The U.S. Navy has offered new insights into its next-generation fighter aircraft program—the F/A-XX, a sixth-generation carrier-based stealth jet expected to replace the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet in the 2030s.
Rear Admiral Michael “Buzz” Donnelly, Director of Air Warfare (N98), unveiled significant performance projections during his presentation at the Sea-Air-Space 2025 conference held by the Navy League in early April.
According to Donnelly, the F/A-XX will deliver “over 125 percent of the range” of current carrier-based tactical aircraft—a 25 percent boost in unrefueled combat radius compared to existing fighters like the Super Hornet and the F-35C.
This modest-sounding increase holds major implications for U.S. naval aviation strategy, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, where vast distances and adversary missile capabilities are challenging traditional concepts of aircraft carrier operations.
Replacing The Workhorse
The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, introduced in the late 1990s, has served as the mainstay of the U.S. Navy’s carrier air wing after replacing the F-14 Tomcat, which was retired in 2006.
While the Super Hornet is versatile and combat-proven, its operational combat radius is limited to approximately 500–650 nautical miles under a realistic weapons load.
This range limitation is increasingly viewed as a liability, particularly in potential conflict zones like the South China Sea, where China’s long-range missile systems and anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategies aim to keep U.S. forces at bay.
In contrast, the F/A-XX is designed to overcome this limitation by extending the Navy’s tactical air reach. Donnelly described the range as an “essential attribute” that future systems must prioritize to meet emerging threats.
A New Era: Beyond Stealth
While the F-35C, introduced in the 2010s, brought fifth-generation stealth and sensor fusion to carrier operations, it did not surpass legacy fighters in range. Its combat radius is roughly 600–670 nautical miles, only marginally more than that of the Super Hornet.
By comparison, the F/A-XX is envisioned as a true leap in multiple dimensions—not just in range or stealth but also in survivability, decision support, and autonomous coordination.
Donnelly emphasized that the aircraft will be tailored for “penetrating advanced threat environments,” with an eye on the 2040+ battlefield. This means countering next-generation integrated air defense systems (IADS), space-based surveillance assets, and evolving electronic warfare threats.
In terms of stealth, the F/A-XX will likely adopt sharper radar cross-section reduction, infrared suppression, and broad-spectrum electronic countermeasures far beyond those in the current U.S. Navy inventory.
“With refueling, you could say the range is indefinite—as long as refueling is available,” Donnelly remarked. In practice, this means the F/A-XX will not only fly farther on internal fuel but will also be refueled by drones, increasing endurance without exposing manned tankers or support aircraft.
Autonomy & The “Man-on-the-Loop” Approach
The F/A-XX is designed for a future in which human pilots will not need to manually control every function. The aircraft will implement a “man-on-the-loop” system, where humans oversee operations rather than directly control them in real-time. This marks a departure from the current “man-in-the-loop” model.
Such a system enables greater autonomy and faster tactical decision-making, especially in scenarios involving Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA)—unmanned wingmen accompanying the F/A-XX in future battle formations. The aircraft will likely serve as the command node, processing sensor data from a network of drones, relaying battlefield information, and issuing instructions to AI-enabled uncrewed platforms.
Strategic Importance In The Indo-Pacific
The operational need for a longer-range, stealthy, and networked aircraft becomes clearer in the context of Chinese military modernization. As the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) fields anti-ship ballistic missiles like the DF-21D and DF-26, the Navy’s aircraft carriers and their strike assets must increasingly operate from beyond direct threat zones.
A January 2025 U.S. Air Force report noted that future Chinese missile systems may push threat envelopes to 1,000 miles or more. In such scenarios, the Navy’s current manned tactical aircraft would struggle to project power without significant aerial refueling or forward basing, both of which increase operational risk and logistics strain.
While seemingly incremental, the F/A-XX’s additional 25 percent in combat radius could determine whether a strike package can reach inland targets, operate inside contested airspace, and return safely without heavy dependence on tanker support.
Development Status And Industrial Contest
Currently, Boeing and Northrop Grumman are the final contenders in the F/A-XX competition. Lockheed Martin, despite being the primary developer of the F-35 family, has reportedly been eliminated from the program.
Boeing’s early concept art features a sleek, tailless design resembling the X-32 or a modernized YF-23, while Northrop Grumman may leverage its experience with the B-21 Raider, a stealth bomber with deep penetration capabilities and high survivability.
However, the Navy has not provided a definitive contract award date.
Once the contract is awarded, the winning design will undergo further refinement before production scales up in the 2030s. The platform will likely remain in service well beyond 2050, forming the backbone of carrier-based tactical aviation in the coming decades.
Shaping The Future Carrier Air Wing
The F/A-XX is expected to act not just as a strike fighter but as an AI-enabled network controller.
This marks a paradigm shift in naval aviation—from manned fighters delivering firepower to a hybrid ecosystem of crewed-uncrewed integration, where decision advantage, electronic warfare resilience, and operational endurance matter as much as speed and payload.
While many of the F/A-XX’s final capabilities will only emerge after the program’s next development phase, it is already clear that the aircraft is being positioned not merely as a successor to the Super Hornet but as a transformational platform for a rapidly evolving battlespace.
- Via: ET News Desk
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