The Air Force Might Make Two Distinct Versions Of Its Next Multirole Stealth Fighter
The NGAD fighter will be able to tackle ground targets and could be produced in long-range and short-range versions.
By Thomas Newdick June 17, 2021
The War Zone
The U.S. Air Force is planning for the fighter at the core of its multi-faceted Next-Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD, to come with at least a degree of multirole capability, being able to engage ground targets, as well as aerial threats. The service is also reportedly looking at fielding long- and shorter-range versions of the aircraft, optimized for operations in the Indo-Pacific and European theaters, respectively. These are the latest details to emerge on the secretive NGAD program, at least one demonstrator for which has already begun test flights.
More information was revealed during yesterday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing regarding the Air Force’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget request. Testifying before the committee were Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown Jr. Meanwhile, remarks from retired General James M. Holmes, the former head of Air Combat Command, were reported the same day by Air Force Magazine.
U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Dana Rosso
Alaska-based F-22s about to be loaded with GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs as part of a Combat Hammer weapons system evaluation.
General Brown described the NGAD, or at least, the central fighter component within what’s expected to be a ‘system of systems,’ as an aircraft with a primary air dominance mission. This fits in with its broad brief to ultimately replace the Air Force’s relatively small fleet of F-22A Raptor stealth fighters, which are now being slated for retirement in the coming decade. However, the Air Force boss also wants the fighter to have some “multirole” functions, specifically, the ability to attack targets on the ground, “to ensure, one, that it can survive, but also to provide options for our air component commanders and for the Joint Force.”
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41138/the-air-force-might-make-two-distinct-versions-of-its-next-multirole-stealth-fighter
