NGAD represents just one component of a broader effort to keep pace with adversaries such as Russia and China.

In recent months, I have penned articles for The National Interest describing a rather bleak outlook for the U.S. Air Force’s prospective Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) sixth-generation fighter jet program (the would-be successor to the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor); among the chief reasons for the bleak outlook is the program’s prohibitive cost, nearly triple that of the F-35 Lightning II (which, like the F-22, is a Lockheed Martin product). In addition, the current chief of staff of the Air Force (CSAF), Gen. David Allvin, has been deemphasizing NGAD and instead shifting that emphasis towards a “notional Light Fighter concept.” 

However, like the saying goes, “There’s a new sheriff in town,” and that saying applies not only to the new leadership in the White House but also to the United States Senate, thanks to the newly elected GOP majority in the latter. Accordingly, the new Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) chairman, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MI).

The NGAD’s Basics

The latest comes to us from a January 27, 2025, article in Breaking Defense by Valeria Insinna titled “EXCLUSIVE: New SASC chair sets sight on $200B defense boost, major acquisition reform push.” One of the snippets therein that caught my eye was this:

“It could also help fund continued development of the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance fighter, which faces an uncertain future due to budget constraints as the service balances other expensive modernization projects such as the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system and the B-21 Raider bomber. As Breaking Defense first reported, the service recently concluded a study that validated the requirement for a manned sixth-gen fighter, but has left the incoming Trump administration to make the final decision on whether to continue or cancel the program … In 2024, ‘we agreed reluctantly to do a bit of a pause to let the experts take another look at whether NGAD should be manned. And the answer came back after the election with the vengeance, absolutely yes,’ Wicker said.”

Digging Deeper: Sen. Wicker Mini-Bio

Wicker’s official biography page notes that he “served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force and then joined the Air Force Reserve. He retired from the Reserve in 2004 with the rank of lieutenant colonel [pay grade O-5].” More specifically, he served in the U.S. Air Force’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps.

Wicker has been a U.S. senator since 2007, subsequent to spending six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District. Prior to being elevated to his current chairmanship as a windfall from the November 2024 elections, he had been the ranking member in the 118th Congress. Back in 2017, he authored the “Securing the Homeland by Increasing our Power on the Seas (SHIPS) Implementation Act,” which made it official U.S. policy to achieve the U.S. Navy’s requirement for a 355-ship fleet; this bill was signed into law by President Donald Trump (the Trump 45 administration, that is, not Trump 47) as part of the FY2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

The Way Forward?

When viewed in a broader context, NGAD represents just one component of a broader effort within the Air Force in particular and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) as a whole to upgrade technological capabilities and keep pace with adversaries such as Russia and China; another recent example is the USAF’s upgrades to the B61 nuclear gravity bomb arsenal.

An additional sign of hope for the NGAD’s new lease on life comes courtesy of my TNI colleague Peter Suciu, who notes in a January 30, 2025 article titled “Maybe the NGAD Program Isn’t Dead Yet” that the DoD raised the ceiling costs for the engines, thus signaling a willingness to fork over the bigger bucks that wasn’t evident in the message that the CSAF related last year.

About the Author: Christian D. Orr

Christian D. Orr was previously a Senior Defense Editor for National Security Journal (NSJ) and 19FortyFive. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS). If you’d like to pick his brain further, you can ofttimes find him at the Old Virginia Tobacco Company (OVTC) lounge in Manassas, Virginia, partaking of fine stogies and good quality human camaraderie.

Image: Shutterstock

The post The New SASC Chairman Might Have Just Saved the NGAD appeared first on The National Interest.