The combine fleet of fifth- and fourth-generation aircraft under the care of the United States Air Force is already quite formidable. Representing the pinnacle of current aircraft technology, the F-35 Lightning II alone is a military force to reckon with on the air. Nevertheless, the Air Force is already thinking ahead with its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program.
Air Force Goes Digital With Next-Gen Aircraft
As the US Air Force defines it, NGAD refers to a family of capabilities that allow for air superiority even in the most challenging operational environments, with development achieved through digital engineering, agile software development as well as open architectures. This advance aircraft program would develop counter-air platform to ensure situational awareness in various domains and agile resilient communications while integrating a family of capabilities.
According to the Air Force's 2019-2020 Acquisition Biennial Report, NGAD will employ the so-called Digital Century Series approach to create a realistic business case for adopting the best commercial practices for vital design activities even before any part of the aircraft is manufactured. Since NGAD aims for shorter technology development cycles, it doesn't just mature technology but also lowers risk via prototyping and operational experimentation.
NGAD Prototype Already Built And Flown
Interestingly, the Air Force top acquisition official told Defense News in September 2020 that the department had already built and flown a full-scale NGAD demonstrator. As far as documents show, the contract for developing the NGAD fighter was grabbed by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technology as cost-plus-fixed-fee deal. The Air Force looks forward to achieve initial operation capability for the NGAD fighter as early as 2030.
While there had been no sightings or released pictures of the NGAD prototype, the Acquisition Biennial Report revealed a concept image of the upcoming aircraft. The NGAD aircraft seemed to have a triangular (wedge) shape sans traditional tail sections. It seemed able to accommodate various weapons and propulsion systems, as indicated by the labels V1, V2 and V3.
Complementing F-22 And F-35 In Air Superiority
Overall, NGAD would enhance various elements of air superiority, including survivability, lethality and persistence even in hotly contested environment. It will complement the Air Force's current fleet of F-22 Raptors and F-35 Lightning II in playing air superiority role, becoming the first Gen 6 aircraft in the process.
Source: United States Air Force, Defense News