Forget the F-35 of F-22: 7th-Generation Fighters Could Have ‘Plasma Stealth’

Key Points – While sixth-generation fighters are still emerging, speculation about 7th-generation fighters, potentially operational by the 2050s, points towards revolutionary capabilities.

-These future platforms are envisioned to achieve hypersonic speeds (Mach 5+), incorporate advanced stealth beyond current radar-absorbent materials and shaping (possibly “plasma stealth” using ionized clouds to obscure detection), and feature highly advanced AI for predictive combat algorithms.

-Such aircraft would also necessitate breakthroughs in propulsion systems and heat-resistant materials to withstand extreme flight conditions, alongside a supporting ecosystem of equally advanced weapons, sensors, and loyal wingman drones capable of near-space operation.

7th-Generation Fighters: ‘Plasma Stealth’?

In a world where 6th-generation fighter aircraft are still in development and people are questioning whether their projected dates for introduction into service are even realistic, it seems a bit fanciful to be talking about 7th-generation fighters.

However, there are people speculating on the subject anyway.

What can probably be discussed that would not be speculative is what technologies would likely be the signature capabilities of these vehicles; determine how long it might take to mature those technologies to the point where they could be available for use in an aircraft prototype design and then the time frame that the aircraft might actually be in service.

However, one can safely say what these decades-into-the-future fighter aircraft will not be like.

They will most assuredly not look like nor will they exhibit the qualities attributed to the “MiG-31” in the 1977 techno-thriller novel Firefox, which was adapted for a feature film starring Clint Eastwood in 1982.

In the same vein, these next-after-the-next generation fighters are also not likely to be a close analogue of the Darkstar hypersonic testbed that Tom Cruise flew in the opening minutes of another feature film, the 2022 Top Gun Maverick.

Technological Advancements Required for 7th-Gernation Fighter

The technological capabilities that need to be part of an aircraft to meet a 7th-generation design are roughly the following:

-Hypersonic capability with speeds of Mach 5 or slightly better.

-Advanced stealth that goes beyond the radar absorbent and non-reflective aerodynamic shapes seen in 6th- generation fighter designs.

-It is also possible that the aircraft would be capable of generating an additional cross-section reduction shield in the form of what is called “plasma stealth”.  This is a method of producing a cloud of ionized plasma to cover over certain sections of the aircraft that are the most difficult to obscure from detection by radar or other sensors.

-Usually these are the radome, the cockpit and canopy – specifically where the canopy fits over the cockpit and other sections that are most susceptible to enemy radar detection.

-Researchers in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) claimed last year that they had already developed a “closed electron beam plasma stealth device.”  According to those specialists who spoke with open-source PRC media, this “radar absorbing cloud” would only be emitted to cover these problem areas and not the entire aircraft.

-Reportedly, this device can be switched on and off as required in order to jam the screens of radar operators.

-In the same vein as a method of generating this stealth plasma, there have also been theoretical studies on what kind of substance – either a liquid or gas – could be injected into the exhaust plume of the aircraft’s engines to suppress an IR signature.

-The aircraft would also feature with what would be by this time a several-generations-beyond today’s level of Artificial Intelligence.

-At this point in the evolution of this technology the AI systems would go well beyond current day capabilities of advanced fighters that can already integrate multiple sensor inputs and have pilots become battle-space managers.

-This future generation of AI would include predictive algorithms to project counter moves by an enemy force and devise firing solutions or management of the deployment of other assets, all to keep inside of an adversary’s decision loop.

-Lastly, but most importantly, it would be an advanced propulsion system and the materials necessary for the aircraft to survive the intense heat created by the friction with the air at these speeds.

-The same applies even more so to the materials to be developed for the propulsion system’s inner compression and combustion components.

Flying When and To Where

The best guess for a first flight of this kind of aircraft might be in the 2050s.

This is not only due to the development timelines of all the technologies described above, but also the other platforms and components that would need to be in place to function in tandem with the aircraft.

For the 7th-generation fighter to be effective and to be integrated into the kill chains of the future, this would mean weapon systems, satellites, communications nodes and sensor nets will have to also be up to the same levels of technological development.

Then there would be a “parallel universe” of the collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) platforms that would flying in support of this 7th-generation fighter platform.  This fighter would quite probably be capable of and required to fly up into low earth orbit altitudes and these CCA, “loyal wingmen” would have to follow accordingly.

There is currently a race to develop a 7th-generation fighter between the major military powers as one would expect.  The USA, PRC and Russia are also reported to be investing heavily in research and development of these technologies listed above.

Entities involved in this research are the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), while Russia is supposedly developing its own advanced concepts with its Long-Range Aviation/Interceptor (PAK DP) program – a successor to the MiG-31 and sometimes designated as the MIG-41.

The USA, with its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative, however, are the most advanced in all these technological disciplines but the competition between all these nations remains open.

About the Author

Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw.  He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design.  Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.

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