In August this year, Northrop Grumman announced its competing aircraft for the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX competition. Now, Boeing is getting in on the action, releasing vague renderings of its sixth-generation carrier-based fighter jet, designed to replace the aging F/A-18 Super Hornet.

Six months ago, the F/A-XX Next Generation Air Superiority (NGAD) fighter competition appeared to be at an end, limping toward the ashes of a failed program. The US Air Force's budget for the F-47 fighter jet is as high as US$3 billion, while the budget for the F/A-XX is only US$76 million.

A bet on the Navy quickly died due to funding shortages as Lockheed Martin withdrew from the bid in March 2025, but Congress objected, with the Senate Appropriations Committee approving an additional $1.4 billion for the F/A-XX and the House allocating $972 million.

U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Daniel Cheever spoke to the media and said that the F/A-XX was "highly anticipated." These remarks further consolidated the resurgence of the F/A-XX. That optimism appears to have prompted both companies to drum up public interest in their proposals as the next step is to narrow down two major competitors, Boeing and Northrop Grumman, to just one.

Early concept drawings of the Boeing F/A-XX

Boeing's renderings were released during the Tailhook workshop and published by Aviation Week. Like Northrop Grumman's version, it is intentionally short on detail, showing only the vapor cone created by the F/A-XX aircraft breaking through supersonic flight. However, the nose of the aircraft is still clearly visible, and we can infer some details from this.

From previous renderings, we know that this Boeing fighter uses a tailless twin-engine design, focusing on stealth performance, but canards can be seen on the front, which indicates that some stealth performance has been sacrificed in order to improve maneuverability. The aircraft is designed to strike aircraft carriers and has some similarities with the F-47, including a large canopy that can accommodate a pilot, but a smaller nose radome.

The F/A-XX is designed to replace the F/A-18 "Super Hornet" fighter aircraft that will be in service until the early 2030s and will have a flight time of 9,000 hours. The F/A-XX differs from the Air Force program in that it needs to meet the Navy's specific needs. In addition to being able to operate on an aircraft carrier, the F/A-XX also has an optional pilot and is a multi-role fighter capable of performing air combat, ground attack, surface warfare and close air support missions. As a sixth-generation fighter, it also possesses advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, allowing it to act as a command and control center for swarms of drones and share massive amounts of sensor data with global networks.

The F/A-XX's power plant needs to increase its range by 25% over existing fighters to deal with threats in the Pacific theater. It could also provide additional power to aircraft for use in new hypersonic missiles and directed energy weapons.

Although the Navy seems optimistic about the F/A-XX program, fierce budget debates between Congress and the White House, as well as concerns about the ability of the U.S. defense industry to support two next-generation fighter jets, do not guarantee that the program will proceed smoothly. However, a final decision on whether the project will move forward is expected to be made in the coming weeks.

Source: Boeing