{"id":136000,"date":"2022-06-01T19:46:39","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T19:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smg.go-vip.net\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:11:10","slug":"the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/","title":{"rendered":"The Air Force\u2019s next-gen fighter has moved into a critical new phase"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The Air Force\u2019s secretive and highly classified <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/breaking-news\/2020\/09\/15\/the-us-air-force-has-built-and-flown-a-mysterious-full-scale-prototype-of-its-future-fighter-jet\/\" target=\"_blank\">Next Generation Air Dominance<\/a> fighter program has started its crucial engineering and manufacturing development phase, Secretary Frank Kendall said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a discussion at the Heritage Foundation, Kendall said the Air Force began early experimental prototyping on NGAD in 2015, when he was the Pentagon\u2019s top acquisition official. This was essentially an X-plane program, he said, designed to reduce risk and develop key technologies needed for the production program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The technology has continued to progress, he said, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2022\/03\/28\/air-force-would-cut-150-aircraft-including-a-10s-buy-fewer-f-35s-in-2023-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\">NGAD<\/a> effort is now envisioned as a \u201cfamily of systems\u201d incorporating several elements, including a handful of autonomous drone aircraft accompanying the manned aircraft in formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It typically takes the Air Force\u2019s acquisition programs almost seven years to reach initial operating capability from the beginning of the EMD phase. Although the service has already been working on NGAD for about that long, because it just recently started work on the EMD phase, it will still be several more years before the program will reach IOC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe clock really didn\u2019t start in 2015; it\u2019s starting roughly now,\u201d Kendall said. \u201cWe think we\u2019ll have capability by the end of the decade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But NGAD could also be the most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2022\/04\/28\/future-ngad-fighter-jets-could-cost-hundreds-of-millions-apiece\/\" target=\"_blank\">expensive aircraft program<\/a> in history. Kendall told lawmakers in April each piloted aircraft under the program would likely cost several hundred million dollars apiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force asked Congress for almost <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2022\/03\/28\/air-force-would-cut-150-aircraft-including-a-10s-buy-fewer-f-35s-in-2023-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\">$1.7 billion for NGAD<\/a> in its fiscal 2023 budget, including $133 million in research, development, testing and evaluation funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kendall also indicated in his remarks Wednesday he wants the Air Force\u2019s acquisition programs to more quickly move to production. Too often, he said, it takes years to reach that stage, and he\u2019s instructed the Air Force to set up programs in a way that get meaningful capabilities to airmen as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m not interested in demos and experiments unless they are a necessary step on the road to real capability,\u201d Kendall said. \u201cWhat we tend to do is do a quick demo, and then we have to start an<b> <\/b>EMD or development program and wait several more years, because we didn\u2019t start the developmental function. If we don\u2019t need it to reduce risk, we should go right to development for production and get there as quickly as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, he said, he has such a \u201csense of urgency\u201d about the need to get cutting-edge capabilities, like the uncrewed combat aircraft accompanying manned aircraft, into the field that he\u2019s willing to accept more risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Air Force Sec. Frank Kendall hopes NGAD will show its capabilities by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":84009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":88,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[29,116,15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3372],"class_list":["post-136000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"UDTFV2SVTJBDTBMUHPRRCTXNYM","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Air Force\u2019s next-gen fighter has moved into a critical new phase - Military Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Air Force Sec. Frank Kendall hopes NGAD will show its capabilities by the end of the decade.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smg.go-vip.net\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Air Force\u2019s next-gen fighter has moved into a critical new phase\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Air Force Sec. Frank Kendall hopes NGAD will show its capabilities by the end of the decade.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Military Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-01T19:46:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T00:11:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephen Losey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stephen Losey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"The Air Force\u2019s next-gen fighter has moved into a critical new phase\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2022-06-01T19:46:39+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T00:11:10+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 440,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AF4.jpg_db44ce.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Left Column\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Your Military\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"The Air Force\u2019s next-gen fighter has moved into a critical new phase - Military Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AF4.jpg_db44ce.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2022-06-01T19:46:39+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T00:11:10+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Air Force Sec. Frank Kendall hopes NGAD will show its capabilities by the end of the decade.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AF4.jpg_db44ce.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AF4.jpg_db44ce.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Your Military\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"your-military\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"The Air Force\u2019s next-gen fighter has moved into a critical new phase\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Military Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News About Your Military | Military Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Military Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/military-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/military-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Military Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Air Force\u2019s next-gen fighter has moved into a critical new phase - Military Times","description":"Air Force Sec. Frank Kendall hopes NGAD will show its capabilities by the end of the decade.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/smg.go-vip.net\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Air Force\u2019s next-gen fighter has moved into a critical new phase","og_description":"Air Force Sec. Frank Kendall hopes NGAD will show its capabilities by the end of the decade.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/","og_site_name":"Military Times","article_published_time":"2022-06-01T19:46:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T00:11:10+00:00","author":"Stephen Losey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stephen Losey","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"The Air Force\u2019s next-gen fighter has moved into a critical new phase","datePublished":"2022-06-01T19:46:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T00:11:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/"},"wordCount":440,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AF4.jpg_db44ce.jpg","articleSection":["Home","Left Column","News","Your Military"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/","name":"The Air Force\u2019s next-gen fighter has moved into a critical new phase - Military Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AF4.jpg_db44ce.jpg","datePublished":"2022-06-01T19:46:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T00:11:10+00:00","description":"Air Force Sec. Frank Kendall hopes NGAD will show its capabilities by the end of the decade.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AF4.jpg_db44ce.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AF4.jpg_db44ce.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/06\/01\/the-air-forces-next-gen-fighter-has-moved-into-a-critical-new-phase\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Your Military","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/","ad_zone":"your-military"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Air Force\u2019s next-gen fighter has moved into a critical new phase"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/","name":"Military Times","description":"Independent News About Your Military | Military Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#organization","name":"Military Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/military-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/military-logo-white.png","caption":"Military Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AF4.jpg_db44ce.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Military Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136000"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136003,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136000\/revisions\/136003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136000"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=136000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}