Five Reasons Why the Air Force Must Proceed With NGAD (From RealClearDefense)
Once upon a time – meaning just a few months ago – the U.S. Air Force was all-in on acquiring a sixth-generation stealth fighter. Now, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall has announced he will “take a pause” on the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program to re-evaluate the cost, operational concept and next steps in the process.
Kendall said the service is still “going to do a crewed, sixth-generation platform” but this is a major moment considering the Air Force has been working on this program for years and planned to invest $2.5 billion next year in this new fighter. Suddenly, the Air Force appears to be backtracking on its commitment to NGAD and to the central role for advanced, manned fighters in general.
I have written more on this subject here.
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