Do We Know What the Sleek, Stealthy 6th-Gen NGAD Looks like?

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington DC) 

Sleek, stealthy, smooth and bat-like are words one could use to describe available renderings of the Air Force’s already airborne 6th-generation Next Generation Air Dominance, an already airborne next-generation platform expected to introduce paradigm-changing elements of speed, stealth and lethality. 

The exact configuration is not known, yet should industry renderings be any guide, the airframe will look like a smooth blended-wing body with no vertical tails. This suggests there may be some kind of stealth technology breakthrough enabling a flatter, bomber-like fuselage to maneuver at high speeds better than an F-22 without tails.  This is just a possibility, as the actual design is not known, yet Lockheed, Northrop Grumman and Boeing all released design renderings with some similar attributes and basic parameters. 

In fact, Weapons giant Lockheed Martin may have just revealed a new image of its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) offering on its Instagram account, as the company published an image or rendering of what looks like the kind of 6th-generation stealth fighter jet configurations the industry giant has previously released.

The image, which shows a sleek, blended wing-body tailless configuration does resemble previous 6th-gen renderings released by Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing, all potential competitors for the anticipated NGAD contract award. Of course, very little is known when it comes to actual design or production plans for the 6th-gen fighter that is still deep in development. However, senior Air Force leaders have been clear for quite some time that NGAD demonstrators are indeed already airborne.

The apparent Lockheed Martin NGAD rendering appeared on Lockheed’s Instagram alongside images of known aircraft such as the U-2 Spy plane, SR-71 Blackbird, F-117 Nighthawk, and F-22 Raptor in celebration of Lockheed’s famous Skunk Works division 80th anniversary.