The U.S. Navy selected Boeing to develop its next-generation carrier-based fighter, known as F/A-XX, handing the company its second major sixth-generation fighter program after it won the Air Force’s F-47 competition last year. The award, valued at over $20 billion was announced Sept. 29 via a Pentagon press release.

The award secures funding for test aircraft that will test airworthiness, weapons integration, and mission systems.

F/A-XX is intended to replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet beginning in the 2030s and serve as the centerpiece of the Navy’s future carrier air wing known as the Air Wing of the Future. The aircraft is expected to provide significantly greater range, survivability and networking capabilities than the Navy’s existing fighters while operating alongside F-35C Joint Strike Fighters and future uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft.

“This achievement marks a new era for the U.S. Navy,” said acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao in the release. “[F/A-XX] is a generational leap in air superiority and will provide the world’s best aviators with unparalleled capabilities to fight, win, and come home safe. We are excited to partner with Boeing, and for our warfighters to continue to dominate the skies and defeat our nation’s enemies.”

Boeing beat out Northrop Grumman for the contract after Lockheed Martin was eliminated earlier in the competition. The award gives Boeing responsibility for developing both of the Pentagon’s next-generation crewed fighter aircraft at the same time.

The selection is a significant vote of confidence in Boeing’s defense business as the company simultaneously develops the F-47 and expands production facilities in St. Louis while also continuing work on the T-7A Red Hawk trainer and MQ-25 Stingray uncrewed air refueler.

White House and Pentagon officials previously cited industrial base concerns and production as a core contributor to repeated funding and scheduling uncertainties surrounding the F/A-XX program. Pentagon officials previously weighed whether the U.S. aerospace industrial base could simultaneously support development of both the F-47 and F/A-XX while Congress pushed to preserve the Navy program from repeated attempts at defunding from the White House. Uniformed service leaders have argued that the aircraft is necessary to extend the reach of carrier air wings against increasingly long-range threats in the Indo-Pacific.