Posted on 08/19/2025 9:24:42 AM PDT by Red Badger
F/A-XX Handout Photo from Northrop Grumman.F/A-XX Handout Photo from Northrop Grumman.
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Key Points and Summary:
Northrop Grumman’s new concept art for the Navy’s F/A-XX landed with a message: the program isn’t dead yet.
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-The design’s clear echo of the YF-23 “Black Widow” signals maturity and continuity, not nostalgia—convergent engineering toward range, stealth, and survivability at sea.
-Unlike past winner-take-all fights, F/A-XX isn’t directly competing with the Air Force’s sixth-gen jet, but parallel programs strain budgets and the defense industrial base.
-The art is a bid to steady skittish lawmakers and show the Navy has a credible path if Congress protects funding. Whether F/A-XX becomes a footnote or a fleet cornerstone now hinges on Capitol Hill.
YF-23 Black Widow II: A Blueprint for the F/A-XX
Earlier in the month, Northrop Grumman released concept art of its candidate for the Navy’s F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter.
The introduction of the new art was surprising for two reasons. First, the F/A-XX is hanging on to life by a thread, with the administration evidently gunning for the program.
Second, the F/A-XX looked very much like the YF-23 “Black Widow,” the stealth fighter project that lost to what became the F-22 Raptor. What does this mean for the future of the Navy’s preferred fighter project?
Remembering the YF-23 Black Widow II
Nearly three decades ago, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor beat out the Northrop Grumman YF-23 Black Widow in the competition for the US Air Force’s first stealth fighter (the F-117, despite its designation, is an attack aircraft). As with many competitions of this sort, recriminations over the decision continued long after the production run of the Raptor ended.
The F-22, being a real aircraft in the real world, suffered from teething problems, cost overruns, crashes, and all of the other issues that afflict real airplanes. The Black Widow suffered from none of these problems, and thus led a fruitful career as an imaginary alternative to the Raptor.
The YF-23 bears a superficial resemblance to the latest artistic depiction of the F/A-XX, not completely surprising given that the two aircraft share a designer and most mission requirements. There’s undoubtedly a touch of irony in two designs of such similar appearance facing what may be an identical fate. But convergent engineering is nothing new to aviation science.
Most famously, the YB-35 and YB-49 “flying wing” designs preceded the B-2 Spirit (and all of the follow-on stealthy flying wings) by half a century without sharing any direct lineage. That system worked because the design aspects that the early flying wings enjoyed (reduced drag, which incidentally reduced radar cross section) became relevant in a new technological environment. In contrast, the drawbacks of the design aspects (low speed) lost importance. The technology of stealth hasn’t changed so dramatically over the past three decades that the legacy of the YF-23 would be useful to the designers of the F/A-XX.
The situation facing the F/A-XX is rather different from the Raptor/Black Widow competition, and the differences may shed light on why Northrop Grumman decided to release the art. The F/A-XX is not in direct competition with the F-47, the Air Force’s sixth-generation fighter.
Instead, the Air Force and the Navy were each expected to build a fighter, in part to avoid the problems that beset the “one size fits all” F-35 program.
F/A-XX: What Happens Now?
The US could pursue both programs, although this could strain the defense industrial base (DIB) and take resources away from other projects. In this context, it makes sense for Northrop Grumman to portray the platform in a way that highlights its maturity.
Suggesting that the design team is borrowing from the experience with the YF-23 (in the same way that the B-21 Raider evidently borrowed from the B-2 Spirit) is a way of conveying that Northrop Grumman understands the nature of the path and is prepared to build a new jet.
Establishing this narrative could pay off in a Congress that is already wary of the administration’s intentions.
The story of the F/A-XX has yet to be fully written. While the Trump administration seems hostile to the aircraft (or at least to its expense), Congress may yet save the funding line. The Navy has a long history of relying upon Congress to prevent executive branch cuts, and has quietly mobilized around an effort to save the new jet.
It remains to be seen whether the F/A-XX will become a failed fighter project and a footnote in the history of American airpower or (like the YF-17 before it) an essential component of America’s enduring airpower advantage.
About the Author: Dr. Robert Farley, University of Kentucky
Dr. Robert Farley has taught security and diplomacy courses at the Patterson School since 2005. He received his BS from the University of Oregon in 1997, and his Ph. D. from the University of Washington in 2004. Dr. Farley is the author of Grounded: The Case for Abolishing the United States Air Force (University Press of Kentucky, 2014), the Battleship Book (Wildside, 2016), Patents for Power: Intellectual Property Law and the Diffusion of Military Technology (University of Chicago, 2020), and most recently Waging War with Gold: National Security and the Finance Domain Across the Ages (Lynne Rienner, 2023). He has contributed extensively to a number of journals and magazines, including the National Interest, the Diplomat: APAC, World Politics Review, and the American Prospect. Dr. Farley is also a founder and senior editor of Lawyers, Guns and Money. You can find him on X: @DrFarls.
BACK TO THE FUTURE!
AVIATION PING!...............
Re-submitting a design isn't uncommon in aviation history. But sometimes a company that really doesn't expect to win just throws out a re-worked design that doesn't necessarily check all the service's boxes.
True, but this design gives them a head start over a blank sheet of paper..................
“I Have a Dream” by Northrup-Grumman.
The Raider is not enough.
The 23 should have won. I’d never give another contract to Lockheed-Martin after what they did to the 22 and the debacle of the 35. They have plenty of other cash cows to exploit.
Northrup should also have succeeded with the F-20 but they just don’t have their suction in the right pit. Besides, the F-16 looked way cooler than the 20. I guess they sort of won after all the dust settled anyway. One wonders if and where further consolidation of the industry will go in time since six have become three? Boing (sic) has their bone to chew on with the enhanced 15 and the 47 now. What of Lockheed now? We rotate the weak sister position just to be fair and keep the politicians fed but it does not seem to keep anybody honest or superior in terms of production efficiency and delivered cost. A strictly qualitative observation and opinion.
Why not both?...................
“Doh... what?”
They’re cushioning the fall already. They have tried using different types of fighters with “special” attachments before. The first was the SR but they had a speed problem.
Super cruise in these will help stretch the fuel a little longer, but it is capable of inflight refueling, so what’s the advantage? Otherwise it is set up for air to air armament so what is the advantage of the stealth? A little confusing.
wy69
Sure, just have the FED fire up another line of credit.
Why not indeed?
We could have a joint aircraft since the F-111 and F-35 plans worked out so well. How could we possibly have managed to get the F-4 to work out, or the Skyraider?
All it has to do is be able to fire a 60nm AMRAAM at someone
Chance-Vought (LTV) threw out the re-worked Crusader to compete for fleet interceptor competition that eventually became the F-4 Phantom II. The Crusader III would have been interesting but extremely complex. Anyway that failed, but LTV came back for a 3rd try with a re-worked Crusader that became the simplified A-7.
From 200 miles away......................
Not taking any shots at the USAF, but the F-4 and Skyraider were both originally Navy programs. It would seem that, sometimes, a Navy plane can do just fine for some USAF requirements, but not the other way ‘round. Landing and launching from a carrier requires certain requirements be baked in at the conceptual design phase.
“The Black Widow suffered from none of these problems, and thus led a fruitful career as an imaginary alternative to the Raptor.”
Heh, heh. What a dig!
Doh... what?
Yeah, the YF-17 was hardly 'failed' or a 'footnote.' Sure, the USAF picked the YF-16, but the YF-17 led to the very successful F-18.
What’s wrong with the 22 and 35?
Both seem to be very successful projects.
He’s saying the YF-23 could be a repeat of the YF-17 and evolve into the F/A-XX. The YF-17 lost out to the F-16 the first time around, but eventually evolved into the FA-18.
- How could we possibly have managed to get the F-4 to work out-
We put a gun in it.
22, nothing wrong with it per se except the oxygen system that caused hypoxia. The real problem is that Lockheed lobbied against a really good airplane, the 22, to provide funds to build one that would make more money for them, the 35.
As for the 35, it was at least 14 to 18 years in the making from selection to operational status depending on the version. That was because of massive teething problems and restrictions that still exist. An assessment of “successful” depends on how much you know. For example, you can have the near VTOL capability so long as you don’t try to carry too many weapons. You can also have stealth so long as you don’t try to carry any external stores. You can carry fuel so long as it is not too warm Other than that and a few other things such as continual cost over runs it is just fine. The ability to see through the airplane in all directions is remarkable.
Search “f-35 problems list” and you should be able to understand that it is not a great airplane and Lockheed are not a great contractor. Of course Lockheed will blame everyone under the sun and vice versa because the program is a failure aside from finally delivering a plane that took from 1996 when the concept was hatched until 2024 when “full production was announced. Good thing we were not at war and the airplane was not critical.
Finally.
Like Churchill once said, “The Americans will always do the right thing when they have exhausted all the other possibilities.”
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