Boeing wins $20 billion US Navy next‑gen fighter contract

Boeing secured the full‑scale engineering and manufacturing development contract for the US Navy's next‑generation fighter, beating Northrop Grumman, with the contract valued at more than $20 billion for the research and development phase.

The F/A‑XX fighter will be a naval‑optimized derivative of Boeing’s F‑47 Next Generation Air Dominance, featuring structural and aerodynamic modifications for catapult launches and arrested landings, a blended extra‑wide fuselage, retractable canards or leading‑edge slats, and will rely on thrust‑vectoring and split‑rudder elements instead of vertical stabilizers; Congress injected $750 million in late 2025 and $1.4‑$1.7 billion for fiscal 2026 to prompt an immediate full‑scale development award.