China last week tested a jet that could in a decade rival America’s F-22, currently the world’s only stealth fighter jet. But that does not mean that the U.S. is standing still in developing new aircraft to maintain its air superiority.
Despite proposing a new budget that will cut about $100 billion from the Pentagon over the next five years, Defense Secretary Robert Gates took care to fund a new generation of bombers, jets with radar jamming capabilities and killer drones that are far more advanced than the current fleet, according to an article in Wired online.
Below is Wired's assessment on what’s included in the proposed budget to strengthen the military’s air capabilities:
- The Navy will receive a new crop of Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, along with structural upgrades to 150 older Hornets. This would be a stopgap measure as the Navy awaits the 2016 delivery of the Joint Strike Fighter.
- The Navy will speed up delivery of the Next-Generation Jammer, which will allow jets to confuse enemy radar when they fly in for attacks.
- The Navy will receive extra funding for the Northrop Grumman X-47 drone, giving it a stealth, long-range drone bomber.
- The Air Force gets funding to upgrade radars for 400 of its F-15 fighter jets, giving it the same seeing ability as the F-22 Stealth fighter.
- The Air Force will buy more MQ-9 Reaper drones. For the first time the drones will be funded from the base budget rather than the supplemental war budget.
- The most dramatic proposed change will give the Air Force funding to design and build a new manned bomber. The previous proposal for a bomber to be ready by 2018 failed because it had too many exotic and risky technologies. This time, the plan is to develop a new bomber with proven technologies. This bomber should be ready for delivery in 15 years.
