The F-36 Is A Long Shot Contender

The F-36 Kingsnake candidate for an F-16 replacement that is less advanced and cheaper than the F-35A is already losing the race, with the F-15EX already on order, prototyped and in production, and a decision slated for 2023. But the rapid digital design process used for the fighter jet candidate designed to get one flying by 2030 is notable.

The U.S. Air Force has expressed interest in a new, non-stealthy fighter jet to replace the F-16. 

Several aviation experts have banded together and invented a new jet out of thin air. 

The result, the F-36 Kingsnake, would use the F-22’s engines, place less of an emphasis on stealth, and use digital engineering. . . .

The average age of the Air Force’s 783 F-16C fighter jets is 28.7 years, making a 20-year development period for a new jet out of the question. Instead, experts wanted a fast design process that froze the plane’s specs within one year and relied on simple construction techniques, but also utilized advanced technologies such as 3D printing if it could get the fighter off assembly lines faster.

Re-using existing technologies would speed up the process. For example, the F-36 uses the F-22 Raptor’s F119 afterburning turbofan engine to achieve a top speed of Mach 2. The Kingsnake is equipped with an AN/APG-83 advanced electronically scanned array radar— the same one used in the latest version of the F-16—and an infrared sensor system derived from the Legion electro-optical targeting pod.

A “Luddite Czar” would prevent new technologies from creeping into the jet, drawing out the jet’s development time and increasing the likelihood Kingsnake would fall behind.

From Popular Mechanics.