By The War Zone | Created at 2025-03-27 23:29:26 | Updated at 2025-03-31 01:16:22
3 days ago
Boeing/Composite
Northrop has had a rough go of it with its new fighter projects going back four decades, and many would argue undeservingly so. The YF-23 Black Widow and the F-20 Tiger Shark are still considered ‘what could have been’ fighters, especially the former. Even after the company merged with Grumman in 1994, the latter had not produced a new fighter since the F-14 Tomcat, which was by then out of production. Now, with the F/A-XX Next Generation Air Dominance Navy fighter contract about to be announced, and just Northrop Grumman and Boeing in the running, the storied aircraft maker that is now better known for its stealth bombers could claw its way back into the fighter business — and it will likely need a new cat name for its flying creation if it does.
The Grumman cat monikers date back to the World War II era, with the firm naming its naval fighters after many types of menacing felines. The last of these was Tomcat, of course, but many came before it — Wildcat, Hellcat, Bearcat, Tigercat, and more.
So, should Northrop Grumman win the big stakes F/A-XX contract, what cat name should be bestowed upon this new hyper-advanced tactical jet that will likely be the last manned fighter the Navy will ever buy?
I did a handful of posts on X regarding this question. I then took commenters’ most well-received responses – Shadowcat, Thundercat, Bobcat (as this aircraft will also likely be tailless), and Sabercat – and put them into a poll. After 2,761 responses, here are the results:
If Northrop Grumman wins the F/A-XX NGAD naval fighter contract, what cat name should they give it? Below is refined from commenter suggestions from my previous threads on this. An no, I didn't add IIs (Tomcat II, Hellcat II etc. because that sucks). Now vote for the finalists!
— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) March 26, 2025Alleycat, Blackcat, and others popped up as honorable mentions, as well, but Thundercat is the clear winner, which isn’t that surprising. It’s a powerful name, but it’s also the title of what was a hugely popular cartoon from the 1980s, ThunderCats. The show about space-faring humanoid cats ran from 1985 to 1989 and was then revived twice in the 2010s. There has been a lot of chatter that the show is going to get a giant Hollywood adaptation soon. So there is a lot of pop culture relevance there beyond the cool-sounding name.
So, what do you think Northrop Grumman’s naval fighter should be named if the company gets the shot to build it?
Give us your best feline fighter nickname in the comments below.
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