Margarita Robles visits the Spanish pavilion at the Paris Air Show, where 35 Spanish aeronautical companies showcased their Revista Española de Defensa 9 The challenge that European manufacturers face goes beyond the limits of anything existing today and it is close to what some could consider science-fiction. But the exponential growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the massive big data analysis and management is going to enable a 6th generation manned fighter aircraft to interrelate with very different weapon systems required to be hyperconnected and to work in correct synchrony. The contribution of AI and big data is going to be decisive for the success of the project. It is a disruptive technology that is essential to manage dozens of thousands of data that will allow pilots to have a better knowledge of the tactical situation of the environment and succeed in every mission. But, most of all, the largest contribution of AI will be to allow to understand the enormous data and information flow acquired by numerous sensors, the ultimate aim of which is to present the most efficient options on the pilot’s screen. For instance, the future 6th generation fighter aircraft will be surrounded, physically or digitally, by swarms of reconnaissance drones and rocket launchers, radar surveillance aircraft, strategic projection and air-to-air refuelling aircraft, as well as electronic warfare equipment. At the same time, it will bay advanced electronic conversations with cruise missiles launched from aircraft, submarines, surface ships, as well as with cutting-edge tanks… and so on. MULTITASK The full range of operational tasks now being studied and being assigned to the NGWS concept include tactical and strategic reconnaissance, air superiority and deterrence missions. But also those linked to combat actions in asymmetric conflicts, long distance penetration in enemy territory and attack on ships. And if this were not enough, the NGF meets the requirement of being embarkable. This means that it can perform missions from the flight deck of a great surface ship to replace the Marine version of the Rafale fighter aircraft permanently based on the French atomic carrier Charles De Gaulle. As the system’s main aerial platform, the technologies that should be incorporated into the NGF are going to require servicemen and engineers to find the maximum balance between furtivity, speed and its combat and strike capability. In order to achieve this stealth aircraft and make it undetectable to cutting-edge radars, its radar equivalent section must be practically imperceptible. This requires a design without shapes producing echoes on the radar screen, but it also requires eliminating external pylons to secure missiles, bombs and sensors to be housed in interior bays. Initial studies foresee that NGF squadrons will not conduct assigned missions on their own. The initial forecast is that their strikes will be preceded or accompanied by remotely piloted aircraft, some to carry out reconnaissance missions, others to act as communication relays and others to harass enemy defences and fire missiles against highly protected targets and avoid threatening the lives of the pilots. Juan Pons technological developments. The Armed Forces of the three countries involved expect to have a first demonstrator aircraft in 2026 MDE
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