After the NGAD setback, Lockheed Martin regroups to give F-35, F-22 Raptor sixth-gen makeover

Lockheed Martin may have lost the race for the US Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programme to Boeing, but the company has no plans to relent.

The defence and aerospace manufacturer, which does not wish to protest the US Air Force’s decision to award the NGAD contract to Boeing, intends to use the technology and knowledge it gained from the investments in NGAD race to enhance the capabilities of its fifth-generation fighter F-35 to make it transform it to fifth-generation-plus capability.

During the company’s first-quarter earnings call, CEO Jim Taiclet said he challenged the team that was in the NGAD competition to deliver "80 per cent of sixth-gen capability at 50 per cent of the cost."

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While it may be out of the sixth-gen fighter jet programme for the near future, Lockheed Martin will now focus on upgrading its F-35 and F-22 Raptor with sixth-gen technology, and according to Taiclet, they intend to take the F-35 chassis and turn it into a Ferrari.

"Eventually, there will be 3,500 of these (F-35) chassis out there at various stages of technology and capability. We think we can get most of the way to sixth-gen at half the cost."

He said this will provide the customers of the company, including the US Air Force, with the best possible value.

Reports suggest that the company plans to incorporate advanced manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) into the upgraded F-35s. MUM-T refers to the collaborative operation of manned and unmanned systems, where piloted aircraft like the fifth-gen F-35 work alongside drones and other autonomous platforms.

Defence