Key Points and Summary – A major funding battle has erupted between the Trump administration and Congress over the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter.
-The Pentagon and the White House want to freeze the F/A-XX program to prioritize the Air Force’s F-47, arguing that the defense industrial base cannot handle developing both advanced jets simultaneously.
-However, the Senate Appropriations Committee is pushing back, drafting a bill to restore $1.4 billion to the program. This move aligns with the Navy’s own request and puts the service in direct conflict with top Pentagon and White House leadership.
F/A-XX Fighter Comeback? Congress Seems Ready
The Pentagon’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026, released in June, effectively froze development of the F/A-XX carrier-based combat jet program.
But now, there’s a push in Congress to keep it alive. And the White House has its thoughts.
According to a report by The War Zone, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s draft spending bill would reverse the cut and continue to fund the F/A-XX program to the tune of $1.4 billion.
The Senate bill would also restore funding for “the acquisition of E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft,” another item the Pentagon had proposed dropping.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said earlier this month in Congressional testimony that the Pentagon was maintaining $74 million for the F/A-XX program to “complete the design,” but that that they were planning to “go all-in” on the F-47, because “the industrial base can only handle going fast on one program at this time, and the presidential priority to go all in on F-47, and get that program right.”
Boeing Defense and Space CEO Steve Parker, however, has pushed back on the idea that it was not possible to develop both at the same time.
Both Programs at Once?
“The $1.4 billion figure aligns directly with a call for additional F/A-XX funding that the Navy had reportedly included in its annual Unfunded Priority List (UPL) sent to Congress earlier this month,” the War Zone report said.
“The UPLs, which all branches of the U.S. armed forces and certain other commands are required to submit each year by law, are intended to outline key funding requests that could not be included in the annual proposed defense budget. However, the current circumstances surrounding F/A-XX are somewhat unusual in that the Navy appears to be in direct conflict with top Pentagon leadership over the fate of the program.”
“F-47, the first crewed sixth-generation fighter, is moving forward with $3.5 billion in funding following President Trump’s March 2025 decision to proceed with Boeing’s development,” a senior U.S. military official told The War Zone in a briefing. “The Navy’s FA-XX program will maintain minimal development funding to preserve the ability to leverage F-47 work while preventing over-subscription of qualified defense industrial base engineers.”
What the White House Says
According to a mid-July report from Breaking Defense, the White House subscribes to the belief that moving forward on the FA-XX program could cause the F-47 program to be delayed.
That’s according to a “Statement of Administration Policy,” released by the White House on July 15.
“The Administration appreciates the investments made in the Nation’s military in H.R. 4016, which makes appropriations for the Department of Defense (DOD) for the fiscal year (FY) ending September 30, 2026 and for other purposes,” the document says. “The Administration greatly appreciates the Committee’s overall topline amount. However, there are areas where the Committee has a significantly different alignment of those resources, notably in the Operation and Maintenance, Procurement, and Military Personnel accounts.”
As for the question of the FA-XX, the White House was clear.
“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,” the statement of policy says.
“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 F-47 was newly named earlier this spring, leading to speculation that the “47” was meant to honor President Trump, who is the 47th president. Bloomberg News uncovered emails that appear to show that is the partial reason for the name.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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Swamplaw Yankee
August 5, 2025 at 2:42 am
Hey, this op-ed pr for military tech seems to have the touch of hacks.
The debate of air-frame morphology is like the horse race business. If you wait long enough you will find a 6 or 5 horse race.
Now, this second, the low air morphology should be the prime topic. Each op-ed tout needs to show accredited data that they spent 7 full days in downtown Kherson, Ukraine. Then, there might be a glimmer of what Low Air might mean to America.
Fund to the exact level that Han CCP Zi regime is funding his meg-strength drone war fleet. Zi is secret funding Putin to genocide Ukraine and start the Baltic state quick swallow show.
As Congress pretends there are no muslim north korean troops sent by Zi in Ukraine, no drones funded by Zi, the adroit in Congress better get the tax funding for mass drone defence. -30-