The U.S. Air Force is at a critical junction.
Near-peer adversaries like China and Russia are pouring large sums of money into their future aircraft fleets. With the air dominance of a future conflict at stake, the Air Force is developing manned and unmanned aircraft in response. But some of them are very costly and there is a debate on whether it is worth spending hundreds of millions per aircraft or seek cheaper alternatives.
“Is America’s next stealth fighter jet, the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) platform already dead in the water?” Alex Hollings, Sandboxx New’s Editor-in-Chief and host of Airpower, wonders in his latest video.
The question stems from recent statements by U.S. Air Force officials about the cost of the sixth-generation aircraft which is expected to reach as much as $300 million per fighter jet.
“In this era of rapidly advancing military technology there is a pretty reasonable argument to be made that it just doesn’t make sense to purchase these extremely high-end, once-a-generation fighters that are meant to fly for decades at a time, and it may be time for a significant shift in the Air Force’s acquisition strategy,” Hollings adds.
The Pentagon has indicated that it will be awarding a contract for the NGAD aircraft this year. The sixth-generation stealth fighter jet will reportedly have manned and unmanned capabilities and is intended to replace the aging F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet in its air dominance mission set.
However, as Hollings indicates in the Airpower video, the Air Force isn’t completely sold on the project and is considering other opportunities as well to find the best solution for America’s next-generation fighter jet.
This is a critical decision that can determine the course of a future war.
You can watch Alex’s full video about it above.
