미국해군용으로 몰래 개발되고 있는 장거리 공격기

[백선호]

예산 문서에서 아무런 추가 설명이 없는 단 한 줄과 3억 달러가 드러났는데 그냥 미국해군이 쓸 “long-range strike aircraft”라고 합니다. F/A-XX는 아니고요. 무인일 가능성이 있어서 여기에 올립니다.

https://aviationweek.com/defense/aircraft-propulsion/debrief-classified-us-navy-strike-aircraft-project-possibly-breaks

Debrief: Classified U.S. Navy Strike Aircraft Project Possibly Breaks Cover | Aviation Week Network

Debrief: Classified U.S. Navy Strike Aircraft Project Possibly Breaks Cover

Steve Trimble July 21, 2025

Secrecy over military aircraft sometimes is more complicated than a straightforward dividing line between the labels of “black” and “white”—or if you like, “classified” and “unclassified.”

Some U.S. military aircraft occupy a boundless gray area of partial disclosure. Call it “semi-classified.”

The existence of these aircraft is acknowledged somewhere in the public record, but without elaboration. This column, for example, has mined the public record about the classified, “highly complex aerodynamic challenge” referred to repeatedly in Lockheed Martin financial reports, as well as the Northrop Grumman “RQ-180” project found in court documents filed by an alleged U.S. Air Force whistleblower.

And now, a new semi-classified project has come to light, albeit dimly: a “long-range strike aircraft” for the U.S. Navy. That terse description appeared for the first time without elaboration in the Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, along with a $300 million line item for development, procurement and integration. It was likely not the first or only allocation for the program. More likely, the Senate version unmasked a line item in a previously classified account.

The disclosure implies the carrier air wing of the future is more diverse, and possibly more powerful, than expected. In addition to a notional plan for the F/A-XX multirole fighter (and proposed Boeing F/A-18E/F replacement), the Lockheed Martin F-35C multirole fighter, the Northrop E-2D airborne early warning aircraft, the Boeing MQ-25 uncrewed refueler and the Sikorsky MH-60R/S helicopter, the future carrier also may operate with a purpose-designed long-range strike aircraft.

Our search of the public record reveals no further evidence of the Navy’s formerly secret long-range strike aircraft program. It remains unclear whether the aircraft is crewed or uncrewed, and when it may appear on the decks of future aircraft carriers.

The concept, however, reminds this columnist of a 2018 report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Analysis (CSBA). The Washington-based think tank’s 170-p. monograph, entitled “Regaining the High Ground at Sea: Transforming the U.S. Navy’s Carrier Air Wing for Great Power Competition,” recommended that the Navy should invest in such an aircraft.

Indeed, the report placed such a “long-range multi-mission survivable unmanned combat air vehicle” (UCAV) as the dominant platform of the future carrier air wing, with its 18 strike aircraft and six electronic attack variants outnumbering a recommended mix of two squadrons of F/A-XX and F-35Cs with 10 fighters each.

The CSBA analysts also distinguished the role of the UCAV from the MQ-25 carrier-based tanker. While the report also urged the Navy to add a limited strike role to the MQ-25, the authors still expected the refueler to be less advanced, allowing the type to “complement UCAVs when the risk is acceptable.”

Between UCAVs and MQ-25s, the report’s recommended air wing of 62 aircraft would include 36 uncrewed platforms, constituting about 58% of the future carrier air wing. That number almost precisely aligns with the Navy’s goal announced in 2022 of populating the future carrier air wing with at least 60% uncrewed aircraft. The Navy also is pursuing the development of tactical-sized collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) for future carrier decks, but has been light on details so far.

If the CSBA analysis is correct, the projected UCAV would be large for an aircraft carrier deck, but presumably still light enough to be launched with the 80,000-lb. weight limit for a Ford-class carrier. The report describes the UCAV with a notional range of 3,000 nm (3,450 mi.), with internal bays large enough to carry the strike missiles available to tactical fighters and perhaps other new technologies, such as directed-energy weapon systems.

The Navy also has paved the way for integrating new UCAVs onto the carrier deck. In one of the surprise moves of the MQ-25 program, the Navy decided 2 1/2 years after contract award to cancel Boeing’s role in developing the ground control system. 

Instead, the Navy decided to develop the Unmanned Carrier Aviation mission control system powered by Lockheed Martin’s Multi-Domain Control System software. This command-and-control system is being designed to operate all new uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) on aircraft carriers in the future, although MQ-25 remains the only acknowledged platform in the Navy’s unclassified plans.

Thanks to the Senate’s disclosure, the public’s understanding of the future carrier air wing looks very different than it did only a month ago. Confirmed details are still scant, but the recent historical pattern suggests the Navy has a powerful new tool coming into existence.

[ssn688]

3000nm짜리 공격기에서 유/무인 여부가 문제이지, 당연히 함재기일 걸로 여겨지나 봅니다?? 미국 조선업×포드급 꼴을 보면 항모 포기하고 기지 항공대에 의존하는 소련해군 신세가 그려집니다만... ; 3000nm이면 마셜군도(그 중에서도 서쪽인 콰잘레인...) 부근에서 복건성 해안이나 상해를 커버하겠네요.

[백선호]

아메리칸 백파이어!!! ㅋㅋㅋ

[ssn688]

3000nm이 radius가 아닌 range라면, 이오지마나 민다나오 부근에서 상해 다녀올 정도겠네요;;; 하긴 radius라면 함재기인 게 신기하겠죠;;;
https://aviationweek.com/podcasts/check-6/podcast-what-you-can-expect-fa-xx-decision
>Admiral Donnelly also told me back in November, is that they can't afford to go to those highly specialized single-mission type designs.
>And really, between the F-35C and whatever F/A-XX becomes, we're going to have two different multirole fighters on the deck. That's a little surprising to me.
이랬는데... AWIN은 배신감 느끼겠습니다(!!).