Revolution in the Skies: The Promise and Challenges of the Next Generation Air Dominance Fighter

The development of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter, a planned sixth-generation platform, is a revolutionary step in fighter design. The NGAD program has recently transitioned from the prototyping phase to the engineering and manufacturing development phase, a significant milestone given the rapid changes in the geopolitical situation.

The goals of the NGAD program are ambitious. It aims to secure US tactical and strategic air dominance for decades to come. The main aircraft itself includes a modular, highly adaptable, and optionally manned platform that incorporates survivability, range, and next-generation sensor fusion capabilities. This fighter component of the NGAD program would likely be able to fly higher than 70,000 feet, faster than Mach 2, and have a range of 1500 nautical miles or more, all while maintaining stealth.

The NGAD initiative also includes companion unmanned attritable drones along with advanced secure networking infrastructure to integrate them all together. Essentially, the NGAD aircraft will be large, leverage new and possibly revolutionary technologies, and inevitably be expensive. This is where we can start to draw parallels to the F-111 program of the 1960s.

The F-111 Aardvark was a high-tech solution that could fulfill many mission types and itself was expensive while suffering from significant cost overruns. The F-111 program nearly led to the cancellation of the project altogether due to escalating costs. However, the F-111 did make it to production status, and it had a long and successful career.

Today, the NGAD program estimates that each production aircraft will cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars. This would make it by far the most expensive fighter aircraft ever produced. The price tag would also place it squarely between the $130 million F-22 and the $600 million Northrop B-21. These massive costs per copy will likely have a couple of outcomes: less units produced and a lack of export options.

One option that could alleviate the per unit cost of the final product would be exporting copies to allies. However, this is problematic for a couple of reasons. Firstly, at $200 million plus per copy, there likely would not be any other nations that could afford to field NGAD fighters even in small numbers. Secondly, other Western nations are already at work on their own sixth-generation fighters, making them unlikely to be interested in the US’s NGAD fighter.

The NGAD program is also working on advanced technology, one of the known components being the adaptive cycle engine. This innovative engine seeks to provide the best of both worlds in jet engine design: high performance with high thrust output and high efficiency with low fuel consumption. The adaptive engine combines high thrust and fuel efficiency, switching between high thrust and high efficiency modes in the air.

The adaptive cycle engine also provides another benefit: cooling. Today’s fighters are limited by heat buildup from the engines themselves, and many times the engine output has to be limited to avoid damaging the aircraft itself. The adaptive cycle engines will make use of advanced components such as additive and ceramic matrix composites that not only reduce the overall weight of the engine, they also significantly improve the internal cooling capacity of the engine itself.

The NGAD program’s development will be extremely costly and high-risk, but it’s what’s needed given today’s rapidly changing geopolitical environment. And if the F-111’s development and life cycle is any predictor, the NGAD will serve for a long time.

In conclusion, the NGAD program is a significant step forward in fighter design. Despite the high costs and risks involved, the potential benefits in terms of performance and capabilities are immense. The success of the program could secure US air dominance for decades to come, making it a worthwhile investment. However, it is crucial to learn from the past, particularly from the F-111 program, to avoid similar pitfalls and ensure the success of the NGAD program.