The 53rd Paris Air Show opened on June 17. It is reported that the sixth-generation fighter project jointly developed by Germany and France – “Future Air Combat System” will be unveiled in the show for the first time.
Chinese military expert Du Wenlong said that the future fighters will have a greater improvement in stealth capabilities, avionics systems and ammunition technology, and may even be unmanned aircraft.
First of all, the shape of stealth fighters. In the future, the sixth-generation fighter jets will make great progress in stealth. The full-band and omnidirectional double-invisibility will become an important mode for concealed penetrations of the sixth-generation fighters.
Second, there will be major changes in avionics systems. The current aircraft avionics system still uses separate methods such as flight control and fire control. Future fighters may achieve fire control, including engine thrust, full-machine fault detection, and integration of various ammunition uses, making the entire aircraft a networked aircraft rather than a physical combination formed by purely mechanical operations.
Third, there will be major changes and developments in ammunition technology. For example, new concept weapons, including cyber weapons that may be developed in the future, as well as aspects of training with manned machines and drones, will also undergo major changes.
On the whole, a sixth-generation aircraft is not necessarily a manned aircraft. In the future, it may be a node of the entire air combat. It is a combination of future air combat systems, including a networked combination that will become the mainstream of future air combat. The technical direction of the aircraft, including the technical path, clearly shows the basic form of future air combat attack and defense operations.
According to the agreement signed between Germany and France in February this year, the “Future Air Combat System” is scheduled to serve before 2040.
Du Wenlong said that after “future air combat system” with the sixth-generation fighter as the core is put into operation, it will significantly improve the air combat capability of the German and French air forces, and will also have a major impact on air combat rules and the use of weapons and equipment.
“If France and Germany jointly cross fifth-generation and go straight to the sixth-generation fighter, they will play an important role in improving the ability of the two countries in air attacks and defenses,” said Du.
First of all, there have been major changes in the rules of air combat. The previous reconnaissance and early warning and interception attacks, including various technical details, are the basic chain of air combat. If there is a new type of combat aircraft in the future, an unmanned air combat mode will become the main form. In high-risk areas, in areas where manned aircraft cannot enter, drones can be used as the first echelon to create various damages and losses from drones. In the future, it will carry out various offensive and defensive operations at the network node center and would really achieve zero casualties.
Second, there will be new forms in the use of weapons and equipment. In the future, with the help of a powerful network system, it is very likely that weapons and equipment will be placed under the control of a third party. For example, the future combat system consisting of two sixth-generation aircrafts, missile from fighter A has been launched, but it finds the target, but fighter B has a missile but does not find the target, so Fighter B can directly launch the missile into the control area of Fighter A, which will takes over to attack the target.
Therefore, future missiles against targets are not necessarily launched by missiles that are loaded with aircraft. Missions may be realized by platforms that see targets, aim at targets, and track targets. Therefore, the entire air combat capability will undergo major changes in the future.
At last year’s Farnborough Air Show in the UK, the UK unveiled a full-scale prototype of the sixth-generation fighter developed by the country. In this year’s Paris Air Show, “future air combat system” developed by Germany and France has debuted. Chinese military expert Du Wenlong believes this shows that Europe is gradually getting rid of its military technology dependence on the United States, which is likely to be the beginning of the pursuit of European defense independence.
First of all, the first information we have read is to say no to the United States, and to pursue a course different from the United States in development of five-generation and six-generation aircrafts. The United States still regards the fifth-generation and sixth-generation fighter jets as the core, while no one knows what the six-generation fighter looks like. Each country has its own ideas.
If the six-generation machine with the European pedigree version is independently launched, Europe countries would be actually parallel with the fifth-generation and sixth-generation fighters of the United States. It has got rid of technological dependence on the United States and got rid of America’s F-22 and F-35 technology abductions.
Second, from the basic usage pattern, the new jet might be completely suitable for use in European battlefield. The aircrafts developed by the United States for other countries must first meet the requirements of the United States. Other countries have to manage with such fighter jets, which cannot meet all their own demands.
If Europeans follow the needs of themselves and develop weapons and equipment of European descent, they will be able to meet the needs of European defense from the technical route and other aspects, and at the same time minimize the military dependence on the United States at the technical level.
Therefore, from this air combat command system, we clearly see the growing disagreements between Europe and the United States, and the increasingly large cracks in technological paths. The integration and independence of European defense are likely to be an important start for the future air combat system.