The Air Force's Secret Next Gen Air Dominance Demonstrator Isn't What You Think It Is

[rangerrebew]

The Air Force's Secret Next Gen Air Dominance Demonstrator Isn't What You Think It Is
Like the future of air combat in general, there are lots of misconceptions about the secret technology demonstrator and the program it belongs to.
By Tyler RogowaySeptember 21, 2020
 

Tyler RogowayView Tyler Rogoway's Articles
Aviation_Intel

There has been a ton of press about a Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) demonstrator of some type having already been designed and flown even as the program is still supposedly in its conceptual stages. While this sounds exciting, and it is, I think there may be a chasm between reality and what is being circulated even days after the news initially hit. Most importantly, it is very unlikely that this new 'demonstrator' is a 'fighter,' at least as we would traditionally define it.

The e-Plane Revolution The Air Force Wants

Let's start with where this all came from. The news originated from an address from the Air Force's acquisition chief, Will Roper, to the Air Force Association's main annual symposium, this year's iteration being virtual, which was remarkably on-brand for his presentation. In it, he talked about ushering in a new era where rapid design and experimentation of new aircraft and air combat concepts, including the 'manufacturing' and 'flight testing' of them will occur primarily in the digital realm.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36509/the-air-forces-secret-next-gen-air-dominance-demonstrator-isnt-what-you-think-it-is

[unite for individuality]

...he talked about ushering in a new era where rapid design and experimentation of new aircraft and air combat concepts, including the 'manufacturing' and 'flight testing' of them will occur primarily in the digital realm.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36509/the-air-forces-secret-next-gen-air-dominance-demonstrator-isnt-what-you-think-it-is

In the 1990s, the Air Force decided to shut down all their wind tunnels
(including the hypersonic wind tunnels)
because they could do the same work by computer simulation.

They decided this before they even had a theory of hypersonic aerodynamics,
let alone a computer model of hypersonic aerodynamics!

[SZonian]

Flight testing in a "digital realm" 

...dude needs to change his crack dealer 'cause he's smoking some really bad $hit.

They claimed the F35 didn't need actual flight testing and were forced to...look at the sheer number of problems it exposed.

Bunch of damned fools buying into the BS today's aerospace "wonderkids" are pushing.

[SZonian]

In the 1990s, the Air Force decided to shut down all their wind tunnels
(including the hypersonic wind tunnels)
because they could do the same work by computer simulation.

They decided this before they even had a theory of hypersonic aerodynamics,
let alone a computer model of hypersonic aerodynamics!

Contractors do it now...hasn't gone away.

[DB]

The future is going to be something far different than we expect.

Probably small drone bomb swarms released by larger aircraft that overwhelm defenses with shear numbers. EMP is probably the only way to stop that and that will probably stop your stuff too...