U.S. Navy Rejects Lockheed Martin’s Sixth Generation Fighter Design: Which Firm Will Prevail?

The world’s largest defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin has been excluded from the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX sixth generation fighter program, according to informed sources who spoke to Breaking Defense. The firm’s submission reportedly failed to satisfy the Navy’s criteria, leaving Northrop Grumman and Boeing as the final contenders to win primary contracts to develop the aircraft. Lockheed Martin’s failure to win the tender is an unprecedented development, with the United States’ three prior stealth fighters the F-117, F-22 and F-35 having all been developed by the firm. The firm was also favoured to develop the U.S. Air Force’s own sixth generation fighter under the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter program, although the future of that program currently remains highly uncertain largely due to a budgetary crisis and a limited ability to afford development. Unlike the Air Force, the Navy has not invested heavily in procuring the F-35 fifth generation fighter with only 273 of the aircraft planned, leaving considerable room to accommodate a sixth generation fighter.

Northrop Grumman is currently developing the B-21 strategic bomber for the U.S. Air Force, and previously pitched the YF-23 fifth generation fighter as a competitor to what later became the F-22. Boeing pitched the X-32 as a competitor to what later became the F-35, while also developing the F-18E/F fourth generation fighter that currently forms the backbone of the Navy’s fighter fleet, and the F-15EX which is currently being ordered by the Air Force. Northrop Grumman has significantly more experience developing stealth aircraft, with the B-2 strategic bomber and B-21 both having represented major landmarks in maturing stealth technologies, with the YF-23 was considered a more expensive, stealthier, faster and less conservative option to Lockheed Martin’s rival YF-22. With the future of the Air Force’s sixth generation fleet increasingly uncertain, while China is set to begin fielding its first sixth generation fighters in the early 2030s, the importance attributed to the Navy’s F/A-XX program has continued to rise.