The F-47 is the primary plane of a household of associated techniques underneath the umbrella of the army’s Subsequent Technology of Air Dominance program.
President Donald Trump has introduced that Boeing will construct america Air Power’s sixth-generation fighter jet.
Air Power leaders will now transfer to provide fleets of the brand new plane, formally designated the F-47.
“We’re assured that it massively overpowers the capabilities of every other nation,” Trump stated.
“There’s by no means been something even near it from velocity to maneuverability to what it could actually have [for] payload.”
The F-47 is the primary plane of what’s slated to change into a household of associated techniques underneath the umbrella of the army’s Subsequent Technology of Air Dominance (NGAD) program, which started in 2014 with the aim of deploying new plane by the 2030s.
Trump stated that the F-47 would start manufacturing runs shortly and that the army had already constructed most of the required amenities to fabricate the system within the coming years.
Nonetheless, many of the challenge continues to be shrouded in a cloak of secrecy as a result of fears that international adversaries—together with communist China—will try and steal worthwhile details about the brand new expertise.
Listed below are the important thing takeaways from Trump’s F-47 announcement.
The F-47 Will Deploy Alongside Drones
The F-47 is a manned plane that’s designed to function a number one unit alongside a swarm of unmanned aerial techniques.
These uncrewed collaborative fight plane (CCA) will primarily function as wingmen to the pilot of the F-47, thereby rising the lethality that every fighter can convey to bear.
Trump steered on March 21 that the variety of drones working together with the F-47 pilot was scalable, that means that the pilot might be accompanied by as few or as many unmanned craft as was obligatory for a selected mission set.
“This airplane flies with drones,” Trump stated. “It flies with many, many drones. As many as you need.”
Air Power Chief of Employees Gen. David Allvin, who joined Trump within the Oval Workplace, stated that the F-47 would “unlock the magic that’s human-machine teaming,” and make sure the system grew to become the “crown jewel” of the NGAD household of techniques.
Key Capabilities for a Battle With China
The potential for a battle with communist China has been a key consider shaping the event of the F-47 as america seeks to transition away from asymmetrical warfare towards terrorist insurgencies and in direction of a contemporary battlespace with near-peer adversaries.
Complications about sustaining robust sufficient U.S. provide traces to challenge energy throughout the Pacific in wartime have been a key consideration of the Pentagon lately.
The NGAD program was, partially, designed to handle such operational wants and to extend the nation’s capacity to challenge energy into extremely contestable theaters just like the Indo-Pacific, the place present fighters might lack ample vary and payload to be maximally efficient.
To that finish, Trump stated that the F-47 would have the ability to penetrate Chinese language defenses, thereby including a much-needed arrow to the U.S. quiver.
“America’s enemies won’t ever see it coming,” Trump stated.
“If it ever occurs, they gained’t know what the [expletive] hit them,” he added.
Trump stated the F-47 will characteristic top-of-the-line capabilities in a number of areas, and its superior stealth, avionics, and adaptive engines look to place it as essentially the most superior and succesful fighter ever constructed.
“That is subsequent stage,” he stated.
Footage emerged in December of a tailless stealth plane conducting check flights close to Chengdu, in Sichuan.
That plane, unofficially dubbed the J-36, is prone to be China’s bid to leapfrog america in fight plane design.
Boeing Lifeline After Years of Turbulence
That Boeing beat out Lockheed Martin for the $20 billion contract to develop the F-47 will even have cascading results on the protection industrial base.
Each firms have beforehand printed design ideas that characteristic a flat, tailless plane with a pointy nostril, and Boeing solely walked away with the contract to construct the F-47 “after a rigorous and thorough competitors,” based on Trump.
The protection contract might show to be a significant lifeline for Boeing, which has weathered quite a few scandals lately, resulting in substantial monetary and reputational impacts.
The Boeing 737 MAX program encountered extreme setbacks following two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Boeing management additionally acknowledged it made errors within the leadup to a climactic incident over Oregon final 12 months, when a panel of an Alaska Airways airplane blew off mid-flight as a result of it had not been correctly bolted on.
The corporate additionally misplaced to SpaceX in NASA’s Industrial Crew Program, with its Starliner spacecraft experiencing delays and technical points resulting in some $1.6 billion in losses on the Starliner program since 2016.
In March 2025, Boeing was pressured to halt all shipments of its KC-46 Pegasus refueling airplane after the Air Power found cracks in two of 4 new planes delivered by the corporate.
The pricey discovery additionally led the Air Power to floor its complete fleet of the planes.
Then, on March 20, only a day earlier than Trump introduced Boeing would obtain the contract to construct the F-47, a wrongful demise lawsuit was unveiled towards Boeing by the household of John Barnett.
Barnett, a Boeing high quality supervisor of three many years, died by suicide final 12 months, after what his household described as a marketing campaign of harassment and intimidation by the corporate over his whistleblowing complaints concerning the security of considered one of its planes.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed final 12 months that it was investigating assertions that parts of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had been improperly put collectively and “might break aside mid-flight after hundreds of journeys.”
“We acknowledge the significance of designing, constructing, and delivering a Sixth-generation fighter functionality for america Air Power,” stated Boeing Protection’s interim CEO Steve Parker in a March 21 press assertion.