Speaking at the Air & Space Forces Association’s annual Air, Space & Cyber conference, US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the unit cost of the F-35 Lightning II is the highest the US Air Force wants to spend on the 6th generation NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) fighter in development and that ideally it would like a price per aircraft less than the F-35.
Today, the cost of the F-35 is between $80-100 million, depending on the version. However, it took years for the cost to get there, and when the NGAD goes into production, inflation between now and then will have to be factored in, which will surely push the price up. We remind you that at the end of last July the American Air Force announced a pause in the NGAD program for financial reasons, as the initial calculations indicated a unit cost three times that of the F-35.
According to Frank Kendall, one way to reduce the cost of the NGAD is to transfer capabilities to the accompanying UCAV. The NGAD program is claimed by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, while the companies GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney will also participate in the program. The NGAD is designed to replace the F-22 Raptor.
