Lockheed Martin to create "fifth generation plus" based on F-35 with sixth generation technologies
After losing the competition for the sixth-generation NGAD fighter jet, Lockheed Martin announced plans to integrate advanced developments into its existing F-35 and F-22 Raptor platforms.
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Lockheed CEO Jim Tyklet said that the company will not challenge the US Air Force's decision to favour Boeing in the NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) programme. Instead, Lockheed will focus on deep modernisation of fifth-generation fighters using sixth-generation technologies.
According to Tyklet, the goal is to transfer much of the innovation created in the NGAD bid to already-produced platforms, making them the "Ferrari of fighter jets". In particular, the F-35, which is operated by thousands around the world, will become the basis for adapting technologies that provide up to 80% of the sixth generation capabilities at half the cost of a new aircraft.
F-35A. Illustration: Lockheed Martin
The technologies that Lockheed intends to integrate include passive infrared sensors, advanced stealth camouflage systems, long-range weapons, improved avionics and electronic warfare. Some of these are already being implemented as part of the Block 4 upgrade package for the F-35.
Boeing has already implemented the idea of improving one generation of aircraft with the technologies of the next generation with the F-15EX fighter jet. Lockheed calls the new approach "fifth generation plus" - analogous to how the F-15EX is often classified as a generation 4.5.
Source: Defence New
