The U.S. Navy’s next-generation fighter jet can be built by one in all the highest three American aviation giants—but which one will win the contract?
In response to Aviation Week & Space Technology, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman have all entered the service’s Next Generation Air Dominance Program (NGAD) to construct the F/A-XX fighter. The doorway of those three corporations makes it essentially the most wide-open competition in many years, with Lockheed Martin beating Northrop Grumman to construct the F-22 Raptor in 1991 and Lockheed Martin beating Boeing to construct the F-35 in 2001.
The Navy’s NGAD is a unique program than the Air Force’s well-publicized NGAD, and the 2 programs will produce two different fighters. The F/A-XX fighter will replace Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters. Once fully fielded, aircraft carriers will carry a mixture of F-35 and F/A-XX fighters, likely around 20 to 24 aircraft each.
The primary Super Hornets entered service within the late Nineties and are currently receiving the Block III upgrade set. This latest fighter will begin to interchange the prevailing Super Hornet fighters sometime within the 2030s.
But first, the Navy needs to choose the manufacturer with the very best construct. Here’s an summary of the three corporations and the aircraft they’ve built before.
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is America’s largest defense contractor and current manufacturer of the F-35 Lighting II and F-16V fighters. Lockheed Martin has two fifth-generation fighters under its belt, the F-22 and F-35—experience that makes it a powerful contender to construct the F/A-XX.
The corporate is nearly definitely a contractor on the Air Force’s NGAD program, so if it won the Navy’s NGAD program as well, it could be within the unique position of constructing all three of the Pentagon’s frontline fighters at the identical time. But the corporate could grow to be a victim of its own success: It’s unlikely that the armed services would concentrate all three of their ongoing fighter contracts with a single company.
Lockheed Martin has never built a carrier-based aircraft before, unless you count the experimental takeoffs and landings of the C-130 Hercules and U-2 Dragon Lady airplanes.
Boeing
Boeing is the third largest defense contractor in america. Boeing currently produces the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet for the U.S. Navy, the jet the F/A-XX will eventually replace. The Super Hornet production line will close in 2025, after a 26-year run. Boeing also produces the P-8 Poseidon for the Navy and is developing the MQ-25 Stingray carrier-based drone.
Boeing has two fighter aircraft in production: the F/A-18E/F Block III and the F-15EX Super Eagle. Although the airframes are many years old, the avionics within the two jets are reportedly pretty much as good as those within the F-35, if not newer. The loser within the multirole fighter competition that resulted within the F-35, Boeing has never built a stealthy aircraft. The F/A-XX will fly alongside drone wingmen, so Boeing Australia’s Ghost Bat drone could the corporate an edge over competitors.
Northrop Grumman
The last contender, Northrop Grumman, is the nation’s fifth largest defense contractor. Northrop Grumman is the first contractor on the Air Force’s B-21 Raider heavy bomber, the service’s first latest bomber in greater than 30 years, and built the B-2 Spirit bomber before it. The corporate has extensive experience in the sphere of stealth.
Northrop Grumman has a powerful history of carrier aviation, having built fighters for the Navy, from the F-4F Wildcat of World War II fame to the enduring F-14 Tomcat. The 2 corporations, Northrop and Grumman, merged in 1994. Northrop Grumman also built the X-47B carrier-based drone that flew briefly within the 2010s but never entered production, experience that would help the corporate on this competition.
The Takeaway
All three of the defense contractors jockeying to construct the Navy’s next-generation fighter have the experience to construct the plane. While we’re still seeing the identical big names over and another time, a minimum of it’s three names this time as a substitute of two. Although just one plane will ultimately get built, a minimum of we’ll get three different concept aircraft to drool over.