The Navy has its own NGAD effort under way, however that aircraft looks likely to reach the force later than the Air Force’s.

I recently published a Forbes commentary laying out the features that I expect will drive design of the NGAD fighter, but the whole program is secret so the piece is speculative. The crewed fighter at the center of the NGAD family, on the other hand, is called a “sixth generation” aircraft, signaling that it will be significantly more capable in integrating the technologies most relevant to assuring command of the air.Īs anyone with access to the program will tell you, a fifth-generation aircraft can’t accomplish what a sixth-generation aircraft can-which isn’t surprising, given that fifth-gen fighters were conceived long before the China threat had assumed the urgency it does today. NGAD will be mainly about command of the air-not just with regard to the crewed fighter it fields to replace the Air Force’s twin-engine F-22 fighter (now several decades old), but also the unmanned aircraft and weapons that accompany the fighter into battle.į-22 and F-35 are often referred to as “fifth generation” aircraft, emphasizing the survivability conferred by stealth, their ability to fuse diverse sensor collections, and secure networking features that enable seamless tactical coordination. But F-35 has limited range, which will constrain its use in the Pacific, and it is a multi-mission aircraft rather than being optimized for air dominance. The US and its allies are currently fielding a fifth-generation fighter, the F-35, that is highly survivable thanks to its low-observable (“stealth”) features. The operational environment thus puts a premium on speed and range, but also the ability to survive in close proximity to the main centers of Chinese military power. For instance, in order to deter Beijing’s aggressive impulses, US combat aircraft will need to operate far from home in the vastness of the Western Pacific-an area with relatively few usable bases and a great deal of distance to be covered in wartime.

Battle of warships anti air forces