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Will Lockheed ever get another contract to build a fighter?

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shawn a:
Serendipity.
I meant to say (sarcastically) J-20, but mistyped F-20. But what I was thinking was a stealthy F-20 with that F-135 engine for power and supercruise.
I think the T-50 has cheek inlets which would make it's design a candidate for stealthy inlets, and then just clean up the planform stealthwise, add RAM, and -- voila!!
Right, and I'll just carry this snowball through hell!
Will the Gripen NG have the 414 engine? That's a start. I like my idea (of course) of a stealthy FA-50, with that huge engine, with lots of bypass and cooling, and stealthy inlets and exhaust, and an internal weapons bay, with several pylons for the "second day" of the war. But I'm just a dreamer....
Do you really think that manned fighters are going to be a thing of the past?
Use a good engine that exists, design a stealthy airframe shape, design the airframe for the latest RAM, and consider advances in the RAM coatings for later upgrades, and realize that stealth is a very fragile technology. Build large quantities.
Right, and I'll just carry this wheelbarrow of snow through hell!
Can't wait to see the Raytheon F-39!!  ;)

Webmaster:
Ow, haha, F-20 made sense, lol. I thought you wanted to go cheaper, lighter, smaller to complement the expensive F-35/F-22 combo ánd be a more suitable candidate for countries that are buying off-the-shelf and want to cut spending to 1% or lower of GDP.

Yeah, F414. The engine is just one piece of the puzzle that makes the NG a much serious contender than the original Gripen though. But yes, F414 is quite the improvement over F404. F414 btw is also on the development track of the T-50, so if a FA-50 materializes, it could have a F414. Also planned for LCA Tejas Mk.2, finally it seems the Indians dropped their own engine dev and got smart :P

About unmanned, I think so, but not sure! Considering the F-35 will probably have a 30yr production run... we're looking at 2045... 100 yrs since jet engined fighters. If it's not unmanned (and I don't see any other breakthrough on the horizon for truly nextgen platforms) then something must have happened that halted development (since a war will only accelerate it, we're talking huge natural disasters or something). The way sensors and datalinks (bandwidth especially) are evolving but also interfaces/visual representation of data, why not? Not saying F-35 will be the last manned fighter... but by 2045, we should be looking at a nextgen unmanned. That said, I think it will still be operated remotely by a "pilot". By that time, we'll be saying of course it should be unmanned and take the F-22 oxygen trouble, F-35 "information overload", and expensive/overbudget CSAR platforms, G-factor, and even potential weight/fuel savings, as prime reasons of why you don't want to have a pilot in the thing and all bets will be on unmanned then, like they are now on stealth, I don't see why not. And on the fragile stealth thing, that's just another reason to go unmanned. We've got unmanned recce (UAS), strike/attack (UCAS), bombing (NGB), fighters are next...

Bit off-topic maybe.

shawn a:
Actually, every air force has had autonomous, unmanned fighters for many years... They're called heat seeking AAMs  ;)

Webmaster:
Hehe, well I did say platforms somewhere. Unless you want loitering IR missiles everywhere. Now that's air dominance! I wouldn't mind seeing those, will be probably the size of a Nike/S-75 or even bigger if you want effective combat air patrols.  ;)

shawn a:
How about hanging "autonomous, unmanned fighters" (heat-seeking missiles) on aerostats for continental defense? Way out at sea for those countries that have coastline? (In the ADIZ)
Remember, the AIM-120 in an improved form has been fantasized as an SRBM interceptor. No combat air patrol necessary, these things can float for months, if not years.
Hey, Lockheed, Think out of the box!

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