Mary-Louise Hoffman
Northrop Grumman has formed two internal teams to design and build a “sixth-generation” fighter in anticipation of future aircraft requirements at the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy, Defense News reported Thursday.
Aaron Mehta writes Tom Vice, vice president at Northrop’s aerospace business, said the company also named a program manager to lead new fighter development.
“Northrop Grumman will compete for the next-generation fighter,” Vice told Defense News.
The Navy and Air Force have collaborated on the F-35 program and are looking to procure their own combat planes in the future, according to Mehta’s article.
Col. Tom Coglitore, chief of air superiority core function team at Air Combat Command, told the publication in September the branch could launch its F-X air dominance acquisition program in early fiscal 2018.
Mehta says the Navy has dubbed its next-generation fighter development program as F/A-XX.
