
“A B-21 [Raider stealth bomber] that also has air-to-air capabilities” and can “work with the family of systems to defend itself, utilizing stealth – maybe that’s where the sixth-generation airplane comes from.”
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/2 ... air-combat
Having air-to-air capabilities does not mean missiles. it more likely refers to high-energy lasers in a platform that's large enough to support 360 degree coverage via such a laser, plus a lot of fuel, and embodies the most advanced VLO tech available.
Bioengineering, lasers and more drones: Griffin outlines the Pentagon’s tech wish list
Directed energy:
Griffin said laser weapons are the future of warfare, and always will be. But he believes certain systems are showing more promise than others. “We haven’t had money for everything that we might like to do, so we’re focusing on nearer-term applications of directed energy, particularly lasers of higher power than we currently have,” Griffin said. That means aiming for systems in the “hundreds of kilowatts” as well as investing in high-powered microwave technology, he noted.
https://www.defensenews.com/smr/defense ... -wishlist/
As regards kinematic performance being sacrificed, this has been discussed at length for years, have you forgotten this 2011 SMSgt Mac, "Elements of Power" blog post:
And despite a proliferation of AAR tankers, the real fighting still tends to be transonic, in jets which can go much faster no matter what 'gen' was involved in the fight. Maintaining stealth, to be able to shoot first, and to own the SA, just makes this even more desirable. In other words, speed is for intercepting by interceptors, and that interceptor can be a loyal-wingman, which can be visually exposed briefly to a Tu160 crew to send a message, or else to kill it, while the slower manned system remains always hidden. But that Tu160 knows it's out there, for sure.
If you're facing a flight-of-4 of future prospective NGAD VLO platforms utilizing a 250 kilowatt laser weapon, and that flight can use networking to simultaneously dwell four of those lasers on to a single target, and YOU are in that targeted jet ... you'd rapidly become a fervent advocate for not being seen (at all wavelengths), and maintaining a high-radius with respect to their sensor's detection range.
In fact, should you even be in the air when their loyal wingmen in support are trying to sniff you out for their lasers?
Stealth would be far more important than kinematic performance when high-performance AAMs are no longer the most dangerous weapons. Including SAMS, which such a multi-beam laser defense network would make actually obsolete, if not a bit pointless, given the lasers could burn up launchers without recourse.
In which case who would care about building a platform that can counter the kinematics of an evolved J-20?
Maybe just fly a flight-of-4 over the J-20 production lines and deep-maintenance facilities and their engine production factory and burn them all down, during the course of a single mission, whilst a few B-21s eliminate their operating bases.
Who says you've got to fight them?
As per the signature line ... Always choose Stealth
Accel + Alt + VLO + DAS + MDF + Radial Distance = LIFE . . . Always choose Stealth