Pentagon Wants To Shift Funds From Navy F/A-XX To USAF F-47: Report

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2 days ago

The U.S. Navy's F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter program looks to have hit another snag, with the Pentagon reportedly prioritizing the Air Force's F-47 stealth fighter, amid concerns about how to run the two efforts simultaneously. Already, the F/A-XX was in limbo, with a U.S. official telling TWZ last month that the future of the program was still being reviewed. This came after reports that a contract award for the Navy's new combat jet could be delayed by as much as three years. Navy officials, meanwhile, continue to stress the importance of the F/A-XX to their plans.
'There's certainly a strong requirement for a sixth-gen fighter still,' Dr. Brett A. Seidle, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition (RD&A), said yesterday. 'I know there's a lot of discussion about [F/A-XX] right now, but the Navy position on that is there's a requirement that's necessary.'
Seidle was speaking at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Seapower and Projection Forces. His comments came in response to questions from U.S. Rep. Joseph David Courtney, the Democrat representative for Connecticut's 2nd congressional district. You can see that exchange in the video below, starting at the 35.25 mark:
The hearing followed a Pentagon request last month to the House and Senate defense policy committees, which was seen by Bloomberg News, warning that 'Simultaneously pursuing two sixth-generation fighters risks under-delivery on both.'
'Given the schedule delays and cost growth across numerous airframes, DoD recommends a focus on the F-47, giving the Navy's F/A-XX program time for technical maturity and development,' the Pentagon request added. 'Phasing the F/A-XX after the Air Force's initial F-47 development will alleviate capacity concerns in the industrial base.'
Exactly why there should be concerns about industrial capacity is somewhat unclear, although that could be a factor were Boeing to win the F/A-XX contract on top of the F-47. On the other hand, with Northrop Grumman busy with the B-21 stealth bomber, which still needs to get through flight testing, adding a few years to the F/A-XX timeline could mitigate risk there, were this contractor to walk away with F/A-XX.
Reportedly, the U.S. Department of Defense requested that Congress shift $500 million from F/A-XX to the F-47, the contract for which was awarded to Boeing in March. Previously, these funds were allocated for the 'accelerated development' of the Navy fighter.
There is now something of a battle between the Pentagon Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the House Armed Services Committee (HASC).
On the one hand, the F-47 is considered by the Pentagon to have 'full presidential support,' making it a priority for the $500 million that the House Armed Services Committee had added to the F/A-XX program under President Donald Trump's sweeping $3.9-trillion tax breaks package.
While we previously reported on Pentagon recommendations to withhold $500 million from the F/A-XX program, it wasn't previously understood that it wanted to redirect this to the Air Force's equivalent effort, the F-47.
The House Armed Services Committee is now seeking to block the funds from being redirected to the F-47, arguing that the Pentagon hasn't provided an adequate reason for this.
Heather Vaughan, a committee spokesperson, told Bloomberg News that the Pentagon 'has yet to brief the committee on any changes for its plans to develop and procure' the Navy's new stealth jet. 'Absent any new information from the Navy concerning revision to defined capability gaps and shortfalls, mission requirements, cost, or acquisition strategy for F/A-XX, the committee continues to support the development of this critical platform,' Vaughan added.
Earlier this week, the Senate Armed Services Committee released its defense section of the tax breaks package, which includes $750 million to 'accelerate the F/A-XX aircraft.'
Originally, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman were all in the running to develop the F/A-XX. However, Lockheed Martin was reportedly eliminated from the competition in March because its proposal 'did not satisfy the service's criteria,' according to Breaking Defense, whose story cited an unnamed source with knowledge of the program.
Any holdups to the F/A-XX program will be a worry for the Navy. The service considers a sixth-generation combat aircraft as a prerequisite for the future carrier air wing, especially in terms of a potential confrontation with China in the Indo-Pacific theater.
'The sixth-gen fighter has some capabilities that we need to counter the PRC,' Navy Adm. James W. Kilby, acting Chief of Naval Operations, said of the F/A-XX last month. 'Those are signatures, those are range, those are different engines. Those are all the things that will make it survivable. The Air Force and Navy have different missions, but we're going against the same threat.'
Last month, a U.S. official, speaking to TWZ on condition of anonymity, denied reports that the F/A-XX program contract award could be delayed by as much as three years.
'Nothing is being delayed,' the official stated. 'A decision hasn't been made yet. That decision is still being determined by [the Pentagon] and service leaders, with conversations among Congress as well. It's a big program. Obviously, these things don't get settled on by one individual. Leaders are making a decision on whether to invest. It's all part of the process.'
The Navy had planned for the F/A-XX aircraft to enter service in the 2030s and thereafter to replace F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters and EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets.
According to a 2025 Naval Aviation Playbook, the F/A-XX 'is expected to feature superior range, speed, and sensor capabilities, with an emphasis on integrating manned and unmanned systems. This includes collaboration with autonomous drones serving as force multipliers and electronic warfare assets.'
In regards to the range, it emerged earlier this year that the F/A-XX may offer just a 25 percent increase in this respect over the existing tactical combat jets in its carrier air wings. That disclosure is surprising, given that the service consistently makes it clear that extending the reach of its carrier strike groups and thus enhancing their survivability is a critical priority, as the range of expected threats also continues to grow.
Regardless, the continued funding dispute may well still derail the current timeline for F/A-XX.
In a report last month, Reuters wrote that the Pentagon's main issue about the F/A-XX program was 'concerns about engineering and production capacity,' but didn't elaborate further.
If the F/A-XX does end up being delayed, the Navy might well have to look again at its tactical fighter fleet to avoid shortfalls. One immediate result would be the service relying longer than expected on its aging fleets of Super Hornets and Growlers.
At one stage, the Super Hornet production line was expected to be shut down this year. However, in March of last year, the Navy issued Boeing a $1.3-billion contract for 17 new Super Hornets with a final delivery planned for spring 2027 at the latest. Buying more Super Hornets could be an option, but such a move would have to be made before the line is closed.
An alternative would be to push more resources toward the F-35C stealth fighter, which the Navy has introduced to replace the last of its 'legacy' Hornets. As well as the baseline F-35C, Lockheed Martin is increasingly looking at the potential of further advanced developments of the Joint Strike Fighter, something the company has previously described as a 'Ferrari' or 'NASCAR upgrade' to the F-35's core 'chassis.' This could include a substantial fuselage redesign.
With a future Pacific fight very much on its mind, neither of these options would be ideal for the Navy, and the current uncertainty around the F/A-XX program is very much bad news for the service.
It's also worth considering the Navy's approach for the fleets of carrier-capable drone wingmen that it wants to accompany crewed combat aircraft in the future. As it now stands, the service wants its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) designs to cost no more than $15 million to buy and have zero long-term sustainment costs. At the same time, there are signs the Navy may not be moving as quickly on CCAs as the Air Force, as you can read about here.
Meanwhile, if the Pentagon gets its way and is able to inject another $500 million into the F-47, that will only help realize its goal to have the next-generation Air Force combat jet flying before the end of the current Trump administration.
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