The United States Air Force is in the market for a new, lightweight combat aircraft, as opposed to a highly technologically advanced multi-role combat aircraft in the class of the soon-to-enter-service F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Its aim is to induct a new "fixed-wing platform" capable of carrying out "strike, armed reconnaissance and advanced aircraft training in support of irregular warfare." That is to say, a dedicated light fighter of the kind not used en-masse for some decades.

A number of contemporary and older combat aircraft designs are thought to be in the running. One is the Italian-made Aermacchi M346, which is based on a Russian design and which first flew five years ago. Another is based on something much more vintage - a P-51 Mustang piston-engined fighter of the type that originally served during World War Two, albeit one brought up to date with modern technologies. A final possibility is the Brazilian Embraer Super Tucano, an example of which is currently undergoing US Navy trials to assess its suitability as a special warfare platform.

Low Cost USAF Fighters

The plan is to swiftly induct up to 100 durable and comparatively low-cost USAF fighters capable of alternating missions on a daily basis, so one day they might be tasked with strike roles, the next, training. The planned entry-into-service date for whatever aircraft the US military selects is 2012 while, over the coming three years, the USAF is set to purchase a large number of piloted reconnaissance aircraft and 60 transport aircraft. The combined costs of the reconnaissance aircraft, the transport aircraft and the new light fighters is expected to come to about $700 million - approximately equal to just five Boeing F-22 Raptors of the type now steadily entering air force service.

Combat Aircraft Technologies

The whole scenario represents a shift away from high-level combat aircraft technologies and capabilities, and mirrors US Defense Secretary Robert Gates' wish to "institutionalise and finance our capabilities to fight the wars we are in today and the scenarios we are most likely to face in the years ahead." In other words, the emphasis is on acquiring military technologies that are appropriate, rather than, to quote comments made by Gates earlier in 2009, "99-percent exquisite service-centric platforms that are so costly and so complex that they take forever to build."

The new aircraft will arrive as legions of USAF F-15, F-16 and A-10 combat aircraft are being retired. But according to Gates, the sheer strength of US airpower means that its edge over other air forces can still be retained, even with the cuts. "By 2020, the United States is projected to have nearly 2,500 manned combat aircraft of all kinds", he stated recently.

"Of those, nearly 1,100 will be the most advanced fifth-generation F-35s and F-22s. China, by contrast, is projected to have no fifth-generation aircraft by 2020. And by 2025, the gap only widens."