President Donald Trump announced on Friday this Boeing The Air Force’s future fighter plane will build, which the Pentagon says will obtain surreptitious and penetration capabilities that exceeded those in its current fleet and are necessary in a possible conflict with China.
A manned aircraft will work as a generation of the next generation, or NGAD, as a cortptic for a fleet of drones in the future designed to be able to penetrate the air defenses in China and any other potential opponents. The initial contract to proceed with production on the issuance of the Air Force is worth an estimated $ 20 billion.
The President 47, who announced the award at the White House with Defense Minister Beit Higseth and the Air Force Command, said with a smile that the new fighter will be called F-47.
“We will write the next generation of the modern air war,” said General David Alvin, Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Higseth said that the future fleet “sends a clear and direct message to our allies that we do not go anywhere.”
Critics questioned the cost and the need for the program because the Pentagon is still struggling to produce his most advanced plane, F-35, which is expected to cost the taxpayers more than $ 1.7 trillion over its life. In addition, the Future B-21 Raider Bomber in the Pentagon will have many advanced technologies in advanced materials, artificial intelligence, payment and ghost.
More than 1100 F-35s is already built for the United States and multiple international partners.
A fleet of about 100 futuresB-21 Bombers BombersAt a total cost of at least $ 130 billion, it is planned. The first B-21 aircraft is now on test flights.
With the development of drones and space warfare it is likely to be the center of any battle with China, Dan Grazier, a military purchasing analyst, wonders whether it is “another wonderful fighter plane that is actually the appropriate platform to move forward.” Grazier, director of the National Security Reform Program at the Stimson Center, said that 20 billion dollars is “just a seed money. The total costs will be on the road hundreds of billions of dollars.”
A few details about the shape of the new NGAD fighter were public, although Trump said early releases have been testing trips over the past five years. Performance by both Lockheed Martin Boeing has highlighted a lower tail flat plane with a sharp nose.
An official said, provided that his identity is not disclosed to provide additional details about the selection. The official said that Boeing’s offer is still designed to be “the best comprehensive value of the government.”
The Air Force has not specified the number of aircraft to be produced. However, in a statement, Allvin said that there will be more F-47S of F-22S, the advanced fighter plane that replaces it. There are now about 180 F-22 combat aircraft in the service.
It is still a separate naval contract for copy Northrop Grouman Boeing.
Last year, Frank Kendall, the Biden Air Force Minister, ordered the NGAD to review whether the plane is still necessary or if the program, which was designed for the first time in 2018, was designed to be modified to reflect the past few years of the progress of the war.
I studied this review by Think Tanks and Academia how the conflict with China with NGAD would look like and then without it – and decided that NGAD is still necessary. Kendall then left the decision regarding the company that would build a fighter plane for the Trump administration, according to a defense official, provided that his identity is not disclosed to provide details of decision -making.
The official said NGAD will bring a “completely different level of low observation.” It will also have much longer than the F-35 or other current fighter aircraft, so it will require less fuel. The future version of NGAD was also plannedIt improves the artificial intelligence of the plane,The official said.
This story was originally shown on Fortune.com
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