$NOC $LMT $BA - PENTAGON'S HEGSETH OKAYS US NAVY NEXT-GENERATION FIGHTER, SOURCES SAY After months of delay, the Pentagon will select as soon as this week the defense company to design and build the Navy's next stealth fighter, a U.S. official and two people familiar with the decision said, it will be a multibillion-dollar effort for a jet seen as central to U.S. efforts to counter China.