“We’re awaiting downselect of which prime is going to win the contract and that kind of stuff,” Vice Adm. Daniel Cheever, commander of Naval Air Forces, said during the Tailhook Symposium. “That’s a pretty high-up decision, there’s a lot of stakeholders,” he added, emphasising, “We’re excited, once they do down select, to move out on it.”
Pentagon officials in June proposed $74 million for the design phase of the F/A-XX in the fiscal 2026 budget, describing the allocation as “maintaining the option for F/A-XX in the future.” At the same time, officials highlighted full support for the U.S. Air Force’s Boeing F-47, prompting concerns that industry capacity could be stretched by the simultaneous demands of both programmes.
Navy leaders, however, have continued to argue for keeping momentum behind the project. Adm. Daryl Caudle, the nominee for chief of naval operations, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on 24 July that the Navy has a “validated requirement for carrier-based sixth-generation aircraft.” He added in written testimony: “It is critical that we field that capability as quickly as possible to give our warfighters the capabilities they need to win against a myriad of emerging threats.”
Cheever also underscored the operational rationale during Tailhook, saying “the case is simple” for the necessity of sixth-generation aircraft. “If you have air superiority, then you have sea control. Those things go together,” he said. “So, you need that fourth-, fifth-, sixth-generation mix. And as fourth-generation comes down in numbers, then you need that … fifth-, sixth-generation mix. And I think the Navy’s done it well with the fourth-, fifth-, sixth-generation mix of what’s coming.”
Boeing and Northrop Grumman are competing to develop the F/A-XX, which will emphasise survivability and extended range. The Navy has set a target of a 25% increase in range compared with current carrier-based fighters, with both GE Aerospace and RTX’s Pratt & Whitney vying to supply the powerplant.
While the F/A-XX remains the top aviation priority, the Navy is also looking to replace its T-45 trainer and planning for the eventual successor to the MH-60R/S helicopters. Cheever said he is encouraged by a shift in acquisition approach under the Trump administration, noting, “I think we’re on the cusp of moving with more speed, more purpose, more focus, more priorities for what’s needed, when it’s needed.”
He suggested that quicker procurement could prove more cost-efficient in the long term. “If you move faster, sometimes your costs actually go down because you move at speed instead of stretching these things out longer and longer,” he said. “So there’s excitement there, or at least there’s excitement for me for what we can do in the future, and in the next, literally, year to months.”
Source: Aviation Week.
