Key Points – After losing the F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) contract, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet proposed a “Ferrari F-35″—a “fifth-generation plus” upgrade incorporating NGAD-derived technologies.
-This concept aims to deliver approximately 80% of sixth-generation capability at potentially 50% of the cost per aircraft compared to new platforms like the F-47 or the Navy’s F/A-XX.
-While leveraging the F-35’s extensive global fleet for potential affordability, this “super F-35” faces a challenging path, competing for defense funding against these dedicated sixth-generation programs and raising questions about investing in an upgraded current platform versus entirely new designs.
Lockheed Pitched a Souped-up Ferrari F-35
Having missed out on the Next Generation Air Dominance program that ultimately yielded the F-47, Lockheed proposes squeezing all the capabilities possible from the F-35 and dramatically increasing what it can do — essentially making a bridge between today’s fifth-generation sixth-generation aircraft — and for less than the cost of an F-47.
“There are techniques and capabilities… that were developed for [the NGAD] that we can now apply here,” Taiclet said on a quarterly earnings call, as per Defense News. “We’re basically going to take the [F-35] chassis and turn it into a Ferrari.”
In addition, Lockheed’s CEO expanded on the financial specifics, highlighting the affordability of enhancing the capabilities of current-generation aircraft — and, in particular, the F-35 stealth fighter, which is currently the backbone of America’s stealth fighter fleets.
“I feel that we can have 80% of the capability, potentially at 50% of the cost per unit aircraft,” Taiclet said, “by taking the F-35 chassis and applying numerous advanced technologies — some of which are already in process in Block 4 on F-35—but [also] others that we can apply.”
“Eventually, there’ll be 3,500 of those [F-35] chassis out there at various stages of technology and capability [worldwide],” Taiclet said. “We think we can get most of the way to sixth-gen at half the cost.”
Questions of cost aside, an important long-term consideration would be about upgrading the F-35 to the upper limits of possibilities instead of investing in an all-new platform.
While Taiclet certainly painted a rosy F-35-upgrade picture, that idea — however viable — must also compete with two other projects. If both are ultimately realized, they might spell doom Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Ferrari hopes.
The Next Generation of Combat Aircraft
President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the winner of U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance program, the highly-anticipated contest that saw some of America’s aerospace heavyweights go head to head in the competition to build the next fighter: the F-47.
Although the details of that fighter are, of course, not openly known, it is believed to incorporate advanced radar-absorbent coatings, less maintenance-intensive and more effective than the current generation of coatings, as well as a cutting-edge sensor suite and an expected boost in range compared to the jet it will succeed: the F-22 Raptor.
There is another sixth-generation fighter waiting in the wings, too: the F/A-XX.
A marinized fighter for the United States Navy, the F/A-XX would replace the Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornets and operate off of American flattops alongside the F-35. Even less is known about the F/A-XX than the F-47.
Once introduced into Navy service, that branch will be one of the biggest operators of stealth aircraft. But it could be delayed by as much as three years.
Not all agree with the veracity of the F/A-XX delay. One anonymous official told TWZ, a website, that “nothing is being delayed.”
That person then explained, “a decision [on the F/A-XX program] hasn’t been made yet. That decision is still being determined by [the Pentagon] and service leaders, with conversations among Congress as well. It’s a big program. Obviously these things don’t get settled on by one individual. Leaders are making a decision on whether to invest. It’s all part of the process.”
Despite the relative paucity of information related to the F/A-XX, that fighter “is expected to feature superior range, speed, and sensor capabilities, with an emphasis on integrating manned and unmanned systems. This includes collaboration with autonomous drones serving as force multipliers and electronic warfare assets,” according to U.S. Navy documentation.
Show Me the Money on New F-35
With two of what could end up being extremely expensive aerospace projects on the horizon, the competition for defense dollars is intensifying. To be sure, an offer from Lockheed Martin for dramatically improved F-35s at a lower cost than an F-47 is an attractive offer — but can it survive in an aerial environment that, for all intents and purposes, appears to be on the cusp of seeing sixth-generation aircraft in service in both China and the United States? That is, at best, an open question.
Pressing the F-35 for increased performance — in essence, maxing out that platform and risking a technological dead end — over investing more money in programs like the F-47 and F/A-XX, which could likely accommodate upgrades more easily in the future, could prove to be a difficult sell.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
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