A French general has underlined that the New Generation Fighter (NGF) being developed by France, Germany and Spain will rely heavily on stealth and manoeuvrability, even though it will be far more than a traditional fighter aircraft.
The system envisaged also includes airborne early warning and control aircraft, as well as ‘remote carriers’: attritible aircraft that will collaborate with the manned platform.
“The system
must be able to exchange large amounts of data, develop disruptive tactics using artificial intelligence and perhaps quantum calculation, remain discrete, and strike by surprise and with precision.”
He stresses that
stealth characteristics and the ability to communicate without being detected will be at a premium. He contends that stealth will remain very important despite technologies such as low frequency radars designed to detect stealth aircraft.
“The NGF is above all a fighter aircraft, and as such
manoeuvrability will be particularly useful for surprising, fighting, and surviving.” He stresses that manoeuvrability is not for dogfighting other aircraft, but about survivability: specifically evading missiles.
As for weapons, hypersonic munitions will play a role, and FCAS will seek to saturate targets, including using decoys to flush out the enemy.
Remote carriers, which Moritz describes as the “risk takers”, are essential to the overall system, performing reconnaissance and other functions. To ensure sufficient numbers for high-end contingencies, remote carriers must be relatively low cost.
Knitting the entire system together will be the
combat cloud network, which provides high-speed, resilient connectivity, and guarantees that reliable, up-to-date data is shared.
“That is what will change our tactics and allow us to confuse the opponent.”
The pilot in the NGF will remain key, particularly in contested airspace where satellite communications are compromised. Using artificial intelligence, the pilot will be able to perform a command and control function over the remote carriers, which themselves operate autonomously.
https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/fr ... 89.article
