While military aviation has continued to develop over the years, perhaps most, if not all, of the significant developments related to stealth and multirole combat aircraft. From Boeing’s YF-118G Bird of Prey to India’s ambitious Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft competition, these advancements have shaped modern air warfare.
The first stealth technology testbed, the YF-118G Bird of Prey was a project developed in the 1990s by Boeing Phantom Works at the highly secretive Area 51. Aside from being an unprecedented combat aircraft, the Bird of Prey was designed in support of exploring and validating new methodologies for reducing the radar cross-section. This aircraft featured a tailless, blended body design highly divergent from conventional aerodynamics, focusing solely on minimizing radar visibility.
Flying 38 times from 1996 onwards, the Bird of Prey flew at an altitude of 20,000 feet with a cruise speed of 300 miles per hour. It had low-performance capability, but during the development stages, it played an important part in developing stealth features now applied to fifth-generation warplanes like the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.
The innovative construction methods used in the Bird of Prey, such as large, single-piece composite structures and early virtual reality design and assembly methods, have since become conventional in modern stealth aircraft designs. The YF-118G Bird of Prey is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, a testament to the aircraft’s value to U.S. stealth capabilities.
Meanwhile, India has embarked on one of the most ambitious military acquisition programs in the world to upgrade its air force strength. In this quest, the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft, more colloquially known, as MRCA competition is looking to supply 126 multi-role combat aircraft to the IAF. This is as the now older fleets of Jaguar, Mirage, and MiG 29 aircraft begin their approach to the end of their operational life.
The Indian Air Force floated a Request for Information in April 2019 to procure 114 fighter jets in a deal worth nearly USD 18 billion. It has to deploy 450 fighter jets along the Pakistani borders by 2035 to achieve the desired 42-squadron strength. Many top guns have entered the competition, including Lockheed Martin’s F-21, Boeing F/A-18, Dassault Aviation Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Russia’s Mig 35, and Gripen of Saab.
Particularly, the Saab JAS 39 Gripen has been individually distinguished for its advanced multirole and net-centric warfare capability. Designed for independent operations of nations in a prolonged conflict, the Gripen offers twice the number of airborne fighters and airtime at half the cost compared to other contemporary fighters. Superior electronic warfare capability offers pilots with a considerable information advantage through greatly enhanced situational awareness and mission success.
Similarly, Saab has indicated the intent to share its GaN technology with India, benefiting both the Gripen program and projects indigenous to India, such as the LCA and AMCA. The Gripen, thus, comes forth as a strong playable chip concerning India’s air dominance requirement of its robustness in systems and decentralized operability.
The Future of Naval and Air Warfare
As technology advances, the modern military drone and uncrewed surface vessels continue to reshape naval and air warfare. New models and new capabilities that have recently been updated include explosive uncrewed surface vessels and advanced stealth fighters such as the Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon. These confirm that the evolution of military technology is continuous, whereby nations have to keep themselves at the edge regarding defense capabilities.
From Boeing’s pioneering stealth technologies showcased through the Bird of Prey to the strategic procurement efforts of India in the MMRCA competition, the future of military aviation is assured of continued improvements with ever-improving capability. This would go a long way in dictating the course of modern warfare as nations jostle for supremacy in the skies.