Boeing Wins US Navy's F/A-XX Sixth-Generation Fighter, Successor to 700 Super Hornets and Growlers

The Pentagon announced on September 29, 2026 that Boeing has been selected to build the F/A-XX, the US Navy's sixth-generation carrier-based fighter, closing a competition in which Northrop Grumman was the other contender. The aircraft is intended to replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the EA-18G Growler aboard US carriers beginning in the 2030s.

The contract is valued at more than $20 billion for the full-scale development phase, according to Defense News and Breaking Defense. It procures multiple test aircraft for ground, airworthiness, systems and weapons integration testing. Defense News reported that the F/A-XX is designed for extended range, to project power from US carriers, and is to be interoperable with manned and unmanned platforms, including Collaborative Combat Aircraft.

The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment said that "F/A-XX will dominate contested airspace, extend operational reach, and deliver a decisive combat advantage." The acting Secretary of the Navy said: "The Sixth-Generation fighter is a generational leap in air superiority." The president and chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space & Security said: "It's an honor to be selected to produce the Navy's first sixth-generation platform." Northrop Grumman, in a statement reported by Breaking Defense, said it had "offered a highly survivable, digitally advanced sixth-generation fighter to the U.S. Navy."

The award makes Boeing the supplier of both US sixth-generation fighters, as Breaking Defense noted. In March 2025 the company won the US Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance competition with the F-47, of which the Air Force plans to buy at least 185, according to Defense News. The two programs have not always been presented as complementary: in July 2025 the White House warned that pursuing F/A-XX funding "would imperil" the F-47 program, Breaking Defense reported.

The fleet the F/A-XX is meant to succeed is a large one. According to GMN's inventory data, with logged events applied, the US naval aviation inventory currently counts 549 Super Hornets and 151 Growlers, 700 aircraft in total. The Super Hornet entered service in 2001 and the Growler in 2009. Outside the United States, the Royal Australian Air Force operates 24 Super Hornets and 12 Growlers, and Kuwait fields 28 Super Hornets, according to the same data.

The Super Hornet itself succeeded the F-14 Tomcat, which the US Navy retired on September 22, 2006. The Tomcat's last operator is Iran, with 32 aircraft in GMN's inventory. GMN's comparison of the Tomcat and the Super Hornet sets the two carrier fighters side by side.

The award opens the full-scale development phase, during which the test aircraft procured under the contract will support ground, airworthiness, systems and weapons integration testing. According to Defense News and Breaking Defense, the F/A-XX is to begin replacing the Super Hornet and Growler aboard US Navy carriers in the 2030s.