A new stealth fighter for the US Navy: What we know about the F/A-XX so far
December 3, 2025
The US Navy’s F/A-XX programme is emerging as one of the most consequential fighter competitions since the Joint Strike Fighter.
Designed to replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in the 2030s, the aircraft will anchor the naval branch of Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD), operating from aircraft carriers alongside uncrewed air systems and networked sensors.
Although many details remain classified, a combination of official disclosures, budget documents and industry activity in 2024 and 2025 paints an increasingly coherent picture of the jet’s intended role, expected capabilities and the state of the competition.
What might the F/A-XX look like?
Although none of the imagery released so far reflects a final design, the concepts published by Northrop Grumman and Boeing provide a sense of the direction of travel.
The suggestive design rendering by Northrop Grumman shows the nose and cockpit with a bubble canopy, indicating a single-pilot design.
The design also suggests:
- A broad chine-blended fuselage with significant belly volume for fuel and weapons
- Twin nose gear wheels, a hallmark of heavy bring-back loads and high-energy carrier landings
- A tailless or semi-tailless overall configuration, consistent with next-generation stealth optimisation
The emphasis on internal volume mirrors the Air Force’s NGAD design language and reinforces the idea that the F/A-XX will be built around range, signature reduction and sensor capacity, not raw dogfighting performance.
In August, Aviation Week reported that Boeing had revealed a rendering of its proposed F/A-XX design, indicating similarities with the F-47.
Boeing has released other concept art, too, although there’s no guarantee that these reflect the design on the table.
Based on the renders, Boeing’s concept shares a strong outward lineage with its F-47 work:
- A long, slender forward fuselage and crease lines similar to the F-47’s nose
- A blended wing-body arrangement
- A planform optimised for low observability from both frontal and low-angle radar perspectives
The overlap between Boeing’s F-47 and F/A-XX efforts is unavoidable. It may offer economies of scale in design tools and aerodynamics, though it also poses resourcing risks for the manufacturer.
What will the US Navy’s F/A-XX be capable of?
Most of the programme’s classified elements sit in the onboard systems rather than the airframe, but several key themes are clear.
Stealth and survivability
The F/A-XX will push beyond the F-35’s low-observable performance, particularly in the X-band and S-band threat regimes. Expect:
- Edge-aligned shaping with few discrete surfaces
- Broad-spectrum signature control, including infrared and electronic emissions
- Internal weapons carriage sized for long-range anti-ship and air-to-air missiles
Range and persistence
Pacific basing distances require far greater unrefuelled range than legacy fighters can provide. The design will prioritise:
- A large internal fuel fraction
- Highly efficient variable-cycle powerplants
- Potential integration with uncrewed refuelling assets on or off the carrier
- Sensor fusion and open architecture
The aircraft is likely to include:
- A panoramic multispectral sensor suite
- Adaptive mission systems allowing rapid upgrades
- Deep integration with uncrewed wingmen, deck-launched drones and future networking standards
Weapons and mission roles
The jet is expected to replace both the air-to-air and strike mission sets of the Super Hornet, including:
- Long-range air superiority
- Maritime strike with future large-diameter weapons
- Stand-off missile carriage for counter-surface and counter-ship roles
- Electronic-attack features built into the airframe rather than via external pods
Who will build the F/A-XX?
Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman all submitted competing bids for the design of the sixth-generation stealth fighter. In March, Lockheed Martin was eliminated from the competition.
That leaves Boeing and Northrop Grumman competing, although both face major industrial-base strains. Boeing is now prime on the USAF’s F-47, a sixth-generation land-based platform, while Northrop’s resources are tied to the Sentinel ICBM overhaul, a multibillion-dollar, schedule-critical programme.
Congress has taken notice. In October, lawmakers allocated $750 million to accelerate the F/A-XX effort and signalled a desire for earlier fielding. The Senate also moved to restore $1.4 billion in development funding, suggesting a genuine push to finalise the design and begin engineering work.
In April, Naval News reported that the Navy’s F/A-XX program had transitioned from the conceptual development stage to the operational testing and evaluation phase. This means Boeing and Northrop have already built their contenders, and are testing them in secret, awaiting a decision on the contractor.
The US Navy needs the F/A-XX yesterday
The Pacific environment is dictating the Navy’s design priorities more than any previous fighter. Chinese long-range missile systems, distributed airpower and growing carrier aviation capabilities mean US carriers will operate further from the fight unless their air wings regain reach.
This is echoed in an opinion piece by Dr Rebecca Grant, vice president of the Lexington Institute, published in Fox News on 3 December.
“No one wants to say this, but without F/A-XX, the carrier mission may diminish in the future,” she said. “It’s past time for President Trump to make a decision.”
Grant points out that the decision has been made on the F-47 for the Air Force, “So where is the Navy’s secret new carrier plane?”
In October, Reuters reported that the Navy could select its F/A-XX contractor “as soon as this week.” Yet as December arrives, the programme remains stuck in limbo, with neither Boeing nor Northrop Grumman given a green light to proceed.
For the Navy, the pause is more than a minor scheduling slip; it leaves a critical next-generation fighter effort drifting at a time when senior leaders insist the service cannot afford further delay.
Featured Image: Northrop Grumman
