A single major contractor will probably build the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) sixth-generation stealth fighter, with a decision expected sometime next year, according to reports.
Specifics on timing and contracting are not likely available given that the program is largely secret, but there are indications that a decision is coming soon. It is a decision of great consequence. The chosen vendor will build a paradigm-changing new stealth fighter jet likely to propel U.S. supremacy over the skies into the coming decades.
During a podcast on Vago Muradian’s Defense & Aerospace Report cited in The Drive, a leading expert from the Teal Group consultancy said the Air Force competition comprises three vendors, two of which are now under development deals.
The final winner slated to build the NGAD will be announced sometime next year, according to this report. Official details regarding plans and schedules for the NGAD have not been announced, so it is possible that the Teal Group expert’s suggestion was just a guess — the program and vendor participants have confirmed nothing. The Air Force itself has indicated that a production and development decision for NGAD is expected sometime in 2024.
Pacific & European NGAD variants
Demonstrator aircraft of the NGAD have been airborne for more than a year now. This development captured the national imagination, as the public was previously unaware that an aircraft had actually taken to the sky.
Choosing among the competitors is of momentous importance, given that Russia and China, as well as several other countries, are reportedly making progress building sixth-generation stealth aircraft of their own. What is at stake is nothing less than the ability to establish air supremacy.
The force that achieves air superiority will of course be extremely well positioned to prevail in any large-scale conflict, so it seems likely that the NGAD will operate in a multi-domain capacity connecting space, surface, air, and land nodes to one another across a joint operating environment.
While the Defense & Aerospace report related to the Air Force NGAD, the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX NGAD effort is also underway, and it certainly seems possible that a different vendor could be chosen for each variant. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen.
Charles Brown has said there may indeed be two separate variants of the sixth-generation aircraft, perhaps one meant for the Pacific and another for Europe. A variant for the Pacific, for instance, might be larger, and thus able to hold more fuel for longer missions across the expansive Pacific region.
A European NGAD would likely not need as much refueling. There might also be a carrier-launched Navy variant that differs from the platform chosen by the Air Force. Essentially, there might be several opportunities for different major contractors to participate, even if only one vendor is chosen to build the Air Force NGAD.
Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in /lComparative Literature from Columbia University.
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