https://www.aerosociety.com/news/nga...tional-divide/
NGAD - a generational divide?
….Kendall, now Air Force secretary, stated in May 2023 that the service had issued a request for proposals covering engineering and manufacturing development of NGAD. He earlier raised eyebrows by stating that the unit cost of NGAD would be “multiple hundreds of millions” and “too expensive to be purchased in large numbers” and has also said that the plan is to team each NGAD with two CCAs.
The cost is high, but not surprising for an F-22 follow-on: a 2009 RAND Corporation study calculated that continued production of the F-22 would cost $173m per unit – almost $250m in today’s money. The USAF probably hopes to acquire enough NGADs to replace 187 F-22s, but fewer than the 339 F-22s that the service once aspired to buy. No initial operational capability date has been announced, but NGAD is not expected in service before 2030.
Faced with an expensive competition, a short production run, and government control of future development, Northrop Grumman has decided not to bid on the NGAD prime contract (the company’s Mission Systems’ sector could still be involved) and is focusing on US Navy’s F/A-XX programme. That leaves the USAF to choose between a Lockheed Martin monopoly of its fighter force or make an award to Boeing – whose performance on recent USAF programmes has been disappointing and characterised by delays on seemingly straightforward projects. Some observers believe that the scope of the programme, and the defence industry’s shortage of modern facilities and engineers, will result in a leader-follower award and a ‘national team’ approach.
NGAD itself is likely to be quite large. A 2018 USAF presentation includes a slide outlining the adaptive engine programme, and it makes a clear distinction between the 45,000lb/thrust-class flight-weight demo engines (GE’s XA100 and P&W’s XA101) sized to re-engine the F-35, a smaller ‘scaled core’ engine for AS2030, and a further derivative for retrofit to ‘fourth-generation’ fighters. That implies a maximum thrust of around 35,000lb for the NGAD engine. NGAD will probably be as heavy as the F-22, or slightly larger.
NGAD’s size may be the primary reason why it is a separate programme from F/A-XX, although the requirements are also believed to diverge in other ways. For example, the Navy may favour range and stand-off weapon capability over stealth. Other than engine technology, very little has been said about the extent of technology sharing between the two programmes.
The use of the adaptive engine indicates that NGAD will be designed to operate efficiently at both subsonic and supersonic speeds. It has been claimed that in a supercruise-capable fighter, adaptive technology can increase mission radius by 38%. However, Grynkewich’s comments imply that it may not have traditional fighter attributes, such as high manoeuvrability. A sustained 9G capability sets a high floor to the thrust/weight ratio and wing loading of a fighter aircraft and increases empty weight.
On the F-22, ‘supermanoeuvrability’ demanded heavy vectoring nozzles and enormous tail surfaces. Smaller – or even absent – tails are compatible with all-aspect, wideband reduction of radar cross section (RCS), previously associated with subsonic tailless designs, like Northrop Grumman’s flying wings or Boeing’s Bird of Prey. The ‘bowtie’ signature pattern of the F-22 and F-35, with a stronger signature on beam aspects than to the front or rear, was optimised to penetrate a linear air defence system – but in the South China Sea, radar threats are found at all aspects.
At this years Air Force Association (AFA) convention near Washington DC, one exhibit pointed to the possibility that NGAD will have a longer endurance than earlier aircraft. Martin-Baker showed a concept mock-up of a proposed Mk 20 ejection seat that resembled a home recliner, with control inceptors forming part of the seat.
Martin-Baker consultant and former USAF pilot and physician, Kathryn Hughes said that the company expects NGAD missions to be long and cognitively intensive. In addition to offering a reclining position, the Mk 20 concept removes much body-worn equipment from the pilot and incorporates it in the seat, and includes Wi-Fi-type devices to monitor the pilot’s physical condition….