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It appears Kendall is questioning the rationale for continuing the F-47's development.
Moreover, whether the F-47 will fit into the Trump administration’s 2026 budget and future years program remains an open question. When the Air Force created its first draft 2026 budget and five-year program in 2024, we concluded we couldn’t afford NGAD no matter how capable and relevant it was. Congress needs to ask what has changed since then.
Over the next five years, the F-47 program will require tens of billions of dollars in additional funding. At this point, with all the other demands on the Air Force budget, including recapitalizing two legs of the nuclear triad, it’s unclear whether this administration — or the next — will be able to continue this program. Congress should demand to see the affordability analysis the Trump administration should have completed before awarding the contract.
Congress should also consider whether the Trump administration’s future year defense plan and budget will prioritize higher priority investments than the F-47. When I left the Pentagon, the Department of the Air Force had a list of unfunded strategic priorities that were higher priority than NGAD. At the top of the list were counter-space weapons and airbase defense. Neither of these is a direct Air Force responsibility, but both are critical to the success of the entire Joint Force. China is well on its way to fielding robust space-based targeting systems that threaten all of our land- and sea-based forces. We must acquire counter-space systems at scale or China will be able to target all of our assets at sea and on the ground with impunity and in real time. China also has an ever-expanding arsenal of sophisticated weapons ready to strike our airbases in the Pacific. Those bases are limited in numbers, not well defended and each is subject to attack by literally hundreds of missiles of all types. Our new F-47s — and all of our forward-based aircraft — will never get off the ground if we don’t address these threats through substantial budget increases.
Congress must demand that the Trump administration provide a national defense strategy with the 2026 budget and explain how the F-47 supports that strategy. The administration also needs to show the F-47 is affordable and that it hasn’t come at the expense of higher priority needs. Congress must ensure that the Trump administration provides the needed support for the F-47 decision. Until then, the jury is still out on whether the F-47 contract should have been awarded.
They are A/B testing Canards vs Vertical stabilizers
In a word, Kendall thinks it's too expensive to move on NGAD. So he suspects whether Trump estimated its feasibility.
But Kendall missed one thing: Trump is persuing a-trillion-dollar defense budget for 2026, for 1st time in history. With such large budget, nothing are problems anymore. Meanwhile, DOGE has fired lots of guys, & aborted some projects to minimize "unnecessary" defense expenses. If that's still not enough, then two-trillion-dollar budget incoming for 2027.
In a word, Kendall thinks it's too expensive to move on NGAD. So he suspects whether Trump estimated its feasibility.
But Kendall missed one thing: Trump is persuing a-trillion-dollar defense budget for 2026, for 1st time in history. With such large budget, nothing are problems anymore. Meanwhile, DOGE has fired lots of guys, & aborted some projects to minimize "unnecessary" defense expenses. If that's still not enough, then two-trillion-dollar budget incoming for 2027.