The US Air Force is facing two problems as China and Russia develop stealth fighters.
China's J-20 and Russia's Su-57 are cutting edge aircraft that are designed to minimize detection by radar. How do US military pilots test weapons and tactics against planes that are not realistic?
Current US target drones are either Cold War-era, fourth-generation manned aircraft such as the F-4 and the F-16, which have been converted into remote-controlled QF-4 and QF-16 target drones, or sub-scale drones.
The stealth, maneuverability, and defensive systems of fifth- generation aircraft are not mimicked by target drones.
The Air Force is looking for a next-generation target drone that not only resembles a fifth- generation fighter but also emits radar and jamming signals that US pilots would encounter in real combat. It is cheap enough to be blown up during target practice.
According to a Request for Information issued by the Air Force in July, the target drones should be designed to replicate threat aircraft systems that emulate performance, signatures, and countermeasures of enemy aircraft.
A fifth generation target suite should be able to provide a remotely-controlled, destructible asset with radio-frequency and electronic-attack emissions and a radar cross section.
"Remotely controlled targets must be able to autonomously operate, either under remote control by a human operator, or by onboard computers," the RFI says.
The Air Force says these are preliminary requirements, but the initial specifications suggest a much more capable drones.
There should be at least two supersonic dashes at Mach 1.2 for two to four minutes each. Its operating altitude should be from 100 feet up to 50,000 feet, and it must also perform high-G, including a 3G-a-second turn for three seconds.
The design will include jamming and decoys. The ALE-47 is the US military's main airborne countermeasure system, which can detect enemy radar and missiles and respond by launching decoys.
The Air Force wants a craft that can carry 500 pounds of cargo internally and more under the wing.
A typical two-hour test mission in which the target drone flies autonomously for 250 miles to a designated point where it holds position for 10 minutes is described by the Air Force. The drones can land on a runway if they aren't destroyed in combat.
The first models won't be operational until around 2030.
The RFI stresses in bold print that the target drones should be highly affordable.
The Air Force does not appear to be ordering mass quantities. Interested contractors are asked to estimate the cost for full-rate production at a maximum of 12 units per year on an annual procurement basis.
There will be a need for a new generation of test vehicles that can mimic enemy equipment as new technologies are developed to stop advanced weapons. The testing of a weapon is as important as the weapon's performance.
His work has been published in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy Magazine and other publications. He has a masters degree in political science. You can follow him on social networking sites.
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