The image shows only the front section of the aircraft, with design features reminiscent of Northrop Grumman’s YF-23 prototype, which competed against Lockheed Martin’s YF-22 — the basis for today’s F-22 stealth fighter. The aircraft appears to be single-seat, with a cockpit canopy similar in shape to that of the YF-23.
An air intake is visible above the fuselage behind the cockpit, a layout likely serving two engines, a typical configuration for fighters operating over large bodies of water. The intake appears relatively small in size compared with those on current twin-engine designs.
It remains unclear how closely the visualisation reflects the actual aircraft Northrop Grumman is offering for the F/A-XX programme. The company has previously published similar images for a fighter proposed under the US Air Force’s NGAD programme, ultimately won by Boeing, which featured a similar aerodynamic layout but different fuselage and air intake geometry.
