A 5th generation engine needs to be:
1. With high enough dry thrust (22K - 26K lbf) to impart supercruise capability to the plane.
2. Air inlet design to allow radar signals not to bounce back. LP Fan and compressor section to have blade design to be optimised to absorb radar signals.
3. Combustion and nozzle sections will have to be designed to be in line with compressor section, as well as being as cool as possible in general to give a lower IR signature.
The whole 5th generation engine design, at the end of the day, is a compromise and optimised to give high thrust but be cooler and radar sensitive. You can’t produce a 4th generation engine and then gradually turn it in to 5th generation. Each time an engine is produced, it has to go through intensive tests; both on the ground and in the air.
EDIT
F404 and F110(F118) have non afterburner versions that fly f117 and B2 jets. But their inlet, compressors, et al, have all been greatly optimised for stealth operations.
1. With high enough dry thrust (22K - 26K lbf) to impart supercruise capability to the plane.
2. Air inlet design to allow radar signals not to bounce back. LP Fan and compressor section to have blade design to be optimised to absorb radar signals.
3. Combustion and nozzle sections will have to be designed to be in line with compressor section, as well as being as cool as possible in general to give a lower IR signature.
The whole 5th generation engine design, at the end of the day, is a compromise and optimised to give high thrust but be cooler and radar sensitive. You can’t produce a 4th generation engine and then gradually turn it in to 5th generation. Each time an engine is produced, it has to go through intensive tests; both on the ground and in the air.
EDIT
F404 and F110(F118) have non afterburner versions that fly f117 and B2 jets. But their inlet, compressors, et al, have all been greatly optimised for stealth operations.
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