A year ago, there was speculation that the United States Navy would award a contract for its future sixth-generation carrier-based manned fighter. Known as the “F/A-XX,” the aircraft will eventually replace the U.S. Navy’s current Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet. However, 2025 came and went, and although President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did announce that aerospace giant Boeing was awarded the contract for the United States Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, with a manned sixth-generation fighter dubbed the F-47, the U.S. Navy’s program has remained in limbo.
It was reported last month that some Pentagon officials expressed concerns about funding two advanced aircraft with very different roles at the same time. However, the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal may have alleviated fears over funding, even as numerous high-ticket programs are underway, including the Golden Dome for America air defense system and the U.S. Navy’s Golden Fleet, which will include the proposed Trump-class battleships.
The Awards Of August
This week at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space 2026 exposition, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Daryl Caudle told attendees that an award would be issued before summer comes to an end.
“I think you’re going to see a downselect on this in August. I think that’s the month that they have committed to deciding on the program,” Caudle told reporters, but he indicated that the decision could hinge on which company could meet the deadline.
“The Navy’s got a lot of demand… making sure that we don’t, again, fall into a trap of oversubscribing,” Caudle added. “One of the contractors who would make this plane for us is in a place where they really can’t deliver in the timeframe we need it. So there was a ‘check twice, cut once’ kind of mentality here on this decision.”
Which Contractor Has the Edge?
At present, it is believed that Boeing and Northrop Grumman are the two firms still in the running, after Lockheed Martin was eliminated from the competition in early 2025.
Last summer, Northrop Grumman published a single image on its page for its Naval Aviation, which highlighted the role Northrop Grumman plays in the supply chain of currently in-service aircraft, including the F/A-18E/F, the EA-18G electronic warfare variant of the Super Hornet, and even the components (notably the wings) that are on the Lockheed Martin F-35C.
As previously reported, Northrop Grumman could be seen to have an inside edge, notably given that Grumman had a long history of producing carrier-based aircraft for the U.S. Navy, going back to the Grumman FF “Fifi” biplane in the 1960s, all the way to the F-14 Tomcat, which was made famous in the 1986 film Top Gun. Northrop Grumman is also the prime contractor on the B-21 Raider, the United States Air Force’s long-range strategic bomber that is set to enter service later this decade, replacing the Rockwell B-1B Lancer and the Northrop B-2 Spirit.
This week, Northrop Grumman released a new computer-generated promotional video for the F/A-XX that pushes its case for winning the contract.
https://x.com/northropgrumman/status/2046344752367370319
Kathy Warden, the aerospace firm’s CEO, has maintained that Northrop Grumman is ready to step up and produce the next-generation multirole carrier-based fighter for the U.S. Air Force.
“We and our suppliers are prepared to bring the workforce and infrastructure that’s needed to execute the program, and our track record on B-21 demonstrates that ability to deliver a complex aircraft on schedule,” Warden told The War Zone. “Regarding the financials, we’d expect upside to the sales and earnings from our current guidance, if we are entrusted to build the F/A-XX, and it would be a top priority for our company to do so.”
What About Boeing?
Although Boeing’s history of carrier-based aircraft isn’t as significant as that of Grumman, it is still producing the Super Hornet for the U.S. Navy, with the final batch set to be delivered by the end of next year. Moreover, as noted, it was selected to build the F-47, the aircraft that will replace Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor fifth-generation air superiority fighter.
Boeing is also building the F-15EX Eagle II, a modernized version of the F-15E Strike Eagle, for the Air Force and Foreign Military Sales (FMS). The question is whether Boeing could have too many projects running simultaneously, but the U.S. Navy is still likely to focus on the aircraft that deliver the capabilities it needs.
Moreover, the F-15EX faced delays due to the months-long strike at Boeing’s St. Louis, Mo., area facilities last fall, and the program is only now gaining traction.
Awards to Go Around
It should be noted that these firms aren’t just competing for the F/A-XX contract. The United States Navy has already contracted five companies to develop naval Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) for the sea service.
The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy are each seeking unmanned aerial systems (UAS) developed under the CCA program. These low-cost drones will serve as “loyal wingmen” to the manned fighters, acting as force multipliers.
“The CCA concept is all part of our sixth-generation concept. It’s tied with the overall air wing of the future concept,” Caudle added. “It is a program that we’re working very hard on trying to do that in learning with the Air Force on what CCAs look like in the future and the way we’re going to command and control those how many, what’s the number that a pilot can reasonably control and task and AI is part of that.”
Anduril and General Atomics are now flight testing CCAs for the U.S. Air Force, but with manned aircraft, the big three remain Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. That has limited options for the Pentagon, and ensuring all remain part of the process is important.
“Awarding fighter jet contracts is complicated. Not only does the Navy want to have the best fighter jet for its needs and budget, but Washington wants to also ensure it maintains a robust defence industrial base,” Aerospace Global News reported. “It has three major contractors able to produce next-generation fighter jets and it wants to keep them in business.”
Northrop Grumman had also exited from the Air Force’s NGAD program, perhaps to focus on the B-21 Raider and the F/A-XX. As noted, Boeing already is busy with the F-47 and F-15EX.
Finally, Lockheed Martin announced last year that it could develop a more advanced “Ferrari” version of its F-35 as a platform that bridges the fifth- and sixth-generation fighters.
