didn’t think there was a path to get there,” Taiclet added.
No Foreign Military Sales for the Fifth-Generation Plus Jet… Yet
The one piece of the fifth-generation-plus puzzle that is currently missing is what it means for future foreign military sales (FMS). For one, will the NATO allies want to buy what we could describe as the “F-35 Basic” or go for the higher-tier offering?
Lockheed Martin suggested it would want to have the option to export the more advanced fifth-generation-plus models to partner nations, but that would be up to Washington, which has the final say on what is exportable.
“Our goal is to make as much of this capability that we can [export],” Taiclet said, while adding, “We try to design [technology] in a way that’s hopefully an easier decision for exportability than a harder one.”
The aerospace firm also confirmed it has no plans to protest the Air Force’s decision to select Boeing to produce the NGAD aircraft.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a thirty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
Image Credit: Shutterstock/ Dragos Asaftei.
