2024 is the critical juncture for American air supremacy with the Air Force poised to award the much-awaited contract for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter aircraft a sixth-generation fighter planned to replace the iconic F-22 Raptor.
The arena is set for hard-fought rivalry between aerospace giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing following the withdrawal of Northrop Grumman from the race, leaving the defense sector and industry on tenterhooks wondering who would sign on the dotted line for these next-generation combat vehicles.
The Air Force announced in May that NGAD will employ open-architecture standards to leverage competition across its life cycle while reducing maintenance and sustainment expenses. But the Air Force has remained tight-lipped on many of the extremely classified program’s other technological specifics, invoking security considerations.
NGAD is unique in that it is designed to produce a “family of systems” consisting of a manned fighter aircraft at its core supported by a cluster of drone wingmen or collaborative combat aircraft, added sensor capabilities, and enhanced integration with satellites and other platforms.
Northrop in July said that it won’t bid on the Air Force version of NGAD as a prime contractor, but CEO Kathy Warden during that month’s earnings call said the company would consider bidding on the Navy’s standalone version of NGAD, known as F/A-XX.
NGAD’s propulsion system, the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP), is another aspect of the program experiencing a huge budgetary increase. The Air Force requested a substantial $595 million for NGAP in its fiscal 2024 budget, representing an increase of $375 million from last year. This investment puts NGAP’s cutting-edge features, including high-temperature composite materials and an adaptive component aimed at maximizing thrust and efficiency under different scenarios a technological quantum leap in fighter jet engines.
