The NGAS tanker aircraft project and its prospects
Lockheed Martin's Advanced Tanker Concept
The U.S. Air Force is planning to build and field a new tanker aircraft called the Next-Generation Air-Refueling System (NGAS). The project is still in its early stages, and so far the discussion is still in the early stages of general planning. However, the Air Force has already identified its needs and how it will implement them. The Air Force leadership recently revealed some details of the new plans.
Actual plans
The Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) held its latest conference in Washington recently. This event is one of the main venues for senior officials to speak, announce plans, and showcase new developments.
US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall spoke at the conference. He spoke about promising projects aviation technologies that are currently in the development stage. Particular attention was paid to the NGAD fighter program, and other topics were also touched upon.
In particular, the minister recalled that work has been underway over the past two years to create a promising NGAS tanker aircraft. At the moment, the project is at the preliminary development stage. The needs of the Air Force are being studied and requirements for the future aircraft are being formed.
According to the minister, the Air Force will soon complete a preliminary analysis, and the NGAS project will be able to move to the next stage. At the same time, NGAS is expecting major organizational changes. In order to optimize costs and reduce development time, it is planned to combine work on the tanker and the NGAD tactical combat aircraft.
KC-135R combat tanker. Photo Wikimedia Commons
It should be recalled that the Pentagon recently decided to suspend the development of the NGAD fighter to rework the key ideas of this project, change the technical specifications, etc. Now it has become known that this program is expecting more serious changes. Their goal is not only to develop a more advanced fighter, but also to create a unified aircraft of a different class.
The Air Force is already preparing to design future new aircraft types. A few days before the AFA conference, it issued a request for information to the aviation industry. Technical proposals on the development of NGAS, NGAD, etc. are expected in the next few weeks.
According to the Ministry's plan, industry proposals for all such projects should arrive almost simultaneously, within a short time interval. This will simplify the organization of subsequent development of several aircraft projects. In addition, such an approach will provide certain advantages at the aircraft production stage.
Big plans
The US Air Force currently has a significant fleet of air tankers, comprising more than 300 aircraft of three models. These aircraft are equipped with two main types of refueling systems and are capable of transferring fuel to tactical, strategic, and army aircraft and helicopters.
However, the current state fleet tankers cannot be called ideal. The KC-135 and KC-10 aircraft are obsolete both morally and physically, and are gradually being decommissioned. At the same time, the purchase of modern KC-46s continues, but their number is limited, and there is no talk of a full-scale re-equipment of combat units.
KC-46 with refueling boom deployed. Photo by US Department of Defense
Modern tanker aircraft have a number of characteristic shortcomings. One of the main ones is low survivability and stability in combat conditions. Due to their special role, they attract the attention of enemy anti-aircraft systems and fighters, becoming a priority target. At the same time, modern American tankers are built on the basis of civilian airliners, which makes them quite easy to detect and vulnerable to destruction. Even a single hit missiles could be fatal to an aircraft, and the loss of even one tanker could jeopardize the entire air operation.
The U.S. Air Force is looking to eliminate these risks, and this is one of the main goals of the current NGAS project. The project involves developing a tanker aircraft capable of performing its missions in difficult conditions and in the presence of active enemy countermeasures.
Some of the customer's wishes for the NGAS project are already known. First of all, such an aircraft is required to have a long flight duration and range, as well as low visibility in all ranges. It must carry tens of tons of fuel and equipment for its transfer.
of the latter, News It follows that the NGAS tanker will be developed in parallel with the NGAD combat aircraft and advanced multi-purpose unmanned aerial vehicles. This suggests that the two aircraft will be unified. They can be built on the basis of common solutions and using one set of components.
Stealth technologies are particularly interesting in this context. They have been developed quite thoroughly in the context of combat aircraft, and now they will be used in the development of an auxiliary aircraft. Time will tell whether it will be possible to use only existing solutions or whether new ones will be required.
Lockheed Martin's NGAD Fighter Concept. NGAS Tanker Could Be Similar
Airplane of the future
New aircraft projects for the US Air Force are still in the early stages of development, but their main prospects are already visible. In particular, the timeframes for the work and the time for obtaining real results are gradually being clarified.
For example, the Air Force recently issued a request for information on an advanced fighter and tanker. Industry bids will be accepted over the next few months. Then, the NGAS project will likely move into a competitive stage, which could take several more years.
The results of the competition and the selection of the winner are expected in the second half of the current decade. After that, the contractor will conduct a full-fledged development of the project, build a prototype of the NGAS tanker and prepare it for flights. The start of flight tests is planned for the early thirties.
Taking into account all the necessary work and the complexity of the project, serial production of NGAS aircraft is planned to begin only by the end of the next decade. No later than 2040, serial tankers will be delivered to combat units. By that time, only the current-built KC-46 tankers should remain in the Air Force. As new equipment is delivered, they will be decommissioned.
Concept level
At this point, the NGAS aircraft exists only as a general concept and customer requirements. Development of this product has not yet begun, so it is premature to talk about its appearance. However, the Air Force has already published some materials on this topic.
Computer graphics have been used to show what the prospective tanker might look like. These concepts were based on ideas mentioned by officials. However, it is unclear whether the real NGAS will look like the images released.
Northrop Grumman's NGAD concept
The NGAS tanker is expected to be stealthy and subsonic. Because of this, concepts show tailless or flying wing aircraft with distinctive contours and layout. These types of aircraft are virtually indistinguishable from hypothetical next-generation fighters or bombers.
NGAS will have a distinctive onboard equipment. The internal volumes of the airframe will be used to the maximum extent to accommodate tanks for both its own fuel and for the transferred fuel. Perhaps all these tanks will be combined to obtain additional capabilities.
It is not known how much fuel NGAS will be able to carry. It is likely that in these characteristics it will be close to existing equipment. For example, a modern KC-46 can deliver to the required point and transfer more than 94 tons of fuel.
It is possible that NGAS will retain both types of refueling systems used in US aviation. It will accommodate a releasing boom and hose-and-cone units. It is likely that the aircraft will be able to simultaneously refuel several aircraft with the appropriate receiving equipment.
Work continues
Thus, the NGAS project continues to evolve. According to the latest statements by the US Secretary of the Air Force, the stage of forming general concepts and defining requirements has been completed. Now the customer is moving on to the next stage, after which a full-fledged competition for development will begin.
The first flight, launch into serial production and the beginning of the use of the promising tanker are still a matter of the distant future. However, these events are slowly but surely approaching, and the current state of affairs gives the Pentagon reason for optimism.
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