American aeronautical experts, using digital engineering technology, have shown what a Generation 5 fighter, dubbed the F-36 Kingsnake, might look like, Popular Mechanics reported.
In particular, the new aircraft received an F119 turbojet bypass engine with an afterburner and a controlled thrust vector, which is equipped with the current fifth-generation fighter F-22 Raptor, and an AN / APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) radar with an active phased antenna array ( AFAR), which is used on the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
The concept of the F-36 Kingsnake multi-role fighter involves the use of air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, placed in the inner compartment and on external suspensions, as well as aerial bombs.
The publication writes that the aircraft meets the basic requirements that the US Air Force (Air Force) imposes on a fighter intended to replace the F-16 Fighting Falcon. According to Popular Mechanics, the F-36 Kingsnake has all the characteristics of a fifth-generation fighter except stealth.
In February, the F-15EX Advanced Eagle, considered the most armed fighter in the world, took off for the first time.
In September 2020, Will Roper, serving as Assistant Procurement to the Secretary of the Air Force, stated that the Pentagon, under the secrecy of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, designed, built and at least once flew an X-plane demonstrator, under which means, in particular, a new generation unmanned or manned aircraft, including a sixth generation fighter.
