The Navy Truly Needs the F/A-XX Fighter (From National Security Journal)

Key Points and Summary on F/A-XX

– The Pentagon’s decision to pause the Navy’s F/A-XX 6th-generation fighter program is a grave mistake that will harm the U.S. aerospace industrial base and create a dangerous capability gap. Read more below and here.

-While the Air Force’s F-47 program receives a $3.5 billion boost, the F/A-XX is being starved of funds based on the “flimsy” rationale that the defense industry can’t handle two major stealth fighter programs at once.

-This delay risks ceding naval air superiority to China, which is aggressively developing its own next-generation carrier aircraft, and undermines the readiness of the U.S. Navy’s future carrier air wings.

Why A Delay on Navy F/A-XX Hurts America’s Aerospace Industrial Base

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has made bold decisions during his first six months in office, from greenlighting the Air Force’s F-47 6th Gen fighter to executing strikes on Iran with the B-2 bomber.

Unfortunately, the Pentagon is now on the verge of making a costly mistake: slowing down the development of the new Navy fighter. The much-amended Fiscal Year 2026 budget took out money for the program, forcing the Navy to put the $1.4 billion contract award funding for 6th Gen “F/A-XX” atop its unfunded priorities list and hope for action from Congress.

Senior Pentagon officials offered the flimsiest of rationales for the proposed delay. According to budget documents, “The Navy’s F/A-XX program will maintain minimal development funding to preserve the ability to leverage F-47 work while preventing over-subscription of qualified defense industrial base engineers,” the Pentagon said.

The Great F/A-XX Mistake

Having saved the day for the Air Force with the F-47 decision on March 21, it’s a surprise to see Trump’s Pentagon team dropping the ball for the Navy.

Shoving F/A-XX into the slow lane will hurt, not help, America’s aerospace industrial base. As SASC Chairman Roger Wicker recently noted, delaying the F/A-XX program risks “further challenges to the industrial base.”

Why the Navy Needs the F/A-XX Fighter 

First, the Navy requirement for 6th Gen F/A-XX is clear. Added stealth, range, and the ability to carry advanced missiles enhances the punch of the carrier air wing.

With F/A-XX, the carriers can perform deep strikes, quarterback combat drones, and nail any Chinese missiles, planes, and drones seeking a long-range kill on U.S. ships and assets. The plane “will be vital to maintaining air superiority and open sea lines of communication for decades to come,” wrote Vice Admiral Dan Cheever, the Navy’s “Air Boss.”

“It is the centerpiece of sixth-generation naval aviation — a stealthy, long-range, data-integrated platform designed to dominate in contested environments. It is built for the fight we know is coming,” said Rep. Jen Kiggans.

Yes, We Can Build the F/A-XX

Asserting that the U.S. aerospace industry doesn’t have the capacity for F/A-XX is puzzling, to say the least. The Department of Defense has been working on both an Air Force and a separate Navy 6th Gen fighter program for over a decade.

As of March, two industry competitors, Boeing and Northrop Grumman, had submitted their initial bids for the Navy plane.

America’s aerospace industrial base is already pushing ahead with simultaneous production of the B-21, F-35, F-15EX, F-47, the MQ-25, and more. Capacity is a function of experienced prime contractors and a robust, large supplier base able to feed multiple programs.

Aerospace “primes” typically perform far less than half of the work of manufacturing and assembling parts for a new stealth aircraft. They also team and subcontract on numerous programs. For example, the F-35 program has 1,650 different suppliers. While Lockheed Martin is the prime, Northrop Grumman builds the center section and radars. BAE Systems produces a further 15% of the F-35.

The government purchases jet engines for all military aircraft from engine manufacturers, such as Pratt & Whitney, GE Aerospace, or Rolls-Royce. Then it delivers them to the final assembly plant.  Program managers are adept at the art of locking down designs, closing out risks, scheduling, ensuring supplier deliveries, and integrating final assembly and test.

Complexity Can Be Managed 

Boeing and Northrop Grumman are no strangers to complex program management.

Both bidders had already been required to submit detailed schedules and pricing in their final program bids. At Northrop Grumman, CEO Kathy Warden said in a 2023 discussion of 6th Gen fighters that she was pursuing programs “where we feel we’re well positioned with mature offerings, and where the business deal reflects an appropriate balance of risk and reward for both the customer and the industrial base.”

With the B-21 accelerating, Northrop Grumman will have a large number of engineers available to work on the F/A-XX as the B-21 transitions to full production.

The B-21 is also on cost and budget, according to the Air Force. That’s a first for a stealth aircraft and an indicator of a healthy aerospace industry.

As for Boeing, “our strategy was to be able to do both, win both, and execute both,” Boeing Defense and Space CEO Steve Parker said at the Paris Air Show.

The Pain Is Real 

Slow-rolling F/A-XX will hurt recruiting, too. Engineers sit idle, supplier contracts languish, and costs continue to rise. Concerns such as turnover, an aging workforce, and meeting demands for digital skills won’t be helped by delaying contract awards and purchase orders.

Granted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 4100 job openings per year for aerospace engineers through 2033. Aerospace engineers choose the defense industry because of a passion for aviation.

Many other companies are eager to hire them. Bogging down an exciting, essential program like the Navy’s 6th Gen fighter doesn’t exactly send Gen Z flocking to the aerospace industry.

Most of all, the Navy needs to move fast toward revamping its air wing with the longer-range F/A-XX and greater capacity for drones. China is continuing its work on two 6th Gen planes, a carrier-based fighter and a long-range fighter-bomber.

Build the F/A-XX Now 

A new Navy fighter is overdue. It’s been nearly 30 years since the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet first flew in November 1995, and fifteen years since the first flight of the carrier-based F-35C stealth fighter in 2010.

It would be a mistake for Trump’s team to put naval aviation in the slow lane.