Many of the NGAD options now being considered will heavily rely on air-to-air refuelling (AAR). Many are unconvinced that even the advanced configurations being mooted for the NGAS (Next-Generation Aerial Refuelling System) tanker requirement will be survivable even at the edges of China's A2/AD envelope

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Boeing X-48 / BWB - СШАUSA - 2007Lockheed F-35A Lightning II - СШАUSA - 2006

This aircraft, seen refuelling from a Lockheed Martin/Airbus LMXT tanker, is representative of what many expected NGAD to look like - a large, twin-engined tailless Delta optimised for Low Observability

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Airbus A330 MRTT / KC-30 Voyager - InternationalInternational - 2007Northrop-Grumman PCA (Penetrating Counter Air) / NGAD - СШАUSA - 2030

This digital rendering depicts Lockheed Martin’s proposed LMXT tanker (which is based on the Airbus A330MRTT) refuelling the company’s NGAD concept - a possible early look at two new USAF platforms that will begin to surface in the 2030s

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Airbus A330 MRTT / KC-30 Voyager - InternationalInternational - 2007Northrop-Grumman PCA (Penetrating Counter Air) / NGAD - СШАUSA - 2030

Boeing's F/A-XX contender. The US Navy's next-generation air dominance programme ground to something of a halt sometime before the USAF NGAD programme did, but for much the same reasons - to allocate funding to nearer-term priorities

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Boeing F-X / F/A-XX - СШАUSA - 2030

This presumed Boeing NGAD concept is again tailless but has an 'arrow wing' and conventional 'round' engine nozzles

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Boeing F-X / F/A-XX - СШАUSA - 2030

Increasingly, some are pushing for the F-35A to form the basis of the NGAD system of systems, operating with the same adjuncts and effectors. Others believe that such a solution would be entirely inadequate to meet the threat in the 2030s and beyond

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Lockheed F-35A Lightning II - СШАUSA - 2006

NGAD has always been seen as being a system of systems, with a range of unmanned adjuncts and effectors. Lockheed's vision of 'distributed teaming' lacks a traditional 'exquisite' loyal wingman and is seen here with the F-35A at its heart

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Lockheed F-35A Lightning II - СШАUSA - 2006

This Lockheed NGAS concept looks stealthy, but also rather small, implying relatively little fuel payload available to offload

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Lockheed F-35A Lightning II - СШАUSA - 2006Lockheed Martin NGAS - СШАUSA - 2040

Lockheed Martin revealed this unusual aircraft concept in a Skunk Works anniversary video. It was assumed by many to represent one of Lockheed's NGAD concepts, despite its apparent small size (judging by the enormous canopy) and single-engined configuration

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Lockheed Martin NGAD - СШАUSA - 2024

The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) Gambit was developed, in part, to validate the 'genus/species' concept developed by AFRL as part of the Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Platform Sharing (LCAAPS) programme and is a modular family of UCAVs based ona common core

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: GA-ASI XQ-67A / Gambit - СШАUSA - 2024