The Race for 6th Generation Fighters - Drones, Lasers & Future Air Dominance

This is another contrived race done by people who write threads about military matters. There is no race because the US already has two sixth generation prototypes flying. No one else even has a fifth aircraft.

China steals all the technology 😂, parts on the F35 are made in China 😂, what a fucken joke, drones are the nxt generation killer air craft, tax payers will save trillions 😂👌👍🦘

I love the thought of North Korean’s Eighth Generation Air Dominance Fighter (biplane with a interrupter gear)

UAV’s is the future.

It ain’t a race if we already won it

How do you know what agile software development is? You have a very wide set of knowledge

what's the difference between a 6th generation fighter and the B21

"the radar cross-section of an insect" This isn't even hyperbole. A 10x improvement on the f35 is approaching insect rcs

"The US Militaries critical shortage of acronyms" killed me 🤣🤣🤣

True, modern air dominance fighters must be "cutting edge" in technology - or die.
BUT... these days infantry weapons are ALSO cutting edge in technology. Look at these US M7 battle rifle with its ultra high-pressure (80,000 psi) ammunition pushing a 6.8 mm bullet on a very flat trajectory. And ESPECIALLY ithe M7's M157 Vortex sight system with its 80% hit probability to 700 meters with an "average infantryman", NOT a highly trained Designated Marksman. That's amazing. Also amazing, if you are knowledgable about suppressor physics, is the M7's standard 3D printed suppressor with virtually no gas blowback to the shooter! There is no other current suppressor that can do this.
Oh yeah, SIG developed the M7 and its suppressor AND the M250 light machine gun (6.8 x 51 cartridge as in the M7)

My bet is either 7th or 8th gen will more than likely go for something similar to S.A.B.R.E. engines. It's the people working on spaceplanes that are at the edge of ultra-high altitude, ultra-high speed jet engine design.

i can't for Air Force Pilots to start naming their Drone Wingmen

I wanna know how anyone can say china has formidable air to air missile based on Chinese claims when they have copied just about everything Russia has and has proven that they are not capable of designing complex systems that work case in point there knock off 5th gen fighter more like 4th gen that they can't develop there own engines and still have to rely on Russian designs for, but i get you never under estimate your enemy but if china really had that much confidence in their weapons they would already have invaded Taiwan with all the distractions going on in the world

I would imagine that the Russians would simply concentrate on improving the technology to combat this gen 6 technology. It's a lot less expensive and faster to respond to changes in opponents innovations. It's like the same thinking that allows a 20000 dollar drone to take out a 5000000 dollar tank.
These 6th gen technologies are useful for bullying small undeveloped nations but questionable when going up against a more organised powerful state.
Let's face it. Ultimately, when a situation like the 1st or 2nd world war occurs. A nation like the USA or Russia will just launch their ICBMs and all the pretty toys will be pointless.
How about instead of all this silly posturing, we just put all that energy into making things so sweet that the idiots playing idiot games can't get the same people to pay for it any more

Also, the reason our nation tries to reduce manpower loss so heavily is because we're a war tribe. If Americans start dying, we start getting mean. It's a life saving measure for both sides, lol.

I know these European countries can put up 6th gens before Russia and China, but I worry about a major conflict before they're in the air.

Also, the USAF has a proverb that we may have taken too far. "Nothing is more expensive than the 2nd best air force".

You know what the really depressing part of all this is?
Just about the time they finish spending a trillion-gazillion dollars perfecting the 6th generation fighter, it will be time for...wait for it... the seventh generation fighter.
Couldn't we make some kind of treaty where we could all agree to fight with P-51's and B-24's, and put some money into the roads and schools around here?

F302 MAYBE?

I think the most interesting part of the war in Ukraine is just how many old weapons are still quite effective in a stand up fight, even when used against newer vehicles.

More like N gyatt

lol race to 6th Generation! China and Russia are still using 4th Gen. claiming they are 5th gen. Still playing catch up. China making mistake flying J-20 over Taiwan allowed Taiwan and US to get impressive cross section view of J-20 and learned it’s not as stealth as expected. Go figure it was overhyped by China.

why the drones can't have their own specific carrier? cuz war. having a carrier that carries the whole package, plane plus drone, maintains more combat flexibility if only the carrier remains of a combat carrier group. if the drones are all loaded on 1 ship, they just have to sink that 1 ship and they've sent you back a whole generation of fighter jets. so I guess the options are; more drones and planes overall or maintaining singular carrier capability. seeing how the drones would just be missile trucks I prefer the idea of having the carrier hold both units. this is because you would only need alot of 6th gen fighters if you're battling a very strong enemy and an enemy that strong will probably be able to whittle down a carrier group at least a little bit. and if you propose the drone carrier be protected with as much security as the carrier then you have to double the size of your carrier group.

specialization of units is great for efficacy of light military engagement but it becomes a weakness in total war conflicts. and since total war conflicts are existential threats and light military engagements are more likely to correlate with an imperial doctrine and no one likes imperialism then it's probably best to favor total war capability.

The NGAD concept sounds great but I see some issues with the accompanying drone aspect. If the NGAD is so stealthy, and so fast, and with so much range, wouldn’t the drones need to be just as stealthy, and just as fast and cover as much range? Otherwise, won’t they just get left in the dust, or maybe get spotted on radar and risk being shot down or even worse giving away the presence of the NGAD?

North Korean 8th gen fighter is so stealthy nobody can find it

Since WW2 we've spent, inflation adjusted, many, many, many TRILLIONS of $$ on military gear that has ended up, having never fired a shot in anger, as scrap metal and sold for say 1/1000 of a Penney on the $. Sound like a wise investment?

The top 10 top wasters of $$ on the military are the US and 7 of our allies. Our enemies since the takeover after WW2 have invariably been 3rd world countries which includes the Soviets. FYI we sold the Soviets BILLIONS of tons of wheat to prop their government up.

How many BILLIONS did we sell the Germans and Japanese during WW2 again???

Look at these fiascos:
littoral combat ship
f-22
f-35
b-21 T-raider

As the players in the military complex move to almost monopoly status whadda ya get? Shit like the above. Hey don't like it take your business somewhere else. Oh that's right, sucks to be you BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!!!

They're robbin' ya blind 😎 And they got 1,000 cheerleaders lyin' too. Look at them tell you the fart-22 greater than sliced bread. Yeah so good the customer shut down production and starting to retire them DECADES ahead of time.

Yeah if that don't reek of marvelous product I don't know what does 😎

I could only imagine a modern soldier in a trench getting dived on by a radial biplane......that would be some shit!

So, the USAF want the Mega Fortress like from the Dan Brown series?

The Tempest: What a joke… You European clowns trying to develop a 6th generation when you don’t even have a decent 4th generation fighter yet… much less develop a 5th generation… your stretch to 6th gen is pathetic… why not call it 7th, or 8th… hell, just call it 10th generation… you sycophantic clowns 😂😂😂

I’LL JUST SAY IT! 6th Gen aircraft are/will be partially built using technology from REVERSE-ENGINEERED EXTRATERRESTRIAL VEHICLES, FROM CLASSIFIED SPECIAL-ACCESS(black budget) UAP RETRIEVAL OPERATIONS. If you know, you know.

It's funny that you mention how the US isn't going to completely replace their Gen 4 aircraft with Gen 5/6 aircraft when that's precisely what they're doing. Between the 1,736 F-35s and 200 NGAD, the USAF is actually increasing the size of its tactical fighter fleet.

I have to give the Pentagon credit, they're like the world's first trillionaire who credibly cosplays as a hobo.

Nice overview, but trench warfare seems appropriate

Keep in mind reports of the Chinese jet engine TBOs are abysmal. Reported degraded turbine blades and other issues are rumored factors to very poor durability. This in addition to stealth costing issues Chinese revealed accidentally.

I’m recalling that Northrop will be a contributor and some F-22 features inspiration as well some new technology. Did this change? My understanding RR was going to cooperate with Japanese?

It sounds like the USAF wants an aircraft bigger than the TU-28/128 which is the largest fighter aircraft in the world at 30 metres long with a wing span of 17 metres and weighs 24.5 tonnes empty.

We could talking be 35 metres long with a 20 metre wingspan and maybe 30 tonnes empty for the USAF NGAD.... Holy fudge.

I genuinely don't actually believe any of what I'm about to write here but just for gits and shiggles I'm going to put on my tinfoil hat and just dive down the nutjob conspiracy rabbit hole. Almost every aspect of the NGAD program and the seemingly unrelated "de-stigmatization" around the subject of UAP sightings and official government acknowledgement of UAPs, the House Oversight Committee inquisitions into blackbook projects and other congressional efforts to genuinely ask in serious terms just what the hell is going on with experimental aircraft research/UAPs all could point to a paradigm shift and a broad sweeping yet careful approach to revealing hyper advanced technology to the world that is decades ahead of what is known to the public. The requirements for the NGAD program are so astronomical (pun intended) that they flat out necessitate the rapid development of currently non-existant technologies. The sheer gall to write up and put forth such requirements with a straight face suggests that the USAF either firmly believes, or just KNOWS that these technologies are achievable if not already in existence. Regardless of whether little green men are involved or if all this is hot air and the machinations of NGAD are entirely mundane in nature the fact is that when NGAD finally debuts publicly, it's going to introduce the world to a tangible leap in technological progress.

as an engineer with hopes to go into aerospace, thank you for detailing why these things are so dang hard and require thousands of very smart and skilled people to make

YOU suspiciously left out the main reason for not selling F-22s to Japan and consequently any other foreign Nation friend or otherwise.
Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation is scurrilously guilty of selling U.S. Top Secrets regarding its ultra quiet submarine propellers to the RUSSIANS, of all things.
After THAT particular and completely unexpected betrayal, the U.S. has tightened its secretive hold on any such sensitive information especially when it comes to Japan.
I seriously doubt that even the Japanese Government can blame the U.S. for such caution.

No! I do want to hear about splitting contracts!

jeeze perun- i work for a defense contractor in the US (i wont say which one) and I wish your videos were mandatory training. Like this stuff helps me learn my job, role, and industry better.

At the point where you pointed out the overloading of the NGAD acronym, I was almost certain you were going to say "So I'm just going to refer to the Navy program as the M1" 🙂

They oughta axe the weapons bay. No reason for these to ever shoot imo.

Improved cup holders are an important priority !
Very interesting and informative video young man, well done.

I feel like the eventual success of the F35 over inspired the aerospace industry. We should build more than one plane!

Here’s a thought. Will the introduction of unmanned wingman make the the reintegration of the RIO necessary in fighter aircraft to manage them UCAVs to take the workload off the pilot?

The cost to operate an F35A over its design life of 8,000 hours is more than four times the price to but one of the damn things ($42,000+/hr in 2023)