Boeing Wins $20 Billion Navy F/A-XX Contract, Adding Second Sixth-Generation Fighter Program
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 30
Boeing Wins $20 Billion Navy F/A-XX Contract, Adding Second Sixth-Generation Fighter Program
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 30
Summary
More than $20 billion will fund Boeing’s full-scale development of the Navy’s carrier-based F/A-XX, with the contract covering test aircraft for ground trials, airworthiness checks and weapons integration.
The sixth-generation jet is meant to extend aircraft carriers’ strike reach, operate with manned and unmanned aircraft including Collaborative Combat Aircraft, and eventually replace some F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers.
Boeing said the award gives it a second sixth-generation fighter program after the Air Force’s F-47 in 2025, and the company is building a secure St. Louis facility to support multiple next-generation aircraft lines.
Navy and Pentagon officials cast the program as a core air-superiority investment, with the F/A-XX expected to begin augmenting legacy carrier aircraft in the 2030s alongside the F-35C.