- The Pentagon is developing two recent sixth-generation fighter jets set to enter service within the 2030s.
- The 2 defense contractors most certainly to construct the jets have made odd, sometimes teasing statements on social media or posted intriguing images.
- These images may very well be hints of aircraft already flying within the “black” world of secret programs.
Numerous social media posts from defense contractors have doled out some head-scratching clues that might hint at previously unacknowledged aircraft—or aircraft to return.
Each Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, two of America’s premiere aviation defense contractors, have made unusual statements and shown unusual aircraft designs in plain sight. The 2 contractors are regarded as frontrunners for brand new Air Force and Navy fighter programs, leading us to wonder: are we getting glimpses of fighters which are actually already flying somewhere?
The Two NGADs
It’s an exciting time within the defense aviation world. The U.S. Air Navy and Air Force are each developing completely recent, clean-sheet fighter jets, a rare occurrence that hasn’t happened for the reason that Eighties. Each programs are coincidentally called Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, however the aircraft themselves will likely be quite different. The 2 jets will probably be the world’s first sixth-generation fighters, a leap ahead of existing F-22 and F-35 aircraft.
The U.S. Air Force NGAD program will replace the F-22 Raptor and the F-15C Eagle. In September 2020, then-Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Wil Roper announced that a prototype NGAD aircraft had been designed, built, and flown inside only one 12 months, but didn’t provide any details. The Air Force’s NGAD will prioritize range with the intention to fight sweeping aerial battles over the Asia-Pacific, and might be accompanied into battle by two unmanned, AI-powered Collaborative Combat Aircraft. The Air Force wants at the least 200 NGAD fighters at a price of as much as $300 million per aircraft.
Much less is thought concerning the U.S. Navy’s NGAD program. The Navy fighter probably has not flown yet, and if it has, no one is talking. The Navy NGAD will likely also fly into battle with drone wingmen. The jet will likely be multi-role, able to air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, but with capabilities skewed somewhat toward air superiority. It may additionally share some technology with the Air Force NGAD, reminiscent of radar, engines, or avionics, as a cost-sharing move.
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin has made a few hints about recent aircraft. The primary was posted to social media in 2023, as a tie-in with the brand new Top Gun: Maverick movie. The image is outwardly of Darkstar, a fictional hypersonic aircraft that Tom Cruise flies within the movie. Lockheed Martin developed Darkstar for the movie, and it doesn’t exist in real life.
The true tease, nonetheless, comes from the text of the March 12 tweet: “The SR-71 Blackbird remains to be the fastest acknowledged crewed air-breathing jet aircraft.” As some people identified in replies, the word “acknowledged” stands proud like a sore thumb. It sets up the apparent query: is there an unacknowledged crewed air-breathing jet aircraft on the market, built by Lockheed Martin, but operating within the shadows?
One other hint from Lockheed Martin appeared on its Skunk Works Instagram account six days ago. The Instagram Story depicts a series of black-and-white illustrations of known aircraft developed by Lockheed’s Skunk Works division, founded by aviation legend Clarence “Kelly” Johnson; it’s developed numerous classified aircraft over time, including the SR-71 Blackbird and the U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane.
The Story is a fast slideshow of profiles of aircraft and weapons the Skunk Works developed: the SR-71, U-2, F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter, F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II, X-59 experimental aircraft, and the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM). The last profile (shown at top) is an unknown aircraft design. Although not quite a bit might be inferred from the form, it does appear stealthy and it does have a big fuselage—essential for carrying a whole lot of fuel and weapons internally on long flights.
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman, one other major combat aircraft designer and manufacturer, has at the least twice teased a fighter-like aircraft of unknown design. The primary time was in 2022, with a YouTube video titled “From Undersea to Space.” Within the video, a spokeswoman walks the viewer right into a hangar stuffed with known Northrop Grumman aircraft—and one unknown plane on the left (above). The identical aircraft appears in a second video, “She Hawk.” The planes are all CGI renditions, but they’re different in each video. The unknown aircraft, nonetheless, is depicted the exact same.
Educated Guesses
What’s occurring here? Are these actual planes? The most certainly explanation is that the planes are imaginary aircraft that, like Darkstar, were designed or at the least consulted on by real aerospace engineers. A significant defense contractor couldn’t leave the CGI aircraft design to an artist who might make obvious goofs in pursuit of creating a cool-looking fighter jet. That might be a serious embarrassment, so it might make sense to run it by real engineers.
Defense contractors have long made depictions of futuristic aircraft, and sometimes they give the impression of being like the true thing. A Cold War depiction Northrop Grumman produced of the Advanced Tactical Fighter, which was later renamed the F-22 Raptor, looked near the ultimate aircraft that Lockheed Martin produced. Likewise, depictions of flying-wing stealth bombers around the identical time put out by Rockwell International bore an excellent resemblance to the ultimate product produced by rival Northrop Grumman, the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. The resemblance just isn’t surprising given a consulting engineer may know something concerning the program’s requirements, and the necessity to acknowledge stealth in each aircraft depictions would further constrain the boundaries of what an actual aircraft might seem like.
Could either of those planes be the real-life NGAD reportedly undergoing flight tests? Sometimes, the old saying goes, the very best hiding place is in plain sight. Though managers of top-secret weapons programs, answerable for criminal prosecution for revealing secrets, would probably disagree.