Somewhere inside the Pentagon, a decision has already been made. According to people briefed on it, the United States has chosen the company that will build the fighter jet expected to fly off American aircraft carriers into the 2060s. The contract will be worth tens of billions of dollars. It will decide whether one of America's two remaining fighter builders survives in that business at all. And it may decide something even bigger - whether the aircraft carrier itself stays relevant in a war with China. The Chief of Naval Operations said the announcement would come in August. The Secretary of Defense said August. The Acting Secretary of the Navy said August. August came and went. The decision exists, but nobody will say what it is. The aircraft is called the F/A-XX. It has no official name, no public photograph, and no confirmed design. It is the most important fighter jet you have never seen, and the story of how it nearly died - and why it didn't - tells you almost everything about where American airpower is heading.