Latest news with #stealthfighters
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
F-22 Raptors Will Be First To Control ‘Fighter Drone' Collaborative Combat Aircraft
F-22 Raptor stealth fighters appear set to be the first operational airborne controllers for the U.S. Air Force's future Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones. The service is looking to start adding tablet-based control systems and make other relevant modifications to the F-22s starting in the next fiscal year. This is on top of a host of other newly planned upgrades for the Raptor fleet to ensure the jets remain at the very tip of the service's spear for years to come, as you can read about more in TWZ's recent reporting here. The Air Force's budget request for the 2026 Fiscal Year includes an all-new line item for CCA-related modifications to other aircraft. Within that section is a call for just over $15 million in funding for what is currently named the Crewed Platform Integration program. Separate sections of the Air Force budget documents say the service currently has 143 combat-capable F-22s, with the rest of the total fleet of 185 jets being dedicated to training and test and evaluation duties. A significant number of the small, but highly capable and heavily in-demand Raptor force is typically down for maintenance at any one time, as well. It isn't clear exactly what will be used for communications between F-22s and CCAs under their control, but the F-22's hard to intercept and jam Inter-Flight Data Link (IFDL) that is currently used to share data between F-22s is very likely the solution. Work has also been done using the XQ-58 Valkyrie, which has served as a CCA surrogate, to bridge communication gaps between F-22s and F-35s, which could also be useful in future operational CCAs. In the 2026 Fiscal Year budget proposal, the Air Force is also asking for $870 million to continue work on the CCA program itself. Two prototype designs, General Atomics' YFQ-42A and Anduril's YFQ-44A, are currently in development as part of the first phase, or Increment 1, of the CCA effort. Requirements for a follow-on Increment 2 competition are being finalized now. Air Force officials have said they are looking to acquire between 100 and 150 Increment 1 CCAs, and around 1,000 of the drones, at least, across all the future increments. The current goal is for the first examples to enter operational service before the end of the decade. The service is also actively collaborating with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps on CCA-related developments, including a common command and control architecture. 'The Crewed Platform Integration program will procure and integrate kits for F-22 installation which will allow for F-22 control of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA),' according to the Air Force's proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget. 'The procurement effort includes, but is not limited to, tablets, cables, and associated materials; activities associated with system integration, assembly, test and checkout; certification; aircraft and CCA communications integration; software updates; systems engineering; training; support equipment; and Program Support Costs (PSC).' The budget documents also say that, of the roughly $15 million in Crewed Platform Integration requested, just over $12.2 million will go toward the procurement of 142 tablets and associated cabling. This would put the unit price of each of these installation kits at approximately $86,218. The 142 figure aligns with the total number of combat-coded F-22s currently in service. The F-22 is one of a number of platforms the Air Force has previously said it envisions controlling CCA drones in the future. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the future F-47 sixth-generation fighter are also on that list. The service has said CCAs might be paired with a broader array of aircraft types, including B-21 Raider stealth bombers and aerial refueling tankers, down the road, as well. In the past year or so, Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for the F-22 and the F-35, has touted work it has already been doing to enable those jets to serve in the aerial drone controller role. 'Lockheed Martin has demonstrated its piloted-drone teaming interface, which can control multiple drones from the cockpit of an F-35 or F-22,' the company said in a press release in January. 'This technology allows a pilot to direct multiple drones to engage enemies using a touchscreen tablet in the cockpit of their 5th Gen aircraft.' In terms of the physical architecture in the cockpit to allow pilots to control CCAs, tablet-like devices have already emerged as a user interface of choice, at least initially. Questions have been raised about the effectiveness of that control scheme, especially for single-seat combat jets, and multiple companies are exploring alternatives. The computer-generated video below from Collins Aerospace shows tablet-like devices and other means being used to control CCA-like drones. 'There's a lot of opinions amongst the Air Force about the right way to go [about controlling drones from other aircraft],' John Clark, then-head of Skunk Works, told TWZ and others at Air & Space Forces Association's (AFA) main annual conference in September 2024. 'The universal thought, though, is that this [a tablet or other touch-based interface] may be the fastest way to begin experimentation. It may not be the end state.' 'We're working through a spectrum of options that are the minimum invasive opportunities, as well as something that's more organically equipped, where there's not even a tablet,' Clark added at that time. 'We started with [the Air Force's] Air Combat Command with tablets … There was this idea that they wanted to have this discreet control,' Michael Atwood, vice president of Advanced Programs for General Atomics, also said during a past appearance on The Merge podcast in 2024. 'I got to fly in one of these jets with a tablet. And it was really hard to fly the airplane, let alone the weapon system of my primary airplane, and spatially and temporally think about this other thing.' The issues that Atwood named could be mitigated, at least to a degree, through improving the autonomous capabilities of future CCAs. However, officials across the U.S. military have repeatedly stressed that much work in that realm remains to be done. 'Let's get this thing out there. Let's start integrating. Let's then start working to [sic] warfighting functions of our CCA, and move forward,' Marine Col. Derek Brannon, director of the Marine Corps' Cunningham Group that is tasked with plotting out the service's overarching future aviation vision, said at the annual Modern Day Marine exposition in March. 'It's an exceptional piece of capability.' However, 'we still have a lot to learn to simply get to this thing airborne, flying, and executing next to an F-35, and not hitting each other,' he added. 'I know there's a lot of work out there, but that's important to make sure that we become lethal.' For the Air Force, in particular, significant questions remain about how it plans to just deploy, launch, recover, support, and otherwise operate CCAs, let alone employ them in tactical combat operations. The service has already been using a number of different drones, as well as the unique pilot-optional X-62A test jet, a heavily modified two-seat F-16D also known as the Variable Stability In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft (VISTA), to work on answering these questions. A group of six additional F-16s are being modified to further help with those test and evaluation efforts as part of a project called Viper Experimentation and Next-Gen Operations Mode (VENOM). Furthermore, the Air Force has established a dedicated CCA test force called the Experimental Operations Unit (EOU). In June, the service announced that it had expanded the EOU from a small detachment into a squadron-sized formation. Whether or not the unit has any flying assets now is unclear. Last year, the Air Force did say that it had approved additional CCA purchases to equip the EOU, but did not say how many of the drones would be headed to Nellis. Whether these will be YFQ-42As, YFQ-44As, or a mix of both, is also unknown. The Air Force is asking for close to $55.5 million and nearly $6.6 million to support the EOU and Project VENOM, respectively, in its 2026 Fiscal Year budget request. The service received around $44.5 million and $6.1 million for those two lines of effort in the 2025 Fiscal Year. In the upcoming fiscal year, the goal is for the EOU to 'continue to stand up as a fully manned squadron with investments in facility modifications, critical infrastructure, and equipment,' according to the Air Force's latest budget documents. The 'EOU continues to invest in ACP prototypes, modeling and simulation environments, and studies to refine integration of CCA into the force.' 'VENOM will conduct [a] government flight test campaign for risk reduction and maturation of enterprise autonomy skills toinclude integration of the latest autonomy reference architecture, testing of autonomy skills, and developing the autonomy testinfrastructure,' the budget documents add. 'Autonomy test infrastructure includes a digital autonomy test environment and common test tools to ensure integration between Vendors, Test Organizations, and Program Offices. Autonomy skills being matured include: 1) multi-ship behaviors 2) Defensive Counter-Air behaviors and 3) Offensive Counter-Air behaviors.' With plans now to add the tablet-based control systems to the bulk of the F-22 fleet, the Air Force looks to be further laying the groundwork to operationalize the lessons learned from the EOU and efforts like Project VENOM as it moves toward fielding its first CCAs. Contact the author: joe@
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New F-22 Upgrade Package To Keep The Jets Viable Laid Out
The U.S. Air Force's F-22 Raptor stealth fighters are set to get an array of new 'viability' upgrades to help protect them from emerging threats and otherwise ensure their continued relevance in future conflicts. The package includes the previously announced Infrared Defensive System (IRDS), as well as enhancements to the jet's stealthy features, radar capabilities, electronic warfare suite, and more. This is separate from other upgrades in the works for the F-22, including podded infrared search and track (IRST) sensors and stealthy range-extending drop tanks. Details about the F-22 viability upgrades are found in the Air Force's recently released budget request for the Fiscal Year 2026. This is a new start effort for which the service is asking for $90.34 million in funding in the upcoming fiscal cycle. The Air Force currently has 185 F-22s, but only 143 are combat-coded, with the rest being dedicated to training and test and evaluation activities. A significant portion of the overall fleet is typically down for maintenance, as well. The small Raptor force is already highly capable and heavily in demand. 'Viability represents future procurement of hardware and software capability enhancements related to, but not limited to Low Observable (LO) signature management, Pilot Vehicle Interface (PVI), countermeasures, helmet, future crypto upgrades, dynamic Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), cyber security, Infrared Defensive System (IRDS), which involves improved missile launch detection capabilities, and Electronic Warfare (EW) system enhancements to counter evolving EW threat,' according to the Air Force budget documents. 'Additional situational awareness and mission effectiveness technologies will be incorporated to enhance the F-22 participation in Joint operations.' Lockheed Martin first announced that the F-22s would be getting the new IRDS in January. The company has also said the system will leverage its TacIRST infrared search-and-track sensors (IRST). TacIRST was first unveiled in 2022, and the first known integration was into the noses of F-5 Advanced Tiger aggressor jets belonging to private contractor Tactical Air Support (TacAir). A pod with multiple TacIRST sensors has also been observed during past testing. 'IRDS is the Program of Record (PoR) for the F-22's Missile Launch Detector (MLD) modernization effort that is focused on detection of long-range Air to Air Missile (AAM) / Surface to Air Missile (SAM) threats and includes replacing legacy MLDs with new sensors,' the Air Force's 2026 Fiscal Year budget proposal adds. It also notes that a formal decision about whether to start low-rate initial production of IRDS for integration onto the F-22 fleet is scheduled to occur in the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2026. The F-22's AN/AAR-56 MLD system currently provides spherical infrared threat warning. Whether the IRDS will just improve upon those capabilities, or offer expanded functionality, possibly akin to what the F-35's Distributed Aperture System (DAS) and other DAS-like setups offer, is still unclear. In terms of the threat ecosystem driving the IRDS, it is worth noting here that the Air Force warned in January about the prospect of contending with increasingly advanced anti-missiles with ranges of up to 1,000 miles by 2050. China and Russia, in particular, have already been developing and fielding new and improved air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles in recent years. A brief, but intense conflict between India and Pakistan earlier this year put a particular light on the Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missile, which is already known to have been a factor in prompting the U.S. military to develop the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM). No further details about the other components of the viability upgrade package are included in the budget documents. In terms of helmet upgrades, F-22 pilots are already set to get Thales Scorpion Helmet Mounted Displays (HMD). This is a capability that was axed for the Raptor during development, and its absence has become increasingly pronounced in recent years. In 2022, the Air Force also awarded LIFT Airborne Technologies a contract to develop a Next Generation Fixed Wing Helmet (NGFWH) for F-22 pilots and others. Explicit mention of enchantments to help with low observable (stealthy) signature management is also interesting in light of semi-secretive tests of mirror-like coatings on the F-22, as well as F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and F-117 Nighthawks, in recent years. Regardless of these exotic coatings, other modifications are sure to be included to enhance the F-22's already significant stealth characteristics. Infrared signature reduction has previously emerged as a particular area of interest for the Air Force amid a global renaissance in IRST systems. In general, IRSTs offer a valuable alternative (or companion) to radars, especially for spotting and tracking stealthy aircraft and missiles. IRSTs have the added benefit of being passive in nature, meaning they don't pump out signals that can alert an opponent to the fact that they have been detected and are being tracked. They are also immune to ever-growing electronic warfare threats. This last point also speaks to the inclusion of other counter-electronic warfare capabilities in the viability upgrade effort. As noted, the F-22 is also in line to get its own IRST capability as part of a separate upgrade effort, which the Air Force's Fiscal Year 2026 budget has finally confirmed will come in a podded form. Raptors have been observed flying with stealthy underwing sensor pods for years now. 'The Sensor Enhancement capability will improve the F-22's sensing and tracking and ensures Air Superiority by preserving the first look, first shot and first kill capabilities of the 142 Block 30/35 F-22 aircraft,' according to the budget documents. The new budget proposal further notes that the Air Force has already put in initial production orders for two separate lots of 15 pods each (30 in total). The goal is to have the first pods, each of which will contain an 'advanced Infrared Search and Track sensor,' delivered by the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2028. Additional testing of the system is set to continue in the interim. There remains a possibility that the new IRDS and IRST capabilities for the F-22 might be able to work together, which could present a powerful combination. In general, multiple IRSTs networked together offer important benefits, as TWZ has previously explained: 'IRSTs, in general, are typically only able to instantaneously determine a target's angle and bearing, and track it, with it taking more effort to determine its range using just a single sensor platform. Two IRST sensors on separate aircraft that are networked together can instantly triangulate the target's range, which can then provide more robust engagement-quality target tracks. Lockheed Martin has demonstrated this kind of networked IRST capability in combination with its Legion Pod in the past and it is a common practice for aircraft equipped with advanced IRST capabilities. The IRST21 sensor used on the Legion Pod, as well as in other podded configurations, is a more traditional gimbaled type, as you can read more about here.' Beyond the viability upgrades and the IRST pods, stealthy, low-drag drop tanks are still planned for the F-22. 'The F-22 Low Drag Tanks and Pylons (LDTP) are advanced technological designs providing increased persistence and range while maintaining lethality and survivability,' according to the Air Force's 2026 Fiscal Year budget request. 'The low drag tanks are intended to minimally increase drag for external tank carriage, facilitate supersonic flight with external tanks and extend the range of the F-22. The pylons are equipped with smart rack pneumatic technology to accurately control ejection performance and maintain minimum drag without stores.' Cropped into oblivion but this is the first time I've seen the LO fuel tanks and pods on the F-22 — TaskForce23 (@Task_Force23) March 22, 2024 'The LDTP program will finalize technology maturation and conduct risk reduction tasks including the procurement of test pylons, evaluation of designs for improvement, completion of a manufacturing readiness assessment, and analysis to support the development and execution of initial flight test up to 0.95 Mach,' it adds. 'The program will continue EMD to include the procurement of LDTP assets, as well as support equipment, evaluation of designs for improvement, flight test execution for threshold envelope (1.2 Mach), and LDTP qualification and certification.' The Air Force's proposed budget for the 2026 Fiscal Year shows the service plans to push ahead with now long-standing work to improve the F-22's communications suite and avionics. The service is also continuing existing efforts to improve the reliability and sustainability of the notoriously maintenance-intensive Raptor fleet. All of the F-22 upgrade plans come amid a degree of uncertainty around the future of the Raptor fleet. Until last year, the Air Force's stated plan had been that the F-22s would ultimately be replaced by a new sixth-generation stealth combat jet being developed as part of the Next Generation Air Defense (NGAD) initiative. However, the NGAD combat jet plan was put on hold last year, and, for a time, it looked like the NGAD combat jet effort might have been at risk of being cancelled. In July 2024, Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach said there was no longer a definitive F-22 replacement plan. By that point, Raptor modernization work had already been leveraging developments from NGAD and feeding into that initiative. The NGAD combat jet program did survive, and Boeing has been selected to build that aircraft, which is now designated the F-47. The Pentagon has given the F-47 an extremely firm vote of confidence in the proposed 2026 Fiscal Year budget, including a request for $3.5 billion in funding and the sidelineing of the U.S. Navy's sixth-generation F/A-XX fighter ambitions so as not to compete with the Air Force's efforts. At the same time, important questions about the expected size of the F-47 fleet, and when those jets might begin to enter service, remain. In May, the Air Force released a graphic, seen below, with details about its current fourth and fifth-generation fighter fleets, as well as the forthcoming F-47 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones. It says the service plans to acquire '185+' F-47s, which would at least allow for a one-for-one replacement of the F-22s. Lockheed Martin has also said that the Raptor could stay in service into the 2040s. The new viability upgrade effort is the latest signal that the F-22's career is still far from over and that the Air Force wants to ensure the Raptor fleet is as capable as it can be for years to come. Contact the author: joe@
South China Morning Post
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
China aims new JY-27V radar at stealthy targets, such as America's fifth-gen fighters
China has unveiled a metre-wave radar that can detect American fifth-generation stealth fighters, such as the F-22 and F-35, according to state media. The JY-27V radar, which is mounted on a military truck for mobility, works with very high frequency (VHF) radio waves. It can capture and locate 'extremely stealthy targets' and guide an air-defence system for a precision strike, according to its developer, state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC). It unveiled the JY-27V at a radar expo in Hefei, Anhui province, that ran from Saturday to Monday. 01:09 New Chinese fighter jet seen over Chengdu tacitly confirmed by military New Chinese fighter jet seen over Chengdu tacitly confirmed by military The radar featured a massive panel of active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna that could unfold and start operation in a few minutes and fold up for rapid evacuation, state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday. The antenna's automatic folding and unfolding was smooth and quiet, CETC scientist Xu Haizhou was quoted as saying.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
China Unveils Strange Device to Find Invisible Objects
China is outpacing the world in robotics production, building safer alternatives to uranium reactors, and flooding the globe with high-tech electric vehicles — to name just a few of the rising superpower's achievements. But the country is also innovating on the military front — a domain usually thought to be dominated by the United States. Researchers at the 38th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation recently announced the successful development of a handheld device they say can detect cloaked stealth fighters. The new bit of kit blends civilian telecoms tech with military-grade radar sensitivities according to the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based newspaper. The researchers claim that it can detect stealth signals at a rate of "100 percent." Here's how it works: US stealth vehicles use a system called low-probability-of-intercept radar (LPIR) to operate virtually undetected. LPIR makes military hardware nearly untraceable by employing several methods, including spamming a bevvy of super-weak radio signals across a wide range of frequencies, modulating rapidly. This device, the researchers claim, can crack these quickly-changing signals with "ultra sensitivity, extremely fast speed," and across a wide range of frequencies from "5kHz to 44 GHz," per the SCMP. Even through electronic jamming — when a detection device is bombarded with noisy, high-power signals — the tablet can locate LPIR devices with an error margin of 0.4 to 0.5 inches, according to the researchers. If it's as effective in real life as it was in testing, it could signal a pivotal point in the US-China arms race. The US uses LPIR on a huge range of equipment, from stealth bombers and unmanned drones to nuclear submarines. As essentially a repurposed tablet you could buy from a wholesaler, the gadget is blisteringly cheap compared to highly specialized military hardware. The handheld device used to build the stealth-detector rings in at less than $68,600 online, meaning the Chinese military could very easily roll these out to its troops en masse, potentially lowering the threat of a first strike. Meanwhile, the hardware it's meant to detect — like the B-2 stealth bomber — can cost as much as $2 billion to produce. However, that's presupposing that it actually works and lives up to the researchers' claims. There's also the chance that the US military, or one of its many tech contractors, could find a new solution to avoid being detected. Though the device seemingly has no offensive application, it could be a major defensive tool as the US military under Trump maintains a large presence around China. More on military tech: Pentagon Signs Deal to "Deploy AI Agents for Military Use"
