September crewed air review: established platforms retain their grip on the market
Saudi Arabia appears to be on course to acquire 48 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II jets through a $24.3 billion FMS. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
With many next-generation capabilities still years from operational readiness, several of the month’s largest developments demonstrated that governments remain willing to invest heavily in aircraft with proven capabilities and established support networks.
Across September, the most notable crewed air programme developments have shown the strength of existing platforms within the market. Established platforms can provide customers with proven capability, mature support networks and near-term availability, with the value of these features being reinforced through procurement decisions.
These attributes are not necessarily replicated by emerging capabilities, which may offer greater potential in the future but often come with less mature capability, support infrastructure and availability.
In the longer term, this tension between established and emerging technologies is likely to result in a prolonged period with future system investment growing alongside, rather than at the expense of,
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