{"id":59150,"date":"2020-09-17T15:00:17","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T05:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=59150"},"modified":"2020-09-17T14:55:55","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T04:55:55","slug":"mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery US jet shows there\u2019s a faster path to Australia\u2019s future fighter"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The United States has designed, built and flown a prototype of its latest jet fighter at startling speed. Using advanced manufacturing techniques, the US Air Force has taken its \u2018next generation air dominance\u2019, or NGAD, fighter from selection process to a virtual version and then to a flying prototype in just a year.<\/p>\n

By comparison, it took about 20 years to develop the \u2018fifth generation\u2019 F-35 joint strike fighter from initial conceptual studies in 1996 to initial operating capability in 2016.<\/p>\n

William Roper, the USAF\u2019s acquisition leader, told Defense News<\/em><\/a> that the full-scale NGAD prototype flew with mission systems on board.<\/p>\n

The speed of development of the jet previously referred to as the \u2018sixth generation\u2019 fighter demonstrates just how fast the US can produce cutting-edge technology.<\/p>\n

This new experimental \u2018x plane\u2019 is a technology demonstrator and is not yet an operational combat capability. \u00a0Even so, Roper suggests that going down a digital development path would seem to allow the USAF to move \u2018pretty fast\u2019 into actual production.<\/p>\n

Depending on the NGAD\u2019s operational capabilities, and noting that it is not necessarily a single airframe, but more likely a \u2018system of systems\u2019, there could be a justification for moving quickly to develop the fighter sooner, even at the expense of future planned acquisition of the F-35.<\/p>\n

Such a move would have implications for the Royal Australian Air Force. After all, why wait another 20 or 30 years to replace the RAAF\u2019s F-35As with a future fighter, if the US might field a successor later this decade?<\/p>\n

This is not a call to scrap the RAAF\u2019s acquisition of the F-35A. We should still acquire our planned 72 jets, and these aircraft are likely to be the centrepiece of RAAF air combat capability through to 2040.<\/p>\n

The RAAF should see digital development as a potential opportunity<\/a> to ensure Australia is not left behind as the next generation of combat aircraft appear. Buying into such a program makes much more sense than remaining entrenched in a 20-year acquisition cycle based on a single airframe.<\/p>\n

Defence needs to seize opportunities to try new approaches that enhance the RAAF\u2019s technological advantage in strike and air combat capability, and which could also increase the number of air combat capabilities it has. The result should be a larger, more powerful and more technologically advanced RAAF able to hold a major power adversary at bay at much greater range and with greater speed and precision. Seizing these opportunities would deliver capability faster and with more rapid innovation and boost our ability to deter and to burden-share with key allies.<\/p>\n

The digital development path offers us a fantastic opportunity to embrace rapid innovation cycles, and support a paradigm suggested by the proposed \u2018digital century series\u2019<\/a> that will likely be the basis for future USAF combat aircraft.<\/p>\n

Instead of waiting 20 years for a new boutique fighter at great cost, digital development allows us to acquire a range of new platforms, perhaps in smaller numbers and with greater role specialisation, and then to evolve generations of those platforms over shorter periods. Rather than trying to sustain airframes for 20 to 30 years, we should accept that they will have shorter operational lives\u2014perhaps 10 years\u2014and they\u2019ll be replaced by newer and more capable platforms sooner.<\/p>\n

The same approach can be applied to other military capabilities. The application of digital development and \u2018fourth industrial revolution\u2019 technologies could allow Australia to dive more deeply into building sovereign defence capability in areas such as sensors, long-range missile systems, autonomous platforms, space assets and even naval vessels.<\/p>\n

The digital development path also brings back the welcome prospect of increased competition in the aerospace sector. Digital development opens up military aerospace in the same way that the space sector is seeing start-ups and new actors like SpaceX and Blue Origin challenging the major companies. The technology is not nation-specific and, as Australia\u2019s vibrant space sector<\/a> is demonstrating, anyone can play. Is there any reason why a new approach to developing air combat capability would be confined to prime contractors or limited to US companies? Why shouldn\u2019t Australian companies contribute new concepts and designs into the mix for Australia, the US and other partners?<\/p>\n

Cost matters a great deal. The F-35 has been under development since 1996 at great expense, and such a long lead time demands a long service life to generate financial returns to the contractor through high sustainment costs. The RAAF\u2019s F-35As are likely to be in service through to the 2040s and the 2020 force structure plan<\/a> suggests an evaluation of its replacement won\u2019t happen until the late 2030s.<\/p>\n

The systems and software on the F-35 will be modernised over its life, but in 2040 we\u2019ll still be flying the same aircraft that we are taking delivery of now. In contrast, the digital century model of rapid procurement and innovation involves a higher upfront development cost over a much shorter period, but far cheaper sustainment costs because we replace aircraft sooner. The money saved on sustainment would then be invested in the rapid advancement of new technologies.<\/p>\n

The upside is much faster development of new operational capabilities rather than sinking ever growing amounts into sustaining older aircraft while adversaries find ways to erode our technological edge. We have a better chance of keeping pace in a technological race through rapid digital development rather than sticking with an outdated acquisition mindset.<\/p>\n

The news that the USAF is now flying a demonstrator for NGAD\u2014after only a year of development\u2014shows there\u2019s an alternative path to traditional acquisition of advanced capability that the RAAF should not discount.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United States has designed, built and flown a prototype of its latest jet fighter at startling speed. Using advanced manufacturing techniques, the US Air Force has taken its \u2018next generation air dominance\u2019, or NGAD, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":59155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[166,225,271,726,655],"class_list":["post-59150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-air-combat","tag-air-power","tag-f-35","tag-raaf","tag-usaf"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMystery US jet shows there\u2019s a faster path to Australia\u2019s future fighter | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mystery US jet shows there\u2019s a faster path to Australia\u2019s future fighter | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The United States has designed, built and flown a prototype of its latest jet fighter at startling speed. Using advanced manufacturing techniques, the US Air Force has taken its \u2018next generation air dominance\u2019, or NGAD, ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-17T05:00:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-17T04:55:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/f35a1709.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"801\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Malcolm Davis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Malcolm Davis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/f35a1709.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/f35a1709.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":801},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/\",\"name\":\"Mystery US jet shows there\u2019s a faster path to Australia\u2019s future fighter | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-17T05:00:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-17T04:55:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/004d5acd1b50c90b8d3af1ddfe0146e7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mystery US jet shows there\u2019s a faster path to Australia\u2019s future fighter\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/004d5acd1b50c90b8d3af1ddfe0146e7\",\"name\":\"Malcolm Davis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e30138c7970d42c9a573bddc38c3101b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e30138c7970d42c9a573bddc38c3101b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Malcolm Davis\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/malcolm-davis\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mystery US jet shows there\u2019s a faster path to Australia\u2019s future fighter | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mystery US jet shows there\u2019s a faster path to Australia\u2019s future fighter | The Strategist","og_description":"The United States has designed, built and flown a prototype of its latest jet fighter at startling speed. Using advanced manufacturing techniques, the US Air Force has taken its \u2018next generation air dominance\u2019, or NGAD, ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2020-09-17T05:00:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-17T04:55:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":801,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/f35a1709.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Malcolm Davis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Malcolm Davis","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/f35a1709.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/f35a1709.jpg","width":1200,"height":801},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/","name":"Mystery US jet shows there\u2019s a faster path to Australia\u2019s future fighter | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2020-09-17T05:00:17+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-17T04:55:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/004d5acd1b50c90b8d3af1ddfe0146e7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/mystery-us-jet-shows-theres-a-faster-path-to-australias-future-fighter\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mystery US jet shows there\u2019s a faster path to Australia\u2019s future fighter"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/004d5acd1b50c90b8d3af1ddfe0146e7","name":"Malcolm Davis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e30138c7970d42c9a573bddc38c3101b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e30138c7970d42c9a573bddc38c3101b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Malcolm Davis"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/malcolm-davis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59150"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59153,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59150\/revisions\/59153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}