Congress Boosts Navy's Sixth-Generation Fighter Budget to Over $900 Million

## Congress Injects Life into Navy's Sixth-Generation Fighter Program The US Navy's sixth-generation fighter jet program, F/A-XX, has received a significant funding boost from Congress. The program, which was expected to be shelved, has seen its budget increased from $74 million to over $900 million. This move is expected to accelerate the development of the fighter jet, with a down-select between Boeing and Northrop Grumman to produce the first sixth-generation USN aircraft expected to take place this year. The F/A-XX is expected to feature significantly extended range, multispectral stealth, and integration with advanced uncrewed aircraft. Analysts have estimated that the fighter jet's unrefueled combat radius could be beyond 750 nautical miles, while some assessments have cited a higher figure near 1,250 nautical miles. The aircraft is expected to be tailored to operate against China's anti-access/area-denial missile threat in the Pacific. ## Navy's Budget Request Sees Significant Increase The Navy's budget request for 2027 has seen a significant increase, with the total budget now standing at $377 billion. This represents a 23% jump over the 2026 funding proposal and is the largest in the history of the Department of the Navy. The increase in funding is expected to be used to accelerate the development of the F/A-XX program, with the Navy's Acting Secretary, Hung Cao, testifying before Congress that the program is essential to "restore American maritime dominance." The additional funding for the F/A-XX program has been speculated to have come from the decommissioning of older ships and aircraft, as well as the planned improvements to the Virginia-class submarine program. The Navy's original budget request had allocated $900 million for the automation program for the Virginia-class submarine yards, which matches the amount of the F/A-XX funding boost. ## F/A-XX to Feature Advanced Capabilities The F/A-XX is expected to feature advanced capabilities, including advanced beyond visual range air-to-air weapons, over-the-horizon standoff air-to-surface missiles, and even directed energy weapons, aka lasers. The aircraft will also feature a 'supercomputer' suite to control collaborative combat aircraft, or loyal wingman drones. The F/A-XX will be much more than a simple upgrade in hardware over the outgoing Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, with the greatly enhanced range allowing the carrier strike group to project power from much further over the horizon than ever before. ## Roadmap to a Watershed Moment for America's Navy Now that the budget has been approved, the work begins to make the F/A-XX a reality. Admiral Daryl Caudle has confirmed that the Navy will select the prime contractor in August of this year, with the terms of the funding increase dictating that a single contractor shall be chosen. Since Lockheed Martin was eliminated previously, that leaves the down-select between Boeing and Northrop Grumman. Once a winner is awarded, the prototype is hoped to take flight by the early 2030s. The F-47, the US Air Force's sixth-generation fighter jet, is expected to take flight in 2028, with a major obstacle to the aircraft's entry into service being the supposed delay of the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion, or variable-cycle engines. Both Pratt and Whitney and General Electric are competing to be the builder of these radical three-stream afterburning turbofan engines. Yet the complexity of the power plants has allegedly induced a delay of three to four years already. Despite being over a year behind the USAF's NGAD, the timeline of the NGAP power plant program may see the two fighter jets enter service around the same time. Current projections have the Navy estimating initial operating capability in the mid to late 2030s with full production slated for approximately 2040.