Boeing wins US Navy F/A-XX contract, securing control of sixth-generation fighter development
The $20 billion award puts Boeing in control of advanced fighter aircraft programmes for both the US Navy and Air Force.
Boeing has been selected by the Pentagon to provide the US Navy’s next tactical fighter aircraft.
The Department of War said on 29 September that Boeing will design and deliver the carrier-capable sixth-generation fighter that has become known as the F/A-XX.
“F/A-XX will dominate contested airspace, extend operational reach, and deliver a decisive combat advantage for the warfighter,” says Michael Duffey, undersecretary of war for acquisition and sustainment. “We are joining forces with Boeing to field these capabilities rapidly, ensuring our warfighters possess the lethal and highly networked systems required to deter aggression, project undisputed power, and secure absolute air superiority.”
Boeing has been awarded an initial contract valued at a massive $20 billion, covering the full-scale development phase of the programme. Those funds will procure multiple test aircraft for ground, airworthiness, systems and weapons integration testing, the Pentagon says.
The still-unnamed F/A-XX will ultimately replace the long-serving Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters and EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets that currently form the backbone of the navy’s carrier air wings.
The F/A-XX will hit the fleet in the 2030s and operate alongside the Super Hornets before the fourth-generation fighters are phased out. Carrier-based Lockheed Martin F-35Cs will continue to fly in frontline service for decades.
Boeing had been competing for the highly classified F/A-XX contract against Northrop Grumman, which is producing the sixth-generation B-21 stealth bomber for the US Air Force. Lockheed had also been vying for the programme but was eliminated by the navy in 2025.
Boeing and its competitors have released multiple concept renderings of sixth-generation fighters, typically featuring tailless designs with sleek fuselages and highly recessed air intakes. Source: Boeing
The F/A-XX is an important strategic win for Boeing, cementing the company’s control over American sixth-generation fighter production.
Boeing was selected by the air force in 2025 to design and deliver a land-based, sixth-generation fighter, the F-47, beating out rival Lockheed Martin. The F-47 is expected to log its first flight in 2028.
“Delivering two advanced fighters in parallel was always our plan, and we invested accordingly,” says Steve Parker, chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “We are ready and able to build multiple concurrent future combat aircraft franchise programmes.”
Boeing made the risky bet to invest nearly $2 billion in a classified fighter aircraft factory in 2024, well before the outcome of either the air force or navy sixth-generation programmes had been decided.
Work on that site is steadily progressing at Boeing’s primary fighter production and delivery campus in St. Louis, Missouri. Although not officially tied to the F-47 or F/A-XX, the new plant is widely believed to be where Boeing will assemble the next-generation tactical jets.
The company describes that site as the largest secure manufacturing facility in the US.
Parker says the investment Boeing has made in new facilities makes the company “uniquely suited to build multiple products with next-generation capabilities”.
The initial stage of the F-47 programme is also estimated to be worth around $20 billion to Boeing in its initial stage. The Pentagon has already been showering that project with largesse, with the Trump Administration requesting more than $5 billion from the US Congress in fiscal year 2027 to fund F-47 development.
That is atop the $3.4 billion allocated for the air force fighter in FY2026.
A similarly sized win on the F/A-XX will deliver a torrent of revenue to Boeing that could secure the company’s fighter manufacturing enterprise for the next 50 years at least. Only a few years ago, that division had been looking shaky, with active production of the Super Hornet winding down and an unclear commitment from the USAF to buy Boeing’s revamped F-15EX.
Much as Lockheed Martin dominated fifth-generation fighter production with the F-22 and F-35, Boeing has now secured a clean sweep on the sixth generation.
A Northrop Grumman rendering of a potential carrier-based sixth-generation fighter overlaps significantly with concepts released by Boeing. Source: Northrop Grumman
Although Northrop had been hoping for a piece of the pie, the company still has still secured significant future earnings with the B-21 and a separate programme to recapitalise the USAF’s fleet of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Lockheed, meanwhile, is seemingly left out in the cold.
The company still has active production lines for highly in-demand aircraft, including the F-35, F-16 Block 70/72 and C-130J tactical transport.
On the fighter side, Lockheed has turned attention to continued F-35 modernisation and sustainment work and to developing a new uncrewed stealth jet called Vectis, which the company is positioning as an autonomous wingman for F-35s.
The post Boeing wins US Navy F/A-XX contract, securing control of sixth-generation fighter development first appeared on FlightGlobal.
Source: www.flightglobal.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.