Trump said an experimental version of the Boeing stealth fighter has already been flying for around five years.
President Donald Trump on Friday announced that the U.S. Air Force had awarded Boeing a contract to develop the U.S. Air Force’s secretive next-generation fighter jet.
Trump announced this new fighter jet will be designated the F-47.
“It’s a beautiful number,” the 47th president said.
“After a rigorous and thorough competition between some of America’s top aerospace companies, the Air Force is going to be awarding the contract for the next generation air dominance platform to Boeing,” Trump said in an announcement from the White House on March 21.
The president said an experimental version of Boeing’s F-47 airframe has been flying in secret for nearly five years.
“And we’re confident that it massively overpowers the capabilities of any other nation,” he said.
Details about the aircraft design remain secret, and Trump said he would not specify the price for the program because it could give hints about the size of the aircraft and some of the technology it will include.
The Air Force’s effort to build a new fighter jet, known as the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, calls for an aircraft that has advanced new propulsion and stealth capabilities. The Air Force has envisioned an advanced manned aircraft that could be paired with stealthy fighter drones being developed in a parallel effort known as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.
NGAD has been in development since at least 2014 but has been on hold since the summer of 2024 amid concerns about the service’s budget for new weapons programs.
In a sign that NGAD was making new progress, the Air Force announced earlier this month that it had assigned fighter aircraft designations to two separate prototype drones being developed for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. The prototype drones, developed by General Atomics and Anduril Industries, are the first U.S. drone airframes ever to bear fighter designations and are currently projected to begin flight testing this summer.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said the F-47 will represent a key jump in fighter technology.
By Ryan Morgan
