Key Points and Summary – In a rare public rebuke, President Trump’s nominee for Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Daryl Caudle, has issued a stark warning that a White House decision to defund the Navy’s F/A-XX next-generation fighter program will put U.S. “air superiority at risk.”
-The Trump administration is prioritizing the Air Force’s F-47 (NGAD) program, slashing the budget for the Navy’s F/A-XX. Caudle warned Congress that this comes as peer competitors like China are “already flying” their own 6th-generation jets, which will leave U.S. aircraft carriers dangerously outmatched in a future conflict.
Navy Nominee Urges White House to Reverse Course On F/A-XX
President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Daryl Caudle, has warned that the Navy risks losing its edge over China and Russia unless it quickly fields a sixth-generation fighter jet.
In written responses to advance policy questions submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee ahead of his confirmation hearing, Caudle stressed the importance of carrier-based air superiority and called for an “all hands on deck” approach from the Joint Force to support the effort.
The comments follow a formal statement from the White House earlier this month that confirmed the Trump administration will prioritize the U.S. Air Force’s sixth-generation F-47 fighter over the Navy’s F/A-XX 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 July 15 statement reads.
The statement also confirmed that the White House opposed House appropriators’ efforts to allocate an additional $972 million to the Navy’s sixth-generation jet development program.
Caudle, in his written testimony, warned that the Navy’s ability to project combat power from the sea depends on a next-generation carrier air wing.
“Nothing in the Joint Force projects combat power from the sea as a Carrier Strike Group, which at the heart has a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN). To maintain this striking power, the CVN must have an air wing that is comprised of the most advanced strike fighters. Therefore, the ability to maintain air superiority against peer competitors will be put at risk if the Navy is unable to field a 6th Generation strike fighter on a relevant timeline. Without a replacement for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and E/A-18G Growler, the Navy will be forced to retrofit 4th generation aircraft and increase procurement of 5th generation aircraft to attempt to compete with the new 6th generation aircraft that the threat is already flying,” the Trump nominee wrote.
Caudle also called for “the massing of lethal fires from the sea, which comes from carrier strike groups with the latest and most capable strike fighters.”
“The Navy has a validated requirement for carrier-based 6th generation aircraft, and it is critical that we field that capability as quickly as possible to give our warfighters the capabilities they need to win against a myriad of emerging threats,” he continued.
F/A-XX Faces Setbacks
The Navy’s next-generation fighter program has already been slowed by budget constraints.
Around $1 billion for the project was delayed in fiscal year 2025 owing to spending caps imposed by the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act. For FY 2026, the Trump administration’s budget request includes just $74 million in research and development funds – down sharply from the $454 million received in FY 2025 and nearly $900 million less than previously planned.
In June, Navy Secretary John Phelan raised concerns that the U.S. military aerospace industry may not have the capacity to execute both sixth-generation programs in parallel.
Industry leaders, however, have since pushed back. Boeing Defense and Space CEO Steve Parker claimed last month that Boeing has the capacity to fulfill the needs of both programs.
Carrier in Trouble?
Without additional funding, the Navy says it will be unable to advance a program it views as “critical” to the future of the Carrier Strike Group and broader air superiority.
In its 2026 Unfunded Priorities List, the Navy requested $1.4 billion to bolster its industrial base, warning that it is “unable to keep pace with the growing demand for increased production” and needs “significant investment to build infrastructure and maintain requirement inventories.”
The service also requested an additional $841 million to replenish its stockpiles of long-range anti-ship missiles, medium-range air-to-air missiles, and other critical munitions.
Adm. Daryl Caudle will attend his confirmation hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.
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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