3 US aerospace primes actively facing off for Navy's next-gen strike fighter, F/A-XX - Breaking...

Three top American aerospace defense contractors are competing to build the aircraft for the Navy’s secretive next-generation strike fighter program, while two others seek to produce the engine, the service confirmed to Breaking Defense today.

According to a Sunday report from Aviation Week, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are all vying to build the aircraft slated to replace the Navy’s F/A-18 fleet. The same report identified Pratt & Whitney and GE Aerospace as the engine competitors.

In response to a request for comment from Breaking Defense, a Navy spokesperson said “F/A-XX has recently completed the Concept Refinement Phase and has entered Design Maturation. Navy confirms that Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, GE Aerospace, and Pratt & Whitney are industry participants in the F/A-XX Program.”

The service “has identified operational reach, capacity, long range kill chains, autonomy, and next generation survivability as key enablers in the Air Wing of the Future and supporting Family of System,” the spokesperson added.