AIR FORCE ANNOUNCES NGAD FIGHTER WILL BE FAST-TRACKED INTO SERVICE

[rebewranger]

AIR FORCE ANNOUNCES NGAD FIGHTER WILL BE FAST-TRACKED INTO SERVICE
Alex Hollings | June 2, 2022

On Wednesday, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced that the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program is moving into the next stage of development with the aim of fielding America’s next air superiority fighter by 2030. That’s significantly quicker than most fighter programs, and suggests the effort must be progressing very well.

The NGAD, which will include a crewed fighter as well as drone support aircraft, has now begun its engineering, manufacturing, and development (EMD) program, which will then lead to actual production.

Special thanks to aviation artist Rodrigo Avella for the use of his incredible artwork in our feature photo for this story! Make sure to follow him on Instagram and check out his website!

As Howard Altman reported for The Warzone, Kendall noted that the Air Force needs to speed up its processes to get this fighter into the sky. Kendall’s not wrong—on average, it takes the Air Force around seven years from the beginning of the EMD phase to the point an aircraft reaches initial operating capability (IOC).

 https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/ngad-fighter/

[SZonian]

You can "fast track" it all you want...the reality is there just aren't enough skilled and qualified engineers and mechanics available any longer to build them very well the first time. 

Mechanics hiring in rarely have the machining skills that are required to build.  Can't read blueprints, can't drill holes properly, etc.  Engineers are "scope dopes", if it works in 3D modelling, well, it "must" work in reality.

20-30 years ago, an engineer did not have to spell out every thing on a drawing, mechanics were skilled at interpreting what was required and could do it.  Now?  Every dimension, every part, every process, every install, etc. have to be spelled out and there are still errors.

Good luck!

[libertybele]

You can "fast track" it all you want...the reality is there just aren't enough skilled and qualified engineers and mechanics available any longer to build them very well the first time. 

Mechanics hiring in rarely have the machining skills that are required to build.  Can't read blueprints, can't drill holes properly, etc.  Engineers are "scope dopes", if it works in 3D modelling, well, it "must" work in reality.

20-30 years ago, an engineer did not have to spell out every thing on a drawing, mechanics were skilled at interpreting what was required and could do it.  Now?  Every dimension, every part, every process, every install, etc. have to be spelled out and there are still errors.

Good luck!

Exactly.  My husband father and uncle were engineers that worked for defense contractors; they just don't have many truly qualified 'engineers' anymore.