The multi-billion new-generation programme is aimed to replace the Super-Hornet

The US Navy has officially disclosed, on 26 August, that Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are running to win the airframe bid for the sixth-generation superiority fighter programme, the so-called F/A-XX, to be developed in the next decade.

The programme, whose details have so far been kept strictly secret, is aimed to replace the 4th Generation F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and extend the reach of the carrier air wing, while increasing air superiority.

While the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a Boeing creature, Lockheed Martin is currently producing the F-22 and the F-35, and Northrop Grumman is working on the nuclear strategic bomber B-21 Raider.

At the same time, while the three multinationals compete to develop the airframe of the fighters, it has been revealed that Pratt & Whitney and GE Aerospace are competing for the fighter jet engine.

The US Navy is not alone in its run towards producing a sixth-generation aircraft; indeed, the US Air Force is on its way towards the same objective.

In the meantime, on the other side of the two oceans, several countries are working on their own sixth-generation fighter programs. Among them, the United Kingdom, Japan and Italy are dealing with the Tempest project, while France, Germany, and Spain are also jointly working on the Future Combat Air System (FCAS). Also, Russia announced it would be developing a similar aircraft.