NGAD is so critical to Navy leadership that budgeted exactly 0 dollars for it in their FY18 request to Congress. Given the condition the Navy is in as far as its strike fighter recap and readiness is concerned, they need new airframes whichever way they can get them. This likely means short term boost to F-18’s and short-medium and long term acquisition of F-35’s, a program who’s major expenditure is carried by the sister service and international partners. They don’t have the cash to embark upon a $50 billion progam of record before the middile of the next decade so expect iterative improvements in F-18’s, MQ25, and F-35C until other big ticket programs become stable allowing them to take additional risks elsewhere as would be the case with a major ACAT-1 in support of NGAD/FA-XX etc. No matter what shape NGAD eventually takes (another 5th gen. , 5+ gen, or 6th gen) they can’t begin buying it in quantity until well into the 2030s..they are still burning through airframe life so would need to buy strike figthers every year until then, and this means they absolutely need the F-35C. Hence the CNO has been a supporter and makes it a point to mention that the Rhino, well liked as it is, is not comparable, with the F-35 being at another level.