Fifth Generation Fighters and their Role in US Air Domination

Sunday - October 8 2023, 01:12 UTC - 1 year ago

The fifth generation fighters (F-22/F-35) of the US, Russia, and China have yet to show major success in any air combat operations, however the possibility of using drones as wingmen with the 5th gen aircrafts might change the picture. The US is further supported by their fourth generation fighters which have been successful in recent operations. Meanwhile, Russia and China have largely relied on their inferior Russian-based aircrafts and have yet to use their own 5th gen planes for operations.

The Air Force last year awarded contracts worth nearly $1 billion each to aircraft manufacturers Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to work on prototyping NGAD engines and to do some airframe work. It will be either Boeing or Lockheed as Northrop Grumman has said they will not continue NGAD. Grumman will focus on the Navy F-A/XX 6th gen fighter.

The fourth generation fighters (F15, F16, F18s) and old bombers (B-52 and B1B) have performed almost all of the fighting for the US for the past four decades. The F-22 and F-35 have barely performed any actual combat missions. The roughly 200 F-22s had one mission which was to shoot down the recent China spy balloon. The fourth generation planes have had thousands of missions in the first Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq war and in the many years of the Iraq and Afghanistan operations. The F117 had some usage in Panama, Kosovo war and in the Gulf war.

The F-35 was first used in combat in 2018 by the Israeli Air Force. The U.S. Marine Corps conducted its first F-35B combat mission over Afghanistan in 2018. The F-35 has been used in about six combat operations. The F-35 first flew in 2006 and entered service with the U.S. Marine Corps in July 2015. The U.S. Air Force F-35A entered service in August 2016, and the U.S. Navy F-35C entered service in February 2019.

Actual US Air domination for the past four decades has come from the B2, B1B, F117, F16, F15 and F18.

The fifth generation F-22 and F-35 can claim to be superior in war games and simulated combat, but not in actual operations.

The 1,000 planned collaborative combat aircraft (drone wingmen) could actually make the F-22 and F-35 usable. The drones would be able to go into risky situations to launch weapons without risking the F-22 and F-35 or B2 bombers they are flying with.

This will then transition to the new sixth generation fighters and new stealth bombers with better computers and communications to coordinate more fast drones.The Russian planes and air force have proven to be vastly inferior in the Ukraine war.

80% of China’s modern planes are based upon the Russian fighters.

The Russian stealth fighter has not been used in the Ukraine War.

China has not been using the advanced J-20 stealth in any of its operations flying around and near Taiwan.

The fifth generation for the US, Russia and China have yet to show major usefulness in any combat situation.