04.10.2021, 08:35
Zitat:AFA NEWS: Air Force’s NGAD Program ‘Progressing Per Plan’https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/...g-per-plan
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Air Force’s secretive Next-Generation Air Dominance program is progressing according to plan, a top acquisition official said Sept. 21. However, the service has yet to decide whether to apply the highly touted Digital Century Series platform development concept to the initiative.
The NGAD program is expected to yield a family of systems — to potentially include a sixth-generation fighter jet and drones — that would give the U.S. military an edge against advanced adversaries. During the Air Force Association’s Air-Space-Cyber conference in 2020, then-Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Will Roper made headlines when he revealed that the service had already started flying a full-scale flight demonstrator for the effort. However, the service has remained tight-lipped about the project. [...]
The Digital Century Series idea calls for leveraging digital engineering, open systems architectures and advanced software development methods as a means of accelerating new aircraft development. Proponents have argued that the new paradigm could enable the service to buy smaller quantities of aircraft at any given time while holding more frequent industry competitions to get the latest and greatest technologies. The goal would be to shorten modernization cycles and give contractors more opportunities to participate in aircraft programs.
Schneemann