Navy Making Final Selection For F/A-XX Stealth Fighter, Plans For 2030s Service Entry

The U.S. Navy expects its sixth-generation fighter to enter service in the 2030s, bringing with it the ability to operate alongside drones and fly missions at long ranges — capabilities seen as essential for future conflict with China. The Navy’s ambitions, if realized, mean that the service may introduce its next-generation crewed fighter before the U.S. Air Force, which is now re-examining requirements for its new stealth combat jet, with the program on temporary hold. As it sits now, the Navy is late in the source selection process on who will build its next generation fighter and that decision could come soon.

Like the Air Force, the Navy is working on its sixth-generation fighter as part of a program named Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD). The Navy crewed fighter is often referred to as the F/A-XX. The Navy is involved in direct cooperation with the Air Force’s program and both initiatives put crewed fighters at the center of a broader ‘system of systems’ that will also include advanced Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones.

But increasingly the programs seem that they might be headed in differing directions, certainly as far as current timelines are concerned.

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