The Navy Might Have a F/A-XX Range Problem: The U.S. Navy and its aircraft carriers patrolling East Asia have a problem. They are often in range of Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles. That means the American flat-tops must stay outside of the combat radius of “carrier killing” missiles to operate safely. The next-generation F/A-XX will have only 25 percent more range than the current fighters belonging to the carrier air wings. This was a disappointment as the Navy sought something that could fly longer to get to the battle. Even the increased range will not keep U.S. aircraft carriers out of firing range from China.
F/A-XX Fighter. Image Credit: Boeing.
American Aircraft Carriers Could Be Vulnerable Due to F/A-XX Range Issues
Is this a foolhardy mistake by engineers and designers involved with the F/A-XX?
The Navy considered range extension a priority for the carriers and their strike groups.
So, this is a disappointing aspect of the new 6th generation air superiority fighter. The Americans are not assured that the new airplane will be able to allow the carriers to remain intact during a missile exchange with China.
New Drone Tanker Must Be Successful
However, there is an option for the F/A-XX.
A new drone tanker aerial refueler could be the remedy for this problem. The Navy hopes the unmanned MQ-25 Stingray tanker can fit the bill. The F/A-XX should not refuel with a traditional tanker as that would ruin its stealth attributes, but a refueling process that could stay in the stealth shadows with a radar-evading tanker is just what the Navy needs.
Meanwhile, there are big plans for the F/A-XX. Boeing and Northrop Grumman are competing to build it. Boeing just got the contract for the new F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter, while Northrop Grumman is building the B-21 Radar stealth bomber.
B-21 Raider Bomber. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
One Rear Admiral Still Exudes Confidence About the F/A-XX
Navy Rear Admiral Michael “Buzz” Donnelly, chief of the Air Warfare Division within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, spoke to reporters at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space expo recently.
The F/A-XX will reach “probably over 125 percent of the range that we’re seeing today to give us better flexibility operational reach,” Donnelly said. “So, it will definitely have longer inherent range.”
When asked whether this 125 percent meant 25 percent more capacity before you start adding in refueling, Donnelly replied, “Yeah Affirmative.”
F-35C Does Not Have the Best Combat Radius
The F-35C has limited range. The naval version of the Lightning II can fly to a range of around 670 nautical miles. The Super Hornet’s range is longer at roughly 1,200 nautical miles, but that’s not fully loaded with weapons. What does this extra range mean for the F/A-XX? The combat radius for the new airplane would be about 838 miles.
China’s “carrier killer” missiles, like the DF-21D and DF-26, have ranges estimated at 1,035 to 1,726 miles, and some experts say it is much more when it comes to the DF-26.
That’s not good. This would mean that without aerial refueling, the airplanes on board the carriers, particularly the F-35Cs, would be unable to take the fight to the enemy without being at risk of a carrier hit by the Chinese missiles.
This could change the whole strategy, operations, and tactics of carrier aviation in the Indo-Pacific.
This means the drone tanker must be operational as quickly as possible because without the tankers, carriers will not be able to stay out of range of the anti-ship missiles. The Stingray tanker should be available in 2026. There still may not be enough tankers for all of the fighters that would need to be launched to hit Chinese targets.
The F/A-XX Has Much to Offer
Rear Admiral Donnelly seemed to brush off those concerns and explained the positive attributes of the F/A-XX.
The F/A-XX will “penetrate threat airspace. That will pace the threat that we see into the future beyond 2040. So that’s what we see as essential as the threat builds out its ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] capabilities and increases kinetic capabilities,” Donnelly also said.
“It will also, with the integration of AI [artificial intelligence] and other technical advantages, allow us to have increased battle space management. And it will be our next platform that, instead of being man-in-the-loop, will truly be man-on-the-loop, and allow us to have fully integrated architecture with our unmanned systems that we’re going to be fielding,” the rear admiral stated.
The F/A-XX Challenge Must Be Resolved
The real proof in the pudding will be the use of tankers to extend the range of all fighters on the carriers. Without re-fueling airplanes, the whole strike capability of the carriers will be in doubt as they would have to sail within the ranges of the anti-ship missiles. This would be dangerous as the aircraft carriers would be vulnerable.
The Navy may be overconfident with the F/A-XX. It must have more range and engineers and designers need to be aware of these limitations as they ponder its future. The threat of carrier-killing Chinese missiles is real. Navy battle planners are likely looking at the combat radius of carriers and calculating just how far away that the strike groups must remain to be safe.
We will watch how the F/A-XX develops and keep examining its range. The Navy should be aware that only 25 percent more of a combat radius may not be the most optimal trait of the F/A-XX.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
