(Luft) Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD)

[Schneemann]

Erstes Infomaterial bzw. Renderings wurde/n schon in den letzten eineinhalb Jahren nach und nach veröffentlicht, nun wurde erstmals ein Jahr genannt, in welchem der neue Luftüberlegenheits-Kampfjet der US-Luftwaffe der nächsten Generation - bezeichnet als Next Generation Air Dominance-"Programm" (NGAD) - eingeführt werden soll (bzw. könnte): 2029. Sicherlich recht ambitioniert. Das Rendering ist recht interessant, wobei es im Grunde doch wieder konservativ ist (im Rahmen natürlich der gegenwärtigen Entwicklung). Auch, soweit ich es sehe, wird es definitiv ein bemanntes Fluggerät sein...

US may field new fighter by FY 2029

The United States may field a new fighter aircraft type by fiscal year (FY) 2029, according to a related contract notification posted on 4 March. The contract awarded to Raytheon for AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) aircraft integration support lists several aircraft types that carry the system, before expanding its remit to potentially include those existing types that do not, as well as a type or types that have yet to enter into service.

“This contract will provide the necessary aircraft lab, flight test, flight clearance, and simulation support during all integration requirements in AMRAAM for F-15, F-16, F/A-18, F-22, F-35, and other current inventory or next-generation platforms that may join the air force or navy inventory before the end of fiscal year 2029,” the Department of Defense (DoD) said in its contract notification. [...] With the notification listing all US Air Force (USAF) and US Navy (USN) aircraft types (or their derivatives, such as the EA-18G Growler) cleared to carry the AMRAAM, it is not immediately apparent to which platform or platforms the DoD might be referring in its notification.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-...by-fy-2029

Schneemann.

[voyageur]

Die US-Luftwaffe veröffentlicht ein konzeptionelles Bild des zukünftigen Kampfjets der 6. Generation
VON LAURENT LAGNEAU 12. APRIL 2021
OPEX 360 (französisch)
Im September 2020 gab Will Roper, damals stellvertretender Sekretär der Luftwaffe für Akquisitionen, Technologie und Logistik, bekannt, dass ein neuer Kampfjet der 6. Generation, der im Rahmen des Programms "Next Generation Air Dominance" (NGAD) im Geheimen entwickelt wurde, gerade hatte absolvierte seine ersten Flüge… und seine Leistung übertraf die Erwartungen.
[Bild: http://www.opex360.com/wp-content/upload...210412.jpg] Im Detail soll das NGAD-Programm zu einem "System von Systemen" führen, das um ein Kampfflugzeug namens "Penetrating Counting Air" (PCA) herum entwickelt wurde. Es ist klar, dass es wie das von Frankreich, Deutschland und Spanien entwickelte Luftkampfsystem der Zukunft (SCAF) oder der britische Sturm darum geht, diese PCA in den Mittelpunkt eines Netzwerks zu stellen, das Drohnen, angeschlossene Effektoren und andere Flugzeuge umfasst. „Wir haben bereits einen Demonstrator des NGAD-Programms gebaut und geflogen. Damit haben wir Rekorde gebrochen. […] Wir sind bereit, Flugzeuge der nächsten Generation mit einem neuen Ansatz zu bauen “, sagte Roper unter Bezugnahme auf die„ Digital Century Series-Initiative “, ein Ansatz, der sich auf die digitale Technik konzentriert, um die Entwicklung neuer Kampfflugzeuge zu beschleunigen .
Tatsächlich wird in dem jüngsten Zweijahresbericht, den die US Air Force gerade über ihre Akquisitionsstrategie veröffentlicht hat, viel über Digital Engineering gesprochen [.pdf]. Dieser Ansatz "hilft Luft- und Raumfahrtkräften ... Programme schneller und intelligenter durchzuführen", sagte sie. In diesem 60-seitigen Dokument werden daher eine Bestandsaufnahme der in den Jahren 2019 und 2020 getätigten Akquisitionen und Fortschritte vorgenommen. Daher werden fast alle aktuellen Programme mit den damit verbundenen Investitionen überprüft. "Fast", weil einige Projekte dort nicht erscheinen, wie zum Beispiel das des RQ-180, einer von Northrop Grumman entwickelten Drohne, von der wir wissen, dass sie im Rahmen des 427. Aufklärungsgeschwaders in Dienst gestellt wurde, das kürzlich auf der Basis reaktiviert wurde. Fluggesellschaft von Beale [Calif.] Laut AviationWeek.
Auf der anderen Seite wird der zukünftige B-21 "Raider" -Bomber erwähnt ... Aber der Bericht enthält keine neuen Informationen darüber, außer dass er von einer Investition von 12,3 Milliarden Dollar im Zeitraum 2021-25 profitieren wird. davon 2,8 Milliarden allein für das Jahr 2021. Und dass seine Entwicklung Technologien im Zusammenhang mit Digital Engineering verwendet. Und es ist auch die Rede von ... dem NGAD-Programm, das durch ein konzeptionelles Bild veranschaulicht wird, das eine Vorstellung von dem Kampfflugzeug gibt, auf dem es basieren wird. Bisher wurde kein Foto des Demonstranten, von dem Will Roper sagt, dass es jemals geflogen ist, offiziell veröffentlicht. Ist es repräsentativ? Da ist die Frage ... In jedem Fall zeigt das fragliche Bild einen Kampfjet mit zwei Triebwerken und einem fliegenden flügelartigen Design. Sein Profil erinnert vage an ein mysteriöses Gerät, das 2008 fotografiert wurde, als es über den kalifornischen Himmel flog [wenn nicht für einen einzelnen Reaktor]. Der Bericht der US Air Force enthält keine Angaben zu den bereits getätigten und für das NGAD-Programm zu erwartenden Investitionen. Den Haushaltsdokumenten zufolge sind jedoch für den Zeitraum 2019-25 9 Milliarden Dollar geplant, davon 1 Milliarde für das Geschäftsjahr 2021. Außerdem wurde für das Jahr ein Umschlag von 1,5 Milliarden Dollar beantragt. Steuer 2022. Auch nicht Das Dokument enthält Informationen zu den betroffenen Herstellern. „Air Dominance der nächsten Generation stellt eine Familie von Funktionen dar, die in den schwierigsten Betriebsumgebungen Luftüberlegenheit bieten“, erinnert sich der Bericht, in dem der Beitrag von Digital Engineering, agiler Softwareentwicklung und offenen Architekturen seiner Komponenten hervorgehoben wird. „Durch die Ausführung kürzerer Technologieentwicklungszyklen reift das Programm die Technologie und reduziert das Risiko durch Prototyping und betriebliche Experimente“, sagt er. Am NGAD-Programm war zunächst auch die US-Marine beteiligt. Aber letztere geht es jetzt alleine, ihre Bedürfnisse sind nicht unbedingt die gleichen wie die der US Air Force. Für die amerikanische Marinefliegerei wird dies die F / A-18 Super Hornet ersetzen. Vor kurzem gab Admiral Gregory Harris an, dass ein zukünftiger Jagdbomber an Bord "sehr wahrscheinlich besetzt sein wird" (dh von einer Besatzung betrieben wird) und neben Drohnen vom Typ "loyaler Flügelmann" fliegen wird. Letztendlich könnte eine amerikanische Carrier Air Group bis zu 60% Drohnen und 40% bemannte Flugzeuge haben.
Detected language : French

[Schneemann]

AFA NEWS: Air Force’s NGAD Program ‘Progressing Per Plan’

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Air Force’s secretive Next-Generation Air Dominance program is progressing according to plan, a top acquisition official said Sept. 21. However, the service has yet to decide whether to apply the highly touted Digital Century Series platform development concept to the initiative.

The NGAD program is expected to yield a family of systems — to potentially include a sixth-generation fighter jet and drones — that would give the U.S. military an edge against advanced adversaries. During the Air Force Association’s Air-Space-Cyber conference in 2020, then-Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Will Roper made headlines when he revealed that the service had already started flying a full-scale flight demonstrator for the effort. However, the service has remained tight-lipped about the project. [...]

The Digital Century Series idea calls for leveraging digital engineering, open systems architectures and advanced software development methods as a means of accelerating new aircraft development. Proponents have argued that the new paradigm could enable the service to buy smaller quantities of aircraft at any given time while holding more frequent industry competitions to get the latest and greatest technologies. The goal would be to shorten modernization cycles and give contractors more opportunities to participate in aircraft programs.

https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/...g-per-plan

Schneemann

[Schneemann]

Mit einem recht interessanten "Artist Rendering" wie das Ding aussehen könnte. Und - in Anlehnung auch an unsere Diskussion zum "strategischen Mittelstreckenbomber" - es ist ersichtlich, dass NGAD eine Art strategischer Langstrecken-Luftüberlegenheitsjäger werden soll, der vermutlich eben auch taktische Angriffe ausführen können soll...

NGAD: Building sixth generation jet is number 1 priority, USAF says

The US Air Force’s programme for a sixth generation fighter jet and related systems is the number one priority for the service, Air Combat Command chief Mark Kelly has said. Speaking at a virtual event, Kelly said the service’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programme, which will eventually replace the F-22 Raptor, is his number one requirement. [...]

Speaking at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event, Kelly added to this that the fighter will be able to operate at long ranges. [...] He added the next generation aircraft is “designed to operate beyond a single spectral band of the RF [radio frequency] spectrum, to thrive in a multispectral environment,” and it also “senses” the battle space and “connects” the rest of the force, so “that I can put [it] in the adversary’s back yard.” In September at this year’s Air, Space & Cyber conference, a top acquisition official revealed the programme is progressing according to plan. [...]

“We do not want to be on the other side of coming in second in air superiority,” Kelly explained. “I would like to have more of a sense of urgency and a whole-of-nation effort towards it,” he said, drawing comparisons to the Manhattan Project that produced the first nuclear bomb in World War II.

https://www.aero-mag.com/next-generation...e-26102021

Schneemann

[Helios]

es ist ersichtlich, dass NGAD eine Art strategischer Langstrecken-Luftüberlegenheitsjäger werden soll, der vermutlich eben auch taktische Angriffe ausführen können soll...

Er wird natürlich die Befähigung zum Einsatz von Luft-Boden-Waffen besitzen, in gleichem Maße wie die F-22 auch. Die Gesamtpriorität liegt aber bei der Luftüberlegenheit, und das wird auch in dem Artikel deutlich:
"“We do not want to be on the other side of coming in second in air superiority,” Kelly explained. “I would like to have more of a sense of urgency and a whole-of-nation effort towards it,” he said, drawing comparisons to the Manhattan Project that produced the first nuclear bomb in World War II."

[Schneemann]

Etwas mysteriös und hinsichtlich der Bezugnahme zu Area 51 bzw. zum Groom Lake natürlich auch schön nebulös gehalten, aber möglicherweise wurde ein Modell des NGAD tatsächlich erwischt...

Did the Air Force's Secret New Fighter Jet Just Fly Over Area 51?

A mysterious object that resembles an aircraft was recently photographed at the legendary Area 51. The fighter jet-sized object could be the Air Force's Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter, or it could be ... something else. Regardless, it's like nothing else in the current U.S. arsenal and has not yet been positively identified.

The alleged aircraft—first spotted by The War Zone blog in imagery obtained by Planet Labs, a commercial satellite company—appears to show a transparent, hangar-like shelter with an aircraft inside. The image was taken via satellite on January 26, 2022. This strange aircraft appears to be about the size of a fighter jet. It has a cranked arrow design, in which a pair of sharply drawn wings broaden out about halfway down the length of the jet. [...] There are at least three possibilities as to what the mystery plane might be. The first is that it's some kind of uncrewed aerial combat vehicle. The U.S. military plans to eventually fly large, fighter-like "loyal wingman" drones that can pair up with crewed aircraft. One example is this Boeing Australia design, also called Loyal Wingman. The Area 51 jet could be from another manufacturer, such as Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman. [...]

The third—and most intriguing possibility—is that the aircraft is a sixth-generation fighter. In 2020, Air Force officials announced the service's Next-Generation Air Dominance Fighter had been designed, tested, and flown in just one year, thanks to modern digital engineering techniques. NGAD is the expected replacement for the F-22A Raptor fighter. However, the service has not yet revealed any other details, including what the aircraft actually looks like and who built it.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/militar...r-area-51/

Schneemann

[Schneemann]

THE PENTAGON – The Navy is spending more money to develop its sixth-generation fighter program but is keeping the costs classified for the third year in a row, the service said on Monday.

For the last three budget cycles, the Navy has classified the research and development dollars it’s spending on Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) and service officials have provided few details about the program due to the classification. The Fiscal Year 2023 proposal, unveiled Monday, lists NGAD under the aircraft section of its research and development efforts without dollar figures.

“Although NGAD is a classified line, investments do go up over the [Future Years Defense Program] somewhat dramatically for NGAD,” Rear Adm. John Gumbleton, the Navy’s deputy assistant secretary for budget, told reporters during a Monday briefing. Gumbleton was referring to the Pentagon’s five-year budget outlook. [...] The Navy last disclosed spending lines for NGAD in its FY 2020 budget books, asking for approximately $20.7 million in research and development dollars for the initiative at the time. That year’s budget books projected dollar figures throughout the FYDP, with the amount increasing each fiscal year. At the time, the Navy projected it would ask for $55.05 million in FY 2021, $111.26 in FY 2022, $255.59 in FY 2023, and $371.9 million in FY 2024 for NGAD.

https://news.usni.org/2022/03/29/navy-ke...dget-cycle

Schneemann

[voyageur]

Der NGAD wird als künftiges Kampfflugzeug der US-Luftwaffe mehrere hundert Millionen Dollar kosten.
OPEX 360 (französisch)
von Laurent Lagneau - 29. April 2022

[Bild: http://www.opex360.com/wp-content/upload...210412.jpg]
Als 2011 die Produktion des Luftüberlegenheitskampfflugzeugs F-22A Raptor eingestellt wurde, wurden die Gesamtkosten des Programms, aus dem es hervorgegangen war, auf 67,3 Mrd. US-Dollar geschätzt, wovon 32,4 Mrd. US-Dollar auf Forschung, Entwicklung und Tests entfielen.

Damit ist der Raptor derzeit das teuerste Flugzeug in der Geschichte der Luftfahrt, wobei der Stückpreis für die 195 gebauten Flugzeuge [davon 8 für Tests] mehr als 345 Millionen US-Dollar betrug. Hinzu kommen noch die Kosten für die Aufrechterhaltung der Betriebsbereitschaft und die Finanzierung von Upgrades.

Während das Joint Strike Fighter-Programm (JSF) wegen seiner astronomischen Kosten (1700 Milliarden US-Dollar über die gesamte Laufzeit, vor allem wegen der Wartungskosten und der Verzögerungen bei der Entwicklung der Block-4-Fähigkeiten) immer wieder kritisiert wird (vor allem von US-Finanzaufsichtsbehörden wie dem GAO), ist der Preis für eine F-35 immer noch "vernünftig": Ein Exemplar kostet im Durchschnitt 80 Millionen US-Dollar beim Kauf.

Das künftige Kampfflugzeug der US-Luftwaffe, das aus dem NGAD-Programm (Next Generation Air Dominance) hervorgeht, das auf die Entwicklung eines "Systems von Systemen" nach dem Vorbild der britischen Tempest und des von Frankreich geleiteten Luftkampfsystems der Zukunft (SCAF) abzielt, dürfte jedoch einen Kostenrekord aufstellen...

Damit dürfte das sogenannte Augustine-Gesetz [benannt nach Norman Augustine, ehemaliger Direktor von Lockheed Martin und Sekretär der US-Armee in den 1970er Jahren, Anm. d. Ü.] seine Berechtigung haben.

Dieses Gesetz besagt, dass die Stückkosten für Militärflugzeuge alle zehn Jahre um das Vierfache steigen und dass, wenn sich dieser Trend fortsetzt, der gesamte Verteidigungshaushalt im Jahr 2054 nur noch für ein einziges taktisches Flugzeug ausreichen wird.

So weit ist es allerdings noch nicht... Aber wenn man dem Sekretär der Air Force, Frank Kendall, glauben darf, würde der Kaufpreis für einen NGAD bei "mehreren" hundert Millionen Dollar liegen. "Das ist eine Zahl, die Ihre Aufmerksamkeit erregen wird. Es wird ein teures Flugzeug sein", sagte er diese Woche bei einer Anhörung vor dem Streitkräfteausschuss des Repräsentantenhauses.

Für diesen Preis werde der NGAD "unglaublich effizient" sein, versicherte Kendall. Allerdings dürften sich seine Besitzkosten in Grenzen halten. Das Flugzeug sei so konzipiert, dass "Upgrades und Wartung" auf "sehr effiziente Weise" durchgeführt werden könnten, unter anderem durch "modulares Design" und "gemeinsame Schnittstellen", erklärte er.

Der NGAD soll von mindestens einem Triebwerk der nächsten Generation mit adaptivem Zyklus angetrieben werden, das im Rahmen des AETP-Projekts (Adaptive Engine Transition Program) entwickelt wurde, um sparsamere Triebwerke mit einem "erheblich verbesserten" Wärmemanagement und einem um 10 % höheren Schub zu produzieren.

Da der NGAD das Zentrum eines "Systems von Systemen" sein wird, wird er mit Drohnen des Typs "Loyal Wingman" operieren, deren Kosten zur Gesamtrechnung des Programms hinzukommen. Diese Flugzeuge werden nicht "verbrauchbar" sein, sondern müssen so billig sein, dass man sie ohne Verlustgefahr einsetzen kann. Ihre Kosten, so Kendall, dürften nicht mehr als die Hälfte des Preises für ein bemanntes Flugzeug betragen. Das sind etwa 40 Millionen Dollar, was nicht gerade wenig ist....

Bisher ist, abgesehen von den Erklärungen des Air Force Secretary, nur sehr wenig über den NGAD bekannt, außer dass ein Demonstrator 2020 zum ersten Mal geflogen ist, dass die US Air Force seine Indienststellung [auf Kosten der F-22 Raptor] beschleunigen will und dass er mehr Munition und Treibstoff mitführen können muss, um auf den "langen Strecken des indo-pazifischen Theaters" operieren zu können.

Foto: Konzeptansicht des NGAD, verbreitet von der US Air Force

[Schneemann]

Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance ‘Fighter’ Program Enters New Stage [...]

The Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program — which includes a new manned fighter-like platform, associated collaborative drones, weapons, sensors, and communications architecture — has started its engineering, manufacturing, and development (EMD) program, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced Wednesday. The goal, he said, is to turn NGAD into a real capability before 2030. [...]

The Air Force had previously worked on “an experimental prototype” of the aircraft, said Kendall. “So we basically had an X-plane program, which was designed to reduce the risk in some of the key technologies that we would need for a production program.” [...]

The Presidential Fiscal Year 2023 defense budget request includes $1.7 billion for the NGAD program. Last month, according to Breaking Defense, Kendall told lawmakers that the NGAD manned platform would cost “multiple hundreds of millions of dollars” per plane as it would be the centerpiece of the NGAD ecosystem.

It is unclear if a prime contractor has been picked to develop the manned portion of the program or an even larger segment of it. At the same time, it isn't perfectly clear if there would be a single prime contractor on any one platform in the NGAD program as this is something the USAF is trying to migrate away from, at least to a degree. NGAD is not a fighter program in the traditional sense, either, so it is hard to project the current status of it, including winners and losers in terms of contractors. Of course, Lockheed, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman are all possible candidates regardless of how the EMD stage is configured and some decisions would have likely been made as to who will do what in order to begin EMD.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ai...-new-stage

Schneemann

[Schneemann]

Report to Congress on Air Force Next-Generation Air Dominance Program

According to the Air Force, the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program is intended to develop “a portfolio of technologies enabling air superiority.” The Air Force intends for NGAD to replace the F-22 fighter jet beginning in 2030, possibly including a combination of crewed and uncrewed aircraft, with other systems and sensors. NGAD began as a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency project. Since 2015, Congress has appropriated approximately $4.2 billion for NGAD. [...]

While a stated aim of the NGAD program is to replace the F-22 fighter jet, the aircraft that come out of the NGAD program may or may not look like a traditional fighter. [...]

NGAD Development Efforts

The Air Force has said that NGAD exists to develop four publicly acknowledged technologies.

- Propulsion. Over the past few years, the Air Force has invested substantially in variable cycle engines through the Advanced Engine Technology program. One objective for this program is to improve the amount of electrical power generation while improving cooling.
- Uncrewed systems. Secretary Kendall has stated the Air Force is developing uncrewed aircraft complementing NGAD. While the Service has not stated how it intends to use these uncrewed aircraft, some analysts suggest these aircraft could collect intelligence, provide electronic warfare capabilities, or carry additional munitions.
- Materials. The NGAD program seeks to examine new composite materials and structures. FY2023 Air Force budget materials state it seeks to “continue new low cost design and manufacturing structural concepts for attritable vehicles,” implying that these new materials could be used for uncrewed aircraft.
- Sensors. This development effort likely seeks to develop an advanced radar, infrared sensors, and improved electro-optical cameras. [...]

Thus the company that wins the design contract might be different from the company receiving the production contract, and a third company could win the sustainment contract to support the aircraft in the field.

Does NGAD Compete with F-35?

For the next few years, the Air Force aims for NGAD to be a research effort, with plans to acquire production aircraft or other systems beginning around 2030. Congress authorizes and appropriates research and development funds and production funds in separate budget lines. F-35 is funded largely through procurement, while NGAD is funded through research and development [...] Also, the air dominance role NGAD is intended for is more in line with the current mission of the F-22 or F-15EX than F-35. [...]

Secretary Kendall has stated that NGAD will cost “several hundreds of millions” per aircraft. By comparison the F-22 Raptor had an average per unit cost of $191.6 million which resulted in a procurement of 183 aircraft. Some Members have expressed concern about the cost of NGAD, particularly in light of competing Air Force priorities including nuclear modernization, F-35 procurement, and aerial refueling tanker recapitalization.

https://news.usni.org/2022/06/24/report-...ce-program

Schneemann

[Schneemann]

Kendall: Australian Ghost Bat Drone Could Pair With NGAD

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall indicated that the Air Force could incorporate the Australian-made Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone into the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) family of systems, according to media reports. [...]

Kendall told Breaking Defense that the United States and Australia are “having preliminary discussions” about buying the MQ-28 Ghost Bat “as a risk reduction mechanism” for NGAD’s drone capability. “I think there’s a lot of mutual interest in working together. And we’re going to be sorting out the details over the next few weeks,” Kendall said after meeting with newly minted Royal Australian Air Force chief Air Marshal Robert Chipman on Aug. 22.

https://www.airforcemag.com/kendall-aust...with-ngad/

Schneemann

[Schneemann]

US Air Force eyes NGAD deliveries by 2030. Can it be done?

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Air Force’s secretive, next-generation fighter platform is still in the design process and has not formally entered its engineering, manufacturing and development stage, the service’s secretary said this month. [...] The acknowledgment marks a step back from June, when Frank Kendall publicly said the highly classified Next Generation Air Dominance program had already hit the key milestone. “We have now started on the EMD program to do the development aircraft that we’re going to take into production,” he said during a Heritage Foundation event at the time. It also has some experts wondering if the service can meet its goal of delivering the first iterations of the sixth-generation fighter by the end of this decade. [...]

The service is still designing NGAD, Kendall said, and the program has not yet gone through the Milestone B review process. That milestone marks the completion of a program’s technology maturation phase and the formal start of an acquisition program, when the service takes its preliminary design and focuses on system integration, manufacturing processes and other details ahead of production. Kendall’s June comments, in which he also said the Air Force would deliver some NGAD capabilities by the end of the decade, surprised some in the aviation world and suggested the program was further along in the process than initially thought. Several defense publications, including Defense News, reported on his comments at the time as indicating NGAD had formally entered the EMD phase. [...]

Kendall’s acknowledgment that NGAD has not entered the EMD phase, much less finished the design process, raises the possibility the program might not reach initial operating capability by the end of the decade, Heritage Foundation think tank fellow and former Air Force fighter pilot John Venable told Defense News. [...] “It could happen [by 2030], but the odds are against it happening” by then, he said.

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2022/09/...t-be-done/

Schneemann

[Schneemann]

New Next Generation Air Dominance ‘Fighter’ Renderings From Lockheed

Two new pieces of concept art appear to show a possible configuration for the manned component of the NGAD future air combat program. [...] Lockheed Martin has provided new artwork showing a notional manned sixth-generation combat aircraft component of the Next Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD, the multi-faceted U.S. effort to field next-generation tactical air combat capabilities. The stealthy tailless aircraft is shown refueling from Lockheed’s LMXT tanker concept, which the artwork was intended primarily to promote. You can read more about NGAD’s potentially game-changing architecture here, but suffice it to say, a manned tactical aircraft component is very much planned to be at its center.

By showing an NGAD concept as essentially an adjunct to the new tanker aircraft it’s promoting to the Air Force, Lockheed Martin appears to skillfully sidestep making any explicit references to what’s a highly secretive program. However, there’s no doubt that the tailless aircraft is intended to serve at least as a stand-in for NGAD. [...]

The twin engines are buried in the fuselage and exhaust over the upper surfaces of the airframe — a known low-observable design tactic used to block the infrared plume and radar reflective exhaust areas from sensors on the ground and from most other aspects — with two-dimensional diamond-shaped nozzles. These are especially apparent in a rear-aspect view of the aircraft, seen below, in which it’s also shown taking on fuel from an LMXT.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ne...m-lockheed

Schneemann

[Schneemann]

USAF lays out plans for NGAD, loyal wingmen numbers

The US Air Force plans for the first batch of Next Generation Air Defense (NGAD) systems to consist of 200 manned fighters and 1,000 high-performance drones that could accompany them, USAF Secretary Frank Kendall said. Kendall explained that the USAF employs a notional figure for its aircraft fleet that fulfills future sustainment, training, basing needs, along with other factors. The number was revealed during the 2023 Air & Space Forces (AFA) Warfare Symposium on March 7, 2023. [...]

Development of loyal wingmen is also a part of the USAF’s NGAD program, which envisions the sixth-generation fighter jet as a “system of systems” – a collection of manned and unmanned assets that could act as one unit and accomplish more than just a collection of independent aircraft. Three high-performance drones are currently being tested as a part of the Skyborg program – General Atomics Avenger, Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie, and Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat, although the USAF is also running several parallel programs to develop other drones that could perform the role of loyal wingman.

https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/usaf-...en-numbers

Schneemann

[Schneemann]

US Air Force announces Next-Generation Air Dominance engineering and manufacturing solicitation

The US Air Force (USAF) on 18 May announced the release of a solicitation for engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) of the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) platform, intended to replace the Lockheed Martin F-22 as the service's high-end fighter jet.

The solicitation is classified, and details such as desired cost and specifications were not immediately available, although it likely requests an aircraft with a longer range than current fighters, exquisite stealth characteristics, and state-of-the-art electronic sensing and warfare capabilities. A downselect to a single manufacturer is scheduled for 2024, and USAF officials have earlier said that NGAD should enter service in or around 2030.

Bidders are likely to include Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing, all of which have publicly discussed NGAD designs and were in August 2022 selected to integrate an as-yet-unbuilt engine into an unspecified air dominance platform by 2032.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/air-p...licitation

Schneemann