Introduction

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have negotiated a draft defense spending bill that includes nearly $900 million for the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX next-generation carrier-based combat jet program. The proposed legislation and an accompanying report also aim to finally force the selection of a winner in the stalled F/A-XX competition. Northrop Grumman and Boeing are competing for the contract. All of this comes after Congress did not reverse the Pentagon’s previously announced plan to effectively freeze the F/A-XX effort in the most recent annual defense policy bill, despite framing the program as fully funded therein.

The Pentagon had revealed its intention to shelve F/A-XX,  indefinitely when it rolled out its proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget last June. At that time, U.S. military officials said concerns about competition for resources with the U.S. Air Force’s Boeing F-47 sixth-generation fighter program had been the primary factor in that decision. Boeing's CEO in particular has pushed back against that narrative and has stated that his company had previous invested billions of dollars into their St. Louis Missouri facility in order to build both planes simultaneously. Boeing has been competing head-to-head with Northrop Grumman for F/A-XX following the reported elimination of Lockheed Martin in March 2025.

Official Renderings of the Boeing F-47, the U.S. Air Force's 6th Generation Fighter 

Why the U.S. Navy Needs the F/A-XX Fighter

The F/A-XX is the U.S. Navy's 6th generation fighter program that is intended to replace the rapidly aging 4th generation Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and Boeing EA-18G Growlers aboard U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. In a previous article, The Stealth Channel argued that the F/A-XX fighter is vitally needed now by the U.S. Navy in order to overcome the shortfalls of the current carrier-based fighters, such as range, stealth and advanced integrated electronics. They also need to keep up with the near peer threat of China who have been churning out 5th generation Chengdu J-20 stealth fighters at a blistering pace and are currently testing their 5th generation Shenyang J-35 stealth fighters on their Type 003 aircraft carrier Fujian. In addition, China began testing flying not one, but two new 6th generation stealth fighters in December 2024, the Chengdu J-36 and the Shenyang J-50. Even the USAF's Boeing F-47 6th generation stealth fighter, which won the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) competition in March 2025, is years behind the Chinese in flying its first prototype which is now scheduled for 2028.

Senate Appropriations Committee Joint Explanatory Statement

“The agreement provides $897,260,000 above the fiscal year 2026 President’s budget request to continue F/A-XX development and directs the Secretary of Defense to obligate these and any prior funds for the purposes of awarding the EMD contract limited to one performer in accordance with the acquisition strategy to achieve an accelerated Initial Operational Capability (IOC),” per the Joint Explanatory Statement report released today. “The agreement supports the Navy’s efforts to develop the F/A-XX sixth generation fighter and understands the program’s unique capability in delivering air superiority to the fleet, including greater operational range, speed, stealth, and enhanced survivability.”

“The agreement notes the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 provided $453,828,000 to align to the program’s acquisition schedule which assumed a March 2025 award for engineering and manufacturing development (EMD),” the statement adds. “However, rather than proceeding with a Milestone B award, the Department expended nearly all fiscal year 2025 funding on contract extensions with minimal demonstrated value to the program.”

“Further, the Secretary of the Navy is directed, not later than 45 days after the enactment of this Act, to submit a report to the congressional defense committees that details: (1) the current acquisition strategy and updated schedule for awarding the EMD contract; (2) a revised development and fielding, timeline for the F/A-XX program to meet IOC; (3) any programmatic, budgetary, or policy barriers that have delayed execution of prior-year funds; and (4) a spend plan for the active year additional funds that have been appropriated to the Department of Defense for this program,” it continues.

In addition, the text of the draft legislation includes an explicit provision that compels the Secretary of Defense to obligate funding “for the purpose of executing the engineering and manufacturing development contract for the Next Generation Fighter aircraft in a manner that achieves accelerated Initial Operational Capability.” It blocks the use of any funding appropriated for F/A-XX to “pause, cancel, or terminate” the program, as well.

Conclusion

The U.S. Navy has said previously that it needs the F/A-XX fighter now, Congress agrees and has been repeatedly fully funding it, but the Pentagon is has been hesitate to advance the program to the next step, choosing a winning design,  due to industrial base and budgetary concerns, fearing that the F/A-XX would detract resources from the F-47. Both Boeing and Northrop Grumman have said they are fully capable of developing and building two major aircraft programs simultaneously, Boeing with the F-47 and FA/XX and Northrop Grumman with the B-21 Raider and F/A-XX. Now Congress has gone one step further and is writing into law that it must advance and prohibits the Pentagon from delaying or canceling it. This is a rare win for U.S. Congress! The Stealth Channel applauds the U.S.  Congress for doing the right thing, even if the Pentagon's leadership has been short-sighted when it comes to the F/A-XX program. Let's just hope that the Pentagon finally advances this much needed and overdue program.

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