Fifth-generation jet fighter

USAF F-22 Raptor launching an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile
An artist impression of the Chengdu J-20 prototype

A fifth-generation jet fighter is a jet fighter classification used around the World which encompasses the most advanced jet fighter generation as of 2015. Fifth-generation aircraft are designed to incorporate numerous technological advances over the fourth-generation jet fighter. The exact characteristics of fifth-generation jet fighters are controversial and vague, with Lockheed Martin defining them as having all-aspect stealth even when armed, low probability of intercept radar (LPIR), high-performance airframes, advanced avionics features, and highly integrated computer systems capable of networking with other elements within the battlespace for situation awareness.[1] The only currently combat-ready fifth-generation fighter is the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, which entered service with the United States Air Force in 2005.[2][3][4] The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, Sukhoi T-50 "PAK FA", HAL AMCA, Sukhoi/HAL FGFA, Chengdu J-20 and Shenyang J-31 are currently under various stages of testing and development.

Development

USA

A F-35C Lightning II test aircraft flies in February 2011

Previous-generation stealth aircraft, such as the B-2 Spirit and F-117 Nighthawk, were designed to be bombers, lacking the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, low probability of intercept (LPI) data networks, aerial performance, and air-to-air weapons necessary to engage other aircraft.[5] In the early 1970s, various American design projects identified stealth, speed, and maneuverability as key characteristics of a next-generation air-to-air combat aircraft. This led to the Request for Information for the Advanced Tactical Fighter project in May 1981, which resulted in the F-22.[6]

The USMC is leveraging the USAF's experience with "fifth-generation air warfare" in the F-22, as they develop their own tactics for the F-35.[7]

According to Lockheed Martin, the only fifth-generation jet fighter currently in operational service is their own F-22 Raptor.[2][8] US fighter manufacturer Lockheed Martin uses "fifth generation fighter" to describe the F-22 and F-35 fighters, with the definition including "advanced stealth", "extreme performance", "information fusion" and "advanced sustainment".[2] Their definition does not include supercruise capability, which has typically been associated with the more advanced modern fighters, but which the F-35 lacks.[9] Lockheed Martin attempted to trademark the term "5th generation fighters" in association with jet aircraft and structural parts thereof,[10] and has a trademark for a logo with the term.[11]

The rapid development of the Sukhoi PAK FA may see a rival for the F-35 in the future. Russian and Chinese fifth-generation fighters are expected to enter further development/service in 2017, which is also the predicted year that the F-35 program will enter the same stages.[12]

Russia

A Sukhoi PAK FA test aircraft

In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union outlined the need for a next-generation aircraft to replace fourth-generation fighter aircraft: Mikoyan MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-27 in frontline service. Two projects were proposed to meet this need, the 4.5th generation fighter aircraft: Sukhoi Su-47 and the Mikoyan Project 1.44 (although later modernized MiG-35 to 4.5th generation fighter). In 2002, Sukhoi was chosen to lead the design for the new combat aircraft.

As the first post-Soviet fighter, Sukhoi PAK FA (T-50) will incorporate technology from both the Su-47 and the MiG 1.44 and when fully developed is intended to replace the MiG-29 and Su-27 in the Russian inventory and serve as the basis of the Sukhoi/HAL FGFA project being developed with India.[13][14] A fifth-generation jet fighter, it is designed to compete against the American F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II. The Sukhoi PAK FA performed its first flight 29 January 2010.[15][16]

Russia is now constructing a new stealth lightweight multirole fighter – Mikoyan LMFS (a.k.a. Project 1.27, MiG-1.27) by Mikoyan aircraft manufacturer. This jet fighter is based on the cancelled MiG 1.44.[17]

China

The Chengdu J-20 aircraft
The Shenyang J-31 aircraft at the 2014 Zhuhai Airshow

By the late 1990s, several Chinese fifth-generation fighter programs, grouped under the program codename J-XX or XXJ, were identified by western intelligence sources. PLAAF officials have confirmed the existence of such a program, which they estimate will enter service between 2017–2019.[18][19] Nevertheless, Robert Gates has claimed that the United States may possess as much as 20 times more "advanced stealth fighters" than China by 2020.[20] By late 2010, two prototypes of the Chengdu J-20 had been constructed and were undergoing high-speed taxi trials.[21] The J-20 made its first flight on 11 January 2011.[22]

Another stealth fighter design from SAC started to circulate on the internet in September 2011.[23] In June 2012, photos about a possible prototype of F-60 being transferred on highway began to emerge on the internet.[24] This aircraft was named Shenyang J-31 later, and made its maiden flight on Oct 31, 2012.[25]

Japan

Mitsubishi ATD-X model 2

Japan is currently developing a prototype of a stealth jet fighter called the Mitsubishi ATD-X. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Japan, seeking to replace its aging fleet of fighter aircraft, began making overtures to the United States on the topic of purchasing several Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fighters for their own forces.[26] However the U.S. Congress had banned the exporting of the aircraft in order to safeguard secrets of the aircraft's technology such as its extensive use of stealth; this rejection necessitated Japan to develop its own modern fighter, to be equipped with stealth features and other advanced systems.

A mock-up of the ATD-X was constructed and used to study the radar cross section in France in 2009. ATD-X first prototype rolled out in July 2014 and its first flight will occur in first quarter of 2015. The Mitsubishi ATD-X Shinshin will enter service in JASDF in 2024 as Mitsubishi F-3.

India

HAL AMCA, India's fifth generation stealth fighter

India is independently developing a twin-engine fifth-generation stealth multirole fighter, called HAL Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). It is being designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency and will be produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. Unofficial design work on the AMCA started in 2008 with official design work started in 2011. First flight of HAL AMCA is to occur in 2017 with planned service introduction in 2020.[27] AMCA would be powered by K 9 or K 10 engine with Supercruise capability without afterburner. The main purpose of the AMCA is to replace the aging SEPECAT Jaguar and Dassault Mirage 2000.

Another project of India is the Sukhoi/HAL Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), which is a fifth-generation fighter developed together by India and Russia. FGFA is based on Sukhoi PAK FA which is being developed by Russia. FGFA will include a total of 43 improvements over the existing PAK FA design and will be able to carry many weapons of Indian origin, however the project is already four years delayed caused due to multiple issues.[28][29] The cost of the project will be shared equally by India and Russia. The Indian Air Force plans to induct 130 FGFA fighters, down from an earlier estimate of around 220.[28]

As of 2015, AMCA is under development and FGFA is under negotiation.[30]

Korea and Indonesia

South Korea and Indonesia are developing an advanced multirole fighter called the KF-X/IF-X for the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) and Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU).[31] The project was first announced by South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung at the graduation ceremony of the Korea Air Force Academy in March 2001. South Korea and Indonesia agreed to cooperate in the production of KF-X/IF-X warplanes in Seoul on July 15, 2010.[32] The overall focus of the program is producing a 4.5th generation fighter with higher capabilities than a KF-16 class fighter by 2020.[33]

Turkey

Concept design of the TAI TFX

In 2011 Turkish Aerospace Industries initiated a $20 million concept design phase for a fifth-generation air-to-air fighter, TAI TFX. During a State visit of the President of Turkey to Sweden on the 13th of March 2013, Türk Havacılık ve Uzay Sanayii AŞ (Turkish Aerospace Industries, TAI) signed an agreement with Sweden's Saab AB to provide design support services to Turkey for the TAI TFX program.[34][35][36][37] In 2013 a decision should be made for the future of this project.[38] Turkey is the only JSF member with a program of its own. Turkish Aerospace Industries has stated that the program will cost $120 billion (with engine development).[39] Prime Minister Erdogan has stated that Turkey has allocated the funds for development of the fuselage (less engine) and that it intends to have the TAI TFX fully operational prior to 2025.

Iran

The Qaher F-313 is an Iranian single-seat stealth fighter aircraft that was publicly announced on 1 February 2013. A press presentation about the project was made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi on 2 February 2013, as part of the Ten-Day Dawn ceremonies. According to Iranian government sources, the F-313 Qaher was designed and is indigenously produced in Iran by the Aviation Industries Organization (AIO), a division of the Ministry of Defense, and IRIAF. Experts from the aviation industry have questioned the airworthiness of the aircraft; for example the aircraft cockpit is just too small for a pilot to effectively perform necessary tasks. Some believe Iran does not have the necessary capabilities to design and develop a 5th generation fighter all by itself.[40]

Common design elements

Giovanni de Briganti has defined the defining elements of a fifth-generation fighter to be:[41]

In order to minimize their radar cross-section (RCS), all fifth-generation fighters use chines instead of standard leading edge extensions and lack canards, though the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 has engine intake extensions that seem to function somewhat like canards and the Chengdu J-20 designers have chosen the agility enhancements of canards in spite of their poor stealth characteristics.[42] They all have twin canted vertical tails (similar to a V-tail) also to minimize side RCS. Most fifth-generation fighters with supermaneuverability achieve it through thrust vectoring.

They all have internal weapon bays in order to avoid high RCS weapon pylons, but they all have external hardpoints on their wings for use on non-stealthy missions, such as the external fuel tanks the F-22 carries when deploying to a new theater.

All fifth-generation fighters have a high percentage of composite materials, in order to reduce RCS and weight.

Software defined aircraft

All revealed fifth-generation fighters use commercial off-the-shelf main processors to directly control all sensors to form a consolidated view of the battlespace with both onboard and networked sensors, while previous-generation jet fighters used federated systems where each sensor or pod would present its own readings for the pilot to combine in their own mind a view of the battlespace.[43][44][45] The F-22A was physically delivered without synthetic aperture radar (SAR) or situation awareness infra-red search and track. It will gain SAR later through software upgrades.[46] However any flaw in these huge software systems can knock out supposedly unrelated aircraft systems and the complexity of a software defined aircraft can lead to a software crisis with additional costs and delays.[47][48] By the end of 2013 the biggest concern with the F-35 program was software, especially the software required to do data fusion across the many sensors.[49]

Sukhoi calls their expert system for sensor fusion the artificial intelligence of the PAK-FA.[50]

An automatic software response to an overheat condition apparently has contributed to at least one fatal crash of an F-22.[51]

The F-35 uses Software-defined radio systems, where common middleware controls Field-programmable gate arrays.[52] Col. Arthur Tomassetti has said that the F-35 is a "software intensive airplane and software is easy to upgrade, as opposed to hardware."[53]

In order to ease the addition of new software features, the F-35 has adopted a kernel and app separation of security responsibilities.[54]

Steve O'Bryan of Lockheed Martin has said that the F-35 may gain the ability to operate UAVs through a future software upgrade.[55] The USN is already planning to place its Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike system under the control of a manned aircraft, to act as a flying missile magazine.[56]

Advanced engines

Fifth-generation jet fighters use the newest generation of high performance jet engines and only the American Pratt & Whitney F119 is fully developed. The engines for the F-35 are still under development, the Chinese are dependent on Russian engines, and even the Russians are falling short in the development of the latest jet engines.[57][58]

Situational awareness

Main article: Situation awareness

The combination of stealthy airframes, stealthy sensors, and stealthy communications is designed to allow fifth-generation fighters to engage other aircraft before those targets are aware of their presence.[59] Lt. Col. Gene McFalls of the USAF has said that sensor fusion will feed into inventory databases to precisely identify aircraft at a distance.[60]

Sensor fusion and automatic target tracking are projected to give the fifth-generation jet fighter pilot a view of the battlespace superior to that of legacy AWACS aircraft that may be forced back from the front lines by increasing threats. Therefore tactical control could be shifted forwards to the pilots in the fighters.[61] Michael Wynne, former Secretary of the United States Air Force, has suggested elimination of the Boeing E-3 Sentry and Boeing E-8 Joint STARS in favor of more F-35s, simply because so much effort is being made by the Russians and Chinese to target these platforms that are built to commercial airliner standards.[62]

However, the more powerful sensors, such as AESA radar which is able to operate in multiple modes at the same time, may present too much information for the single pilot in the F-22, F-35 and T-50 to adequately use. The Sukhoi/HAL FGFA offered a return to the two-seat configuration common in fourth generation strike fighters, but this was rejected over cost concerns.[63]

There is ongoing research to apply Track-before-detect across Sensor fusion in the core CPU to allow fifth-generation fighters to engage targets that no single sensor has by itself detected.[64]

The limits of stealth

Main article: Radar cross-section

Even committed fifth-generation fighter users such as the Israelis concede that advances in sensors and computing will overcome a pure stealth configuration within a decade. This is why the Israelis insisted that the F-35 have defined interfaces so that the electronic warfare systems could be constantly improved to match the threat.[65] All known fifth-generation designs have extensive electronic warfare systems, partly in response to an incident where the limited EW systems on an F-117 may have led to its loss in combat.[66] Stealth is now seen as "part of the overall electronic warfare issue", in that a stealthy platform is easier to hide with the assistance of jamming.[67]

Chinese state media has claimed that their UHF JY-26 radar has tracked a F-22 on deployment to South Korea.[68]

The combat cloud

Gilmary M. Hostage III has suggested that fifth-generation jet fighters will operate together in a "combat cloud" along with future unmanned combat aircraft,[69] and Manazir has suggested that this might come as quickly as loading a UCLASS with AMRAAMs to be launched at the command of an F-35.[70]

Critics and alternative definitions

The definition of the term fifth-generation fighter from Lockheed Martin has been criticized by companies whose products do not conform to these particular specifications, such as Boeing and Eurofighter, and by other commentators such as Bill Sweetman:[71] "it is misleading to portray the F-22 and F-35 as a linear evolution in fighter design. Rather, they are a closely related pair of outliers, relying on a higher level of stealth as a key element of survivability – as the Lockheed YF-12 and Mikoyan MIG-25, in the 1960s, relied on speed and altitude."[72]

The United States Navy and Boeing have placed the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in a "next generation" fighter category along with the F-22 and F-35,[73] as the Super Hornet has a "fifth-generation" AESA radar, modest radar cross-section (RCS) reductions and sensor fusion.[74][75] A senior USAF pilot has complained about fifth-generation claims for the Super Hornet: "The whole point to fifth generation is the synergy of stealth, fusion and complete situational awareness. The point about fifth-generation aircraft is that they can do their mission anywhere – even in sophisticated integrated air defense [IADS] environments. If you fly into heavy IADS with a great radar and sensor fusion, but no stealth, you will have complete situational awareness of the guy that kills you."[76] Michael “Ponch” Garcia of Raytheon has said that the addition of their AESA radars to the Super Hornet provides "90 percent of your fifth-generation capability at half the cost."[77] And a top Boeing official has called their newest 4.5th generation fighters "stealth killers".[78]

In response to the use of the "fifth generation" term, Eurofighter has made a fifth-generation checklist placing different weights on the various capabilities, and arguing that the application of the label to strike aircraft such as Lockheed-Martin's F-35 is ill advised, and even inconsistent with the aircraft's specifications. Meanwhile, Eurofighter adds "net-enabled operations" as a noteworthy requirement and de-emphasizes full-scope low observability as only one factor in survivability.[79] In the same article Eurofighter GmbH appear to acknowledge the remarkable performance of Lockheed Martin's F-22 aircraft, while demonstrating that labels as simple as "fifth generation" may easily be devised to serve the interests of the writer.

Richard A. Bitzinger of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, a former consultant for the American RAND Corporation think tank, suggests that Western Europe's "failure" to develop a fifth-generation jet fighter may reduce these former leaders in the market to also-ran status as the world's attention shifts to the competition between the United States and Asian powers.[80] Canadians Alex Wilner and Marco Wyss of the Center for Security Studies claim that Europe's failure to "keep up" with the F-35 may make the European jet fighter manufacturers close up shop.[81] However, Europe may return with a trans-national 'sixth-generation' UCAV, assuming that the political entanglements can be evaded.[82] The European Defence Agency has warned that the European $60 billion industry could collapse by 2020.[83]

The Russian Defense Ministry defines fifth-generation as including "stealth technology, supersonic cruising speed, highly-integrated avionics, electronics and fire-control systems".[84]

Fifth-generation fighters in service or with flying prototypes

General data

Aircraft Primary
Builder		 First
flight		 Number
built		 Status Service
date		 Average
cost USD		 Length
m		 Wingspan
m		 Wing area
sq. m		 Empty
weight		 Loaded
weight		 Max takeoff
weight		 Takeoff
F-22  USA 1997 195 in service 2005150 M 18.87 13.56 78.04 19,700 kg 29,410 kg 38,000 kg CTOL
F-35A  USA 2006 90 testing 2016[85]107 M 15.67 m 10.70 42.70 13,300 kg 22,470 kg 31,800 kg CTOL
F-35B  USA 2008 40 testing 2015[86] 15.61 10.70 42.70 14,700 kg 27,300 kg STOVL
F-35C  USA 2010 20 testing 2018 15.67 13.10 62.10 15,800 kg 31,800 kg CATOBAR
Sukhoi PAK FA  Russia2010 5 testing 201654 M 19.80 14.00 78.80 18,500 kg 28,800 kg 37,000 kg CTOL
J-20  China 2011 6 testing 20.36 13.47 73.00 19,390 kg 32,090 kg 36,287 kg CTOL

Performance

Aircraft Primary
Builder		 Max Speed
km/h		 Cruise speed
km/h		 Ferry
range		 Ceiling
m		 Engines Total
dry thrust		 Total thrust
with afterburner		 Thrust/
weight		 Thrust
vectoring		 Stealth RCS
F-22  USA 2,410 1,963 2,960 20,000 2 232 kN 312 kN 1.08 2D [87][88] 0.0001-0.4
F-35A  USA 1,930 1,362 2,220 18,288 1 125 kN 191 kN 0.87 none [88][89] 0.005-0.3
F-35B  USA 1,930 1,362 1,670 18,288 1 125 kN 191 kN 0.90 none 0.005-0.3
F-35C  USA 1,930 1,362 2,520 18,288 1 125 kN 191 kN 0.75 none 0.005-0.3
Sukhoi PAK FA  Russia 2,440 1,700 3,500 20,000 2 186 kN 294 kN 1.06 3D [87][90] 0.3-0.5
J-20  China 20,000 2 152 kN 245 kN 0.94

Armament and Avionics

Aircraft Primary
Builder		 Internal
hardpoints		 External
hardpoints		 Front
X-Band radar		 Rear
X-Band radar		 L-Band
radar		 Radar detection
range 1 m² target		 IRST
F-22  USA 8 4 Yes - - 240 km Missile warning
F-35A  USA 4 [91] 7 Yes - - 150 km Full
F-35B  USA 4 7 Yes - - 150 km Full
F-35C  USA 4 9 Yes - - 150 km Full
Sukhoi PAK FA  Russia 6 6 Yes Yes Yes Forward arc
J-20  China 8

Related development

Technology Demonstrators

5G Design and Development

Proposed 5G fighters

See also

References

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