Boeing has been awarded a contract worth over $20 billion to develop the F-47, the United States Air Force’s (USAF) first sixth-generation air superiority fighter, under the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programme.

The announcement, made on March 21, 2025, by President Donald Trump, marks a significant milestone in the modernisation of the USAF’s fighter fleet, replacing the aging F-22 Raptor with an advanced, next-generation combat aircraft.

The F-47 will serve as the manned core of the NGAD initiative, operating alongside uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs) to enhance mission effectiveness. While specific design details remain classified, USAF Chief of Staff General David Allvin stated that the aircraft will feature greater range, enhanced stealth, advanced sustainability, and higher operational availability compared to existing fifth-generation fighters like the F-22 and F-35.

Allvin emphasised in remarks that the F-47 will be more cost-effective than the F-22 and will be procured in larger numbers, making it more adaptable to future threats while requiring fewer resources for deployment.

Boeing’s Strategic Win

The contract award is expected to revitalise Boeing’s military aviation division, particularly its fighter production line in St. Louis, Missouri. Over the past several years, Boeing has invested heavily in new defense facilities, a move that Defense One described as “the most significant investment in the history of our defense business.”

Following the announcement, Boeing’s stock surged by 5%, while Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-22 and F-35, saw a 7% drop in its share price.

Key Features of the F-47

Although specific capabilities remain undisclosed, the F-47 is expected to introduce:

  • Cutting-edge stealth technology
  • Advanced sensor fusion
  • Integration with AI-powered drone swarms
  • Extended operational range
  • Reduced maintenance and logistical requirements

The aircraft will also be built to operate effectively in highly contested environments, ensuring air superiority in future conflicts.

Development Timeline

The NGAD program has been conducting test flights of experimental X-planes since 2020. According to Allvin, the F-47 will fly by early 2029, with the USAF aiming for operational deployment before the end of the decade.

With the award of this contract, the United States solidifies its commitment to maintaining air dominance, as near-peer adversaries continue to advance their own next-generation fighter programs.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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    • You are confusing Boeing Commercial Aircraft with Boeing Defense which manufactures the F-15EX, Apache, Chinook, P-8 and a number of the best military aircraft in the world.

      • The P-8 is a 737 (commercial). All of the others are obsolete antiques. Boeing has no experience of building anything modern.

        • All of the others were designed outside of Boeing but became Boeing by merger (Vertol, Hughes and McDonnell Douglas)…..

          • You are saying the Apache is obsolete? Someone needs to call the Treasury to stop that cheque they wrote when the last units of AH64H were delivered just over week or so ago.

      • All of those were developed while Boeing had good engineers. Most were sacked to save money for directors bonuses ten years ago. So now we have 737MAX, 777X & Starliner. It will serve Trump (the 47th President) right if the new fighter is another Boeing fiasco.

        • Have previously stated from personal experience/observation that Boeing had a respectable engineering capability during the time period of the 1980s through the 1990s. No data beyond that period. Your hypothesis, if verified, would credibly explain the more recent corporate track record. 🤔

          • I over simplified. The previous board in the 2010s had lots of share options. If they sacked the good, respected Boeing engineers, they could save enough money for a large, generous share buy back. That caused a short time upward spike in the share price, so they could cash in their share options at top dollar & retire with $20m to $50m each.

      • The Apache and F-15 are legacy aircraft that were developed by Hughes Helicopters and McDonnell Douglas. Pretty sure that the Chinook started development in 1956 when Boeing acquired Vertol in 1960. Boeing got these IPs through acquisitions.

      • Agree, Boeing has a strong track record w/ upgrades of legacy ac/programs (w/ possible exception of KC-46). Open question re Boeing performance w/ a new design. Hoping for unalloyed program success; there are real threats about. 🤞🤞

  2. Boeing don’t have the greatest record of delivering products of late so this will be interesting.

    Would still go for our effort as the trust in the US had been sadly broken. Even if the next USpresident comes in a pulls back on the trump lunacy we don’t know about the one after that. Trumps comment about the export not being of the same level as theirs can’t encourage sales either.

      • I think LM’s track record in stealth fighters is the problem. F22 works but is very expensive, both to buy & operate. F35 is reasonable to buy but expensive to operate, low availability rates & is still after all this time, barely useful (block 4 software needed new hardware which it has now got but still no block 4).

        I would suggest NG likely winner of the naval fighter competition. LM to continue with F35 (at least until they can make it work properly).

          • It’s oattally rubbish boom boom. To be fair until it gets Block 4 operational it’s sirely limited in what weapons it can utilise its full capabilities somewhat wasted as things stand.

  3. Trump has also said that other countries are calling constantly to buy it without offering proof. He’s also said if they do sell it to other counties they will tone it down by 10% because some day they might not be allies. Very much the pot calling the kettle black.

    • I just saw that in the video. Truly bizarre.
      I’d recommend watching the whole thing, if only for comedy value!
      He says “It will have unprecedented speed, it goes faster than 2. You don’t hear that very often”.
      Not Mach 2, just 2!

      • He’s also said he would like to be in the commonwealth, what is going on in that head of his. I think all the fake tan is rotting his brain.

        • N Ally, , a 78 year old who uses Halloween colours on a daily basis is bizarre. But, it is the New Normal

          • In reality, US has an elected King. The country is stuck with a constitution written in 1776, when powerful Kings & Emperors were common place & they lacked the ability to think beyond that. The rest of the world has moved on. US is still stuck in 1776.

        • New product colour from Tesla Trump Tangerine Tint – across the range to add to MAGA red thy already have?

      • You forgot they are going to house it in sheds, one would assume constructed from the fields of US wood , they will be cutting down.
        As F35 contracts are being cancelled ( 2 so far) I suspect Germany and maybe India will be next. Although India might buy a handful for Russia and China to pull apart.
        The American defence industry is going to suffer the Trump effect, BIG time.

        • Selling F35 to india, the prominent ruzzian sanction evasion enablers, would indeed compromise the JSF Programme completely and ensure that other FMS contracts are dead.

          The rationale to expel Türkiye from F35 is fully relevant to india and much increased RF military and economic desperation make the outcome quite certain.

          Further impetus for integration of non US weapons as compromise avoidance will be high priority for countries unable to ditch F35 and the fortunes invested in it to date and in future.

          Another ‘really great deal’ from the ‘stable genius’ who calls those who serve ‘suckers’ and the fallen ‘loosers’. He really has no clue..

    • They will be queuing up okay but to buy Tempest or FCAS( if it gets built) not anything with “made in the USA “ stamped on it.

      • Europe First requires ITAR avoidance as a core GCAP requirement. Given the experience of the three countries involved, export enablement will be core, too. The JSF experience will be a strong customer driver for sovereign control of any future aircraft.

        • Avoidance of any tech which would allow the US government any influence on Tempest( sorry I can’t say GCAP ) is line 1 of the agreement to develop the jet. Both the Japanese and the Brits are sick to the back teeth of US interference in how and when they can use weapons.
          Biden stopped the use of Storm Shadow in Ukraine for weeks , much to the annoyance of the Brits .

          • FYI SCALP is ITAR Free since 2019, France removed US component when US blocked sale to Egypt in 2018

          • Yes, all new production was ITAR free from 2019z

            However, the older units still had ITAR’d bits in them. As you’d expect it was oldest to be expended first.

        • The USAF senior staff must all have self inflicted concussion after the ToT announcement regarded NGAD.
          As for first one out of the “ shed” I think it will probably be the FA XX , then Tempest. If NGAD does not suffer significant delays it will be the first major weapons system in history developed by the US and Boeing has no track record in developing Stealth .
          My concern is a large proportion of Tempest is bleeding edge stuff. You can do as many computer simulations as you like but until you try it in the real world, you don’t know what you might find.
          As little as we know about Tempest , I am encouraged by the utter lack of news about it, which suggest things are going pretty well as expected and the design team have meshed pretty well, The first flight of the tech demonstrator will be interesting , if they even let the press know it is happening.
          Unfortunately we don’t have an airfield in the middle of nowhere where to do flight testing .

    • He’s a documented liar both by independent verification and by legal due process, on thousands of occasions, so expecting truth not deluded opinion is a staggering piece of wishful thinking. Please don’t apply the high journalistic standards of this parish to the narcissistic sociopath who blatantly works for his own personal advantage and not for the nation as expected for the office he holds presently.
      An understandable mistake, but no.

      • Well he believes Musk so no great surprise there. The whole hierarchy in the US is delusional you even had Lubnick telling everyone to buy Tesla shares because everyone will have 5 yes 5 Optimus robots. Even the Trump dominated Supreme Court sanctioned him on that self serving fantasy that sacrificed peoples hard earned finances to simply boost his and Trumps’s mate Elons tanking shares upon which the latters income relies and Trumps fighting funds desperately need.

  5. How do you know it will be the last unmanned plane? Sometimes the drone fetish on this site stretches incredulity.

    • Aah remember when the Lightning was pronounced the UKs last manned fighter. If Musk had his way this aircraft wouldn’t even be developed I suspect. The compromise will probably be that it’s flown by Optimus robots, in which case it will be the first fighter jet to land, do dad dancing and serve up drinks to its well entertained Chinese Spy Masters. Probably why he was at the Pentagon this week to sign it all off.

      • I think Duncan Sandys was saying similar things off over 65 years ago in 1957. There’s always someone that thinks manned fighters are about to become extinct.

      • In the 1950s they said missiles would replace auto cannons/machine guns in figters, then rapidly had to re arm the Phamtoms with cannon for dogfighting over Vietnam.

    • The end of manned fighters has been predicted for as long as the end of the tank. Yet both are still in service with new models being designed. I won’t hold my breath waiting for pilots going extinct…

  7. It’ll be interesting to see how this compares with Tempest. I can’t quite tell from the image but it looks to have canards which is surprising.

      • What has been designated as the F-47 has not flown. Prototypes have been flying for about five years. What Boeing will be manufacturing is the last design iteration with knowledge gained from the test flights.

      • Technology demonstrators and X-planes have flown. That could be anything from a 737 with a radar on the front to a fully functional fighter.

      • Oh you are so wrong Chris, something with certain technologies has certainly flown as a testbed no one in the wild knows exactly what form that took. Meanwhile it’s claimed these testbeds have flown since 2020, Trump was claiming before then in his first Presidency that actual prototypes had been flying for years so in reality there are lots of contradictions flying around but nothing solid about what exactly has indeed got into the air and flying around. Even those with considerable military backgrounds have been left speculating for the most part and Trump is probably the last person to understand what form it takes unless the pointy bits can release a stripper’s bra at thirty paces.

    • It does not have canards. What you think are canards is a very wide mouth undoubtedly to house sensors, ew, radar etc.

      • If you look at the wings behind there is a clear triangular gap or line between the inner leading edge and the rest of the wing.
        That might be canards in front of the wing or maybe some sort of intake/sensor system.

      • It does have canards. There are multiple images showing canards clearly, and the Boeing concepts for the NGAD and the F/A-XX also included canards.

        Denial is always the first stage of grief.

  8. will be interesting to see if this is a fixed price contract (like KC-46 & VC-25B – both of which are losing Boeing a fortune)

  9. Boeing corporation was a dying business except for its military branch. Old Donnie just gave Boeing is huge life line from a slow death. This F 47 will prevent a well deserved bankruptcy. Boeing stock jumped up on the news.

  10. The decision to give Boeing F-47 is, depending how you look at it, either a strategic decision to keep Boeing in the fighter business given that all of its existing prodcuts are obsolete antiques or a sympathy contract given that Northrop and Lockheed are both busy. Either way it doesn’t look good. Boeing have zero experince of building a modern fighter in numbers so I’m not expecting this to turn out well (expect loose parts rattling around inside the aircraft, doors fallng off, etc. )

  11. Which bit will fall off first the wheels, the cockpit, the qings?😀😀 Boeing needed this bail out, it will probably go 40 to 50 bn by the time they done.

    • Strictly speaking, apart from the P8, the F-15 and Super Hornet are legacy aircraft developed by McDonnell Douglas, and the Chinook by Vertol.

        • But this is about developing a 6th generation and the fact Boeing have zero experience of even developing a 5th generation fighter…who ignores the company that developed 2 fifth generation fighters and gets a team with zero experience.

          • From a political aspect they are certainly the company that desperately needed the business, that may or may not be coincidence I guess. Certainly been mentioned that NG dropped out because of their naval expertise and bomber contracts made it politically a no go to win this contract. Interesting perspective, I mean who would think that Trump would give out contracts to favoured parties on the basis of what’s politically important to him eh.

        • Well one can claim that they are built by relatively independent sections of the business that retain their skills and arguably haven’t been eroded by the core company, or share that company’s technological downward spiral. Now I don’t know if that is fair or not, but some knowledgable commentators during my readings on the matter, rather more expert on the matter than me have made such observations in the course of this programme that it is a contributing factor, whereas Boeing has been far more corrupted by its unrivalled political influence over the decades and got lazy and unfocused as the money flowed in, in some views. I certainly think such claims should be at least respected.

  13. So the manufacturer with no expertise in 5th generation fighters wins the contract for the 6th generation fighter over the manufacture of worlds 2 main fifth generation fighters…seems an interesting decision.

      • Boeing gets the Air Force project NG as the longtime naval ‘expert’ gets the navy contract. Let’s see if that’s what prevails eh.

  14. When they say it will be built in greater numbers than the F-22 and more cheaply, wasn’t the F-22 planned to be built in greater numbers and more cheaply as well? I wonder what’s different this time.

    • Well yes and more amusingly as that quest dissipated unceremoniously and cancelled far short of its intended numbers, the new white hope came into play, the F-35 was planned as the cheap new alternative to match the then predominant F-15/F-16 high/low duopoly concept. That went well. So this is the latest attempt to square the circle let’s see if it’s third time lucky.

  15. Honestly, I’m trying very, very hard to be apolitical here, but we, Italy and Japan need to be going all ahead flank with Tempest, etc. The world’s going to hell, and not in a way that anyone is going to be able to sit out readily. Absolute bloody shambles, politically.

  19. Ignoring all the political crap, I’m sure this will be a fine, fine aircraft.
    We need to get a move on with Tempest.

      • I thought it was 2027, though nice if it’s earlier mind, not going to be this year mind. It will be interesting to see just how close to the end product it will be, much of it must be pre programme integration with the Japanese, so how much of the final design will be incorporated?

  20. The death of the manned fighter has been predicted for decades. I wouldn’t bet on this being the last the US design.

      • I do remember Boeing we’re almost instantly putting themselves up for cooperation when Tempest was first announced. So funding US Industry wasn’t totally out of the equation I suspect. I wonder if Trump will offer us the overall design of the wheel nuts if we abandon Tempest.

  22. The last manned US fighter? I thought that was the F-35.
    Surely the F-47 should at least be optionally unmanned?

  23. This is about the US keeping all of its fighter production lines hot. The Navy still hasn’t announced its 6th gen fighter produced by Northrop Grumman. And LM will continue to produce the F-35

    • Spot on. A lot of Republican voters in Republican areas to consider, ironically Starliner is very much one of them so maybe this is proposed compensation for its potential loss and the factory that builds it.

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