JULY/AUGUST AIRFORCEMAG.COM to be housed internally, because any external store becomes
a major radar re ector, even when shaped and coated to
reduce its radar signature.
Early on, designers had to make compromises between
aerodynamic performance and stealth, because the multi-fac-
eted shape required to scatter radar energy runs counter to
the design considerations needed to maximize aerodynamic
maneuverability. But neither the F-22 nor F-35 compro-
mise performance to become “very low observable (VLO).”
anks to advanced computer processing, lessons learned
from earlier stealth designs, and innovative radar-absorbing
materials, these fth-generation aircraft deliver “all-aspect
stealth” while still exceeding the air combat maneuverability
of fourth-generation ghters. As a result, neither the F-22 nor
F-35 have to be predictable in their ight path maneuvering.
In a dense and highly dynamic threat environment, they can
aggressively react to threats or prosecute targets.
Importantly, stealth is much more than minimizing the
RCS of an aircraft. Passive sensors have improved in sen-
sitivity and capability over the years, making traditional
omni-directional radios a major vulnerability. Fifth-gener-
ation aircraft must have low probability of detection (LPD)
and low probability of intercept (LPI) radios and data links.
Directionally focused with low power and narrow beam
width, LPD and LPI transmissions make it extremely di cult
for adversaries to exploit fth-generation aircraft radios and
data links for targeting or even early warning. Fifth-genera-
tion aircraft automatically manage the power and direction
of their own sensors and rely upon passive sensors as well.
BATTLESPACE AWARENESS, DECISION SUPERIORITY
A fth-generation aircraft’s game-changing characteris-
tics are also attributable to its power to gather, process, and
harness information. While some fourth-generation aircraft
may feature elements of this technology, the sheer volume
and quality of information available to a fth-generation
pilot dramatically increases combat mission eectiveness.
Combining data from o-board sources and the aircraft’s own
array of multispectral active and passive sensors, a powerful
central computer uses sophisticated algorithms to correlate,
compare, evaluate, and fuse information into a highly ac-
curate, real-time situational awareness picture. According
to two experienced fth-generation Air Force pilots, the
power of fth-generation aircraft to gather, process, exploit,
and share information “turns operators of these advanced
aircraft into mission commanders, rather than having them
focus on managing and operating subsystems.”
Fourth-generation aircraft have loosely federated sen-
sors—their radar systems are separate from data links, which
are also separate from electronic warfare systems and other
components. In a fourth-generation aircraft, pilots must not
only manage each sensor and system individually, but also
interpret the information from each sensor and system and
make sense of the whole—all while ying and maneuvering
the aircraft.
But the advanced sensors in fth-generation aircraft are
automated and require little to no active control from the
pilot. Sensor data is automatically shared with other aircraft
via data link, allowing a collaborative approach where the
aircraft automatically correlate, compare, and ll in the best
information with other aircraft in their ight. e result is a
robust, common battlespace picture shared among all ight
members. With this enhanced situational awareness, pilots
can better execute threat avoidance, target detection, direc-
tion of forces, engagement decisions, and other command
actions. In short, fth-generation aircraft provide superior
information and decision advantage.
“We have more information at our ngertips than other
aircraft,” one F-22 pilot who ew sorties during Operation
Inherent Resolve over Syria explained. “We have an easier
time making big decisions.”
Although modernization has made some legacy aircraft
more capable, fth-generation information fusion cannot be
retro tted to legacy airframes. Fifth-generation information
and sensor fusion must be built into the design of an aircraft
from the beginning.STEALTH AND INFORMATION
Combining stealth with information and decision superi-
ority transforms battlespace awareness into superior initiative
and maneuver, providing a true asymmetric advantage for
fth-generation aircraft over older aircraft designs.
is battlespace initiative is what stealth skeptics tend
to overlook. Stealth increases the aircraft’s probability of
survival while at the same time making defense against
fth-generation aircraft much more di cult for the enemy.
While older, legacy stealth aircraft required a so-called “black
line” of a predetermined ight path to thread in betweenTwo Russian
Sukhoi Su-57
fifth-generation
fighters in 2017.
Russia has
narrowed the
gap between its
capabilities and
those of the US.Photo: Anna Zvereva