This is a list of military aircraft that are being developed for use by the United States military in the near future.
For aircraft in-service see List of active United States military aircraft.
This is a list of military aircraft that are being developed for use by the United States military in the near future.
For aircraft in-service see List of active United States military aircraft.
The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) between the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two previous piston-engined military cargo aircraft, the Douglas C-74 Globemaster and the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II.
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest branch of the United States Armed Forces and the fourth in order of precedence. The United States Air Force articulates its core missions as air supremacy, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft. The V-22 is operated by the United States and Japan, and is not only a new aircraft design, but a new type of aircraft that entered service in the 2000s, a tiltrotor compared to fixed wing and helicopter designs. The V-22 first flew in 1989 and after a long development was fielded in 2007. The design combines the vertical takeoff ability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing airplane.
The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is an American twin-engine, all-weather, supersonic stealth fighter aircraft. As a product of the United States Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, the aircraft was designed as an air superiority fighter, but also incorporates ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence capabilities. The prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, built most of the F-22 airframe and weapons systems and conducted final assembly, while program partner Boeing provided the wings, aft fuselage, avionics integration, and training systems.
The Boeing KC-767 is a military aerial refueling tanker and transport aircraft developed from the Boeing 767-200ER. The tanker received the designation KC-767A, after being selected by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) initially to replace older KC-135Es. In December 2003, the contract was frozen and later canceled due to corruption allegations.
The Boeing E-7 Wedgetail, also marketed as the Boeing 737 AEW&C, is a twin-engine airborne early warning and control aircraft based on the Boeing 737 Next Generation design. It has a fixed, active electronically scanned array radar antenna instead of a rotating one as with the 707-based Boeing E-3 Sentry. The E-7 was designed for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) under "Project Wedgetail" and designated E-7A Wedgetail.
The Northrop Grumman E-10 MC2A was planned as a multi-role military aircraft to replace the Boeing 707-based E-3 Sentry and E-8 Joint STARS, the Boeing 747-based E-4B, and the RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft in US military service. The E-10 was based on the Boeing 767-400ER commercial airplane.
The Lockheed Martin FB-22 was a proposed supersonic stealth bomber aircraft for the United States Air Force, derived from the F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter. Lockheed Martin proposed its design in the early 2000s with support from certain Air Force leaders as an interim "regional bomber" to complement the aging U.S. strategic bomber fleet, whose replacement was planned to enter service after 2037. The FB-22 was to leverage much of the design work and components from the F-22 to reduce development costs.
The Tri-Service aircraft designation system is a unified system introduced in 1962 by the United States Department of Defense for designating all U.S. military aircraft. Previously, the U.S. armed services used separate nomenclature systems.
The Next-Generation Bomber was a program to develop a new medium bomber for the United States Air Force. The NGB was initially projected to enter service around 2018 as a stealthy, subsonic, medium-range, medium payload bomber to supplement and possibly—to a limited degree—replace the U.S. Air Force's aging bomber fleet. The Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) heavy bomber program superseded the NGB program.
The Boeing KC-46 Pegasus is an American military aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft developed by Boeing from its 767 jet airliner. In February 2011, the tanker was selected by the United States Air Force (USAF) as the winner in the KC-X tanker competition to replace older Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers. The first aircraft was delivered to the USAF in January 2019. The USAF intends to procure 179 tankers by 2027.
The Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) is a development and acquisition program to develop a long-range strategic bomber for the United States Air Force, intended to be a heavy-payload stealth aircraft that can deliver thermonuclear weapons. Initial capability is planned for the mid-2020s. A request for proposals to develop the aircraft was issued in July 2014. The Air Force plans to procure at least 100 and potentially up to 200 of the LRS-B aircraft for an estimated $550 million each. A development contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman for its B-21 Raider in October 2015. Much about the project is highly classified and little information is available to the public. As of late 2019, it was known that construction of the aircraft had begun, and on December 2, 2022, it was unveiled to the public.
The Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider is an American strategic bomber in development for the United States Air Force (USAF) by Northrop Grumman. Part of the Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) program, it is to be a stealth intercontinental strategic bomber that can deliver conventional and thermonuclear weapons. Named "Raider" in honor of the Doolittle Raiders of World War II, the B-21 is meant to replace the Rockwell B-1 Lancer and Northrop B-2 Spirit by 2040, and possibly the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress after that.
The Boeing–Saab T-7 Red Hawk, initially known as the Boeing T-X, is an American–Swedish transonic advanced jet trainer produced by Boeing with Saab. In September 2018, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected it for the T-X program to replace the Northrop T-38 Talon as the service's advanced jet trainer.
The AGM-181 Long Range Stand Off Weapon (LRSO) is a nuclear-armed air-launched cruise missile under development by Raytheon Technologies that will replace the AGM-86 ALCM.
The AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM) is an American beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) under development by Lockheed Martin. Designed to address advanced threats, the missile is expected to replace or supplement the AIM-120 AMRAAM currently in US service. The United States Department of Defense (DoD) considers the AIM-260A JATM program to be the number one air-delivered weapon priority for both the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the Navy (USN); and its acquisition out-prioritizes other weapon system improvements and modernization efforts on any fielded aircraft. As of May 2024, the House Armed Services Committee was investigating whether more late-variant AMRAAMs would be required in light of the AIM-260 JATM not having entered full-scale production, though the USAF insisted in May 2023 that AIM-260 development and production was on-schedule.
The Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) is a United States Air Force (USAF) sixth-generation air superiority initiative with a goal of fielding a "family of systems" that is to succeed the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. A crewed fighter aircraft is the centerpiece program of NGAD and has been referred to as the Penetrating Counter-Air (PCA) platform and is to be supported by uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft (CCA), or loyal wingman platforms, through manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T).
Collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) is a US program for unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) that is considered broadly equivalent to a loyal wingman. CCAs are intended to operate in collaborative teams with the next generation of manned combat aircraft, including sixth-generation fighters and bombers such as the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider. Unlike the conventional UCAVs, the CCA incorporates artificial intelligence (AI), denoted an "autonomy package", increasing its survivability on the battlefield. It is still expected to cost much less than a manned aircraft with similar capabilities. The US Air Force plans to spend more than $8.9 billion on its CCA programs from fiscal years 2025 to 2029, with an additional $661 million planned for fiscal year 2024. The success of the CCA program may lessen the need for additional manned squadrons.
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