The pursuit for America’s next-generation platforms began over a decade ago in the early 2010s.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency launched a study in 2014 to explore strategies to maintain the US’ edge in air superiority. It found that simply developing sixth-generation combat aircraft wouldn’t be enough to ensure air superiority against US adversaries, instead urging a “family of systems” across multiple domains, including air, space, and cyberspace.
Air superiority is the condition where a nation’s aircraft can fly at minimal risk from other aircraft and surface-to-air missiles. The US’s longtime edge in achieving this is increasingly threatened by the proliferation of air defense missiles and China’s aircraft build-up, including two types of stealth fighters.
Building upon DARPA’s findings, the Air Force launched its own study, Air Superiority 2030, which laid the groundwork for its NGAD program, which envisioned creating a future hybrid fleet of crewed and uncrewed aerial systems.
As one of the Air Force’s most sensitive and highly classified programs, few details were publicly known about the NGAD program.
In September 2020, Will Roper, then-Air Force acquisition chief, officially confirmed that the service had test-flown a prototype of its next-gen fighter. This was the first public acknowledgment of the top-secret program that he said he hoped would garner “greater credibility” on the program’s progress.
By 2023, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman appeared to be in the running to develop the NGAD platform, floating potential designs for it in promotional materials for their future projects — a common practice among US military aircraft manufacturers.
Northrop Grumman — the lead contractor for the B-2 Spirit and B-21 Raider stealth bombers — was also in the running to build the NGAD aircraft but dropped out of consideration as the prime developer in 2023, instead intending to support other bids as a supplier.
