(Luft) Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD)

[Schneemann]

Tut sich nun doch wieder was? Anscheinend wurde die Pausierung nun erstmal irgendwie vertagt und die Sache der kommenden Trump-Administration mehr oder minder "übertragen".

Fragt man sich aber, wer sich dann durchsetzt: Trump, der ja das Militär wieder "great" machen will oder Musk und sein DOGE, der der ja als langjähriger Kampfpilot die Effizienz von Kampfjets einschätzen kann wie kein zweiter...

Air Force Defers Decision on NGAD to New Trump Administration

The Air Force is deferring decisions on the Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter to the incoming Trump administration, opting to continue both its review of the program and the Technology Maturation and Risk Reduction contracts during the transition period, the service announced Dec. 5.

“The Secretary of the Air Force will defer the Next Generation Air Dominance way ahead decision to the next administration, while the Department of the Air Force continues its analysis and executes the necessary actions to ensure decision space remains intact for the NGAD program,” the service said in a press release. [...] Boeing and Lockheed, each of which build fighters for the Air Force today, are the presumed competitors for NGAD. Northrop Grumman chief executive Kathy Warden previously revealed her company had declined to bid on the program, but would likely pursue the Navy’s next-gen fighter. Northrop is among those with contracts to develop engine/vehicle interfaces for NGAD, under the Next-Generation Aerospace Propulsion program, along with Boeing, Lockheed, GE Aerospace and RTX’s Pratt & Whitney. [...]

However, over the summer, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall ordered a “pause” on the program, saying the Air Force was no longer certain that the requirements set for it matched the evolving threat. He also acknowledged the price tag for NGAD—Kendall has said it would be “multiple hundreds of millions” of dollars per tail—was prohibitively high without more resources.

Kendall ordered an internal review of the program and formed a blue-ribbon panel of former Air Force leaders with unique knowledge of stealth projects to provide advice. No end date for the review was set, although senior service leaders suggested it would be finished before the Air Force’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal went to the Office of Management and Budget.

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-fo...istration/

Schneemann