In most cases, the fifth-generation stealth fighters represented an epochal leap in military aviation technology. The realizations are observable in the Lockheed Martin F-35 family and the F-22 Raptor. The aircraft is designed to meet the divergent needs of the U.S. military branches and allied nations, marked by top features in stealth, speed, and battlefield integration.
The F-35 Lightning II Family: Versatile Stealth Fighters
It is a family of three variants that have been developed with the cooperation of Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, and Pratt & Whitney, especially for the different arms of the U.S. military. The version for the U.S. Air Force is called F-35A, meeting the requirements of conventional takeoff and landing within the military. To date, the F-35A is expected to replace the old F-15 and F-16 fighters. Equipped with advanced battlefield integration, the F-35A will enable pilots to share real-time information with ground forces and other aircraft to improve situational awareness and mission effectiveness.
The U.S. Marine Corps variant, the F-35B, is known as the sole fighter currently operating with short takeoff and vertical landing capabilities. Powering this configuration is a different Pratt & Whitney F135 engine and a Rolls Royce LiftSystem for vertical lift, provided by the lift fan and exhaust engine nozzles, which lets it provide similar mission roles to the AV-8B Harrier II, including supersonic speed and air superiority. Other users of the F-35B were expected to be the Royal Air Force and the Italian Air Force.
The F-35C, tailored to meet the requirements of the U.S. Navy, has some modifications for carrier operations in the form of increased tail area, wing area, and size, folding wings, as well as enhanced landing gear. All these modifications have rendered the F-35C suitable to match the extreme demands of carrier-borne take-offs and landings.
The Unfulfilled Promise of the F-22N Raptor
While the wide F-35 family has achieved great dissemination, the F-22 Raptor, another brainchild of Lockheed Martin, remained a keystone of U.S. air superiority. The F-22, born out of the Advanced Tactical Fighter program, was aimed squarely at tasks that surpassed the most advanced Soviet jet aircraft, such as the Sukhoi Su-27 and Mikoyan MiG-29. A low observability design, high speed, and great agility made the Raptor an even more formidable contestant in the skies.
There was at least a brief stab early in its development cycle at a naval version for the Navy, and under its aegis, the F-22 was christened the F-22N Fighter as part of the Naval Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) program. This version would have had variable-sweep wings to carry the design load for launched and recovered aircraft from carriers. However, the program had been deemed to be too expensive to be continued, and it was consequently canceled in 1991.
The F-22N would have presented some rather serious technical challenges: the fuselage would have needed to be heavier duty to withstand the catapult launches and tailhook landings, and the variable-sweep wing may have compromised the aircraft’s stealth characteristics. None of this stopped the idea of a navy F-22 from being not only immensely tantalizing but also one of the most tantalizing “what-ifs” in the history of military aviation.
Northrop Grumman’s Sixth-Generation Fighter Ambitions
In the future, Northrop Grumman will develop the sixth-generation fighter for the U.S. Air Force, its two main competitors at this point being Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Drawing from its work with the YF-23 Black Widow prototype, which contended for and lost the Advanced Tactical Fighter to the YF-22, the company intends to again help advance the frontiers of fighter design.
While the YF-23 was known to be the superior design, having better stealth and speed, it ultimately lost out to the YF-22 for reasons based on maneuverability. Northrop Grumman’s next-generation fighter offering is assumed to expand on the strengths of the YF-23 while incorporating advanced technologies, such as multi-dimensional thrust vectoring and possibly even direct-energy weaponry.
As the U.S. Department of Defense looks ahead in air combat, there is no doubt that the sixth-generation fighters will shape the next generation in military aviation, building on the legacy of the F-35 and the F-22, while introducing new capabilities and innovations.