Latest news with #GeneralDavidAllvin
South China Morning Post
20-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
US military faces ‘readiness crisis' to modernise as China advances: Pentagon
The US faces pressure to modernise and respond to China's rapidly advancing military capabilities and ambitions, top Pentagon figures said, vowing to hasten the integration of manned and unstaffed systems to overcome a 'readiness crisis' decades in the making. Senior officials from America's navy, marine corps, air force, space force and coastguard argued the US needed quickly to adapt and innovate amid the People's Liberation Army 's growth, particularly given a relative shortfall in shipbuilding and other areas. 'They are certainly putting a lot of resources into the capabilities,' said General David Allvin, the US Air Force chief of staff, of the PLA, speaking on Monday at an event organised by the Council on Foreign Relations, a US think tank. 'Will they fight? I don't want to find out. But they've got a leader who has an ambition,' he added, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping . 'That's something we need to take very seriously.' Play The US military saw China as 'heavily funding' its military capabilities, Allvin said, with Washington eager to reach a point at which Beijing would not think of going 'up against any of us'.
The Sun
16-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Incredible details of ‘world's most lethal weapon' emerge…Trump's F47 fighter jet boasts huge range & ‘double X' stealth
INCREDIBLE new details about the US jet touted as the "world's most lethal weapon" have emerged, setting out Trump's plan to rule the skies. The chief of the US airforce dropped bombshell new stats about the F-47 - designed to destroy anything China can fly. 6 6 6 General David Allvin posted a new graphic showing off America's "next generation of air dominance". He revealed that the incoming F-47 - named after Trump, the 47th president - will be operational in the period 2025-2029. There are two keys stats that mark out the F-47 as the most advanced US jet ever. First is the stealth rating; the next gen fighter is the first to be stamped with "Stealth++" - meaning it will be the most covert yet. And the combat radius was revealed to be at least 1000 nautical miles - much further than the next-highest figure of 690nm from the F-15E(X)E. The general defined the top speed as Mach 2+, which means it will fly at more than twice the speed of sound. We also learned that at least 185 of the F-47s are on order - matching the size of the F-22 fleet. General Alvin vowed that, with the next generation of airborne gadgets, the US air force would "continue to be the world's best example of speed, agility and lethality". He added: "Modernization means fielding a collection of assets that provide unique dilemmas for adversaries - matching capabilities to threats - while keeping us on the right side of the cost curve." The spanking-new jet was first announced back in March by Trump, alongside Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office. US military stages biggest EVER 'elephant walk' with supersonic jets, helicopters & drones in show of force to China At its launched, another key feature was flaunted. Embracing the development of new warfare technology, the F-47 will be accompanied by its own drone swarm. Program coordinators plan to use sophisticated robotic wingmen designed by Anduril Industries and General Atomics in the drones, according to Axios. Trump didn't confirm how much the project would cost, but a source close to the Next Generation Air Dominance pegged it at upwards of $20billion. A huge cash wad has been set aside to fund the programme and ensure America's air defences remain dominant. 6 6 Two months ago, Trump hailed these jets as 'the most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built'. He added: "The F-47 is equipped with state-of-the-art stealth technologies, virtually unseeable and unprecedented power," and called the title a "beautiful name". "There's never been anything like it," he concluded. It's no wonder Trump approves of the name - as it comes from his own position as 47th president. However, he insisted that it was not his own work, but devised by his generals. The contract for the deadly new military aircraft was awarded to the struggling American company Boeing - replacing Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor. This marked a major improvement in the company's fortune. Boeing will eventually receive hundreds of billions of dollars in orders over the contract's multi-decade lifetime. List of fighter jets used by the Air Force THE US Air Force uses four different F-series fighter jets. Here is an inside look at the top-tier weapons. F-15 Eagle - This is an extremely maneuverable fighter built to operate in all weather conditions. According to the Air Force, the Eagle can, "penetrate enemy defense and outperform and outright any current enemy aircraft." F-16 Fighting Falcon - This craft is more compact and can have several roles in the Air Force. It's quick and excels in air-to-air combat. The Falcon, "provides a relatively low-cost, high-performance weapon system for the United States and allied nations." F-22 Raptor - The Raptor is the pinnacle of US air combat excellence. This model takes a more operational role in the skies with stealth capabilities that are ideal for recon missions. The jet assists multiple military branches and "cannot be matched by any known or projected fighter aircraft." F-35A Lightning II - This model is an upgraded version of the Air Force's aging fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons and A-10 Thunderbolt II's. The jets, "bring with it an enhanced capability to survive in the advanced threat environment in which it was designed to operate."
South China Morning Post
14-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
US shares sixth-generation fighter details, intensifying China air rivalry
The US has unveiled more details about its sixth-generation fighters, intensifying its competition with China for air superiority in future warfare. General David Allvin, the US Air Force chief of staff, shared an infographic on social media on Tuesday that revealed fresh details of the F-47 fighter jet and its collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) drones, which are being developed under the country's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programme. These developments come as China continues to advance its own sixth-generation fighter programme, with prototypes of the Chengdu J-36 and Shenyang J-50 regularly appearing in public test flights since late last year. However, Beijing has not yet confirmed the aircraft seen in test flights as being its next-generation fighters. The F-47 will have a combat radius of over 1,000 nautical miles (1,852km or 1,151 miles), significantly surpassing the roughly 590-nautical-mile range of the F-22 Raptor it aims to replace, according to the infographic. The post added that the accompanying CCA drones, the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A, would have a combat radius of over 700 nautical miles. The drones started ground tests last week. The F-47 and CCA drones are expected to be critical for operations across the Indo-Pacific region, according to defence experts and previous US Air Force statements.
