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US Navy to select F/A-XX Manufacturer
In what will be a multibillion-dollar effort for a jet seen as central to US efforts to counter China, a US official and two people familiar with the decision said that the Pentagon will select soon the defense company to design and build the US Navy sixth generation fighter after months of delay.
The decision to move ahead with a selection was made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week, Reuters reported.
Holdups on F/A-XX highlight broader questions about the future of naval aviation and the role of aircraft carriers in confronting China. The Navy could be left without a modern fighter capable of operating from carriers in the 2030s and beyond because of the delay of the program or starving it of funds.
In fact, the program’s advancement was delayed by a funding dispute in the spring and summer between the Pentagon and Congress.
To keep the program on “minimal development funding,” the Pentagon sought $74 million for the jet. According to Reuters, some Pentagon officials had sought to delay the program by up to three years, citing concerns about engineering and supply chain capacity.
Northrop Grumman Vs Boeing
Besides the funding dispute, there was also debate during the months-long delay about whether defense contractors Northrop Grumman (that unveiled its F/A-XX concept in August) and Boeing would struggle to make the jet on schedule.
Only Northrop Grumman and Boeing are left to race one against the other in the US Navy Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) sixth-generation fighter jet program aimed at replacing F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft by means of a new air superiority fighter.
As already reported in March, the proposal submitted by Lockheed Martin to the service did not satisfy the US Navy’s criteria, a source with knowledge on the matter explained to Breaking Defense. What we know is that up to November proposals were evaluated by the service but as of today is not clear when Lockheed Martin was knocked out of the project. However, the company is no longer proceeding with any bid.
Noteworthy if Northrop Grumman had to win the F/A-XX contract it would be the first time that the company builds a fighter since the iconic F-14 Tomcat; instead if Boeing had to win the F/A-XX contract its facility in St. Louis could see a brighter future given that the company builds fighters in that facility.
Core attribute
According to a statement released in April by Rear Adm. Michael Donnelly, director of the Air Warfare division for the CNO, a “core attribute” of the F/A-XX is expected to be its range, up to “probably” 125 percent “of the range that we’re currently seeing today to give us better flexibility [and] operational reach.”
In a written testimony to Congress in May 2022, Navy officials said that the service NGAD program is meant to expand the range for carrier-based operations.
“The NGAD [family of systems] will replace the F/A-18E/F Block II aircraft as they begin to reach end of service life in the 2030s and leverage Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) in order to provide increased lethality and survivability,” reads joint testimony from Department of Navy acquisition officials. “F/A-XX is the strike fighter component of the NGAD FoS that will be the ‘Quarterback’ of the MUM-T concept, directing multiple tactical platforms at the leading edge of the battlespace.”
Since the F-14 Tomcat interceptor left the inventory in 2006 the effective combat radius of the carrier air wing has contracted. Since the Pentagon’s strategy focused on the Indo-Pacific and the need to counter China in a potential conflict, the Navy has had to explore ways to extend the range of carrier operations due to the vastness of the region. The MQ-25A Stingray unmanned carrier tanker will nominally increase the combat radius.
Photo credit: Northrop Grumman and Creative Commons
