US Navy takes independent flight path with new F/A‑XX aircraft
The future aircraft common to all United States Armed Forces branches will not come to fruition. The U.S. Navy has developed its futuristic F/A-XX aircraft independently of the NGAD programme. This design could bear the brunt of aerial combat against Chinese aviation in a conflict.
The NGAD programme was intended to identify a sixth-generation future aircraft for the U.S. Air Force—a machine designed to replace the F-22 Raptor fighter jets and, in the future, work alongside the F-35 aircraft currently being introduced into service. A component of the joint NGAD programme for the entire armed forces was the F/A-XX programme, which aimed to build a future aircraft meeting naval requirements.
Due to budget issues and forecasts indicating that a single NGAD aircraft could cost several hundred million dollars, the programme's future became uncertain. Consequently, the U.S. Navy decided to develop the new carrier-based aircraft independently, moving forward with the F/A-XX programme.
The U.S. Navy's decision was announced in an interview with Rear Admiral Michael Donnelly by "Aviation Week." This independent development aims to safeguard this essential aircraft from potential issues like budget cuts and delays.
American naval aviation
American naval aviation – alongside transport aircraft like the C-2A Greyhound or early warning E-2D Advanced Hawkeye – currently comprises two types of combat aircraft. The first and most numerous is the Super Hornet. Its predecessor is the F/A-18 Hornet – an aircraft developed alongside the F-16, which lost to the Viper in the U.S. Air Force competition but was selected by the U.S. Navy.
In subsequent years, many international users (Finland, Spain, and Switzerland were among them in Europe alone) appreciated the F/A-18's advantages and design—even before the "deal of the century."
The modernised, updated, and enlarged version of the Hornet is the currently dominant F/A-18E/F Super Hornet on American aircraft carrier decks. The original, older machines remain in service but only with the U.S. Marine Corps.
The second—gradually implemented—type of carrier-based aircraft is the F-35C, the "naval" variant of the F-35. Compared to the F-35A (the base variant purchased by Poland, among others), the F-35C has enlarged, foldable wings and control surfaces, reinforced landing gear, and a typical carrier aircraft hook for landing with the aid of arresting gear.
This dual system of maintaining two main types of combat aircraft simultaneously has ensured continuous modernity and naval aviation readiness. The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet complemented the F/A-18 when they were withdrawn, and the F-35C is becoming the complement to the F/A-18E/F.
In the future, after withdrawing Super Hornets (and electronic warfare aircraft EA-18G Growlers), the F-35C will be supplemented by the future aircraft developed under the F/A-XX programme.
A new carrier-based aircraft for American aircraft carriers
The origins of this machine date back to 2008, but the Navy only presented the general requirements for the future naval combat aircraft in 2012. It aims to provide new capabilities in air combat, striking ground targets—including close air support—and electronic warfare.
It's worth emphasising the new design's planned versatility—specialised fighter aircraft like the F-14 Tomcat were withdrawn from service in 2006, and a new-generation specialised strike aircraft, the A-12 Avenger II, never materialised.
The Navy has not publicly disclosed a detailed concept for the new aircraft. However, a popular vision is of a relatively simple machine that realises its full capabilities not as a single plane but as part of the Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA) system.
F/A-XX – a cog in the NIFC-CA machine
According to this concept, future combat aircraft will not solely rely on their radars due to advanced communication. They will primarily draw information from sources such as satellite reconnaissance, early warning aircraft, or other sensors that can enhance battlefield awareness.
Their survivability is ensured not by very high speed and manoeuvrability but by stealth capabilities, electronic warfare systems, and long-range weapons carried on board.
Such machines are expected to be the backbone of American naval aviation in the event of a conflict with Beijing and to confront new-generation Chinese aircraft like the Chengdu J-20 or new combat drones. However, the US Navy has little time to develop, produce, and deploy the new aircraft type.
The timeline that assumes aircraft resulting from the F/A-XX programme will begin entering service in the early 2030s is crucial for the Navy. Although the last Super Hornets will leave the production line in 2027, their lifespan – estimated at 9,000 flight hours (approximately 14,500 kilometres) – for older aircraft of this type will begin to run out. Introducing their successors into service will become not an option but a necessity.
