Message posted by Vahe Demirjian (Member since 04/28/2022) on April 23, 2024 at 20:30:03 PST:
According to a recent social media post, the US Air Force reportedly prefers Boeing's design for the Next Generation Air Dominance competition over a rival design from Lockheed Martin and may be inching towards declaring Boeing the winner of the NGAD competition. Given that Northrop Grumman withdrew from the NGAD competition last summer, if insider indications about the USAF's preference for Boeing's design hold water, then a Boeing victory will probably come down to Lockheed Martin's focus on continued production of the F-35 Lightning II and initial deployment of its own yet-to-be-unveiled reconnaissance drone mentioned in a podcast last fall and possible USAF recognition of the need to help Boeing augment nascent production of the F-15EX with a new-generation air superiority fighter to make up for the inadequate number of operational F-22s. The Boeing plant in St. Louis that was the home of McDonnell and served as one of the key manufacturing facilities for McDonnell Douglas before that company was acquired by Boeing in 1997 has a rich history of building jet fighters for both the Air Force and Navy, so Boeing winning the USAF's NGAD contest would herald a new chapter in the history of fighter manufacture in St. Louis.
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