US courts secret bids for next generation air dominance fighter jet project
A Lockheed Martin concept for the future NGAD fighter. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
On 18 May, The US Air Force released a classified solicitation to industry for a contract to work on the service’s future fighter jet being developed under the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) project.
The USAF intends to award an engineering and manufacturing development contract for the programme in 2024.
NGAD intends to develop a next-generation fighter jet that will succeed the F-22 Raptor.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said: ‘The NGAD Platform is a vital element of the Air Dominance family of systems which represents a generational leap in technology over the F-22, which it will replace,
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‘NGAD will include attributes such as enhanced lethality and the ability to survive, persist, interoperate, and adapt in the air domain, all within highly contested operational environments.
‘No one does this better than the US Air Force, but we will lose that edge if we don't move forward now.’
The release of the secret solicitation formally begins the selection process for the F-22 successor, providing industry with the requirements the Air Force expects for NGAD.
The USAF said the NGAD acquisition strategy would ‘invigorate and broaden the industrial base to deliver rapid and innovative warfighting capabilities.’
Further information on the technical and programmatic details of NGAD remains under wraps to ‘protect operational and technological advantages.’
In 2020, the US announced it had secretly flown a full-scale NGAD prototype.
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