Summary

• The U.S. Navy’s fiscal year 2025 budget calls for the acquisition of 75 new aircraft, while also planning to divest 123 older aircraft, which could save millions.
• The Navy plans to acquire various aircraft such as F-35B/C, CH-53K, T-54 and MQ-25A while certifying additional carriers.
• Notable omissions from the planned purchases are already financed purchases with ongoing deliveries in fiscal year 2025.

Together with the Marines, the US Navy is arguably the second most powerful air force in the world (after the US Air Force). It has around 3,300 non-drone and training aircraft. Its combat fleet includes some of the most modern combat aircraft in the world, such as the F-35 stealth fighter jet, the F/A-18 Super Hornet and the EA-G Growler. But which aircraft do the Navy and Marines plan to buy in fiscal year 2025? Meanwhile, the US Senate has approved an additional $3.4 billion for the Air Force to purchase more aircraft.

The Navy’s budget for fiscal year 2025

The Department of the Navy’s (which includes the Marine Corps) March 11 budget request calls for the acquisition of aircraft totaling $16.2 billion. Like the Air Force, the Navy’s air fleet is also expected to shrink. While only 76 aircraft are planned to be acquired, the combined unit plans to divest 123 aircraft in fiscal year 2025.

“The Department of the Navy plans to retire 123 aircraft in fiscal year 2025, resulting in total operating cost savings of $362.9 million in fiscal year 2025. Seventy-five of these aircraft are Navy aircraft (operating cost savings of $203.5 million in fiscal year 2025) and 48 are Marine Corps aircraft (operating cost savings of $159.4 million in fiscal year 2025).” – Force Structure Changes Report for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Defense Budget

Aviation Week notes that the U.S. Navy will see a decline in overall aircraft procurement in fiscal year 2025 compared to last year’s requirements, primarily due to smaller purchases of the Lockheed Martin F-35B and F-35C variants, replacing legacy fleets of Harrier VTOLs and F/A-18 Hornets. The Marines are expected to retire the AV-8B Harrier II VTOL by the end of 2026, as it is replaced by STOVL F-35Bs.

The Senate Budget Committee has approved the defense budget for fiscal year 2025. The bill allocates $81.2 billion for procurement and $26.2 billion for research and development for the Navy. Since the Navy is a Navy, it spends a lot of its money ($37 billion) on shipbuilding. Notably, nearly a billion dollars ($954 million) is earmarked for the development of the Navy’s next-generation fighter aircraft (also known as F/A-XX).

Planned purchases by the U.S. Department of the Navy for fiscal year 2025

The U.S. Department of the Navy proposes to procure 75 aircraft in fiscal year 2025. This includes 13 F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft for the Marine Corps and 13 F-35C Lightning II fighter aircraft for the Navy (although the House Appropriations Committee later called for the Navy to procure 19 F-35Cs). The U.S. Navy and Marines are gradually certifying their aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships to operate F-35Cs and F-35Bs, respectively.

The Navy’s proposal calls for the purchase of 19 CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters for the Marine Corps. The King Stallion had its first flight in 2015 and is a further development of the CH-53 helicopter series, which has been in continuous service since 1966. Lockheed explains: “The CH-53K helicopter was designed and built to the rigorous standards of the US Marine Corps (USMC) and will serve as its critical land and sea-based logistics link.“The Marine Corps plans to eventually purchase 200 of these.

The Navy is requesting 27 T-54 multi-engine training aircraft and three MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial refueling aircraft. The MQ-25A Stingray is a newly developed aerial refueling drone that emerged from the Carrier-Based Aerial-Refueling System (CBARS) program. It first flew in 2019 and the Navy plans to procure a total of around 76 Stingrays.

The T-54A will replace the aging T-44C and is expected to remain in service for 30 years; according to the Navy, its mission is to “To ensure that multi-engine and tiltrotor pilots have an advanced platform that best represents the fleet aircraft and equips them for the battlefield of tomorrow.” T-54A is the military designation for the Beechcraft King Air Model 260.

Purchasing vs. Delivery

The following aircraft are missing from the US Department of the Navy’s shopping list: the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter-bomber, the EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye radar warning aircraft, the MH-60R/S helicopters, the MV-22B and CMV-22B Osprey transport aircraft, the AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom helicopters, the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, the MQ-4C Triton and MQ-9A Reaper unmanned surveillance aircraft, and the TH-73A Thrasher training helicopters.

It appears that funding for these platforms is complete – and deliveries are underway for some of them. For example, FlightGlobal lists Super Hornets, P-8A Poseidons, E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes, Ospreys and other aircraft as still on order, with some of these arriving in fiscal year 2025. The Navy has already placed what is expected to be the last order for the Super Hornet, and the last deliveries are expected to be completed in 2027, after which the production line will close.

In the future, the Navy plans to purchase T-45 Goshawk training jets, a version of the C-130J Super Hercules to replace the E6B Mercury aircraft, and the KC-130J Super Hercules.