The U.S. Navy is asking for nearly $1.53 billion to develop its secretive next-generation fighter aircraft, known as F/A-XX.
The Department of the Navy wants the funding as part of its Fiscal Year 2024 budget proposal. The new aircraft is expected to replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Details of the classified F/A-XX remain murky, but the plane is likely to act as the Navy’s “quarterback” for human-crewed and uncrewed future carrier operations.
“As we look at it right now, the Next-Gen Air Dominance is a family of systems, which has as its centerpiece the F/A-XX—which may or may not be manned—platform,” Rear Adm. Gregory Harris, who leads the chief of naval operation’s air warfare directorate, said in 2021. “It’s the fixed-wing portion of the Next-Gen Air Dominance family of systems.”
The Navy’s Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) project, which is separate from the Air Force’s program by the same name, includes F/A-XX as a component. However, the Navy’s NGAD program details are not yet clear.
While there are only hints at this point that the F/A-XX will be involved in uncrewed operations, the idea of planes without pilots is quickly catching on around the world. The use of drones in Ukraine is demonstrating the value of the platform. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force recently said it is accelerating plans to include drone wingmen in its fleet.
Aging Hornets
The new F/A-XX aircraft will help replace the F-18 variants, which are showing their age. A Congressional Budget Office report made public recently has found that the Navy’s fleet of Super Hornet fighter jets, which debuted in the late 1990s, is deteriorating faster than the fleet of F-18 Hornets that came before it. According to the CBO’s analysis, the Super Hornets, which were more modern than earlier Hornet models, had lower availability rates than the F/A-18C/Ds when compared at similar ages.
Last year, the Navy said it was working to prevent a fighter jet shortage into the 2030s. The service wants to bridge any plane availability gap by fielding the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter, creating the F/A-XX manned fighter for the NGAD program, and giving existing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets an extra 4,000 flying hours of service life.
Sascha Brodsky, a freelance journalist based in New York City and a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, writes about many aspects of technology including personal technology, AI, and virtual reality. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and many other publications. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling and hiking.
