Media: Pentagon seeks to shift funds from navy to air force program

The Pentagon is seeking to prioritize the Air Force’s F-47 stealth fighter program over the Navy’s next-generation jet, warning that developing both simultaneously could delay progress on each. In a recent request to Congress, the Defence Department asked to reallocate $500 million from the Navy’s “accelerated development” fund for its stealth fighter to the F-47 program, which Boeing was awarded in March.

The House Armed Services Committee had originally added the $500 million for the Navy’s F/A-XX program—a future replacement for Boeing’s aging F/A-18 Super Hornet—to the defense section of President Donald Trump’s tax-cut bill. Boeing and Northrop Grumman are currently competing to build the F/A-XX, envisioned as a sixth-generation fighter jet, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

“Simultaneously pursuing two sixth-generation fighters risks under-delivery on both,” the Pentagon stated in its letter to the House and Senate defence policy committees. Instead, the department argued for focusing resources on the F-47, which “has full presidential support.”

“Given the schedule delays and cost growth across numerous airframes, DoD recommends a focus on the F-47, giving the Navy’s F/A-XX program time for technical maturity and development,” the letter added. “Phasing the F/A-XX after the Air Force’s initial F-47 development will alleviate capacity concerns in the industrial base.”

Despite the Pentagon’s request, the House Armed Services Committee remains resistant to shifting funds, citing a lack of clarity from the Defence Department. Heather Vaughan, a committee spokesperson, said the Pentagon “has yet to brief the committee on any changes for its plans to develop and procure” the Navy fighter. “Absent any new information... the committee continues to support the development of this critical platform,” she said.

The Senate Armed Services Committee similarly rejected the Pentagon’s proposal, allocating $750 million to “accelerate the FA/XX aircraft” in its defence reconciliation bill.

The debate comes amid ongoing criticism of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program, a fifth-generation fighter plagued by delays, spare parts shortages, and high costs, with lifetime expenses estimated at $2 trillion.

House defence appropriations subcommittee chairman Rep. Ken Calvert expressed urgency at a May hearing, stating, “We need sixth-generation fighters. I’m concerned that any hesitancy on our part to proceed with the planned procurement of the sixth-gen fighters for the Navy will leave us dangerously outmatched in a China fight.” He added, “Aviation programs that rely on highly specialized supply chains and skilled labor cannot be turned on and off like a switch.”

The issue is expected to be addressed in upcoming testimony by Navy acquisition officials before a House subcommittee on seapower.

By Vafa Guliyeva