'Sixth Generation' Fighters Jets Are Already Taking Shape
The jets won't fly for another fifteen years, but are so complicated planning needs to start now.
By Kyle Mizokami
Mar 27, 2017
The United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Japan are all in early planning stages for a so-called "sixth generation" of fighter jets. The jets won't fly until the 2030s, but governments around the world are already exploring designs.
Fifth generation fighters were different from their fourth generation predecessors by incorporating stealth directly into the designs of aircraft, resulting in sleeker planes that carry weapons internally and have a reduced radar signature. The downside is while fifth gen jets are capable of carrying fuel and weapons externally, doing so breaks their carefully designed stealth characteristics. Other features of fifth generation fighters include active electronic scanning array radars and engines powerful enough to cruise above the speed of sound without afterburners.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a25832/sixth-generation-fighter-jets-already-taking-shape/
