Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante said “the proof will be in the pudding.”

Air Force Secretary shed light on current technological priorities and in-the-works elements of the branch’s 2024 budget request.

The organizations are expanding cooperation to better confront modern challenges.

A great deal of secrecy still surrounds the weapon, which was developed by the U.S. Air Force and is being used on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The initiative is intended to develop new military capabilities and address racial disparities in Pentagon R&D funding.

Plans for the highly classified Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative include a new manned stealth fighter that would team with new autonomous drones or “collaborative combat aircraft."

The NGAD fighter is projected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars per plane to procure.

The secretive NGAD program has reached a key milestone in the acquisition process, the secretary of the Air Force said.

The service wants new robotic wingmen to help maintain air superiority against advanced adversaries.

The Air Force is asking Congress for more than $100 million in additional R&D funding for autonomous drones and networked weapon systems.