The Future Years Defense Program for fiscal 2025 has revealed continued support within the Pentagon for significant spending increases on sixth-generation aircraft. This includes projects such as the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance and the Navy’s F/A-XX programs, with enthusiasm for competing sixth-gen developments in Europe and Asia.
Tamarack Defense, a data analytics and advisory firm, predicts that these major developments, along with collaborative combat aircraft intended to accompany them, will drive $70 billion in spending between 2024 and 2030. Although production deliveries for these platforms by 2030 are expected to be limited, research and development spending is anticipated to increase significantly during this period.
In the U.S., sixth-gen budgets are set to rise from $4 billion in FY24 to $12.6 billion in FY29, the final year of the Future Years Defense Program. The majority of this funding, around 91%, is allocated to research, development, test, and evaluation. As designs progress, spending is likely to increase accordingly.
Collaborative combat aircraft deliveries are expected earlier and in higher volumes than the main platforms they are associated with according to Tamarack Defense’s current production forecast. Their forecast suggests 255 deliveries by 2030 and 950 by 2033 across the U.S Air Force and Navy’s CCA programs.
Outside of the U.S., Tamarack Defense anticipates minimal production deliveries but steady growth in development activities for sixth-gen programs
