Are you ready to take to the skies with the F-A-X-X, the Navy's 6th generation fighter jet of the future? Promise us you're strapped in as we break down the robust build and cutting-edge features of this unparalleled marvel of technology. From its heavy-duty landing gear and intricately designed airframe geometry that's all about radar absorption, to its advanced flight control systems, internal weapons bays and sensor fusion, this aircraft doesn't hold back. And, ladies and gentlemen, gear up for an AI-driven miniature strike force. The F-A-X-X is not just a fighter jet; it's a revolution.
But we're not stopping there! Why does the Super Hornet have that intriguing F-slash-A-18 designation? Who's likely to win the grand contracts for airframe and engine production? And when exactly can we expect to see this beast dominate the skies? In this gripping conversation, we're forecasting how the F-A-X-X is set to redefine the landscape of US naval aviation, especially as the western Pacific becomes the hotbed of global attention. This episode promises a flight like no other into the heart of the Navy's pursuit of air dominance. So, buckle up as we take you into the eye of the storm.
You're listening to the Pilot Photog podcast, where every airplane has a story. In a world where dominance in the skies is paramount, the Navy is on a hunt. They need something unparalleled, long range Stealth and sensor fusion. Enter the F-A-X-X fighter. Today, we're diving deep, building this beast from the ground up. Are you ready? Step in, because this is going to be a flight you won't forget.
Speaker 1:
Today, the Navy finds itself at a crossroads. While they have implemented the 5th generation F-35 Lightning into the fleet, the majority of missions are flown by the 4th generation Super Hornet. As good as the Super Bug is, it's starting to show its age. On top of this, the Navy needs a longer range fighter, as the global hotspot seems to be shifting to the western Pacific, where distances are vast. Meet the F-A-X-X, a 6th generation fighter that the Navy is working on as its version of the next generation air dominance or N-GAD fighter. I'll take what we know so far and, with this 3D model, build the Jet 1 component at a time. We'll start from the ground up, specifically the landing gear Along with the tail hook to catch the wire for carrier landings. The F-A-X-X will need heavy-duty landing gear. Carrier operations are punishing on airframes and the brunt of the impacts from landings and takeoffs are absorbed by landing gear. To deal with this, the F-A-X-X's gear will have to be heavy-duty and sturdy, along with reinforced struts. The nose wheel will have to include a launch bar which can be lowered to attach to the catapult the devil's in the details, as they say and the undercarriage for the F-A-X-X will need to be designed with the smallest details in mind. Now that we've taken a look at the landing gear, let's move on to the airframe.
Speaker 1:
A major component of stealth is airframe geometry, or shaping the jet so that radar waves are either absorbed or scattered. The F-A-X-X's airframe features a planar separation, meaning that the top and bottom halves can have an imaginary plane drawn through them. This is similar to those seen on F-22s and F-35 fighters. This feature allows for the scattering of radar waves, as well as not allowing radar waves to travel around the fuselage, which would return a more detailed picture to the radar operators. In a similar way, the air intakes are angled back and the engine fan blades are hidden from outside view by the use of the ducting of air tunnels. Fan blades are a tremendous source of radar returns, and the more they can be hidden, the better the stealth profile for the aircraft. Another aspect of stealth is heat dissipation, or reducing your heat's signature. The F-A-X-X could do this by incorporating shrouds or baffles in the engine exhaust ports, similar to what was done on the YF-23. And since it will be eventually replacing the venerable super hornet, one of the key requirements for the F-A-X-X is longer range. To accomplish this, the larger fuselage will make use of as much internal space as possible for fuel storage. Like all six generation concepts, the F-A-X-X does not feature vertical tails, as these have a stealth penalty of their own. To make the jet fly, the F-A-X-X would need advanced flight control systems, which we'll get to later.
Speaker 1:
When it comes to weapons, in order to maintain stealth, the F-A-X-X will need to keep its weapons stored internally in weapons bays. Our concept aircraft has a main weapons bay with room for up to six heavy munitions, such as laser guided bombs or even compact anti-ship missiles. Being a multi-role fighter, this bay could also be used for air-to-air missiles. One additional requirement for the fighter is that newer, yet to be developed, hypersonic missiles fit inside this bay. The size of this bay could dictate how large or small these missiles need to be On either side of the intakes. Our concept fighter would have internal bays that were dedicated to air-to-air missiles like the AIM-120 AMRAAM or the AIM-260JATM. Another possible use for these weapons bays would be fuel storage. The large main bay could be used to store an internal fuel pod, which would allow the F-A-X-X to perform long range reconnaissance or scouting missions while still being armed with air-to-air missiles in the side bays and maintaining its stealth profile.
Speaker 1:
We've mentioned the lack of vertical stabilizers or tails. As a result, the FAXX would be controlled by the use of elevators, laps and even these forward canards. Although there is somewhat of a penalty in using canards for stealth in our notional concept, the benefits outweigh the risks. The canards would allow for improved performance on carrier takeoffs and landings, as well as allow for higher takeoff weights from the carrier. Additionally, this aircraft would use the most advanced radar absorbing materials, or RAM coatings, to absorb radar waves, thereby increasing its stealth profile.
Speaker 1:
One of the hallmarks of 5th generation fighters is sensor fusion the ability to take massive amounts of data from many sources and condense it down into a manageable format for the pilot. The pilot can then focus on deciding what to do instead of gathering data from various sensors. The F-35 in particular does this extremely well, and we have to assume that our 6th generation FAXX will do this, if not even better. As a result, our cockpit features large digital displays which present information as concise as possible. Similar to the F-35, the FAXX will probably not have a heads up display, instead relying on a custom helmet which presents the information to the pilot at all times. The jet will also make use of AI algorithms to help manage the onboard systems, as well as connected drones. This makes the F-AXX a combat node in the sky, controlling its own miniature strike force ready to deal with any opponent. The AI will also help manage the flight controls. The AI will also help manage the flight controls, as keeping this jet flying will require constant control inputs, similar to how an F-16 remains in the sky.
Speaker 1:
Despite its inherently unstable design, the F-AXX should be far more maneuverable than previous fighters of similar size, and that's also because we've saved the best for last the engines. Believe it or not, one of the most complex parts of any aircraft design is the engine. Aircraft live and die by weight, so making an engine that can produce as much thrust as possible and be as light as possible is a true challenge. Engine design is a tricky business, which is why fighters like the Saab JAS-39 and the HAL-TAJAS, use license built variations of the GEF-414 engine similar to those found on the Super Hornet. Like most things, with the F-AXX, the engine will be a generational leap ahead of what we have now.
Speaker 1:
Both General Electric and Pratt Whitney are working on an adaptive cycle engine. These engines change the way they operate automatically based on what is going on at the moment. With the fighter Able to produce high thrust or fuel sipping efficiency, the adaptive engine provides the best of both worlds by all accounts. So far, the F-AXX will feature two engines, something that has become a standard in naval fighters for decades now, with the F-35 Lightning being the sole exception. The adaptive cycle engine is also being developed for the Air Force's version of the NGAD fighter, so there may end up being parts commonality with NGAD and F-AXX.
Speaker 1:
However, the F-AXX engines could contain one necessary and unique feature thrust vectoring. We've seen two-dimensional thrust vectoring on the 5th generation F-22 Raptor, and it would make sense on the F-AXX as well. The combination of canards and thrust vectoring should greatly improve carrier takeoff and performance, not to mention overall maneuverability. The Air Force's NGAD would not need to rely on thrust vectoring as much, or even at all, since the USAF uses long-run ways to send out and recover aircraft, the Navy, of course, has to work with a much shorter carrier flight deck. Another interesting feature of the F-AXX could be incorporating an optionally manned ability for the jet. If the final version does have thrust vectoring, then a pilotless jet could likely pull more Gs for a longer amount of time than a piloted aircraft could. In any case, the addition of thrust vectoring could prove to be useful and practical. With its advanced sensors and onboard AI, the FAXX could also become an effective drone controller.
Speaker 1:
In my opinion, the design put forth in this video fulfills the Navy's requirements from their aviation vision 2030 to 2035. Those are longer range, greater speed, passive and active sensors employing longer range weapons hypersonic, and so what's in a name. You may be wondering why the program is referred to as F-slash-A-XX. Well, the X-X is because the fighter hasn't been assigned a number yet. Maybe it'll be 36, who knows?
Speaker 1:
The more interesting part is the F-slash-A designation. It's an interesting choice that would call out the fighter and attack missions the jet could fly. This was done with the F-slash-A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet, while virtually every fighter today is multi-roll. Even the F-22 can now drop air-to-ground bombs. The Navy has two good reasons for maintaining the F-slash-A designation for their version of the N-GED fighter, the first being that the F-slash-A designation is kind of a tell that the new jet will replace the F-slash-A-18 Super Hornet. The second reason is to ensure everyone in Congress that the Navy will continue to purchase and operate the 5th generation F-35Bs and Cs. It's already operating. To be clear, the F-A-XX, despite being a 6th generation fighter, is not a replacement for the 5th generation Lightning, but rather it's intended to work alongside the F-35 while replacing the 4th generation Super Hornet.
Speaker 1:
We also have to consider how, in recent history, the Navy has not had the best track record in acquiring an all-new aircraft, going all the way back to the late 90s and the A-12 Avenger, which was going to be a replacement for the iconic A-6 Intruder. After delays and cost overruns, the program was cancelled. The story of the A-12 is a fascinating one. I'm actually working on a video about this enigmatic airplane. Stay tuned.
Speaker 1:
The troubles didn't end with the A-12, however. The Navy was at one point considering extending the life of the infamous F-14 Tomcat with a thrust vectoring Super Tomcat 21 or ST-21. But that program came to an end in favor of the Super Hornet. Then there was the advanced tactical fighter, or ATF, competition between the YF-22 and YF-23 fighters. In some ways the YF-23 would have been a good fit for the Navy with its increased range potential, but when the Navy pulled out of the ATF competition, the door was open for the YF-22 to win. The F-22 Raptor is an amazing airplane, but again it looks like the Navy missed an opportunity. It does appear that the Navy won't make the same mistake this time. The FAXX program has been in development for three years already and $1.53 billion have been allocated in 2024 alone to this program. This allocation outspends the Navy's next generation destroyer and next gen attack sub-programs combined. So, aside from a nifty naming designation, the Navy is putting serious money into FAXX.
Speaker 1:
One more callback to the F-slash-A designation. In the 90s, after the Gulf War, defense budgets were being aggressively cut across the board to pay the peace dividend. In order to develop what we know today as the Super Hornet, the Navy decided to keep the F-slash-A-18 designation from the Legacy Hornet. Even though the Super Hornet looks similar to the Legacy Hornet, it really is an all-new airplane, down to the point of using different hydraulic fluids from the Legacy jet. Still, despite being a virtually all-new airframe, the Navy kept the F-slash-A designation in order to sell the program as an upgrade versus an all-new jet to Congress.
Speaker 1:
As to when we will see the FAXX flying, best guess right now is early 2030s, which is right around the time the Super Hornet and Growler fleet should be retiring. Regarding who will build this sixth generation fighter, so far Lockheed Martin, bullink and Northrop Grumman are bidding for the airframe deal, with General Electric and Pratt Whitney vying for the engine contract. The FAXX will almost certainly happen and it should be a game changer for US naval aviation. You're listening to the Pilot Photog podcast, where every airplane has a story.