Key Points and Summary – The Trump administration has officially confirmed it is prioritizing the U.S. Air Force’s F-47 sixth-generation fighter over the Navy’s F/A-XX program, creating a major rift between the White House and naval leadership.
-In a formal statement, the Office of Management and Budget cited “industrial base concerns” about running two major stealth fighter programs at once and opposed a congressional effort to add nearly $1 billion in funding for the Navy’s jet.
-The decision effectively puts the F/A-XX on ice, jeopardizing the future of the carrier air wing and drawing protests from Navy officials.
Why the F-47 Stealth Fighter Won over the F/A-XX
A statement from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget just confirmed that the Trump administration is prioritizing the U.S. Air Force’s F-47 program over the Navy’s planned F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter jet program.
The F-47 is a planned sixth-generation air superiority aircraft developed by Boeing.
The aircraft is the next big leap for the Air Force, designed to replace the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and become the first American sixth-generation fighter.
The news follows a long period of speculation that the Trump White House is prioritizing the development of new Air Force capabilities over the Navy’s planned F/A-XX sixth-generation strike fighter program.
The White House’s Tuesday statement, which responds to the House Appropriations defense subcommittee’s latest budget markup, details concerns about money allocated for multiple acquisition plans – including the Navy’s “F/A XX” fighter program.
“The Administration appreciates the Committee’s commitment to fielding timely sixth generation fighter aircraft. However, the Administration strongly supports reevaluating the F/A-XX program due to industrial base concerns of two sixth-generation programs occurring simultaneously. Awarding the F/A-XX contract as written is likely to delay the higher-priority F-47 program, with low likelihood of improving the timeline to field a Navy sixth generation fighter. The Administration looks forward to working with the Congress to identify an optimal path forward,” the statement reads.
The July 15 response confirms that the White House is opposed to the additional $972 million set aside by House appropriators to continue development on the Navy jet.
Why This Call?
The White House’s opposition is not necessarily a financial matter.
In June, Navy Secretary John Phelan expressed concerns that the U.S. military aerospace industry doesn’t have the resources to pursue both sixth-generation fighter programs at the same time.
Industry leaders, however, believe that they have the capacity to follow through on both programs, with Boeing Defense and Space CEO Steve Parker saying last month that Boeing intends to secure and complete both programs.
Without the funding, the Navy will be unable to follow through on what it believes is a “critical” project for the future of American air dominance and the future Carrier Strike Group.
In its 2026 Unfunded Priorities List, the Navy requested $1.4 billion to invest in its industrial base, arguing that it is currently “unable to keep pace with the growing demand for increased production” and requires “significant investment to build infrastructure and maintain requirement inventories.”
The Navy also requested an additional $841 million to replenish stock of long-range anti-ship missiles, medium-range air-to-air missiles, and other munitions.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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Steven F
July 19, 2025 at 9:32 am
Wow. So let’s just pretend this isn’t merely so this egomaniac can have a bleeding edge fighter named after his presidency. He didn’t cancel the naval variant because of underperforming simulations, cost runaways, propriety capabilities of F-47, or because even he thinks it’s ugly. No. He merely canceled it because the naval variant wasn’t called F-47. When everyone knows a Naval designed craft can serve in the Air Force without modification, yet if you cancel the Naval Variant, we’re going to see cost runaways, yet again, modifying it for carrier and big deck assault ships. Bye-bye American military edge. All because Trump just HAD to have a 6th Gen named after him. Dear next president: your first order of business needs to be correcting this ridiculous naming gambit. If we’re at F-35 now, shouldn’t the next one be designated F-40? Personally, I think F-37 sounds better. I’m so embarrassed by the ego of Americans.
Trey Clarke
July 26, 2025 at 8:16 am
Cut 4 billion in funding or at least half to the Israeli Government. They’ve got plenty of their own money, trust it.