Lockheed Martin would have been excluded from the competition for the development of the U.S. Navy’s sixth-generation fighter

As part of the competition among manufacturers to secure a contract with the U.S. Navy for the development of its sixth-generation fighter, it has recently been suggested that Lockheed Martin may have been excluded from the process, as its submitted proposal failed to meet the institution’s requirements. For now, the bidding process for the future fighter, currently known as the F/A-XX, reportedly has only two remaining contenders: the U.S. companies Northrop Grumman and Boeing.

The news was reported by the specialized media outlet Breaking Defense, which claims that sources familiar with the project have confirmed that the replacement for the U.S. Navy’s current F/A-18 and E/A-18 aircraft will not be manufactured by Lockheed Martin. However, no further details were provided regarding when the decision to exclude the company from the bidding process was made. For Northrop Grumman and Boeing, this is a highly significant competition. For Northrop Grumman, it could mark the company’s first fighter jet contract with the Navy since the selection of its F-14 Tomcat. For Boeing, the competition is crucial for the future of its fighter jet division, which has received significant investments in anticipation of its candidate being selected.

For Lockheed Martin, a company that has secured many of the major U.S. stealth aircraft contracts—including the F-117, F-22, and F-35—this news is undoubtedly a setback, though not a fatal blow to its ambitions of developing sixth-generation aircraft. It is important to note that the company remains one of the leading candidates to develop the U.S. Air Force’s future NGAD fighter, a program that is being carried out independently from the Navy’s initiative.

Quoting John Phelan, who was appointed Secretary of the Navy by the new U.S. administration, the F/A-XX will be a: “next-generation aircraft that offers significant advances in operational range and capability within contested environments (…) aimed at enabling carrier strike groups to outmatch adversaries while maintaining naval air superiority.” Little else is known about the Navy’s next fighter, except that it will feature a different airframe, propulsion systems, and operational purpose compared to the Air Force’s NGAD system.

It is also worth mentioning that, like the Air Force, the U.S. Navy is facing budgetary challenges in sustaining the development of its sixth-generation fighter as desired. These challenges are due to limitations imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the need to invest in other institutional priorities in the short term. As a result, in its fiscal year 2025 budget request, the U.S. Navy decided to redirect nearly $1 billion originally allocated for F/A-XX development to other programs. However, it is still expected that a candidate will be selected this year.

In this context, it is relevant to recall that the U.S. Air Force has determined that its own NGAD program must be temporarily suspended to reassess the rising costs associated with the project. As we reported in October, the estimated unit cost per fighter prior to this decision ranged between $200 million and $300 million, compared to the $100 million target set—equivalent to the cost of an F-35. Unlike the Navy’s case, there is no public commitment to continue the program, as the U.S. Air Force awaits a decision from the executive branch.

Images used for illustrative purposes

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