US Navy requests USD16.6 billion to procure 75 aircraft

An F-35 launches off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS
George Washington
(CVN 73) in 2016. The US Navy intends to purchase 13 F-35Cs in FY 2025.
(US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kris R Lindstrom)

The US Navy (USN) has requested USD16.6 billion in its fiscal year (FY) 2025 presidential budget request, intended to purchase 75 aircraft, down from USD17.3 billion in FY 2024.

The service intends to purchase 26 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters: 13 short take-off and vertical landing B-models for the US Marine Corps (USMC) and 13 carrier-capable C-models for the USN. The B-models are intended to replace the Boeing AV-8B as the USMC’s lone ship-based fixed-wing strike fighter, while the Cs are to augment the larger carrier-based fleet of Boeing F/A-18E/Fs.