Boeing And Northrop Grumman Left In Running For F/A-XX

Lockheed Martin has been eliminated from the bidding competition for the U.S. Navy’s 6th-generation fighter jet program officially known as the Next Generation Air Dominance or F/A-XX program. Lockheed did submit a bid but the proposal did not satisfy the service’s criteria and the company is no longer pursuing the bid.

The Navy has been evaluating proposals since at least the late Fall of 2024 but it is not known when Lockheed Martin was knocked out of consideration. This development leaves a two-horse race between Boeing and Northrop Grumman for the contract to develop the replacement for the F/A-18 and E/A-18, which is intended to be an air superiority fighter.

Northrop Grumman is vying for its first fighter contract since the famed F-14 Tomcat. Boeing has made a massive investment in its St. Louis, Missouri, facility in a gamble that it will win a 6th-gen contract from the military.

Lockheed still has a shot at building a 6th-gen jet through a separate competition for the U.S.Air Force’s fighter, also known as Next Generation Air Dominance. In that competition, Lockheed Martin is up against Boeing.

The F/A-XX program is the highest-profile aircraft competition in the Navy in over twenty years and has kept it on the down-low. Not much is known about the requirements or capabilities of the aircraft other than it will be designed to complement the F-35 aboard the Navy’s warships and will consist of a different airframe and engine than the Air Force’s program.

John Phelan, President Trump’s nominee to become the next Secretary of the Navy, in written responses to questions from Congress, characterized the F/A-XX as “a next-generation aircraft, offering significant advancements in operational reach and capacity within contested environments.”

He added that the program “is intended to enable Carrier Strike Groups to outpace adversaries while maintaining naval air dominance,” and will be conducted in collaboration with the Air Force and Marine Corps on topics like autonomy, mission systems, communications architectures, and autonomous combat drones.

FMI:  www.navy.mil/