UCLASS Requirements – Some Contrarian Viewpoints
By Chris Rawley With the U.S. Navy’s UCLASS request for proposal delayed while classified requirements are again reviewed, a spectrum of opinions about the program have percolated into the public light. In his recent letter to the Secretary of Defense, Senator John McCain reinforced what seems to be the prevailing view that the Navy needs a very capable (and likely expensive) aircraft, with "a n unrefueled endurance several times that of manned fighters; a refueled mission endurance measured in days; broadband, all-aspect radar cross-section reduction sufficient to find and engage defended targets; and the ability to carry internally a flexible mix of up to 4,000 pounds of strike payload." Navy SEAL Captain Robert Newson recently advocated a lower end/lower cost UCLASS supported by the “small, smart, and many” argument. Blogger C DR Salamander also chimed in with a pragmatic argument that UCLASS requirements creep could lead the program down the same