AHCA (Advanced Heavy Combat Aircraft) concept, 5/5.5/6gen? Su-30MKI replacement? TEDBF 2.0?

[Kedar]

But 6th gen will rely extensively on a large air fleet (swarm) of unmanned wingmen of various types, acting as everything from scouts, vanguards, EW platforms, missile trucks, refuellers to even a type of CIWS drone whose job will be to keep perimeter security around the fleet, carrying a bunch of tiny HTK CIWS missiles and being sacrificable, colliding with incoming threats to protect the fleet if its HTK CIWS missiles run out tackling a saturation attack. A single 6th gen Fighter (or maybe a flight of them) will therefore be the nucleus and will coordinate a sizeable UAV fleet centered around itself.

They may all be sharing sensor data in a hub-spoke topology with very little cross-communication between the UAVs (as they'll likely only share data to maintain formation or conduct manuevers like a swarm). The decisions will likely be made in the manned platform and therefore the bulk of data flow will be to and from the 6th gen fighter.

Current progress in both CPU/GPU, photonic-electronics combination, AI and dense sat constellations are all on the way to get to unmanned side of things both on ground and air and some extent water. But not sure why hub and spoke...it will be more of autonomous and network of hub and spokes if at all. I would imagine laser based AD may see another chance considering the relative uselessness of physical missiles which can be overwhelmed like we already see now. This leads to more powerful portable power generators and better optics. Sophistication you mentioned is at a minimum of 7 to 8th generation. Definitely not 6th, 5th gen is almost dud....really no particularly proven capabilities other than yapping about stealth from ships to tanks to aircrafts. I actually think unmanned drones like predator or globalhawk as more of 5th gen.

 

[Bhartiya Sainik]

The size, shape, weight, structure of AHCA would depend on type & number of weapons it would carry.

LEARNING LESSONS FROM 5GEN JETS F-22, F-35, Su-57
New gen jets would require new gen weapons with modified shape & folding fins, perhaps a different attck profile, like F-22 & F-35 will get MAKO, AGM-88E AARGM-ER, Kh-58UShKE, etc.
For example it is not possible or feasible for Su-57 to carry like big missile even if its tandem IWBs are joined.


We see that IWBs of both F-22 & Su-57 have some disadvantage.
Su-57 carries only 4 AAMs currently, may be 6 in future.
F-22 cannot carry weapon bigger than JDAM currently. MLU might add something.


Su-57 can carry cruise missle, Kh-58UShKE internally.


A bigger collage shows some current weapons fit, some don't.


A new jet can combine both capability by having multiple IWBs. the centerline IWB will carry customized CrM, AShM, ARM, etc.
And 2 parallel IWBs can carry 2 AAMs each, total 4.
If we imagine a modified diagram of Su-57 & F-22 then it would look like following:
NOTE - This is just preliminary & notional, otherwise the engines & internal components will obviously have to be adjusted.


The following is 1 of the many examples already created by CAD artist Rodrigo Avella in his vision of F/A-XX :
The IWB bottom edge would be wider than F-22.