3056

Ya got me there! Sounds like here (Burlington, VT area). Anything in Vermont requires more paperwork than you would think from such a small state. Apparently in addition to maple syrup and milk products, our chief manufacturing product is paperwork.

3057

I seem to recall that the F-35 engines are one of the first things they want a replacement for. I wonder if a new engine would help with the noise problem.

And yes, there is an active program for it, although it may just turn into upgrades for the existing engine. If they go with a full replacement it looks like that’s 5+ years away from entering service.

3058

Huh. Ok.

I based my assessment on a couple times I saw them on airshows and spotting them in the wild. Guess I was wrong. Still, the viper isn’t big either ;)

Alright, that is more than the 17.5k brochure figure for the hornet. Viper hauls 16.5k. Strike eagle tops out at 23k but that’s huge. A-10 is quoted at 16k.

Sheer weight is one thing. Number of hardpoints is another. The hog’s power lies for a large part in its stupendous number of hardpoints. It can carry a little bit of everything.

The panther has four wing hardpoints in beast mode, plus two rated for heatseekers. You could count the bays as another two hardpoints. That puts it on par with a super hornet but below the strike eagle.

Of course the panther will not have to waste wing space on fuel bags as it has a very nice fuel fraction of 38.9, compared to the 31 that is about par for the course of 4th gen fighters. It also has the equivalent of a sniper laser designation pod built into it, and no need for external ECM pods.

So yeah it lugs bombs like a boss on day four of the conflict. Or it lugs just two (packs) of them ery fast, very far, very stealthily.

Re. F-35 noise, I actually prefer its noise over the vipers’. Its lower, more bassy. More like the sound of thunder than the piercing roar of the viper.

Anyway. I was wrong, amd thank you guys for making me do my research and look things up instead of talking out of my ass.

3059

Hey, ass-talking is a time-honored Qt3 tradition! We’re all veterans of it here!

3060

I mean what else do you do with the tree once you suck out all the delicious life juices?

3061

Perun comes up with a video that’s not specifically about Ukraine. General discussion of capabilities of 6th generation fighters, followed by details on the known 6th generation fighter programs.

3062

That made me wonder a bit how much the NGAD shares with the B-21. One is designed to fly a long way, pentrate hostile airspace using extreme stealth and destroy targets on the ground. The other is designed to fly a long way, pentrate hostile airspace using extreme stealth and destroy targets in the air. Both are suposed to have exquisite sensors and datalinks, etc.

One big difference is target speed, with the B-21 supposed to be subsonic and NGAD quite speedy.

3063

Definitely seems like a lot of similarities. It will be pretty crazy if the next generation “fighter” actually has more crew members than our new strategic bomber.

I do wonder what the point is of having the drone controller out front with the drones. I would imagine not having them halfway around the world reduces the chances of communication problems or jamming. But what’s the optimal distance from the drone? Does it need to be in the thick of the fight, or can it hang back 5-10 or even 20-50 miles? If it’s 50 miles back, then it doesn’t need to be particularly maneuverable.

Also what do these drones look like? I assume they’re very stealthy. They need to have similar range to the NGAD? Or do you have something like the B-52 bring them halfway to the combat zone and then drop them?

When I first heard of the concept, I assumed that the drone controlling aircraft carried the drones and then dropped them when they got close to the combat zone, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

3064
3065

Makes me glad the fleet isn’t actually one do-it-all plane.

3066

As Perun notes in his recent video about 6th Gen Fighters, the US Navy and the US Air Force have separate NGAD programs. Why? Because the F-35 was such a nightmare that the government didn’t even bother contemplating doing another joint program. It’ll be easier and cheaper to just make separate planes for each service.

Though, to be fair, as I understand it a huge amount of the JSF problems are due to the F-35B, which was the Marine Corps version capable of VTOL (and which recently crashed). There is no NGAD for the Corps.

3067

I believe the B is technically a STOVL(short take-off vertical landing). But regardless, didn’t the whole F-35 program evolve from a replacement program for the Harrier? Glad they learned their lesson, hope they don’t have to learn it again another generation down the road.

3068

Still got A-10s for CAS!

(runs away)

3069

image

3070

That headline is very click-baity. It’s definitely not all F-35s grounded.

Also, the US Navy fleet literally is 100% F/A-18 for every task except personnel transport right now.

3071

I thought the F-35C was operational now. F-35B has been operational for a while so I’ve been assuming (perhaps incorrectly) it’s flying off the small carriers (LHAs). And didn’t we lose an F-35C off a carrier sometime this year?

What’s the planned breakdown for F-35C and F-18 Super Hornet? Is the F-35C acting as an attack craft like the A-6 and the Super Hornet is going to be used for air defense like the F-14? Or is F-35C supposed to ultimately replace the Super Hornet?

3072

Originally I believe it was supposed to be all F-35, just like the Air Force was envisioning. Similarly, I believe the plan now is very much in flux just like with the Air Force.

3073

Marines fly planes off of Navy carriers, so perhaps the F-35 that splashed was one of theirs? I can’t recall.

3074

I think you’re right that there are operational F-35 squadrons now (though maybe only sort of operational given the recent problems). I was more referring to that time since the F-14 was retired and the F-35 arrived when the F/A-18 did every job in the carrier air wing.

I have heard (from the fighter pilot podcast, run by an ex-navy pilot) that the expectation is now a couple of squadrons of F-35s per carrier with the remainder being the existing F-18s. I assume though that the F-35s would be prioritised for fleet defence and counterair rather than strike roles. But perhaps that would depend on the opponent; maybe you’d want a fully stealthy strike package if you expected strong air defences?

3075

The Navy seems to be betting more on Electronic Attack (via the F/A-18G Growlers) as more effective than Stealth. I think something like 1/4 of Hornets afloat now are Growlers. The idea being to beat down the enemy defenses rather than seek to slip past them. The USAF is more wedded to the stealth concept being viable through the 2020s and 2030s.