Few hours after the U.S. Navy’s Chief of Naval Operations said a contract award for F/A-XX is expected by August, Northrop Grumman has teased once again a notional design for the next-gen fighter.
Northrop Grumman has once again teased its notional concept for the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX program, posting a short video on social media. Notably, the new development follows a statement few hours earlier by the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, who said a contract award is now expected by August.
Teaser Video
The 15-second video released by Northrop Grumman appears to show the same notional design which was presented in August 2025. This time, we have a panning around the aircraft, showing some more of its features, including the Navy’s peculiar folding wings.
We’re bringing tomorrow’s horizon into focus, faster, stronger and ready when the warfighter needs it.#SAS2026 pic.twitter.com/r0uORyR5kM
— Northrop Grumman (@northropgrumman) April 20, 2026
Similarly to its first appearance, the aircraft is shown on the deck of an aircraft carrier, which is not unsurprising given the role of the F/A-XX. While the cropping of the first image did not allow to confirm it, the video shows that this notional design is indeed a tailless aircraft, in line with many of the notional designs circulating for the Navy’s and Air Force’s 6th gen aircraft programs.
Low-observable air inlets are placed symmetrically on the top of the fuselage, just behind the cockpit, but it is not possible to determine how many engines are installed on the aircraft. As the inlets’ design is one of the most sensitive aspects for stealth aircraft, this is likely to be a placeholder.
A highly streamlined design, which blends the chin with the wings and the rest of the aircraft, ends in a pointy nose. This would provide ample space for an AESA radar, although in the video the nose appears smaller than in the first image.
Carrier-specific features are also visible, such as the twin wheel nose landing gear and launch bar. The video now shows for the first time also the folding wings, which are extended in the ending.
As we reported in other occasions, it is unlikely this design is an accurate representation of the one being included in Northrop Grumman’s bid for the F/A-XX program. For instance, the design of the Air Force’s F-47 was significantly altered in the two public representations to avoid giving out too many design elements that could compromise the program’s security.
F/A-XX Contract Award
The future of the F/A-XX program has been unclear for a long time, as the Pentagon and the White House were worried that moving forward with the F/A-XX would slow down the Air Force’s F-47. The funding for F/A-XX was also slashed multiple times, before being rescued by the U.S. Congress in the defense budget plans.
The Navy only included $74 million in the fiscal 2026 budget for F/A-XX, compared to the $3.45 billion for the Air Force’s F-47. Congress later added a further $1.69 billion to F/A-XX, including $940 million in regular funds and $750 million in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Something similar is again happening this year, with the Navy requesting only $140 million for F/A-XX, while the Air Force plans to request $5 billion. It is likely Congress will once again intervene to add further funds to the Navy’s next-gen fighter.
Meanwhile, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, speaking to reporters, said that a contract award might finally arrive this year. “I think you’re going to see a downselect on this in August,” Caudle said. “I think that’s the month that they have committed to making the decision on the program.”
In the recent past, we had multiple instances in which the contract award for F/A-XX was considered to be very close. It thus remains to be seen whether this time all will go according to plans, without shifting once again the timeline.
The programs, although it would not seem this way, is a priority for the service, especially as the U.S. military modernizes in preparation for a confrontation with peer adversaries. “It’s important to continue onward here because, I think, China is not slowing down, and we shouldn’t slow down either,” Adm. James Kilby, then-acting chief of naval operations, told Congress in June 2025.
A year later, however, concerns still remain, especially regarding the capacity of the defense industry. In fact, according to Adm. Caudle, one of the two companies that are bidding for F/A-XX lacks the capacity to deliver the fighter on time.
“One of the contractors who would make this plane for us is in a place where they really can’t deliver in the timeframe we need it,” Caudle said. “So there was, just, you know, ‘check twice, cut once’ kind of mentality here on this decision.”
Caudle did not identify which company he was referring to. At the time, the expected bidders for F/A-XX are Boeing and Northrop Grumman, after Lockheed Martin was eliminated by the competition.
Both companies are currently busy with big defense programs with both the Air Force and Navy. In fact, Boeing is currently working on the F-15EX Eagle II and T-7 Red Hawk programs for the Air Force and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Block III for the Navy, while Northrop Grumman is working on the B-21 Raider and the LGM-35 Sentinel ICBM for the Air Force.
