US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

So it seems like the Air Force has concluded that the NGAD program should proceed, though it will be up to the incoming Trump administration to determine if they want to continue with the project.

WASHINGTON — A recent internal Air Force analysis supports the development of a manned, next-generation fighter jet, three sources told Breaking Defense — a finding that comes amid a high-profile debate over the future of the multi-billion-dollar

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program.

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“Our analysis also highlights that there may be significant opportunity costs associated with proceeding with NGAD, given the DAF’s [Department of the Air Force] strategic priorities and the potential level of Air Force and Space Force budgets. There are a number of interdependencies and alternative options at various risk and resourcing levels which the next administration will have to consider before making a decision. All options remain on the table,” he added.

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Will be interesting to see if Trump and co. continue with the project, or decide to go with an alternative path.

SlothmanAllen said:

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So it seems like the Air Force has concluded that the NGAD program should proceed, though it will be up to the incoming Trump administration to determine if they want to continue with the project.





Will be interesting to see if Trump and co. continue with the project, or decide to go with an alternative path.

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It's hard to imagine the "Deep State" caving on this.

SlothmanAllen said:

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So it seems like the Air Force has concluded that the NGAD program should proceed, though it will be up to the incoming Trump administration to determine if they want to continue with the project.





Will be interesting to see if Trump and co. continue with the project, or decide to go with an alternative path.

Click to expand...

All rests on what congress does with defense budget. For 2024 and 2025, the DoD budget has been capped to a certain amount by law due to the Fiscal Responsibility act which has some of the services, especially the USAF under a lot of budgetary pressure. Now that the cap is gone for 2026, they're waiting to see what congress will do. We should have our answers by March at the latest which is when DoD submits their request for the budget.

But from a bigger POV, US defense spending is near the lowest its ever been, comparable to peace dividend era and will go even lower if nothing changes.

sevrent said:

But from a bigger POV, US defense spending is near the lowest its ever been, comparable to peace dividend era and will go even lower if nothing changes.

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I think you are correct from a percent of GDP perspective, but adjusting for inflation the dollar amount is actually at or near record high.

EDIT: If you were to go back to something like 5% of GDP you would talking about something like $1.3 trillion which would add around another $400 billion to current defense spending.

SlothmanAllen said:

I think you are correct from a percent of GDP perspective, but adjusting for inflation the dollar amount is actually at or near record high.

EDIT: If you were to go back to something like 5% of GDP you would talking about something like $1.3 trillion which would add around another $400 billion to current defense spending.

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GDP growth raises everything, US can afford more now than they could 20 years ago ofc. But I prefer a GDP perspective as it reflects more of the national environment at the time, as in just how much is this amount of defense spending stressing/crowding out other spending in the fiscal budget.

US spending a shit ton during COVID recovery is causing huge interest rate payments and thats crowding out a lot of funding for other things including defense right now. There are some simple policies that can remedy this for a while, but congress, especially the one right now will probably struggle to make such decisive decisions.