Graham Warwick Washington

There is no guarantee that the next generation of U.S. tactical aircraft will be fielded, as hoped for, some time around 2030. Instead, the adaptive engine and system technology now being developed will find its home first in upgrades to the Lockheed Martin F-35, the only U.S. fighter in production through the 2020s.

Although aimed at the “next-generation air dominance” platforms being eyed by the U.S. Air Force and Navy, the closely related Advanced Versatile Engine Technology (Advent) and Integrated Vehicle Energy Technology (Invent) programs led by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) are structured to spin off upgrades for the F-35.

And while the F-35 provides a reason to mature adaptive technologies sooner rather than later, the Pentagon is launching a prototyping initiative for the next fighter that includes using the latest automated design tools, modeling and simulation to reduce the chances of inefficient development.

In an early October memo to the Air Force and Navy, Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, outlined plans to begin exploring next-generation air dominance concepts, leading to a prototyping program to be completed within five years. The program is to begin with an 18-month concept definition effort funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), says the memo obtained by Bloomberg News.

“It is not too early to begin consideration of the next generation of capability that will someday complement and eventually replace the F-35,” Kendall says in the memo. “In addition, the F-35 has been the only high-performance vehicle in development in the U.S. for approximately a decade … and I am concerned that our ability to design cutting-edge platforms of this type is already atrophying.”

The effort will be an opportunity for design teams to apply the adaptive technologies and model-based tools being developed under programs like Advent, Invent and Darpa's Adaptive Vehicle Make. AFRL has already selected General Electric and Pratt & Whitney to demonstrate variable-bypass, adaptive-fan engines under the follow-on to Advent, the Adaptive Engine Technology Development (AETD) program.