F/A-42A Dragon Cat

(Navy)Next Generation Air Superiority Program

(circa 2037)
Length: 21.375m
Wingspan: 18.9m
Cockpit Length: 4.5m

Combat Radius: 1100km+(400nm low-altitude penetration included)
Weapon Payload: 3500kg(Internal); 7600kg(External)
MTOW: 44.1t
Empty Weight: 23t(aprox.)
Fuel Capacity: 10000kg(Internal); 10190t(When side fuel pods applied)

Max Speed: 2.8mach
Service Ceiling: 23000m

Powerplant: F142-GE-100 Variable-cycle Turbofan Engine x2
Max Military Thrust: 200kN each engine
Max Afterburn Thrust: 290kN each engine

Max Available Overload: 9G(safety limitation)

Avionics:
AN/APG-100 multi-band Main Aperture AESA(Nose)
AN/APY-21(V)2 X-band Distributed Aperture AESA(Side and tail)
AN/ALQ-175 Integrated Theater EW Suite
AN/ASQ-242(V)3 CNI suite, which includes Link 16/23, JADICS AN2.1, SINCGARS, IFF module, HAVE QUICK, Radio array and other radio systems related to combat comm and navigation
AN/AAQ-49 Distributed Aperture Electro-optical Monitor System
AN/ASQ-239(V)3 Self-defense EW suite
AN/AAQ-55 Infrared-laser Scout and Guidance System
AN/ATC-1 Airborne Tactical Evaluation & Decision-making Assistance System

Armament Available:
AIM-260A2 Mid-range AAM
AIM-120C8/D3 Mid-range AAM
AIM-132C Short-range AAM
AIM-9X Short-range AAM
MBDA Meteor Long-range AAM(Adaptable)
GAU-23 3-barrel 20mm rotary cannon Gunpod(with 4500 shells)
AGM-158 JASSM/LRASM cruise missile
AGM-174 Joint Strike Missile
AGM-88G AARGM-ER anti-radiation missile
GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb(SDB) II
GBU-31 JDAM
AGM-154 JSOW
B61 mod 12 Nuclear bomb(Adaptable)

Decoy Available:
Mk.61 Mod 1 Towed Active Decoy
ADM-160 MALD
Flare & Chaff Distributor

=History=
United States Navy stealthly launched their six-generation fighter program long back to 2016. This was later referred as F/A-XX and was defined as the successor of Super Hornet. It was widely spreaded that USN was not satisfied with F-35C and they were still looking for their next queen of flight deck. They showed less worried about a refreshed fleet compared to USAF. Understandable since their primary rivals, Russian and Chinese, had no competent carrier airwing at the time. So they may invest all factors into this new frame.

Officially debuted in 2029, F/A-XX was won by the prototype Northrop Grumann offered. Yet NG was obtaining too many programs and navy intended to integrate F/A-XX into a broader next-gen combat structure. As a consequence, Boeing was chosen as the joint contractor which provided systematic support. The prototype, model NG132 performed first flight in 2022, and was later designated as X-42 to compete with Lockheed Martin X-44 as well as Boeing X-39. Navy in the end chose X-42 for her better low-speed performance and a shorter frame. X-39 has a too-low aspect ratio that deeply affected her range and payload capabilities despite of her excellent maneuverability, and X-44, which looks like a twin-engine F-35, doesn't meet stealth requirement, though it was a more efficient design as she met all the index with a smaller frame. X-42 features integrated strake and V type tail. A pair of large and elegant main wings in large sweep angle improves both range and supersonic envelope. However, it does make the aircraft a little too big for flight deck.

The F/A-42A/B officially production version kept those aerodynamic features. Yet several modifications were made, including a movable tailwing that can be put flat for better stealth and high speed performance in exchange for dog fight capability. In order to make sure all moving surfaces are enduring, tail, flaps and aileron actuators are dual modes. Primary flight control is performed by pairs of motors. When it fails, a secondary control utilizes traditional hydraulics and wires. All maneuvers are feasible under degraded control by pilot's hands, but no doubt it'd be highly restricted.

F/A-42A/B continues with test flights before all her complicated and state-of-art avionics were ready for service. Related contractors developed those equipments parallelly since 2022 or even earlier, but they couldn't start integration before the frame was finally chosen. This is a big job to put everything together and make them work smoothly as F/A-42A/B would be the most complex airborne combat system of USN.

Single seat Dragon Cat reached IOC in 2033 onboard USS John F Kennedy. CVN-81 Yorktown was the second ship to accomodate this new aircraft which was also the first carrier to integrate it from very beginning. There were 6 commissioning US carriers received modifications for F/A-42 before 2038, including Reagan, Bush, Ford, Kennedy, Enterprise and Yorktown. Newly built Ford class would receive related equipments when in construction. Twin seat version type B follows her sister model, on which the back seat is for electronic warfare and advance air control officer(EWACO). Twin seat model mainly replaces EA-18G. The back seat reduces combat radius slightly and occupys the place for AN/ATC-1.

The first service model was Block 1, following the test model as Block 0. A block 2 was developed in 2040s which is also called F/A-42C/D. 369 Units in total have been built across 20 years of production. All of them served in pacific theatre and none was lost during operations. Several ones were lost due to training accidents and some others because of attacks on ground bases.

=Technics=
Aerodynamics:
As already noted, F/A-42 is a twin-engine heavy multi-role fighter mainly focusing on air dominance and stand-off surface attack. Though suppressive air-defense is a more common scenario, Dragon Cat is still advantageous in conventional air-to-air combat with a transsonic oriented lift-to-drag optimization. Her unusually large strakes and large sweep angle main wings prove this characteristics in aerodynamic design. Meanwhile, her subsonic, transsonic and supersonic performances are all optimized in comparison with 5th-gen fighters, especially with better nose orientation and negative-G capabilities. This is in order to help pilots get into fire position quickly and evade hostile missiles smartly. And her V-type tails, which can be lowered flat for supersonic or stealth operations, make an easier low speed control compared to aircrafts without tailwings. Carrier operations require such low speed sensitivity while it also offer a better low altitude penetration control qualities. A couple of low aspect ratio main wings reduces wing loading, providing better range and armament loads. However, this may be a downside to maneuverability. Another highlight is a pair of pitch-axis thrust vectoring nozzles with a range of 22 degrees up or down. This is also a design featuring both good and bad aspects. But with accurate control the loss in thrust and energy become acceptable.

Engine:
General Electric's research on Variable Cycle Engine, or VCE, initiated from as early as F120 which was intended as an alternative powerplant for F-22. They continued their development on F136 and later XA100, both of which were competitors for F-35's engines. F-35A/C Block 4 partially upgraded to XA100, or F138-GE-100/600 in official designation. F/A-XX program looked for a VCE option from early bidding period. GE who has long history in this field no doubtly won the case.

F142 series is a three-stream adaptive cycle turbofan engine similar to F138. Isolated air flow can be guided through the bypass corridor for cooling or improving fuel efficiency, or directly into compressor for more thrust. It is also available to direct air stream to different stage of compressors. Her maximum bypass ratio reaches 0.55 which is able to be adjusted for best efficiency at particular phase of flight. F142 is one of keys to expand Dragon Cat's combat radius and heat dissipation capacities. These aspects are valued by Navy more than ever.

Also, compared with F138, F142 got mature, featuring lower failure rate as well as maintenance cost. Now USN may take apart engines to clear problems in certain advance air bases or carrier's hangar bays. Usually such works requires sending engine to specific qualified bases.

Avionics:
No modern weapon works without certain electronic devices, let alone hundred-million dollar aircrafts. Avionics are the true advantages of F/A-42 as a six-gen fighter. Among them the most important and conspicuous one may be her AN/APG-100 radar behind the nose dome. It is a diamond based GaN variable-band multifunction AESA featuring low observability and improved resolution on air targets compared to AN/APG-85 on F-35 Block 4. It is capable of monitoring ground activities, either. The detection range and signal-to-noise ratio are classified but it is said that AN/APG-100 can spot object with a RCS of 0.1 from almost twice distance of APG-85.

A secondary radar array, AN/APY-21, on the upper and lower surface of strake consisted of clusters of AESA antennae, provided additional detection coverage and situational awareness. APY-21 is originally developed for B-21 Block 1AA for expanded air-to-air capabilities in surveillance and fire control. The v2 is specially for F/A-42 to improve capacities as sensor node. It is less longer in range than AN/APG-100 and lacks of EW abilities (yet doesn't suggest that it couldn't be used in EW), but with same low traceability performance.

As for electronic warfare, F/A-42, as an important airborne C4I node, is equipped with theatre grade EW suite. Antennae are distributed across the frame, including a shared array with APY-21 and an another with ASQ-239 in tail fairing. The AN/ALQ-175 Integrated Theatre EW Suite is a replacement of different pods on EA-18G for ECM, ESM, Communication interception and signal tracing. It's powerful enough to cover a 30% larger warzone. Such a capable system may even cloak the fighter or a small stealth aircraft group through background noise technology. By careful frequencies management, friendly assets can maintain interactions in jammed area.

An additional EW system, the AN/ASQ-239(V)3 Self-defense EW Suite focuses on air-to-air combat. It is still lethal to enemy assets with capabilities of destroying hostile aircrafts' radar or the homing system of incoming missiles. It shares antennae with AN/APG-100 AESA and AN/ALQ-175. A sophiscated ECM system reduces the chances of being shot down and saves AAM in many proved scenarios.

The AN/ASQ-242(V)3 CNI suite provides various C4I capabilities, including fleet-wide communications and multiple sources navigations. It becomes a crucial part of F/A-42's functions as aerial intelligence node and advance airborne command unit. These equipments usually share antennae on ventral hull, with the IFF module and part of radio navigation systems using arrays on tail. They may also borrow radar or EW suite antennae in emergency. A distributed transceiver combination reduces chances of losing comm capacities. It is notable that Dragon Cat utilizes a universal navigation information interface(UNII) covering GPS, TaCuSat(Tactical Cube Satellite), TACAN and other shipborne or land-based landing assistance equipments working in international civil or military protocols. This allows her landing in most kinds of carriers or airfields around the world.

As for optical sensors, 2 suites are utilized to perform situational awareness when radar is off-line. A AN/AAQ-49 Distributed Aperture Electro-optical Monitor System set is the successor of EODAS on F-35. Leonardo developed this system for Dragon Cat. It has enhanced resolution and range than EODAS. 11 light-weight electro-optical sensors which works on infrared and visible light mounted from nose to tail on both dorsal and ventral hull. They may be utilized as surveillance sensors and fire-control system through datalink. However, it is naturally underpowered and is mainly used against air targets. For ground targets and aerial bomb guidance, an AN/AAQ-55 Infrared-laser Scout and Guidance System set is mounted on nose, above and below the radar dome. It could aim targets with laser beam to guide LGMs when necessary. It has lengthy range against air subjects, sometimes even better than radar so pilot may shoot air targets without active radar.

She is also equipped with an AN/ATC-1 Airborne Tactical Evaluation & Decision-making Assistance System(ATEDAS), an aircraft version of Shipborne Tactical Assistance Processor(STAP) initially deployed on DDGs, CVNs, LHDs and LCCs. ATEDAS would also be deployed on E-2D and USAF E-7A. It is an AI-based information analysis program in order to ease crew's stress in situational awareness. Yet criteria often believe this system is not immature for combat application. And how to efficiently use data it provides makes a long going subject. So far, in exercise and several operations, ATEDAS features good reliability in tactical actions like evading hostile contact. But it is not always so satisfying to plot a fully workable route to the target.

Evolution in technologies makes light-weight and more compact avionics possible. That's a key for F/A-42 to maintain payload and fuel capacities while equipped with so many electronics. Yet the adverse side is her cost. But...It is a extremely wealthy and generous US Government in this AU anyway.

Armament & Decoy:
Dragon Cat is opened to almost every kind of active airborne weapon and decoys for USAF or USN fighters. In reality, most of which have been made public as the available weapon options on F/A-18 or F-35. JATM or AIM-260 is now under development and shall join service soon. It is assumed having a range over 200km.

I don't point out the exact version in terms of surface attack ammunitions as they continue renewing. F/A-42 is capable of launching all variants and what they actually launch depends on storage and requirements. Though she's aimed to be a stand-off attack platform, relatively short range slide bombs are available when deemed necessary.

If only use hardpoints in 2 main weapon bays and 2 side bays, a typical comprehensive stand-off task configuration may includes up to 4 AIM-9X, 8 AMRAAM/JATM with 4 AARGM-ER or 4 AMRAAM/JATM with 2 JASSM/LRASM. Restrictions mainly come from the volume of main bay. When applying to a air-to-air only mission, AMRAAM/JATM may increase to 16. She can also utilize her 10 external stations with seperatable pylons. So they can release stand-off weapons first then penetrate into the danger zone.

Mk.61 Towed Decoy is stored in the tail fairing. It is similar to Nulka on surface combatant, protecting aircraft by mimicking the electromagnetic signature of aircraft herself so the radar-guided AAM may overshoot. ADM-160 is only for external hardpoints. Typically they won't be launched by stealth aircrafts.

Flaws in design:
Please understand that I'm too amateur to properly design a state-of-art aircraft. Lacking sufficient knowledge and data makes it impossible for me to accurately determine the best aerodynamic features and required performance. I made an assumption on combat radius, MTOW and some other figures based on open data of F-22 and F-35. I suppose I'm creating a twin-engine heavier F-35C. For now there is no way to examine my print and lay charts about lift-drag ratio, change in combat radius, etc.

So a real six-gen fighter with best stealth performance in designers' top-priority should be a flying-wing like we see in CGs made for NGAD and many other future aircrafts. But I just couldn't enjoy this configuration, so I chose to keep tails. My reasonable reason, if do need, would be low speed control carrier-based aircraft must concern.

Another obvious problem is I never made the location of AAQ-49 clear on the print. Maybe I really need upgrade my pic, but...perhaps later.