House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.), a critic of the F- 35 program, has suggested that an acceleration of the U.S. Air Force Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, swarms of small drones, and Boeing [BA] F-15EXs could help replace the Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35, if the latter does not see significant sustainment cost reductions. "The number of F-35s we're gonna buy is gonna be directly related to the sustainment costs," Smith said during an Aug. 31 address at the Brookings Institute. "If you bring the sustainment costs down, we'll buy more. If you don't, we're not going to, simply because of the cost that's involved. In terms of what replaces it, the National Defense Strategy is gonna to have a lot to say about this. We've seen the purchase of more F-15s. The NGAD is coming."
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