The U.S. Navy awarded Boeing a contract worth more than $20 billion for full-scale development of the F/A-XX, a sixth-generation carrier-based fighter. The Pentagon announced the selection on Sept. 29. The contract covers multiple test aircraft for ground, airworthiness, systems and weapons-integration testing.
Boeing beat Northrop Grumman in the competition; Lockheed Martin had been eliminated earlier. The award is for development, not serial production. Few details of the aircraft’s final design have been disclosed.
The F/A-XX is intended to complement the carrier variant of the F-35 and, in the 2030s, begin augmenting and eventually replacing parts of the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler fleets. The program is part of the Navy’s Next Generation Air Dominance effort to develop carrier aviation.
The selection gives Boeing a second U.S. sixth-generation fighter program after its Air Force F-47 contract. Source: Astro Awani; contract details reported by the Pentagon and Axios.