The US Air Force has been asked to reassess the future need for building F-35 fighters during the current quadrennial defence review (QDR).

The QDR is a US planning exercise that identifies the weapons needed in future taking into account the military and civil capabilities of all nations, potential opponents and wars that may take place in the next decades.

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more

The F-35 is a military strike multirole fighter built by Lockheed Martin to perform close air support, tactical bombing and air defence missions.

The reduced need for the fighters is also being attributed to the increasing perception that other countries are equipping themselves with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to gain the edge in air warfare.

UAV fighters are smaller, cheaper and stealthier, and they can be programmed to perform more complex manoeuvres than manned fighters could ever perform due to ergonomical limitations.

The US Air Force is now planning to develop the sixth-generation fighters without human pilots.

GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

By GlobalData

Airforce Technology Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Airforce Technology Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.


Excellence in Action
Discover how Virtualitics is transforming mission readiness with explainable AI, predictive maintenance, and data-driven decision intelligence across the U.S. Department of Defense through its AI-powered Integrated Readiness Optimization suite, for which it has won the Innovation and Business Expansion awards.

Discover the Impact