Summary and Key Points: The future of the US Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, intended to replace the F-22 Raptor, is uncertain due to budget constraints and competing modernization programs.

-Although NGAD aims to introduce a new stealth fighter alongside AI-enabled drone wingmen, recent statements from Air Force officials suggest a potential shift towards a "Digital Century Series" approach.

-This model emphasizes rapid development cycles and shorter fighter lifespans to keep pace with evolving threats and reduce long-term costs. As the Air Force evaluates its options, the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, focused on AI drones, continues to progress rapidly.

America’s next stealth fighter, slated to replace the F-22 Raptor by the close of this decade, may no longer be a sure thing, as Air Force officials struggle to balance the ledger amid a long list of high-profile modernization programs. This new fighter, being developed within the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, has long been touted as the centerpiece of a new “family of systems,” meant to fly alongside a constellation of AI-enabled drone wingmen. Yet recent remarks from Air Force officials suggest those wingmen have a more certain place within America’s future airpower apparatus than the NGAD fighter itself.

When asked directly about the future of the NGAD program, which was supposed to have a contract announced this year, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin made it clear that the 6th generation fighter’s future may be far from certain.

“The deliberations are still underway, there’s been no decision made. We’re looking at a lot of very difficult options that we have to consider,” Allvin told reporters last week.

In what could mark an even more dramatic shift away from the status quo, Air Force officials have also hinted at a potential return to a fighter development model proposed by Air Force Acquisition Chief Will Roper back in 2019, in which smaller batches of fighters would be designed to operate with shorter lifespans, allowing for rapid design and technology changes as the threat landscape evolves.

This concept was dubbed the “digital century series” approach at the time, thanks to its emphasis on modern all-digital aircraft design and its similarities to the rapidly changing fighter designs of the 1950s and ’60s........

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