Lockheed Martin's CEO says he wants the F-35 to deliver 80% of the F-47's capabilities at half the cost

James Taiclet, CEO of Lockheed Martin, announced a new direction for the company to bolster the F-35 fighter jet by incorporating technology from their recent NGAD (F-47) bid, which they lost to Boeing. The goal is to achieve 80% of the sixth-generation capabilities for half the cost. He described this endeavor as moving towards a 'fifth-generation plus' designation. Taiclet emphasized a focus on innovation and leveraging their experience while stating that they will not contest the NGAD decision and instead concentrate on enhancing the current aircraft in their lineup.

My challenge to my aeronautics team is, let's get 80% of sixth-gen capability at half the price. And that's something...we're going to go out and do.

We are not going to protest the NGAD decision of the US government...We are moving forward and applying all the technologies that we developed for our NGAD bid onto our embedded base of F-35 and F-22.

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