USAF/USN 6th Gen Fighters - F/A-XX, F-X, NGAD, PCA, ASFS News & Analysis

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NMaude said:
I'm wondering if the USAF is going to release photographs this year of its' NGAD demonstrator aircraft*?

*I wonder if it has been assigned an "X" designation?
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Why would it? Regardless of the program direction, there is no reason to do so.
 
_Del_ said:
A LOT. Despite all the talk about our recapitalization needs and our air frames being rode hard and put up wet, "they" continually spend more on R&D programs than acquisition. Makes no sense. R&D gives the least return for the money, and they often point it in the directions that make the least sense (for the Air Force as a policy instrument -- works great for the defense industry shareholders, which is why all these generals end up on a board at RTX or LM or wherever after retirement).
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R&D is a matter of necessity if you don't want to fall behind in capabilities. Admittedly you can go to extremes where the research becomes of questionable value, but when it comes to NGAD it's really hard to determine if that has been an issue since so much is classified. The limitations of actual acquisition doesn't seem to have been a failure to develop new systems. Choices like the one made with F-22 production tend to happen instead.

As for where the money comes from, it's probably against these forum rules to discuss foolish tax cuts or questionable initiatives and the politicians involved. The DoD (and government as a whole) needs to do a better job of how they spend the money, not cutting that overall figure in times like this so that money can seemingly be misappropriated elsewhere.
 
www.defensenews.com

NGAD engines pass key design reviews, prototype work underway

Work continues on the engines that might one day power the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter, though the fate of NGAD itself is still undetermined.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com

www.rtx.com

RTX's Pratt & Whitney passes first fully digital detailed design review on Next-Gen Adaptive Propulsion Offering

Hardware procurement begins for XA103 prototype build and test EAST HARTFORD, Conn., Feb. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney, an RTX (NYSE: RTX) business, completed the detailed design review of its Next-Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) offering with the U.S. Air Force. Pratt &...
www.rtx.com www.rtx.com

www.airandspaceforces.com

Advanced Fighter Engines Pass Design Review

Engine designs from GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney have cleared Air Force review and can proceed to fabrication.
www.airandspaceforces.com www.airandspaceforces.com
 
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Desertfox said:
PR. Getting the public on your side could be one way to save a program from being cut.
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Public opinion doesn’t matter at the program level. The average US citizen could not name a USAF aircraft, let alone understand anything about program funding. Also the nature of U.S. politics now is such that only one opinion really matters. The ruling party will rearrange itself around that opinion regardless of what it is.
 
Josh_TN said:
Public opinion doesn’t matter at the program level. The average US citizen could not name a USAF aircraft, let alone understand anything about program funding. Also the nature of U.S. politics now is such that only one opinion really matters. The ruling party will rearrange itself around that opinion regardless of what it is.
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Indeed. A former colleague of mine claimed that the “F-16” had trillions of dollars invested in its stealth capabilities and has only a balloon kill to show for it while I rolled my eyes into the back of my head.
 
Next Gen Adaptive Propulsion is a foundational element of the USAF efforts to field #NGAD. #NGAP has now advanced to stage 5 of the 6 stage dev phase.

The GE #XA102 & the P&W #XA103 both build on the Adaptive Cycle Engine development, prototyping and testing performed on the XA100 (GE) & XA101 (P&W) #ACE, both of which were sized for a potential #F35 re-engine effort that would have added up to 30% range to F-35 A & C variants.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1892917207593521552
View: https://x.com/AirPowerNEW1/status/1892917207593521552
 
Ainen said:
...was won by everything, and homefront of a stronger coalition of industrial nations, managing to remain in the war long enough, above all else.

Of all prewar investment, if one can single out something, it's two ocean navy.
All others were outweighed by later investment, or outright beaten.
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This is a thread for posting NGAD and F/A-XX news and analysis.

Not a thread for pouring gasoline and waiting to see who lights it.

Let’s try to stay on topic.
 
www.wicker.senate.gov

Chairman Wicker Meets with Secretary of the Air Force Nominee Troy Meink

www.wicker.senate.gov

U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today met with President Donald J. Trump’s nominee to be the 27thSecretary of the Air Force, Dr. Troy Meink.

In the meeting, Chairman Wicker and Dr. Meink discussed challenges and opportunities in the future Air Force fleet structure, including sixth-generation aircraft, unmanned systems, and American dominance in space.

“It was good to meet with President Trump’s choice to lead the Department of the Air Force. We have a lot of work to do to ensure that the Air and Space Forces own the skies and stars, including standing up the Next-Generation Air Dominance Fighter (NGAD), accelerating the procurement of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), preserving existing and effective Air Force fighters, and constructing platforms that will be critical to a future national missile defense system. I appreciated Dr. Meink’s perspective on these and other issues,” said Chairman Wicker. “Dr. Meink also understands that air and space power are essential to America’s military rebuild under President Trump. I look forward to
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dark sidius said:
breakingdefense.com

'Let's be frank': Hegseth's budget shakeup will be 'painful' but there's 'hope,' Air Force official says - Breaking Defense

As questions hang over the future of the service’s Next Generation Air Dominance stealth jet, Maj. Gen. Joseph Kunkel, the Air Force’s director of force design and wargaming, said that “the fight looks much better when NGAD is in it.”
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
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Adapting at Scale: A Conversation with Air Force Major General Kunkel

Dave Deptula from Mitchell was a lone voice in the forest saying the Air Force is the smallest, oldest, and least ready. Now even Democrat Senators like Gary Peters is saying it. Frank Kendall, CQ Brown, and David Allvin pissed away four years. They had to know it was getting worse, especially readiness. And at the last minute the self proclaimed father of NGAD decided to wet the bed and pause the manned platform for more studies. Kunkle bolstered his support for the need for NGAD by citing the results from war games. But wasn't this information already available?

I find it odd that the recapitalization of the Air Force was not one of Trump's priorities. Shipbuilding is capital intensive and has the added benefit of allowing legislators to bring pork back to the district. That's why LCS couldn't be killed even long after people figured out it was near useless. If the AF is smart they find a way to get Trump to Area 51 to see the NGAD demonstrators.
 
B2Blain said:
I find it odd that the recapitalization of the Air Force was not one of Trump's priorities.
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The Air Force has been moving towards a smaller fighter force for some time now. F-15s are being replaced. F-35 and F-16 will not be. The F-22 was to be replaced by NGAD.

The Air Force has other acquisition programs that they feel are higher priority. They also do not think that Congress will go for the "sticker price" of a new manned air superiority fighter, and anything less than that will have Congress say "you have F-35 at home".
 
quellish said:
The Air Force has been moving towards a smaller fighter force for some time now. F-15s are being replaced. F-35 and F-16 will not be. The F-22 was to be replaced by NGAD.

The Air Force has other acquisition programs that they feel are higher priority. They also do not think that Congress will go for the "sticker price" of a new manned air superiority fighter, and anything less than that will have Congress say "you have F-35 at home".
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I don’t see how they can continue on that path with scale and pace of Chinese modernization. They need to recapitalize most of the Air Force otherwise they will fall behind in technology and numbers.
 
dark sidius said:
breakingdefense.com

'Let's be frank': Hegseth's budget shakeup will be 'painful' but there's 'hope,' Air Force official says - Breaking Defense

As questions hang over the future of the service’s Next Generation Air Dominance stealth jet, Maj. Gen. Joseph Kunkel, the Air Force’s director of force design and wargaming, said that “the fight looks much better when NGAD is in it.”
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
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Asked about reforms to the requirements process, including the at-times-cumbersome Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System, Kunkel said a key lesson from the war in Ukraine has been the value of rapidly iterating systems that are then quickly delivered to the field. That necessity, in turn, will likely require a different way of doing business. (end of article)
How does the above not argue for a modular family of UAS, and missiles as well as some sort melding of missile/UAS as more of a priority than manned craft?
 
SlothmanAllen said:
I don’t see how they can continue on that path with scale and pace of Chinese modernization. They need to recapitalize most of the Air Force otherwise they will fall behind in technology and numbers.
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“Digital century series” acquisition and sustainment model. They are still limited by how quickly and reliably Congress can authorize funds though.

This is already very much happening across the Air Force.
 
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www.defensenews.com

Trump associate floats idea of transatlantic warplane program

In an interview with Defense News, Paolo Zampolli said he had been discussing the idea of the U.S. entering the tri-nation Global Combat Air Programme.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com

In a phone interview with Defense News, Zampolli said he had been discussing the idea of the U.S. entering the tri-nation Global Combat Air Programme, which groups the U.K., Italy and Japan.

As the U.S. focuses on its own concepts for the sixth generation fighter, Zampolli said a unified program, was “a very wise idea” since it would save funds for both the U.S. and the U.K., Italy and Japan.
 
zebra159357 said:
www.defensenews.com

Trump associate floats idea of transatlantic warplane program

In an interview with Defense News, Paolo Zampolli said he had been discussing the idea of the U.S. entering the tri-nation Global Combat Air Programme.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com

In a phone interview with Defense News, Zampolli said he had been discussing the idea of the U.S. entering the tri-nation Global Combat Air Programme, which groups the U.K., Italy and Japan.

As the U.S. focuses on its own concepts for the sixth generation fighter, Zampolli said a unified program, was “a very wise idea” since it would save funds for both the U.S. and the U.K., Italy and Japan.
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That isn't going to happen, because Europe already knows they can't trust the U.S. now. This is a complete non-starter.
 
zebra159357 said:
www.defensenews.com

Trump associate floats idea of transatlantic warplane program

In an interview with Defense News, Paolo Zampolli said he had been discussing the idea of the U.S. entering the tri-nation Global Combat Air Programme.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com

In a phone interview with Defense News, Zampolli said he had been discussing the idea of the U.S. entering the tri-nation Global Combat Air Programme, which groups the U.K., Italy and Japan.

As the U.S. focuses on its own concepts for the sixth generation fighter, Zampolli said a unified program, was “a very wise idea” since it would save funds for both the U.S. and the U.K., Italy and Japan.
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Public Service Announcement:

Don't do drugs kids. They'll rot your brain.
 
Plus the issues with ITAR and US technology transfer/sharing, that's why the Japanese are with Europe. I still don't get it, we have been handing out F-35s like candy but push back regarding European and Japanese cooperation.
 
zebra159357 said:
www.defensenews.com

Trump associate floats idea of transatlantic warplane program

In an interview with Defense News, Paolo Zampolli said he had been discussing the idea of the U.S. entering the tri-nation Global Combat Air Programme.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com

In a phone interview with Defense News, Zampolli said he had been discussing the idea of the U.S. entering the tri-nation Global Combat Air Programme, which groups the U.K., Italy and Japan.

As the U.S. focuses on its own concepts for the sixth generation fighter, Zampolli said a unified program, was “a very wise idea” since it would save funds for both the U.S. and the U.K., Italy and Japan.
Click to expand...
How long did it take to get the F-35 designed? and that was just to US specs, IIRC...
 
Scott Kenny said:
How long did it take to get the F-35 designed? and that was just to US specs, IIRC...
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"As the only Level 1 partner in SDD, the UK had significant input into the design requirements of the F-35 to ensure that it meets UK operational requirements. " LockMart evidence to the UK Defence Select Committee
 
zebra159357 said:
www.defensenews.com

Trump associate floats idea of transatlantic warplane program

In an interview with Defense News, Paolo Zampolli said he had been discussing the idea of the U.S. entering the tri-nation Global Combat Air Programme.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com

In a phone interview with Defense News, Zampolli said he had been discussing the idea of the U.S. entering the tri-nation Global Combat Air Programme, which groups the U.K., Italy and Japan.

As the U.S. focuses on its own concepts for the sixth generation fighter, Zampolli said a unified program, was “a very wise idea” since it would save funds for both the U.S. and the U.K., Italy and Japan.
Click to expand...
Elon's been sharing his stash again.
 
quellish said:
The Air Force has been moving towards a smaller fighter force for some time now. F-15s are being replaced. F-35 and F-16 will not be. The F-22 was to be replaced by NGAD.

The Air Force has other acquisition programs that they feel are higher priority. They also do not think that Congress will go for the "sticker price" of a new manned air superiority fighter, and anything less than that will have Congress say "you have F-35 at home".
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The move to a smaller, older, least ready force is budget driven. Two thirds of the Air Force inventory of aircraft are at least 50 years old.
 
TomcatViP said:
The cancelation of the stealthy tanker means that NGAD will be that gigantic, expensive airframe the AF debated in length it should not be.
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You mean that the USAF debated at length that Congress would balk at paying for.



TomcatViP said:
The FQ component will also need range, hence grow in weight.
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Sure, for Increments 2 and beyond.
 
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