The US Navy
is both a navy and an air force (it operates the most powerful navy in the world and arguably the second most powerful air force). Both its ships and its aircraft cost vast amounts of money and the US Navy does not have all the money it would like. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has warned in a letter addressed to the leader of the armed services committees that if the Navy chooses to fund a second Virginia-class submarine, it will delay the development of the Navy’s F/A-XX sixth generation fighter jet
. Just days ago,

the Navy stated that the sixth generation F/A-XX fighter jet remains a priority
.

Virginia class submarine vs developing F/A-XX fighter jet

The Virginia-class is the Navy’s newest class of nuclear-powered cruise missile fast attack submarine replacing the older Los Angeles class submarine. The Navy plans to eventually procure 66 of the boats, and it would like to procure them at a rate of two per year. However, the funds for two per year are not forthcoming, and the Navy may have to procure only one this year.

shutterstock_1832422405 - 6th generation fighter, artistic vision,3d illustration

Graphic: Mike Mareen | Shutterstock

Now, the Defense Secretary said that the Navy may be forced to choose between procuring the second boat and delaying the F/A-XX or processing ahead with the F/A-XX and only having funding for one boat in FY 2025.

“Adding a second submarine would require the Department to reduce the Next Generation Fighter program by $400 million, making the fighter program unexecutable and degrading the Navy’s ability to field next generation aircraft capabilities required in the 2033 to 2037 timeframe,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin

Austin wrote the Department “strongly opposeses” the Senate-proposed and House-passed bills that would authorize and provide funding in FY 2025 for the second Virginia Class submarine. He said the “industry would be unable to produce on a reasonable schedule.” He also called for investments to support the submarine industrial base.

He warned that if the Navy was required to build a second boat, it would result in the F/A-XX next-generation fighter jet’s development budget being slashed by $400 million (the Navy has a 2026-2029 forecasting request of $1 billion annually for the program). There was even one iteration of the

Senate’s NDAA earlier this year appeared to almost completely remove funding
.

Air Force opposition to FY2025 provisions

Separately, the letter opposed the refusal to allow the United States Air Force
to

retire its Block 20 F-22 Raptor fighters
. These were built for training and can’t be used in combat without significant investment.

F-22A Raptor Aircraft_Combat_Archer_(2565196807)

The Department of Defense also disapproved of a provision that would require a Primary mission Aircraft Inventory minimum of 1,106. The letter said this would impede the Department’s modernization efforts “…by redirecting personnel, infrastructure, and funding required to deter, and if necessary, defeat the People’s Republic of China (PRC).”

It explains the provision would require the Air Force to maintain “less-capable fighters and would decrease the Department’s ability to determine operational requirements.

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