Reference Message Network reported on April 5 that the US National Interest magazine website published an article titled "Why the US Will Not Be Able to Find Foreign Buyers for F-47" on April 3. The author is Peter Soucho. The full text is excerpted as follows: It is generally believed that sixth-generation fighters are too advanced to be exported to foreign armies. And America's allies are unlikely to show interest in F-47. The F-35 Lightning II fighter jet produced by Lockheed Martin Corporation of the United States is the most successful fifth-generation fighter jet so far, with more than 1,000 delivered. Despite Russia's attempt to find foreign buyers for its own Su-57, other fifth-generation aircraft including Su-57 are unlikely to replicate the success of F-35. However, the success of F-35 is also irreproducible for the United States. This is not only because Lockheed Martin seems to have been excluded from the sixth-generation fighter competition. Last month, this aerospace and defense giant was removed from the US Navy's F/A-XX fighter jet program, which is about to announce the winning results. Meanwhile, Boeing has already secured a contract for the F-47 fighter jet, which is at the core of the "Next Generation Air Dominance" (NGAD) program. F-47 will enter service in the early 2030s, replacing another fifth-generation fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor produced by Lockheed Martin, and is expected to bring huge revenue to Boeing. And this is where history may repeat itself. The F-22 was never approved for export due to security risks related to the leakage of advanced technologies such as stealth. Rising project costs and changes in the needs of the US Air Force have significantly reduced the original order of 750 units, with Lockheed Martin producing only 187 units between 1996 and 2011. Although it may be premature to discuss potential foreign military sales plans for F-47, former US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said he did not believe that F-47 exports would become a reality, even though former President Trump had hinted that the United States might produce a "downgraded version" of F-47 for export. Kendall said during a podcast interview: "If any of our partner countries were willing to purchase a new aircraft at that price, I would be very surprised." Kendall reminded that the price of each F-47 is likely to reach $180 million, approximately twice the current price of F-35. Even America's closest allies are unlikely to be willing to pay that much for the export version of F-47, especially considering Trump's assertion that the export version may not be as capable. Trump said: "(Because) they may not be our allies one day." This position will not only continue to alienate Washington from even its closest allies but also affect US arms sales. Another reason why America's allies and partners are unlikely to show interest in F-47 is that Europe is already advancing two competing sixth-generation fighter development projects. One is the "Global Combat Air Programme" (GCAP), led by the UK and involving Italy and Japan. Several multinational companies have participated in the research and development work of this plan, including BAE Systems UK, MBDA UK, Rolls-Royce UK, Leonardo Italy, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Japan. The specific performance of the future product has not yet been disclosed, but it is likely to be an "optionally manned fighter", equipped with an augmented reality cockpit and drone systems that can act as "co-pilots" or "loyal wingmen". The GCAP consortium stated that although important design details have not been announced, the project has already received at least 300 orders. In addition, Europe also has the Franco-German-Spanish "Future Air Combat System" (FCAS) project. Technical sharing issues between the main cooperating parties, Dassault Aviation and Airbus, once delayed the progress of the project, but Trump's recent remarks may provide motivation. As geopolitical analyst Brandon Weaver wrote in an article for the National Interest: "Unlike Americans, Europeans need to upgrade combat aircraft. Multinational cost-sharing may make the sixth-generation fighter worthwhile." This cost-sharing model is not an option for the United States, and Europe already has two competitive projects that are likely to become a reality, which means that F-47 is unlikely to find foreign buyers either. (Compiled/translated by Liu Ziyan) Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7489704990307615282/ Disclaimer: The article only represents the views of the author. Welcome to express your attitude in the [upvote/downvote] button below.