Pentagon 6th-Gen NGAD May Contain “Breakthrough” Altitude & Networking Range

By Maya Carlin, Warrior Contributor, Weapons

Details surrounding the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD, have been kept largely under wraps. But that hasn’t stopped aviation buffs and industry experts from speculating about this future fighter program.

We learned in May that the Air Force has already begun to solicit proposals for its sixth-generation fighter.

The service will reportedly award a contract for the airframe in 2024. While the number of participating manufacturers remains unclear, the industry’s giants, including Lockheed, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman will certainly be involved.

The manned NGAD aircraft is being designed to ensure American air superiority as adversaries race to produce their own next-generation airframes. The NGAD is expected to replace the formidable F-22 Raptor, which became the world’s first fifth-generation fighter when it entered service with the Air Force. While the Raptor is considered the world’s best fighter jet, Russia and China have produced comparable fifth-generation fighters over the last decade. The U.S. military is hoping the NGAD program will ensure America’s interests as tensions build in Eastern Europe and the South China Sea.

What We Know About the NGAD Program

Manufacturer Lockheed Martin published concept art for the next-generation airframe in March last year. The depictions show a sleek and tailless airframe with refueling drawn from the LMXT tanker concept. Tailless designs have become more typical. They allow for greater stealth via low observability, greater internal volume for fuel and weapons, and a higher degree of efficiency.

The NGAD’s family of systems concept will incorporate unmanned aerial vehicles to fly alongside piloted fighter jets in an arrangement dubbed Collaborative Combat Aircraft. The Air Force will rely on industry to create this concept and build lower-cost, sophisticated drones that can carry out surveillance, test enemy air defenses, and extend command and control through human direction. In the NGAD concept, the sixth-generation fighter will serve as the quarterback for its accompanying drones and munitions.