Next-gen strike aircraft to have intell capabilities

The follow-on aircraft to the now-discarded Next-Generation Bomber is likely to have key intelligence-gathering capabilities and be able to disrupt enemy networks and sensors, reports David A. Fulghum at Aviation Week.

The long-range strike aircraft envisioned would have intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities, a well as directed-energy and network-attack capabilities, said Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for ISR.

The next-generation strike aircraft is likely to incorporate observations and experience used from operational testing of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s RQ-170 Sentinel. The RQ-170, which has been flying out of Afghanistan, is an unmanned stealth aircraft.

Stealth capabilities that make the aircraft difficult to observe and detect are likely be to incorporated in the long-range strike aircraft’s design, Deptula said. He said it also makes sense to put “find-and-fix” sensors on the same platform.

“Technology has pushed us beyond [the bomber] and fiscal constraints push us toward [multi-role]. The most important part of a future bomber is not to deliver bombs but to assimilate information rapidly and translate that into decisions,” he said.

The new long-range strike aircraft is expected to receive high-profile consideration in the Defense Department’s fiscal 2011 budget and five-year defense plan. Earlier this year, Gates identified ISR as the military’s most pressing wartime need.