Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle today called for a „quick” decision on the Navy’s next-generation fighter, citing the time it will take to build, test, and field any resulting aircraft. This plea underscores growing tension within the Pentagon and Congress regarding strategic priorities and the defense industry’s capacity.
Warfighting Imperative: Threat Curves Diverging
Admiral Caudle sees it as his duty to inform the Secretary of Defense’s team about this urgent need, applying pressure for a swift decision. „I’m part of those discussions, but my job is to pressurize that decision because the war fighting imperative, I think, is there, and I’m trying to build a compelling case to get that decision made quickly,” Caudle stated. He insisted the Navy must be „pacing” with challengers in „all domains,” noting that „threat curves are in some domains I’m diverging from where I’m being overmatched.”
Stalemate at the Top: F/A-XX Under Internal Siege
The Admiral’s comments come as a final decision for the Navy’s fighter program, known as F/A-XX, has been stalled amid reported infighting between Congress, the Navy, and the broader Defense Department. Both Boeing and Northrop Grumman are competing to build the next-generation aircraft, which would complement Lockheed Martin’s F-35 in the Navy’s carrier air wings. Caudle reiterated that he wants the F/A-XX because „in no world will what flies off of [a carrier] shouldn’t be the highest-end platform possible to penetrate deep into a weapon engagement zone and have confidence with longer-range munitions that it can close that kill chain.”
Industrial Base in Question: Two Fighters, One Capacity?
In a separate panel, Michael Duffey, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, acknowledged that the department had to balance the need to produce the aircraft quickly with concerns about the industrial base’s ability to produce two sixth-generation fighters simultaneously – the second being the Air Force’s F-47 program, for which Boeing was awarded a contract earlier this year. When pressed on whether he thought the industrial base could successfully build both planes simultaneously, he responded, „I don’t have an opinion [on that] right now. That’s one of the things that we’re working through.”
Congress Counteracts Pentagon Opposition
Reports indicate that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is opposed to moving forward with the F/A-XX program, in line with the White House’s public position that pursuing both sixth-gen fighters simultaneously is too risky. Meanwhile, numerous top defense hawks in Congress have ostensibly sided with the Navy on the need to produce the next-gen fighter. „We need F/A-XX,” Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., said on the same panel with Duffey. „By any measure we need it, and we want to make sure the decision is made quickly. In fact, I would argue Congress has made the decision. Congress has done the direction. Congress has done the authorization. Congress has put in the dollars in the reconciliation bill.”
