Boeing Defense and Space has won a contract worth over $20 billion to develop the U.S. Navy’s next-generation fighter aircraft, the F/A-XX Strike Fighter. Boeing overcame competition from Northrop Grumman to secure the deal announced on Wednesday and is now responsible for producing both of the U.S. military's future combat jets.
The F/A-XX full-scale development phase contract—which includes multiple test aircraft for ground, airworthiness, systems, and weapons integration testing—marks Boeing’s second selection for a U.S. future fighter program. In March 2025, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) selected the company to develop the planned F-47 that is set to replace the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor in the early 2030s.
Lockheed had also been a contender for the F/A-XX contract and was eliminated from the competition in 2025. Northrop Grumman, meanwhile, pulled back from the USAF Next Generation Air Dominance program (of which the F-47 is a part) in 2023. Boeing’s success in F/A-XX selection means Northrop, instead of building a crewed fighter, will continue to support the USAF through its B-21 stealth bomber.
Boeing Defense CEO Steve Parker said the company is ready to handle two concurrent fighter programs. “Delivering two advanced fighters in parallel was always our plan, and we invested accordingly,” he commented: adding that the contract selection was “bolstered by game-changing innovations and solidified by the investments that [Boeing has] made in new facilities uniquely suited to build multiple products with next-generation capabilities.”
According to Parker, construction work is continuing at Boeing’s expanded St Louis advanced combat aircraft facility in Missouri. Although Boeing has not formally confirmed the exact work this site will undertake, when work began in 2024, it said the location would “would support future combat air programs.” The St Louis complex already assembles the F/A-18 Super Hornet, F-15EX Eagle II and T-7A Red Hawk trainer.
The carrier-borne F/A-XX will, according to U.S. undersecretary of war for acquisition and sustainment Michael Duffey, “dominate contested airspace, extend operational reach, and deliver a decisive combat advantage.” It is intended to replace F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers from the 2030s, where it will operate alongside the existing Lockheed Martin F-35C. The F/A-XX will also be interoperable with uncrewed platforms, potentially including the Boeing MQ-25 Stingray aerial refuelling drone.
The contract also comes as the annual defense department budget request is due for renewal. The Pentagon’s full-year 2026 budget request, dated September 2025, included included $843.3 million in discretionary funding and $113.3 billion in mandatory funding. However, it also “proposed reducing funding for other weapons systems, such as certain ground systems, the Navy’s F/A-XX next-generation fighter, and the Air Force’s E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft.”
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