WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump announced the Pentagon’s decision to develop F-47 fighter jet. He made the announcement alongside Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth from the Oval Office on Friday.
“At my direction, the Air Force is moving forward with the world’s first sixth-generation fighter jet,” Trump said. “Nothing comes close to it. It will be called the F-47.”
Trump confirmed that Boeing won the contract for the aircraft. He revealed that an experimental version has been flying for almost five years. At the end of his first term, the Air Force admitted it had flown a full-scale prototype.
After a tough competition, Boeing secured the contract for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. Until now, the Air Force had referred to the project as NGAD. Trump, however, renamed it the F-47. Normally, the Air Force assigns aircraft designations.
“This is something the world has never seen before,” Trump said. “It has been in development for a long time.”
Trump stated that the F-47 will work alongside drones. The military has focused on UAVs, especially after seeing their effectiveness in Ukraine and Russia.
“This plane flies with drones,” Trump said. “It can fly with as many as needed. No other plane can do this.”
Although the Air Force chose Boeing, Trump’s praise for the company surprised many. He has repeatedly criticized Boeing for cost overruns and delays, especially with the next Air Force One.
“We are getting a new Air Force One—if Boeing ever finishes the damn thing,” Trump said in February. Boeing has tried to speed up the process but admitted there is “no silver bullet” to fix the delays.
Boeing has also struggled with the KC-46 tanker program, which is now over seven years behind schedule. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has highlighted these delays as a major concern.
For decades, Boeing built the backbone of the U.S. bomber fleet. The company produced the B-17 and B-29 during World War II and the B-52 in the 1960s. Today, Boeing manufactures the F-15EX Eagle and F/A-18 Super Hornet. Both designs originally came from McDonnell Douglas, which merged with Boeing in 1997.
The last Boeing-designed and built fighter was the P-26 Peashooter, first flown in 1932. Boeing also developed the X-32 Joint Strike Fighter, which lost to Lockheed Martin’s F-35.
Last year, the Air Force delayed the decision on the sixth-generation fighter. In December, then-Secretary Frank Kendall decided to let the Trump administration make the final call.
The NGAD program aims to create the most advanced U.S. fighter jet. It will surpass the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, which has faced massive cost overruns and delays.
Elon Musk has criticized the F-35, arguing that drones are a better and cheaper option. In November, he wrote on social media, “Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35.”
When Lockheed Martin secured the F-35 contract in 2001, it estimated a $200 billion cost. The company promised an affordable, on-time fighter. Today, the program’s total cost exceeds $2 trillion, according to the GAO. The military now plans to use the F-35 less than originally intended.
