The brain trust of the U.S. Air Force has decided to further investigate the service's next generation fighter called "Penetrating Counterair" (PCA) but will withhold final judgment pending an 18 month-long review of this contentious project.

PCA will succeed the Air Force's current fifth generation stealth fighters but the confusion about this new fighter's exact role is such the Air Force refuses to call it a "sixth generation fighter." That confusion stems from the increasing importance of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or aerial drones and their role in future air warfare.

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Some experts contend the manned jet fighter is obsolete and that drones can do their dangerous jobs much cheaply and with no loss of human life.

The Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) will undertake a separate study of PCA. The study, which will begin in January 2017, will last 18 months.

It will be an analysis of alternatives that will help determine the PCA platform by examining the ability of this aircraft to reach supersonic speeds in different configurations while maintaining a stealth signature and maneuverability.

Formed in 1944, SAB is a Federal Advisory Committee that provides independent advice on matters of science and technology relating to the Air Force mission. It reports directly to the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

Although some refer to PCA the Air Force's next-generation fighter, top USAF officials have avoided using the term "sixth generation."

Brig. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, team lead for the Air Force's 2030 air superiority study, doesn't foresee air-to-ground as PCA's primary role. This indicates the Air Force doesn't see this aircraft as an F-15E or F-35 replacement. There's also no consensus yet on whether PCA will be unmanned.

"We'll probably call it a fighter, it will probably have an F designation," he said. "But what we want to do is open up our aperture and think a little bit more broadly about attributes."

"So that's kind of the rationale for, let's not call it a fighter right off the bat. But yeah, it's going to be a platform that fights, so it probably will be a fighter but we're trying to think a little bit more broadly."

The possibility PCA will be armed with a directed energy weapon such as a solid state laser than can shoot down opposing aircraft, drones and missiles is high.

"On the lethality side, obviously the dream would be to have something with an unlimited magazine, something (like) directed energy type capabilities," he said. 

TagsU.S. Air Force, Penetrating Counterair, PCA, sixth generation fighter, Air Force Scientific Advisory Board