6th gen fighter receives major budget boost...

via Defense Tech.

“RDT&E funding allows us to do is to take an idea to — to leap an idea to technology we’ll use every day,” Maj. Gen. James Martin, the Air Force’s deputy assistant secretary for budget, said during a budget briefing at the Pentagon. “The capability gap is closing and we must continue to invest in game-changing technology such as hypersonics, directed energy, unmanned autonomous systems, and nanotechnology.”

Next Gen Air Dominance, also known as Penetrating Counter Air, received a hike in line with the service’s Air Superiority 2030 roadmap study completed last May, an Air Force spokeswoman told Military.com Tuesday.

The study is designed to identify shortcomings in the existing fighter fleet that could be addressed with advanced fighter aircraft, sensors and weapons in a growing and unpredictable threat environment.

“We have to be ready for not only what we need today but we better be ready for the potential threats … 10, 20 years from now,” Martin said.

This is curious.  The USAF has said on various occasions that the F-35 is superior to the F-22 in many scenarios and that it will serve till 2050 and some have even said 2070.

So with that being the case why are they talking about potential threats in the 10-20 year timeframe?  Why are they pumping money into a next gen fighter instead of dumping every penny to make the F-35 work now?

This is off and is another clue.  What it's telling us is just beyond me but there is a message here.