The White House could determine the future of the United States Air Force’s and United States Navy’s sixth-generation fighter plans in the coming weeks.
The Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, which calls for a system that includes an optionally manned air superiority fighter supported by unmanned aerial systems (UAS), was put on pause last year but is likely to move forward.
Cost issues for the fighter that would eventually replace the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor were cited as a factor, as were concerns over whether any manned fighter could retain a technological edge as advances in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and other components of the aircraft are being introduced at a breakneck speed.
However, the Air Force reversed course again, believing that a six-gen fighter would be required in a potential conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific.
President Donald Trump, briefed on the program earlier this month, will have the final say. The same will hold for the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX program, which seeks to develop a sixth-generation carrier-based fighter to operate alongside the Lockheed Martin F-35C and replace the aging Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
The sea service concluded a deal with Boeing last year for the final block of Super Hornets, which will be delivered by the end of 2027.
President Has Been Briefed
According to a report from Aviation Week, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy officials briefed the president at the White House earlier this month “ahead of the upcoming fiscal 2026 budget requests.”
Air Force Chief of Staff General David Allvin, who briefed Trump last week, previously expressed his support for the NGAD program, including the manned fighter component.
“If we’re in this dangerous and dynamic time, I want to give the president as many options as possible,” Allvin said at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air Warfare Symposium.
“So that means yes, keep on the modernization. Yes, NGAD.”
Trump’s nominee for United States Secretary of the Navy and still awaiting a Senate confirmation vote, John Phelan, has also supported the Navy’s F/A-XX.
In written responses to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Phelan explained his thoughts on the program, stating, “The F/A-XX next-generation aircraft, offering significant advancements in operational reach and capacity within contested environments, is intended to enable Carrier Strike Groups to outpace adversaries while maintaining naval air dominance.”
A contract could be awarded for the program later this year.
Even as critics of a sixth-generation manned fighter, including close Trump ally Elon Musk, who infamously praised drone technology last year and remains critical of the F-35 program, have been quite vocal, it is hard to ignore that militaries around the world are putting a lot of effort into it.
China and Russia are now believed to be working on sixth-generation fighter aircraft, which highlights the possibility that the U.S. Air Force may be unable to sit it out.
Likewise, America’s allies are underway two competing programs, the British-led Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), with Italy and Japan as co-partners, and the French-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which Belgium may join as a junior partner. There has been repeated speculation that GCAP and FCAS could merge, but even if that doesn’t happen, the GCAP consortium recently announced it expects to have orders of more than 300 aircraft from the partner nations and export sales.
Details of the Briefing: Manned Fighter(s) Supported By Drones
Both of the U.S. sixth-gen programs could eventually consist of systems supported by drones, and that is already the goal of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), which calls for the UAS to support manned fighters in roles like reconnaissance and decoy operations, focusing on cost-effective mass production.
Two competing designs are now being evaluated.
In November 2024, Anduril’s “Fury” and GA-ASI’s “Gambit” unmanned aerial systems passed their respective critical design reviews (CDRs), and both are on track to make their maiden flights sometime this year.
Earlier this month, the Air Force announced that the drone aircraft had received their formal Mission Design Series designations. GA-ASI’s version is now known as the YFG-42A, while Anduril’s is the FYQ-44A. The air service described each as “representing the first in a new generation of uncrewed fighter aircraft” and added, “Both will be crucial in securing air superiority for the Joint Force in future conflicts.”
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image: Shutterstock/ Joshua Sukoff.
