The U.S. Air Force's Sixth Generation Fighter

What Will a Sixth Generation Fighter Look Like? No One Knows, Says ACC Commander -- Aol Defense

WASHINGTON: We aren't quite finished developing and producing our fifth generation aircraft, the F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters, but their time is already running out, the head of Air Combat Command said today. And work has not really begun on a sixth generation aircraft.

Gen. Mike Hostage, the ACC commander, told an audience of more than 300 at the Center for International and Strategic Studies I guess the U.S. Air Force is operating on hope., that America's fifth generation aircraft were projected to maintain their superiority through 2030. Since the Marines' version of the F-35 won't achieve Initial Operating Capability until 2015, and the contract for the plane was awarded in 2001, this would seem to raise the question: can we build a sixth generation in time to deploy it roughly around the time fifth generation fighters' superiority wanes?

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Update #1: ACC chief hints at 6th gen fighter -- Air Force Times
Update #2: U.S. Air Combat Command Chief Hints at 6th Gen Fighter -- Defense News

My Comment: With no money in the budget, I cannot see this program even starting in the next decade or two.

Boeing’s Sixth-Generation Fighter

Boeing’s Sixth-Gen Fighter -- Defense Tech

Here’s a little update on this fighter design we showed you yesterday. It is indeed Boeing’s concept for a sixth-gen “air dominance” fighter for the U.S. Navy and Air Force, Daryl Davis, chief of Boeing’s Phantom Works division told me today. The plane, which is still just a concept, would have long-ranger range and fly at “higher mach numbers” (faster) than jets like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and be able to supercruise, according to Davis.

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My Comment: Lockheed may disagree, and Northrop has its own ideas. But what caught my eye in this post was that Boeing's Phantom Ray drone is being put into storage.