The Navy has awarded Boeing a contract worth more than $20 billion to build its new carrier-based sixth-generation fighter, the F/A-XX. Boeing is also building the Air Force’s sixth-gen F-47.
“The F/A-XX is a critical pillar in our commitment to maintaining peace through strength,” Michael P. Duffey, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said in a Sept. 29 release from the Pentagon “F/A-XX will dominate contested airspace, extend operational reach, and deliver a decisive combat advantage for the warfighter. The F/A-XX platform represents a crucial, non-negotiable investment in America’s national security and long-term air combat capabilities.”
The Pentagon release states that the F/A-XX will first augment, and eventually replace, older F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers beginning in the 2030s. It will operate alongside the carrier-based F-35C Joint Strike Fighters, which the Navy and Marine Corps both fly.
The selection ensures Boeing will make two of the three sixth-generation aircraft in development for the U.S. military—the firm won the contract for the Air Force’s sixth-gen fighter program in March 2025 with the F-47. It also represents a loss for Northrop Grumman, the only other company that remained in the running for the Navy’s Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter, and the maker of the Air Force’s B-21 Raider.
“We are joining forces with Boeing to field these capabilities rapidly, ensuring our warfighters possess the lethal and highly networked systems required to deter aggression, project undisputed power, and secure absolute air superiority,” Duffey said.
The Pentagon release said F/A-XX will be able to fly alongside and control semi-autonomous Navy drones known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
“This achievement marks a new era for the U.S. Navy,” acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said. “The sixth-generation fighter is a generational leap in air superiority and will provide the world’s best aviators with unparalleled capabilities to fight, win, and come home safe. We are excited to partner with Boeing, and for our warfighters to continue to dominate the skies and defeat our nation’s enemies.”
Advanced stealth is also considered to be a key attribute of sixth-generation aircraft.
Now-retired Rear Adm. Michael Donnelly, the former director of the Navy’s air warfare division, said at an April 2025 conference that F/A-XX could be the Navy’s last manned fighter.
“It could be our last tactical manned fighter that we operate out of the Navy,” Donnelly said at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space conference in National Harbor, Md. “It will actually be at a point where we are more man-on-the-loop than man-in-the-loop, and be the bridge to fully integrating towards the hybrid air wing [combining piloted aircraft and unmanned platforms] in the future, in the 2040s.”
Donnelly told reporters at that conference that F/A-XX would likely be able to fly more than 25 percent farther than current Navy fighters before needing refueling. The F/A-18 Super Hornet has a roughly 1,275-nautical mile combat range, which is slightly more than the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter’s combat range of more than 1,200 nautical miles.
“That’s a core attribute of the F/A-XX,” Donnelly said in 2025. “It will definitely have longer inherent range, and then with refueling, you could say that’s indefinite, as long as refueling is available.”
