The Air Force’s Secret New Fighter Jet Will Give Enemies Hell. But There's a Catch.

[corbe]

The Air Force’s Secret New Fighter Jet Will Give Enemies Hell. But There's a Catch.

Can the U.S. field its next-gen tech before those enemies field their own?

BY KYLE MIZOKAMI
MAR 2, 2021


NORTHROP GRUMMAN

An Air Force General has touted the technology that powers its secret new fighter jet, promising it will give adversaries a “tough war.”

The General says the Air Force will field the next-gen tech—if Congress is willing to pay for it.

The Pentagon is bracing for a fierce defense budget battle in the near future.

The head of the U.S. Air Force’s Air Combat Command says he’s confident the service will field the technology behind its secret new fighter jet—if the U.S. is willing to come on board.

Gen. Mark Kelly’s unprompted statement about the future of the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program likely presages the coming battle over the direction of the national defense budget, and which programs the Pentagon will prioritize over others.

In a media roundtable, Gen. Kelly said NGAD could become a deployable system that would give adversaries “a very tough day and tough week and tough war,” per Defense News. But Gen. Kelly implied the key ingredient was a commitment to actually field the system—i.e. money:

“What I don’t know—and we’re working with our great partners—is if our nation will have the courage and the focus to field this capability before someone like the Chinese fields it and uses it against us.”

<..snip..>

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a35686286/air-force-secret-new-fighter-jet-timeline-new-comments/

[PeteS in CA]

IMO, I do not expect the Biden MalAdministration to have the will to pursue this, nor to resist fellow Dems' natural attempts to gut defense programs to fund social programs and greendoggles.

[Smokin Joe]

IMO, I do not expect the Biden MalAdministration to have the will to pursue this, nor to resist fellow Dems' natural attempts to gut defense programs to fund social programs and greendoggles.

I would rather expect the Democrats and other swampsters to sell off critical bits of that technology to potential enemies for personal gain and political capital.