The United States is examining development of a twin-engined warplane to be known as the F-55, as well as an upgrade to its Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor called the F-22 Super, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday.
Trump was speaking at a meeting of business leaders including the heads of Boeing and GE Aerospace in Doha, a day after announcing a string of business deals including an order from Qatar for 160 Boeing commercial jets.
Trump referred to the F-55 both as an upgrade to the Lockheed F-35 and a new development in comments that appeared to echo talk by the US arms giant of a “best value” alternative, after losing out to Boeing to replace the F-22 superfighter.
He also highlighted the role of the new air dominance platform called the F-47, recently awarded to Boeing, opens new tab, and said the United States was simultaneously looking at upgrading the stealth fighter that it is designed to replace, the F-22.
“We’re going to do an F-55 and – I think, if we get the right price, we have to get the right price – that’ll be two engines and a super upgrade on the F-35, and then we’re going to do the F-22,” Trump said.
“I think the most beautiful fighter jet in the world is the F-22, but we’re going to do an F-22 Super, and it’ll be a very modern version of the F-22 fighter jet,” he said.
“We’re going to be going with it pretty quickly,” he added.
Trump last month awarded Boeing the contract for the F-47 – a replacement for the Lockheed F-22 stealth fighter featuring a crewed aircraft flanked by a cohort of drones and seen as America’s most advanced or sixth-generation fighter.
Lockheed Martin, which lost out to Boeing in that Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) competition and was dropped from a separate contest for a new US Navy stealth jet, has said it is now looking at plans for a “fifth-generation-plus” fighter.
CEO James Taiclet told analysts last month that Lockheed was looking at ways of applying technology developed for its losing bid for the F-47 contract to the F-35, delivering 80% of the capability for half the cost.
“We’re basically going to take the chassis and turn it into a Ferrari,” he told analysts.
A Lockheed spokeswoman said “We thank President Trump for his support of the F-35 and F-22 and will continue to work closely with the Administration to realize its vision for air dominance.”
‘New aircraft’
Lockheed is separately in the midst of a delayed technology and software upgrade for the existing generation of F-35 strike fighter to boost cockpit displays and processing power.
Analysts said it was not immediately clear how Trump’s list of potential developments fitted into known programs and spending plans, or the timing of existing programs.
Agency Partners aerospace analyst Nick Cunningham said the F-55 may alternatively refer to the F/A-XX program, intended to replace the US Navy’s aging Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fleet with the service’s own sixth-generation stealth fighter.
The Navy and Congress are battling with the administration to keep the plans moving forward, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Announcement of a winning bidder had been expected as early as March.
Funding of the radar-evading F-22, which is designed to combat other fighters, has been fiercely debated for years as Congress blocked plans by the Air Force to speed up retirements to focus on the next generation blueprint that became the F-47.
Any significant upgrade to the out-of-production F-22 would be costly, while Trump’s reference to two engines implies the F-55 would not be a straightforward derivative of the single-engined F-35 but imply an ambitious new platform, analysts said.
“Adding an engine to the F-35 makes it a new aircraft,” UK-based defense analyst Francis Tusa said.
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