The U.S. wants to get ahead of China and get a sixth-generation fighter jet at least a month earlier

The United States continues to develop a sixth-generation fighter to replace the F-22 Raptor and wants it faster than the People's Republic of China builds its own aircraft.

Here's What We Know

U.S. sixth-generation fighter aircraft are being developed under the Next-Generation Air Dominance program. U.S. aircraft companies and the U.S. Air Force are participating in the project.

Mark Kelly, head of the U.S. Air Force Aviation Command, said that China is trying by all means to create its aircraft faster than the United States will do. But the commander argues that the U.S. should do everything possible to achieve air supremacy with a sixth-generation fighter at least a month before the Chinese plane arrives. Three years ago, Chengdu Aerospace Corporation announced that an aircraft for the People's Liberation Army of the PRC is due in 2035 and could "protect the skies and the sea.

At the same time, the creation of U.S. aircraft may be delayed due to the high cost of the project. It is expected that the first sixth-generation fighters will cost up to $400 million at the start. With time, their price will go down, but still it will be approximately 2-3 times higher than that of the F-35A Lightning II. The United States may even give up some of the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor fighters in order to get more money.

At the same time Mark Kelly notes that the aircraft developed under the NGAD program will be a completely new and unique solution, while the Chinese are prone to copying existing technologies. In particular, the Chinese fighter J-16 is based on the Soviet Su-27 and Su-30.

Source: Breaking Defense

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