FAXX

The U.S. Department of Defense may finally be ready to choose which company will develop and build the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX next-generation carrier-based fighter. A report from Reuters today states that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth personally gave the green light for the selection last Friday. However, this is not the first time that there have been reports that this decision was imminent, as you can read about here, but these came to nothing.

The Reuters report publishes details provided by “a U.S. official and two people familiar with the decision.” Similar comments provided to Breaking Defense were attributed to “two sources.” The upshot is that the Pentagon could choose its preferred F/A-XX design this week. The program has long been even more secretive than the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance jet, which emerged earlier this year as the Boeing F-47. What is clear, however, is that the F/A-XX decision is now months later than planned.

Also interesting is the timing of this apparent move, coming so soon after President Donald Trump’s visit to the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush over the weekend. He went aboard the carrier as the Navy celebrated its 250th anniversary and witnessed a firepower demonstration. While aboard the warship, Trump also met with senior Navy officials and saw the hardware of the current carrier air wing at close quarters — including the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and E/A-18 Growlers that the F/A-XX will eventually replace.

At this point, the F/A-XX contest is understood to have narrowed to two companies.

Northrop Grumman is one of them. When it exited the USAF’s NGAD program around 2023, Northrop Grumman said it would focus on other priorities, including the F/A-XX, as well as the B-21 Raider stealth bomber. Earlier this summer, the company presented a conceptual rendering for its submission for F/A-XX.

The other F/A-XX contender is thought to be Boeing, the prime contractor for the F-47.

Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin was reportedly eliminated from the competition in March. It now seems they were about to get cut from the program prior to the choice to leave it on their own accord.

TWZ approached the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense for comment on the apparent new development. Both declined to comment.

Notably, the Reuters story also includes the caveat, which it attributes to one or more of the sources, that “last-minute snags have delayed progress on the Navy jet in the past and could do so again.”

This points to the fact that, for many months now, the future of the F/A-XX program has been under scrutiny, with growing signs that it was at best in limbo. Boeing pushed back on that assertion back in June of this year.

Notably, like this report, it was Reuters that, in March of this year, published a story suggesting that the Navy was set to confirm the choice of F/A-XX that same week, something that never materialized.

In June, the Pentagon’s proposed budget for the 2026 Fiscal Year included enough funding to complete initial development work but didn’t include any further funds to actually start buying the aircraft. U.S. military officials said that this decision was made to avoid competition for resources with the Air Force’s F-47 and amid concerns about whether the U.S. industrial base would be able to handle work on both programs simultaneously.

At the same time, there have been questions, too, about whether Northrop Grumman would be able to support work on the F/A-XX while also grappling with the demands of the Air Force’s Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program, which is behind schedule and over-budget.

In July, however, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a draft defense spending bill that would reverse the Pentagon’s plan to freeze the F/A-XX program, as you can read about here. Approved by the committee in July, that version of the 2026 Fiscal Year Defense Appropriations Bill included $1.4 billion for F/A-XX.

The figure of $1.4 billion had also appeared in a call for additional F/A-XX funding that the Navy had reportedly included in its annual Unfunded Priority List (UPL) sent to Congress earlier in July.

While there has apparently been something of a dispute between the Navy and Pentagon leadership over the direction the program should take, the Navy has long spoken about its centrality to its future carrier aviation plans.

“The Navy has a validated requirement for carrier-based sixth-generation aircraft, and it is critical that we field that capability as quickly as possible to give our warfighters the capabilities they need to win against a myriad of emerging threats,” Adm. Daryl Caudle, the nominee to become the next Chief of Naval Operations, wrote in response to a question about F/A-XX ahead of his confirmation hearing in July.

Caudle was also present at the Navy’s 250th birthday in Norfolk, Virginia, wearing a flight suit alongside President Trump.

Not lost on Navy officials is the rapid pace of development that China is currently making in terms of carrier aviation.

The latest evidence suggests that China’s Shenyang J-35, its next-generation carrier-based fighter, may have entered limited series production and could even be in service with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

In a standout development last month, the PLAN demonstrated a new ability to launch and recover aircraft from a catapult-equipped aircraft carrier, its first of this kind, the Fujian. As well as the J-35, the J-15T single-seat carrier-based fighter and the KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft have undertaken carrier trials on the new flattop.

With China rapidly developing even more advanced combat aircraft designs, and especially 6th generation stealth fighter-like aircraft, some variants of which will likely migrate to the carrier environment eventually, the pressure is on for the U.S. Navy to not fall behind. Calls have been growing to now move on F/A-XX in light of these developments.

China also has an expanding repertoire of advanced drones, broadly equivalent to the U.S. military’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), some of which would be suitable for adaptation for carrier operations. This could mirror U.S. Navy plans, in which the F/A-XX should eventually be a central part of a new-look carrier air wing that could feature as much as two-thirds uncrewed aircraft.

Once again, if we’ve learnt anything from the secretive F/A-XX program, it’s that it doesn’t always take the course that might be expected. But the appearance of Trump and Hegseth very much in the spotlight as the Navy marked its 250th anniversary, and China continuing to develop its carrier aviation capabilities at an impressive rate, might indicate that a decision on who will make the Navy’s next carrier-based fighter is finally due.

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Boeing has provided a new rendering for its F/A-XX proposal, and it’s remarkably similar to concept artwork that has already been released for its F-47, selected for the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) ‘fighter’ initiative. While it’s important not to read too much into declassified conceptual renderings of either of those aircraft, based on the artwork, the new art does, at least, correspond with Boeing’s previous hints that the F/A-XX and F-47 would incorporate significant commonality.

The new rendering of the F/A-XX proposal from Boeing was first shown at the Tailhook Symposium last week. The rendering was subsequently published by Aviation Week and is also seen at the top of this story. An F-47 rendering, for comparison, is seen below.

As we reported only earlier this week, Navy Vice Adm. Daniel Cheever, commonly referred to as the service’s “Air Boss,” is still “eagerly awaiting” a decision on the F/A-XX down-select, despite the uncertainty now swirling around that program.

Like previous F-47 depictions, the new Boeing F/A-XX rendering obscures the aircraft in clouds but adds a Navy flattop below, befitting its role as a carrier-based tactical jet. The tail surfaces of the aircraft are fully concealed in clouds. Meanwhile, the aircraft’s ‘bubble’ canopy appears to be very similar to that presented in F-47 renderings. While the radome appears to be smaller and shorter than the notably wide one shown on the Air Force jet, this might be due to the viewing angle. Based on the angle of the wing leading-edge extension, it seems that the F/A-XX concept may well also include canard foreplanes.

As we discussed in an in-depth feature on the topic, canards were a surprising feature of the F-47 renderings that appeared once Boeing had been announced as the winner of the Air Force’s NGAD fighter program. In the F-47 renderings, the details of the canards are also deliberately obscured, but are clearly present.

Above all, canards are a feature that’s not immediately associated with an aircraft optimized for low observability (stealth), range, payload, and speed. Instead, this is a feature that’s normally included on tactical fighters on the basis of maneuverability.

First off, we should note that the new F/A-XX rendering might not include canards, and the degree to which the rendering may reflect the final Boeing design proposal remains open to question. There may also be some counter-intelligence work at play in the F/A-XX rendering, as well as those of the F-47, by pushing concept art that alludes to a prominent feature that the aircraft actually doesn’t have.

However, canards would be of particular benefit for a carrier-based aircraft like the F/A-XX. In this case, the foreplanes enhance low-speed maneuverability, which is especially important during carrier approaches and landings.

Since the tail is entirely hidden in the new F/A-XX rendering, we can’t comment with any degree of authority on this area. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that it’s widely assumed that the F-47 is a tailless design. Previous 6th generation naval fighter renderings from Boeing have also shown a tailless design. Such a configuration would help optimize stealth, although it would sacrifice some maneuverability. To mitigate this, Boeing may have opted to use thrust vectoring and/or canards for its F-47 and F/A-XX proposals.

Otherwise, based on what we already know about the F-47 and F/A-XX, the two aircraft are expected to offer somewhat different capabilities, over and above the carrier compatibility of the Navy jet. According to Aviation Week, the F-47 is presumed to use an all-new adaptive powerplant, the F/A-XX will use a derivative engine, Navy officials have said.

While the Navy previously said that the F/A-XX would be optimized for extended range and survivability, more recent comments suggest its range may only be 25 percent greater than existing tactical jets. This may also be dictated, in part, by the constraints of carrier operations.

There are meanwhile signs that the Air Force might have scaled back its range requirements for the F-47, with the original NGAD fighter having been pitched as a ‘cruiser’ type aircraft with very long endurance suited to Pacific operations. The Air Force now says that the aircraft will possess a combat radius of “1,000+” nautical miles, a significant advance over other fighters currently in the inventory, but not the kind of extended range that many had expected for the Air Force NGAD, especially considering the need to confront advanced enemy air defenses in the decades to come.

The new Boeing F/A-XX rendering appears soon after Northrop Grumman released a rendering for its own submission for the program, something that TWZ was first to report on.

Boeing and Northrop Grumman are understood to be the remaining contenders for F/A-XX.

The Northrop Grumman rendering notably doesn’t include canards, and its overall design appears to be heavily weighted toward stealth, including a flowing, almost organic design, with constantly changing radiused surfaces. Overall, the design has similarities to the passed-over YF-23. You can read more about it here.

Overall, however, Boeing’s new F/A-XX rendering seems to underscore previous affirmations from the company that it would not have a problem building both the Navy and Air Force next-generation fighters.

Earlier this summer, Steve Parker, Boeing Defense and Space CEO, said he didn’t see a problem with his company building both the F-47 and F/A-XX, stating that this had been part of the strategy all along.

Parker’s comments came in response to questions raised by Navy and Pentagon budget officials about the U.S. defense industry’s capacity to produce the two new highly-advanced tactical jets simultaneously.

In particular, Boeing has invested considerable sums in developing a new Advanced Combat Aircraft Assembly Facility in St. Louis, Missouri, which should have the potential to build both aircraft, if the company’s F/A-XX bid is successful. Building the two types in parallel would be made even easier if they were based, at least somewhat, on a core design, with a high degree of commonality.

As we noted earlier this week, the Navy was reportedly close to announcing the winner of the F/A-XX competition in March.

In June, however, the Pentagon announced as part of the rollout of its Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal that it was moving to complete initial development work related to F/A-XX, but then froze the program indefinitely. It reasoned that it wanted to avoid competition for resources that could affect the Air Force’s F-47.

“They [the Navy] haven’t made a decision yet. So that’s what the down-select is. We’re waiting for the decision, and I’m not the decision maker,” Vice Adm. Cheever told TWZ last week.

Overall, there remains uncertainty around the F/A-XX. In recent months, other senior Navy officials have voiced support publicly for pressing forward with the program. Members of Congress have also been making moves to keep F/A-XX moving ahead as planned in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2026 budget.

“The Navy has a validated requirement for carrier-based sixth-generation aircraft, and it is critical that we field that capability as quickly as possible to give our warfighters the capabilities they need to win against a myriad of emerging threats,” Adm. Daryl Caudle, Chief of Naval Operations, the Navy’s top officer, wrote in response to a question about F/A-XX ahead of his confirmation hearing in July.

Not surprisingly, the Navy considers the F/A-XX as critical to ensuring its carrier air wings can continue to project power in the face of ever-growing threats, especially in any future high-end fight, such as one against China in the Pacific.

Ultimately, if the FA-XX program remains in purgatory, and the F-47 program meets its potential and planned timeline, the Navy could end up buying a navalized F-47 derivative with much lower risk and lower development cost. This might parallel the wait-and-see approach the Navy is taking with its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), compared to the Air Force (and, to a lesser degree, the Marine Corps). The Navy can capitalize on what is proven to work without investing major funds, but at the cost of waiting.

While we can’t say for sure how close Boeing’s new rendering will be to the company’s final F/A-XX submission, its appearance underlines the fact that the company is very much hoping to follow up its Air Force NGAD success with another sixth-generation fighter contract win, this time for the Navy.

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U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Daniel Cheever, commonly referred to as the service’s “Air Boss,” is still “eagerly awaiting” a new F/A-XX next-generation carrier-based fighter despite the uncertainty now swirling around that program. Cheever already sees a key boost in capability for the Navy’s carrier air wings on the horizon in the form of the MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone, which could leverage its very long range to perform other missions in the future, as TWZ has previously explored in detail.

Cheever, whose formal title is commander of Naval Air Forces, talked to TWZ‘s Jamie Hunter about F/A-XX and MQ-25 on the sidelines of the Tailhook Association’s annual symposium last Friday.

F/A-XX is “ready for down-select, to which of the vendors you would go with, and we’re just excited,” Cheever said. For “Naval Aviation, fourth, fifth, and sixth-generation on an aircraft carrier is a phenomenal capability and absolutely needed for air superiority, which allows [for] sea control.”

The Navy was reportedly close to announcing the winner of the F/A-XX competition in March, hot on the heels of the U.S. Air Force choosing Boeing’s F-47 as the sixth-generation fighter component of its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) effort. Boeing and Northrop Grumman are understood to be the remaining contenders for F/A-XX.

However, in June, the Pentagon announced as part of the rollout of its Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal that it was moving to complete initial development work related to F/A-XX, but then freeze the program indefinitely. The stated reason for this decision was to avoid competition for resources that could hurt the USAF’s F-47. There has been pushback on the concerns that America’s aviation industry can support two sixth-generation fighter programs simultaneously, including from Boeing.

“They [the Navy] haven’t made a decision yet. So that’s what the down-select is. We’re waiting for the decision, and I’m not the decision maker. I’m just eagerly awaiting,” Vice Adm. Cheever told TWZ last week.

Cheever’s comments add to the murkiness that currently surrounds F/A-XX. In recent months, other senior Navy officials have voiced support publicly for continuing with the next-generation carrier-based fighter program. Members of Congress have also been making moves to keep F/A-XX moving ahead as planned in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2026 budget.

“Nothing in the Joint Force projects combat power from the sea as a Carrier Strike Group, which at the heart has a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN). To maintain this striking power, the CVN must have an air wing that is comprised of the most advanced strike fighters,” Adm. Daryl Caudle, Chief of Naval Operations, the Navy’s top officer, wrote in response to a question about F/A-XX ahead of his confirmation hearing in July. “Therefore, the ability to maintain air superiority against peer competitors will be put at risk if the Navy is unable to field a 6th Generation strike fighter on a relevant timeline. Without a replacement for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and E/A-18G Growler, the Navy will be forced to retrofit 4th generation aircraft and increase procurement of 5th generation aircraft to attempt to compete with the new 6th generation aircraft that the threat is already flying.”

“The Navy has a validated requirement for carrier-based 6th generation aircraft, and it is critical that we field that capability as quickly as possible to give our warfighters the capabilities they need to win against a myriad of emerging threats,” he added.

The Navy has now long presented F/A-XX as critical to ensuring its carrier air wings can continue to project power in the face of ever-growing threats, especially in any future high-end fight, such as one against China in the Pacific. The aforementioned MQ-25 Stingray also remains a top priority in this regard.

“To me, it [MQ-25] is the key that unlocks manned-unmanned teaming on the aircraft carrier. So once we get MQ-25 flying, and it’s supposed to fly in 2025, that is the big thing,” Vice Adm. Cheever told TWZ at Tailhook. “Now, I unlock all of the manned-unmanned teaming that can happen on the aircraft carrier in the future.”

“If you think about it, I have all these strike fighters that are configured as tankers, and I can free them all up to be strike fighters again, instead of tankers,” Cheever added. “And that is just that is an exponential increase in our strike and fighting capability and capacity.”

What the Air Boss is referring to here is the current use of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets with buddy refueling stores to provide organic tanker capacity to the Navy’s carrier air wings. The Navy has estimated in the past that 20 to 30 percent of carrier-based Super Hornet sorties are taken up by aerial refueling. In addition to eliminating the need for Super Hornets to perform this function, the MQ-25 also offers additional benefits in terms of its own range and on-station time, which will significantly extend the air wing’s operational reach.

As noted, the goal now is for the MQ-25 to fly for the first time this year, a key milestone for a program that has suffered delays and cost growth. The current hope is to reach initial operational capability (IOC) with the Stingray sometime in Fiscal Year 2027, around three years later than originally expected.

On top of being tankers, the baseline MQ-25s are set to be delivered with a secondary intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability. The Stingray’s baked-in capabilities, especially its range, open doors to the drones, or future variants or derivatives thereof, taking on a host of other missions, including kinetic strike and airborne early warning, as TWZ has laid out in-depth in this past feature.

“It’s got a lot of potential,” Vice Adm. told TWZ last week. “[It’s got] huge range.”

“Absolutely,” Cheever said when asked specifically about the MQ-25 taking on additional roles in the future, though he did not elaborate.

In terms of MQ-25 as a springboard to adding more uncrewed capabilities in the Navy carrier air wings, “the future of Collaborative Combat Aircraft, and that kind of thing, is TBD [to be decided], still to come. That work’s still to be done, and there’s a lot of folks in that space,” Cheever added.

By the Navy’s own admission, it is following the lead of the Air Force, and the U.S. Marine Corps to a lesser extent, when it comes to plans for future Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) ‘loyal wingman’ type drones, and is looking to leverage the work those services are doing now. The Navy has previously outlined one vision for future CCAs that are low-cost enough to be “consumable,” and expended as one-way attack munitions or targets for use in training or test evaluation activities at the end of relatively short service lives. The service has also expressed a “strong interest” in the MQ-28 Ghost Bat, originally developed by Boeing’s subsidiary in Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). You can read more about the current state of the Navy’s CCA plans in TWZ‘s earlier reporting from this year’s Tailhook symposium.

Overall, Cheever’s comments at Tailhook underscore that the Navy is still pressing to proceed with F/A-XX as a critical part of its larger plans to modernize its carrier air wings.

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