The F-47 NGAD Is Getting $5 Billion — The Navy’s 6th-Generation Fighter Is Getting $140 Million and Nobody Knows Who Will Build It

The F-47 NGAD Is Getting $5 Billion — The Navy’s 6th-Generation Fighter Is Getting $140 Million and Nobody Knows Who Will Build It

Navy pilots are flying combat missions over Iran in F/A-18 Super Hornets — a 4th-generation fighter with a design dating back more than 50 years to the Northrop YF-17. The Navy's 6th-generation replacement, the F/A-XX, has $140 million in funding versus $5 billion for the Air Force's F-47. Lockheed Martin dropped out of the competition. Boeing won the F-47 and can't realistically design two 6th-generation fighters simultaneously. Northrop Grumman

U.S. budget prioritizes F-47 fighter with $5 billion request

Budget documents indicate that the F-47 funding will come entirely from baseline discretionary spending. In contrast, $72 million of the F/A-XX funding is tied to a proposed reconciliation bill. “The Administration is sending a clear message to the nation’s adversaries by aggressively moving forward with the F-47 sixth-generation fighter: that the U.S. military will secure command of the skies, deter aggression, and project power anywhere on the…