Navy’s F/A-XX next-gen fighter program would get nearly $1B in FY26 funding bill

House and Senate appropriators are looking to give an additional $897 million in funding towards the Navy’s sixth-generation fighter jet for fiscal 2026 in an attempt to bring the program out of a stalemate.

The conferenced defense appropriations act for FY26 was published Tuesday and includes a total of $972 million in research-and-development funds for the Navy F/A-XX program, according to the bill’s explanatory statement released by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The plus-up not only gives a critical lifeline to the program, but also urges the sea service to move forward with a contract award as soon as possible.

Despite the program being one of the Navy’s most high-profile modernization efforts, the Pentagon asked for just $74 million for F/A-XX in its budget request for FY26. The service was expected to award a contract last year, but concerns over the defense industrial base’s ability to simultaneously manufacture two sixth-gen fighter jets stalled the decision.

In the 2025 full-year continuing resolution, lawmakers included $454 million to fund the F/A-XX with the expectation that the Navy would award an engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contract to a single vendor in March 2025 — as per the service’s acquisition schedule for the program.

“However, rather than proceeding with a Milestone B award, the Department expended nearly all fiscal year 2025 funding on contract extensions with minimal demonstrated value to the program,” the FY26 defense appropriations bill noted.

To that end, the text added that funding allocated in FY26 should solely be used to award an EMD contract to a single vendor — as per the Navy’s original acquisition strategy — in order to reach an “accelerated Initial Operational Capability (IOC).”

Furthermore, members of Congress want the Navy to submit a report on F/A-XX that includes an updated acquisition strategy and program schedule — including dates for the EMD contract award, development and fielding to meet IOC, according to the legislation. Lawmakers are also requesting information on any programmatic, budgetary or policy barriers that caused the service to delay the program.

The F/A-XX program has been the subject of a disagreement between the Defense Department, White House and Congress over the last year. Both Northrop Grumman and Boeing are vying to build the sixth-generation fighter jet, envisioned as the eventual replacement for the F/A-18 Super Hornets and E/A-18 Growlers.

Like the Air Force’s F-47 next-gen aircraft — which will be built by Boeing — the Navy’s carrier-based platform is expected to have enhanced range and stealth capabilities for operations in the Indo-Pacific.

Lawmakers aren’t the only ones at odds with the Trump administration over F/A-XX’s funding. Navy officials have repeatedly stressed the importance of fielding the aircraft to maintain air superiority, and even included a $1.4 billion request in its FY26 annual Unfunded Priority List sent to Congress, according to a report from Breaking Defense.