Although the company’s participation in the US Navy’s highly classified Next Generation Fighter programme, Northrop Grumman is widely believed to be a finalist in the sixth-generation development effort.
Defence contractor Northrop Grumman has shared a new rendering of an advanced combat fighter intended for aircraft carrier operations.
Staged onboard the deck of what appears to be one of the US Navy’s new Ford-class flattops, the unnamed Northrop fighter includes a number of features associated with sixth-generation stealth aircraft, including a tailless design and low-profile recessed air intakes.
These are notably located dorsally on either side of fuselage centerline – similar in position to the air intakes featured on Northrop’s B-2 and B-21 stealth bombers.
“We’re ready to close the distance of next-gen naval aviation with unmatched speed and capacity,” Northrop says.
Although not officially connected with the US Navy’s sixth-generation fighter programme – officially named Next Generation Fighter, but colloquially referred to as F/A-XX – a number of hints suggest the new rendering is in fact related.
The rendering of the new fighter shows it with folding wings – a requirement for carrier-based aircraft in US service. A Northrop Grumman E-2D airborne early warning and control aircraft can also be seen on the flight deck behind the tactical fighter, which itself bears the low-visibility white star roundel featured on all US Navy and Marine Corps jets.
Northrop is widely believed to be a finalist for the F/A-XX contract, along with Boeing.
Lockheed Martin was publicly eliminated from contention in early 2025, leaving Boeing and Northrop as the only American manufacturers of combat jet aircraft vying for the contract.
The F/A-XX programme has been mired in bureaucratic delays and political infighting in Washington, with the Trump Administration seeking to cut funding, while Congress pushes for continued development.
The navy has reportedly been close to announcing a source selection for the new sixth-generation fighter for months, but has made little outward progress.
By contrast, the US Air Force is aggressively pushing forward on its F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance fighter with unbridled support from the White House and Pentagon.
Boeing was selected as the prime contractor for that sixth-generation fighter in 2024, beating out Lockheed. Northrop voluntarily withdrew from the NGAD completion, citing concerns about aggressive price targets and potential financial losses associated with a complex new development programme.
Northrop is already engaged in such an effort with the B-21 Raider stealth bomber, which is generating losses for the company during the early test and low-rate production stages of the contract. Two B-21s are currently in flight testing.
The company’s concerns have apparently been mollified when it comes to the navy’s F/A-XX programme, perhaps in part based on the largesse Washington is heaping on Boeing to support F-47 development.
In its fiscal year 2027 budget draft, the Trump Administration is requesting more than $5 billion to fund work on the F-47. That is atop the $3.4 billion allocated for the Boeing fighter in FY2026.
A first prototype flight for the F-47 is currently projected for 2028.
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