전투기 F/A-XX, 기존 전투기 대비 항속거리 증가가 25%에 그쳐?

[위종민]

F/A-XX가 스팅레이 무인 공중급유기의 지원을 전제로 설계해 기존 전투기 대비 항속거리가 25% 정도만 늘어난다는 얘기가 있네요. 이래도 되나? 

미 해군 차세대 전투기 F/A-XX, 기존 대비 항속거리 25% 증가 예정

미국 해군이 개발 중인 차세대 스텔스 전투기 F/A-XX는 현재 운용 중인 전술 전투기보다 항속거리가 25% 증가할 것으로 예상됩니다. 이는 해군이 항공모함 전단의 작전 반경 확대를 우선시하는 상황에서 다소 놀라운 수치로 받아들여집니다. F/A-XX는 MQ-25 스팅레이 무인 공중급유기의 지원을 전제로 설계되고 있으며, 이를 통해 작전 유연성을 높일 계획입니다. 현재 보잉과 노스럽 그러먼이 F/A-XX 개발 경쟁을 벌이고 있으며, 승자는 곧 발표될 예정입니다.

F/A-XX Will Have Just 25% More Range Than Existing Navy Fighters

F/A-XX Will Have Just 25% More Range Than Existing Navy Fighters

FA-XX will have much less range than some may have hoped for, even though extending the carrier strike group's reach is a top Navy priority.

Joseph Trevithick

Published Apr 7, 2025 6:27 PM EDT

208

Boeing

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The U.S. Navy expects its future F/A-XX sixth-generation stealth fighters to offer just a 25 percent increase in range over the existing tactical combat jets in its carrier air wings. The disclosure comes as a surprise given that the service consistently makes it clear that extending the reach of its carrier strike groups is a critical priority as the range of expected threats also continues to grow. F/A-XX is also being designed around the availability of the organic aerial refueling capabilities that will come with the carrier-based MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone, which is expected to have significant range as TWZ has just explored in a new in-depth feature.

Navy Rear Adm. Michael “Buzz” Donnelly, head of the Air Warfare Division within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, talked about the expected range and other features of the F/A-XX with TWZ and other outlets on the sidelines of the Navy League’s Sea Air Space 2025 exhibition earlier today. Following the reported ejection of Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman are now said to be face-to-face in the F/A-XX competition, the winner of which is expected to be announced soon.

A Boeing rendering of notional next-generation stealth carrier-based fighters. Boeing

F/A-XX will offer “probably over 125 percent of the range that we’re seeing today to give us better flexibility operational reach,” Donnelly said. “So it will definitely have longer inherent range.”

Donnelly was subsequently asked explicitly if this meant “25 percent more capacity before you start adding in refueling,” to which he said “yeah, affirm[itive].”

Donnelly did not offer any specifics, but the F-35C carrier-based variant of the Joint Strike Fighter has the longest combat radius of any tactical jet in the Navy’s current carrier air wings, which U.S. military sources put at around 670 nautical miles (close to 1,241 kilometers). This, in turn, would put the F/A-XX’s expected maximum combat radius at roughly 837.5 nautical miles (just over 1,551 kilometers)

An F-35C, in the foreground, along with two F/A-18 Super Hornets, on the deck of the US Navy supercarrier USS Carl Vinson in 2021. USN Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeffrey Kempton

F/A-XX will, “of course, have refuel ability, and all of our air wings, our tactics, and what we’re designing in the future considers organic refueling capability, so the F/A-XX will be able to leverage that,” Donnelly added. “With refueling, you could say that’s indefinite [range], as long as refueling is available.”

Otherwise, F/A-XX will be able to “penetrate threat airspace. That will pace the threat that we see into the future beyond 2040. So that’s what we see as essential as the threat builds out its ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] capabilities and increases kinetic capabilities,” Donnelly also said. The sixth-generation carrier-based fighter “will also, with the integration of AI [artificial intelligence] and other technical advantages, allow us to have increased battle space management. And it will be our next platform that, instead of being man-in-the-loop, will truly be man-on-the-loop, and allow us to have fully integrated architecture with our unmanned systems that we’re going to be fielding.”

Donnelly specifically mentioned teaming F/A-XX with future Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), which could include types operated by the Navy and the U.S. Air Force, as well as larger uncrewed aircraft like the MQ-25. Acting as aerial ‘quarterback’ for drones has long been a key expected mission for F/A-XX, as well as the Air Force’s forthcoming F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) combat jet from Boeing. The Navy also has a now long-standing goal to deploy carrier air wings that are at least 60 percent uncrewed by the 2040s. The MQ-25 is set to serve as a ‘pathfinder’ for expanding uncrewed aircraft operations from Navy carriers and could itself evolve into a long-range multi-mission platform as you can read more about in detail here.

As mentioned already, the revelation today about the F/A-XX’s range is particularly notable. Donnelly himself described the jet’s expected tactical reach as “an essential attribute,” despite it being a modest increase over existing capabilities. This all might also point a focus on higher performance or an aircraft that could be truncated in some way to help lower costs.

Regardless, the Navy is already facing a threat ecosystem full of potential adversaries, especially near-peer ones like China, that can engage friendly forces in the air, at sea, and on the ground, further and further away. Just in January, the Air Force released a report that warned about the projected fielding of anti-air missiles with ranges of up to 1,000 miles by 2050.

For the Navy, this increases the demand to extend the reach of the carrier air wing to help reduce the vulnerability of the entire strike group. Many had expected F/A-XX to have a much larger combat radius than the service’s existing tactical jets for this reason, which would help further extend the buffer against future threats. The Navy has separately expressed an interest in finding new ways to extend the unrefueled reach of its F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and its EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jets.

USN

“Carriers, with their ability to move over 700 miles a day, creating 1.5 million square miles of uncertainty, that is an element of survivability that will continue to be extremely important,” Donnelly also said at a separate panel discussion at the Sea Air Space 2025 exhibition today. “And what will increase is the range and reach that our future air wings will provide.”

“Today, we have the ability, with the combination of the F-18 [F/A-18E/F] and the EA-18G Growler, as well as the F-35 and our weapons for an operational range that provides us an area of effect of over eight million square miles,” he continued. “And when we look to the 2040s, with the integration of MQ-25 to provide organic refueling, platforms such as F/A-XX with extended range, the weapons we expect to field at that time, we expect that area of effect [to] increase to over 11 million square miles.”

“That area of effect is important, because that’s also the area of uncertainty for the air wing that enhances the survivability of the strike group, but it’s also the tactical reality combined with the attributes of those platforms that allow us to penetrate into complex [environments], [with] ubiquitous ISR that the threat will continue to field, and be selective in our targeting so that we can be efficient and persist longer,” the rear admiral added.

The US Navy aircraft carriers USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan, together with elements of their respective strike groups, seen together in the South China Sea in 2020. USN

More clarity about the F/A-XX’s overall capabilities, as well as how the aircraft fits into the Navy’s broader carrier strike group plans, is likely to emerge when the winner of the competition is finally announced. We do know now that the service expects the sixth-generation stealth fighters, at least currently, to bring a relatively minor increase in unrefueled range to its future carrier air wings.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

[백선호]

항모의 크기에 따른 제한을 고려하면 그 정도가 최대여서 그런 것 아닐까요?

[위종민]

F-14가 F-35C보다 약간 큰데 280gal 드랍탱크 두 개 달고 DLI시에 915해리(F-14A), 656해리(F-14D)네요. ( https://www.globalaircraft.org/planes/f-14_tomcat.pl )

F-14만한 사이즈로 나올 것 같은데 드랍탱크 없이 최대 837해리면 저 당시보다 늘어나긴 했네요.

[백선호]

“Carriers, with their ability to move over 700 miles a day, creating 1.5 million square miles of uncertainty, that is an element of survivability that will continue to be extremely important,” Donnelly also said at a separate panel discussion at the Sea Air Space 2025 exhibition today. “And what will increase is the range and reach that our future air wings will provide.”

하루에 700 NM 이동하면 1시간에 29 NM니까 29노트로 계속 달리는 것이네요.

[위종민]

항모나 잠수함은 그렇게 달릴 수 있겠지만 순양함이나 구축함, 보급함들은...

[ssn688]

늘어봤자 A-6 정도려나요. (먼 산) 물론 A-6는 항속거리가 줄어드는 저고도침투 아니면 적지에 진입조차 못하겠지만요. ; 이러다 다시 "원자력 함대" 구상이 나올지도!!

[위종민]

A-6가 878해리였으니 딱 그 정도... 30년 전 취소된 A-12가 아쉽겠습니다 ㅎㅎㅎ

[백선호]

30년 전 AX와 A-6의 비교 내용입니다.

http://cafe.daum.net/NTDS/515G/3532

[강준구]

오히려 이런 크기 제약이 작전 능력 제약으로 이어져서, 수출 상품으로 나올 것도 같습니다. F-47은 수출용이 아니고, F-35 후속은 무인기가 될지도 모르고 또 F-35 후속 기체보다 훨씬 먼저 나올테니까요.