In August 2026, the United States Navy will choose which company builds its next fighter jet. The F/A-XX — a sixth-generation carrier-based aircraft designed to replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet — is down to two competitors: Boeing and Northrop Grumman. Lockheed Martin was eliminated in early 2025. The winner gets one of the most important defence contracts of the decade. The loser may never build another manned fighter. The stakes could not be higher. The Navy hasn’t bought a new fighter design since the Super Hornet entered service in 1999. The F/A-XX must operate from carrier decks, survive against Chinese fifth-generation fighters, penetrate advanced air defences, and remain relevant into the 2070s. Getting this wrong is not an option.

Boeing vs. Northrop Grumman

Both competitors bring formidable credentials. Boeing built the Super Hornet and has decades of carrier aviation experience. Its St. Louis facility has produced every Navy fighter since the F/A-18 Hornet. Boeing knows carrier operations, naval aviation requirements, and the unique engineering challenges of building aircraft that must survive catapult launches, arrested landings, and salt-water corrosion. Northrop Grumman brings different strengths. The company built the B-2 Spirit and is currently developing the B-21 Raider — both flying-wing stealth bombers with signature reduction capabilities that exceed anything in Boeing’s portfolio. Northrop also revealed an F/A-XX concept in April 2026 that drew heavily on YF-23 heritage — the 1990s stealth fighter that was faster and stealthier than the F-22 but lost the ATF competition.

The Budget Problem

The F/A-XX faces a fundamental political challenge: it’s competing for money with the Air Force’s F-47. The Trump Administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget allocates $5 billion for the F-47 programme and only $214 million for F/A-XX. That disparity reflects a deliberate Pentagon decision to prioritise the land-based fighter while keeping the naval programme alive but underfunded. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has affirmed that F/A-XX will proceed — it’s not being cancelled. But the funding gap means the Navy’s fighter will arrive significantly later than the Air Force’s. While the F-47 is already in prototype construction, the F/A-XX won’t select a contractor until August and won’t fly for years afterward.

What Sixth Generation Means

The F/A-XX must incorporate technologies that don’t yet exist on any operational fighter: advanced AI for autonomous decision-making, potential directed-energy weapons, next-generation electronic warfare, and signature reduction that surpasses the F-35. It must also work seamlessly with unmanned wingmen — the Navy’s own CCA programme will pair autonomous drones with the manned fighter. The carrier environment adds unique constraints. The aircraft must fold its wings (or use some storage-efficient configuration), withstand the violence of catapult launches and trap landings, resist corrosion from constant salt exposure, and operate from a deck that’s simultaneously an active flight operations area for dozens of other aircraft.

The Decision

Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti has confirmed the August 2026 timeline for contractor selection. After the announcement, the winning team will enter Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) — the phase where paper designs become flying hardware. For Boeing, losing would mean the end of its manned fighter business. For Northrop Grumman, winning would establish it as America’s dominant stealth aircraft manufacturer — building both the nation’s bomber (B-21) and its naval fighter simultaneously. August 2026 will reshape the American defence industry for a generation.

Sources: Breaking Defense, DefenseScoop, Defense One, Air & Space Forces Magazine, 19FortyFive