Battle for the Future: Nortrop vs. Boeing
To quote a classic Russian poet, "The bird-two has taken off." It's no exaggeration, not a three, but a two, but it's all taking off so fast that soon duralumin feathers might rain down to the ground.
In an effort to stay ahead of rapidly evolving adversary capabilities—and the adversary, even if imaginary (China), is indeed constantly evolving—the U.S. Navy plans to move to the next phase of development of the sixth-generation manned fighter, known as the F/A-XX, by August. Despite congressional intervention, development of the next-generation carrier-based fighter has stalled since the Pentagon effectively suspended the program last year.
It must be said, quite justifiably so, because images are simply wonderful, they so excite the imagination of those who believe in them, but... They're not worth billions. That's why many in Congress preferred to wait until something more substantial than images appeared.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Caudle, dispatched to speak with reporters at the Sea-Air-Space 2026 exhibition, acknowledged that the uncertainty that stalled the F/A-XX's development remains. It's not as if progress isn't being made in the development of new aircraft—work on the Air Force's future fighter, the F-47, for example, is advancing at an impressive pace—but with the naval fighter... Yes, things aren't so rosy with the F/A-XX. It's not even hatched yet, it's not even cracking the shell yet.
The F/A-XX's current competitors are Boeing, which is also the prime contractor for the F-47, and Northrop Grumman. And here, interesting twists and turns are possible: these two ravens are ready not just to pluck each other's feathers, but to engage in a full-blown budget war. And a budget is like the Holy Grail these days, only much more tangible.
"One of the challenges we face is that not only are our competitors improving their air defense capabilities, whether air-to-air or surface-to-air, but also that more affordable yet highly effective weapons are attracting more and more players to the battlefield who require the same level of stealth and technology," Caudle said. "So it's not that we need an adversary at our level. It's simply an aircraft that can operate in uncertain environments and with an acceptable level of risk."
And he bent it beautifully, didn't he? "Uncertainty with an acceptable level of risk"The phrase is simply platinum. However, the logic is flawed: if the situation is uncertain, how can one calculate the level of risk in this uncertainty? If everything is uncertain?
Admiral Caudle frequently speaks to journalists, and such chatter is his specialty. Like other politicians, he sometimes seems unaware of what he's saying.
For example, in January, the admiral noted that growing threats could come from smaller states, including Iran, as well as non-state actors. To say such a thing about a country ranked 17th in terms of territory and population is, at the very least, interesting. Especially since three months later, that country set the world on its ear and brought the US to the negotiating table on its terms.
Caudle reiterated that he has, however, "repeatedly" stated the need for a next-generation carrier-based fighter and "many times" told Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg that the Navy must have this aircraft. According to Caudle, this is important both for the future of the carrier air wing and for cooperation and planning with the MQ-25 Stingray, a carrier-based fighter. drone- a Boeing-built tanker that is expected to reach initial operational capability later this year.
"It's related to our MQ-25, which provides stealthy refueling. It's related to our range. It's related to our work to create a carrier air wing that will remain effective in the future, given the range at which we can safely operate," Caudle said. "So the need for it is clear."
Although it was recently reported that the US Navy, having received funding from Congress for the development of the new F/A-XX fighter, planned to award a contract for the program by the end of the year, according to Caudle, the most likely deadline is now August. On the other hand, it's not the money that's at stake. It's the tears of hope.
In the Pentagon's budget request for fiscal year 2026, the F/A-XX program was effectively abandoned, with only $74 million allocated. This, you understand, is purely to keep the specialists from running away.
American officials then stated that this decision was driven primarily by concerns about the ability of the US industrial base to simultaneously develop two sixth-generation fighters, the other being the F-47. Northrop and Boeing predictably howled and deployed all their resources in the Senate and Congress. And since lobbying is the foundation of all financial and political activity in the US, Congress intervened and appropriated $1,69 billion for the F/A-XX through regular budget appropriations and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Budget-wise, the Navy's next-generation fighter program is lagging far behind the F-47 program, which has already received billions of dollars in funding and is expected to receive approximately $5 billion more in fiscal year 2027. Apparently, the Navy isn't going to fall behind, requesting an additional $140 million for its new carrier-based fighter as part of the proposed $1,5 trillion defense budget for the next fiscal year.
It's really not much, but rivers form from streams. Like the Mississippi.
We have a lot of aircraft there. We have the F-35 program. We have the F-47 program. You know, we're still building the F/A-18 Super Hornet... We're building a lot of aircraft," Adm. Caudle said. "The Air Force has a lot of demand in that area. The Navy fleet There's a lot of demand... One of the contractors who was supposed to build this plane for us is in such a position that they really won't be able to deliver it on time. So, you know, in this decision, we took the principle of "measure twice, cut once." And now, I think we all agree that we needed to think this through carefully. I have no objections.
Let's say "not against" isn't the same as being completely "for." Here, the Defense Department is more likely taking the position of "And we'll pay the winner a courtesy call." With a sack of money, naturally. No one knows how much is in the sack, because approved figures are one thing, and the perpetual project cost increases and additional payments from Congress (often exceeding the original amounts) are another.
So Boeing and Northrop Grumman are locked in a battle for the development and, most importantly, production of the F/A-XX, a program that first took shape in 2012. And back then, by the way, there really was a “bird of three,” but these two participants very harshly cut out the third contender from the division – the company Lockheed Martin, which, in the words of aviation language, in March 2025, "it started to smoke and went down."
Last August, Northrop Grumman released a rendering of its aircraft concept. The image showed a streamlined nose and landing gear at the front of the aircraft, along with the slogan "Project Power Anywhere." Boeing's concept, unveiled the same month, visually resembles the US Air Force's F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter.
Let's just say a couple of drawings for 74 million isn't much. Everyone, of course, wants more details.
Citing secrecy, Admiral Caudle stated that he could not provide any information about the design or payload characteristics that would allow the US Navy to confidently pursue the F/A-XX despite the adversary threats he mentioned. However, he suggested that speed is becoming increasingly important for maintaining superiority.
"We're monitoring the situation very closely, conducting rigorous red-ballistic exercises, and assessing this threat against the projected trajectory to see if existing technologies can outperform it," he said. "So I think we're doing well in that regard, but we know that our existing aircraft could become vulnerable to some of these threats by the time they enter service... Because that takes time. Our existing aircraft could become vulnerable to some of these threats, and we want to make sure that future aircraft are fully capable of participating in combat operations."
Despite Caudle's comments today, it's important to remember that this isn't the first time significant progress has appeared to be on the horizon in developing a next-generation fighter for the US Navy. Last October, Reuters reported that the program had received Defense Secretary Pete Heggett's approval and that a contract was expected soon.
However, given that this whole mess has been going on since 2012, when the first moves toward the sixth generation began, at this rate, China and especially Russia could indeed develop countermeasures that would put the sixth-generation fighters in serious trouble. If Iran can knock down quite modern US aircraft, then more advanced and trained militaries would be in for a treat.
On the same day that the admiral answered questions about the future of the F/A-XX sixth-generation naval fighter program, saying the final choice between Boeing and Northrop Grumman's proposals would be made in August, Northrop Grumman released a new teaser.
The war of images and videos continues, and if previously there was only one rendering of Northrop's supposed F/A-XX concept, now "the empire strikes again."
A video posted on Northrop Grumman's X account states: "We're bringing the future's horizon closer, making it sharper, faster, more powerful, and ready to go when the warfighter needs it."
Very... lofty, isn't it? "Onward and upward!" as they say. However, overall, the video was unimpressive. Lots of smoke, lots of blur, the same general design as in the drawings, but on a larger scale. Including a close-up showing the aircraft's "stealthy" tailless design, the rear air intakes, and the very wide nose and canopy.
The aircraft in the new stylized video has rather interesting proportions. The size of the landing gear and especially the canopy make it appear smaller than one might expect for a heavy sixth-generation naval fighter, which would be crammed full of fuel and weapons. Of course, this could be due to the somewhat cartoonish nature of the new video, but how accurately it depicts the Northrop Grumman F/A-XX remains to be seen. You can draw anything, but the process from drawing to actually flying a thing usually takes many years, billions, and so on.
Of course, there are some things that will go all the way from drawing to aircraft. For example, folding wings. At some angles shown in the video, you can see the weapons bay with its doors open. At first glance, these look like very massive landing gear legs, but in fact, they're curved inward. The cockpit canopy. It's hard to tell whether this is a single-seat or a two-seater. In these drawings, the canopy is so large that perhaps the crew could sit side by side, like in the Su-34, although that seems unlikely.
Again, we don't know how closely this computer model will match the real thing, but given that this aircraft is expected to carry a significant amount of ammunition and have something like a 1600-kilometer combat radius, while remaining within the confines of an aircraft carrier, it can safely be classified as a heavy fighter.
That's not the point. The main goal of all these "photos" and "videos" is to squeeze money out of Congress. That's why there's so much pathos, upbeat music, and hope for a bright future.
A bright future is worth a billion and a half dollars, maybe even more. That's plenty to fight over in behind-the-scenes battles in drawings and videos, isn't it?
I wonder who will come out on top in this confrontation?
Northrop Grumman's completed projects include the F-14, B-2, RQ-4, E/A-6B, and E-2C Hawkeye.
Boeing has a more compelling story, as its portfolio includes manufacturers such as McDonnell Douglas, North American, and Rockwell, resulting in a vast list of successful aircraft projects: the F-15, F/A-18, E/A-18, F-15, F-22, F-35, and so on. Granted, not all aircraft produced by Boeing's subsidiaries can be considered successful or efficient, but nonetheless, they entered production, and the budget funds were utilized effectively.
One can only smile at the regret that, in today's circumstances, it's impossible to bet on who will emerge victorious from this battle. I'd probably bet on Northrop. The company isn't doing as well as its competitor, and I think Northrop-Grumman will make every effort to secure the order.
So, we expect more beautiful pictures of the sixth-generation naval aircraft, more pretentious videos, and more uncompromising struggle in Congress.
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