Next Generation Air Dominance Program Goes Bust as It Costs More To Develop Than the F-35 Lightning II

The Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter that is supposed to give the US air superiority to replace the F-22 by 2030 costs almost four billion dollars.

The NGAD is a large-scale, multi-faceted effort to develop next-generation tactical air combat capabilities specifically designed to fight deep in contested areas.

More Advanced Than 5th generation Fighters

The sixth-generation fighters will be very different and be capable of commanding drones and have a suite of weapons, sensors, and networking tech, with battlefield management capacities unlike before, reported EurAsian Times.

According to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, the new plane will have changes like no new version every five years, and not too exotic designs for the participating contractors, noted Air Force Magazine.

The expenses for the 6th gen plane will not be financially sound when Mr. Kendall spoke to the House Armed Services Committee. No amount was given, but it will be the most expensive plane ever designed. One characteristic is that it can do short takeoffs and vertical landings for carrier use, citing Defense News.

The F-35A is supposed to be a cheap 5th gen plane for the US and its allies, which can be bought in numbers. Each costs $80 million and is the most acquirable among the variants.

Fourth-generation and fourth-gen ++ fighters are the F-15 and the Eurofighters that are not as capable, only with standard capabilities minus the stealth to make it cheap.

For many, the F-35 was too costly to maintain and could not dogfight that Pentagon officials did not like it, so they bought fewer units.

Official Response to the NGAD Fighter's Expensive Cost

According to EurAsian Times, during the nearly two-hour House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness hearing on April 28, US lawmakers chastised the F-35 Joint Program Office for the lack of performance of the F-35 stealth fighter jets.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, the mission-capable minimum performance objective for the different variants in FY2021 was not fulfilled by at least nine percentage points.

One comment said that if a plane can fly and accomplish even one mission, then the mission is capable.

While the F-35 is currently manufactured at a rate of almost 150 fighters annually, the forthcoming sixth-generation fighter could only produce less than 200 fighters overall and even less than 100.

The F-35 is designed with air-to-ground attack operations, which are best for air defense suppression but fell short as air defense networks have gotten better but not minding what happens in a dogfight.

But the J-20 has better performance as an air superiority fighter than the F-35 ends up on the wrong end. The 5th gen jets like the Su-57 are delayed, but some units exist, and the MiG 1.42 program is canceled.

In service is the J-20 Mighty Dragon that is in production and squadron level ready, it is a threat to the US at the peer level. The NGAD is its intended target. The USAF will be troubled if the J-20 and Su-57 Felon have more numbers.

The Next Generation Air Dominance fighter has hit a hitch and has to adjust to a different parameter which is a serious setback. Retiring the F-22 and fewer F-35s with the J-20 and FC-31, Su-57 having more numbers will not be suitable for the US.