Navy's F/A-XX: Upgrade Carrier Air Wings or Lose to China in the Pacific
The U.S. Navy faces an increasingly urgent modernization challenge that threatens American naval aviation dominance in the Pacific. Admiral James Kilby, acting Chief of Naval Operations, made the Navy’s position unmistakably clear during June testimony: “We need F/A-XX in the United States Navy. We’re talking about a fight in the Pacific.” Yet despite this clarity, Pentagon leadership has imposed successive delays on the F/A-XX program, citing various justifications from concerns about carrier survivability to questions about manned versus unmanned aviation.