Tempest | the UK's Next Generation Fighter | Updates & Discussions

[GoMig-21]

Nice article for what is after Tempest ..

A 7th-gen fighter? BAE has thoughts on what that could look like. - Breaking Defense

“We need to lose the generational name because aircraft are going to be evolving all the time," said BAE Systems’ combat air strategy director Mike Baulkwill.

breakingdefense.com

Yep, makes sense. They do need to lose the generational labeling for a while since most of these are really 5th maybe they can be stretched to 6th like the Tempest but really, the only evolution happening is in the software & sensor related features plus the elimination of the horizontal stabilizers. Hardly a step up from 5th generation aircraft if you think about it. But because of the elimination of the H-stabs is a rather drastic change (despite already seeing it in 5th gen designs with the YF-23 and the X-32), it's still enough once you add all the advancements in computers and sensors. Maybe also some elements of the aerodynamics with those new wing designs maybe a new stealth edge incorporated into the fuselage or something like that or a new intake design. So that's fine we can call that a jump in generation to 6th. Other than that, the next generation beyond that needs to be quite drastic, not modular or as in what could be qualified as basically an upgrade.

That said, a drastic shift to something that can be called 7th gen and beyond would have to really be something like a completely autonomous aircraft which is pretty much what he was saying. Not just unmanned, autonomous as in it thinks for itself. That's an appropriate leap.