Hardly.
I think in the not so distant future, A.I. will control the UAVs not a manned asset.
The F-35 does with one crew member what the F-15E does with two crew. The sensor fusion engine is the secret sauce and fuses information from both onboard and off board sensors. The loyal wingman is not intended to be tethered to a man-in-the-loop but will most likely operate autonomously within the framework of prompted commands from the pilot.
This is clearly the hope, but if you want to use the UCAV soon, then I don't think it will be possible.
The MQ-28A’s are being designed to provide ISR capability only at this stage, quite possibly because of this issue ( and undoubtedly the ballooning cost).. The task saturation will also depend entirely on how much “work” the pilot is required to do to manage as you say the MQ-28A’s.
Best to develop the arming capability now.
As far as I am aware there are very few LO weapons and they are typically LO when on their own flight….not so much when attached to the aircraft. My point really is if you have a role that requires flinging big heavy weapons over long distances why pay for stealth when there are longer legged options. What’s the defining metric for Australia’s defence? Distance. They have to go a long way to get here. We want to go a long way to stop them before they get here. All that said it appears to be a moot point if the coalition is elected. Sounds like deal done,
One of the things to keep in mind is that different scenarios exist. Some of the missions might involve long-ranged flight and air-launches at a significant distance from the target, so that the aircraft signature being LO is not so important. OTOH there could easily be missions where it becomes important, perhaps even very important, for an aircraft to be able to get quite close to hostiles whilst remaining undetected.
None.
If there’s extra coin and restricting additions to the RAAF only where would you invest the money.
www.defenceconnect.com.au
Yet another user that thinks it”s a good idea…
armyrecognition.com
OH I see, your saying we should get F-35Bs?
breakingdefense.com
But there are 5 squadrons of fast jets now. I understand your view and agree on this point. I was, however, trying to encourage commenters who are advocating for new aircraft to specify whether they are arguing to replace one or more of the existing squadrons or to add a sixth squadron (I accept some have and have discussed bases etc).
www.flightglobal.com
Do we have to have any change to structure? Why cant existing squadrons get another 10 airframes each?
Keep in mind the potential detection range of a P-8 when monitoring sea areas. IIRC the claimed ranges are in the neighbourhood of 200+ miles, so whilst yes, a P-8 would have little chance to evade or escape a fighter/CAP that was in position around a hostile TF, it would still be well out of range for most ship-launched air defence missiles. All this whilst managing to detect and possibly target a TF, as well as relaying targeting data to other potential shoots and command elements which might task other assets. So, if an individual ship or TF is busy looking at the P-8 Poseidon loitering, a Collins-class SSG or some other sub might be very quietly approaching the TF or a likely chokepoint based off data from the P-8. A couple of Mk 48 ADCAP's are just the thing to ruin a TF commander's day.I can understand using the Poseidon as a platform to carry the LRASM but it is a large slow non stealthy aircraft designed for a different role its not to say missiles for self defence should not be considered ,I have included a diagram comparing detection range estimated between the f35 and f15ex I would expect the P-8 to be many times more than the P8 , A P8 is also half the speed and twice the cost of these aircraft
There were some claims that the f15ex may have some role with the Eagles Passive Warning Survivability System added
.F-15EX deemed effective against fifth-generation threats in Pentagon evaluation
The latest version of the venerable Boeing multi-role fighter has been assessed as operationally effective in an air superiority role by Pentagon auditors, including against fifth-generation aircraft operated by adversary forces.