The way forward on the US Air Force’s mysterious sixth-generation fighter aircraft just became a little clearer. Boeing is going to be building the new jet, the president has revealed.
President Donald Trump announced at the White House on Friday that Boeing, a US aerospace giant, is being awarded a lucrative contract to build the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter, which will replace the stealthy F-22 Raptor, which was the world’s first fifth-generation fighter jet.
Trump, who was flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, said the new aircraft will be known as the F-47, and hailed it as the most advanced, capable, and lethal aircraft “ever built.”
“Nothing in the world comes even close to it,” the president said in the Oval Office.
The NGAD is expected to succeed the Lockheed Martin-manufactured F-22, which entered service two decades ago, as the Air Force’s top air superiority fighter and will be built to operate alongside drones.
The program is considered a “family of systems” and is expected to work with uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) that function as semiautonomous “loyal wingmen” for the new aircraft.
The latest movement in the development of the NGAD fighter comes as the US military looks across the Pacific at China, which the Pentagon has identified as its “pacing challenge.” Beijing’s long-range air defenses and electronic warfare capabilities have advanced dramatically since the F-22 ended production. China’s military has also fielded capable fifth-generation fighters and flown what seem to be sixth-gen fighter prototypes.
These developments by a top US military rival make the coming NGAD, which top Air Force officials have said needs to be able to achieve air superiority and penetrate contested environments, critical.
The new fighter aircraft’s design is unclear, but it will presumably include advanced stealth technology and other high-end sensors beyond even the top capabilities of current fifth-gen aircraft.
The Air Force paused the NGAD program last year to review the goals and requirements. Leaders under the Biden administration then opted to punt decision-making to the incoming Trump officials. The president was recently briefed on the program.
In its 2025 budget proposal, the Air Force allocated almost $20 billion for the NGAD program.
Boeing and Lockheed previously competed for the US military’s Joint Strike Fighter program, with Lockheed’s X-35 edging out Boeing’s X-32 for the contract. The fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is in service with American and allied forces.
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