On September 29th, 2026, the Navy signed two contracts with Boeing on the same day. One, worth more than $20 billion, launched the F/A-XX, the Navy's first sixth-generation carrier fighter. The other, worth $16.7 million, was not to build anything: it was to plan the end of the production lines for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler. This video traces how a jet the Navy treated as a cautious compromise after the cancelled A-12 Avenger II became the backbone of the carrier air wing, and why Congress kept adding Super Hornets the Navy had tried to stop buying. We cover the shutdown order and what it actually does (planning and tooling decisions, running to November 2030, with the last new jets due by spring 2027), the 2024 deal for the final 17 Block III jets, the Red Sea campaign that cost the Navy aircraft, the Service Life Modification program that keeps older jets flying, and an obsolete computer part the Navy now has to redesign. We also separate what's confirmed from what isn't: the F/A-XX's first flight date, quantities, and cost have not been announced, and its details remain classified. Sources: Inside Defense, Oct 16, 2026 Pentagon/Boeing F/A-XX release, Sept 29, 2026 Breaking Defense, Sept 2026 The War Zone, Sept 2026 and Jan 2026 The Aviationist, Sept 30, 2026; Dec 17, 2025; June 4, 2025 Defence Blog, Oct 2026 Forbes, Oct 15, 2026 Air Data News, Oct 2026 Simple Flying, Oct 2026 Manufacturing Dive, 2025 Defense News, Feb 23, 2023 USNI News, Mar 22, 2024 NAVAIR via Naval News, Mar 2024 Seapower, Mar 2024 Task & Purpose, Apr 28, 2025 Congressional Research Service RL30624, 2006 Chapters: 0:00 The contract for closure 0:50 Planning the production end 3:37 From stopgap to backbone 6:55 The evolution of the jet 8:36 The Growler's role 10:15 Congressional influence 12:39 The final contract 14:13 Recent combat strain 15:57 The FA-XX future 18:29 Industrial base challenges 20:40 Extending fleet life 23:49 Obsolescence and sustainment 26:03 A bet on the future #SuperHornet #USNavy #MilitaryTechnology
