Aerospace giant Boeing will build the US military’s first sixth-generation fighter aircraft.
After five years of secretive flight testing, and more recently months of uncertainty about the programme’s future, the US Air Force (USAF) on 21 March announced Boeing as the winner of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) contract.
“This contract reaffirms our commitment to maintaining the United States’ position as the world’s most dominant air force,” says USAF chief of staff General David Allvin.
The new aircraft has been dubbed the F-47, with Allvin calling the new type the world’s first crewed sixth-generation fighter, “despite what our adversaries claim”.
In recent months, China has revealed the existence of two flight-capable, sixth-generation-style jets. The distinctive tri-engined J-36 made its second appearance in the skies over China on 17 March.
Little is known about these aircraft, although the head of the USAF’s Air Combat Command recently revealed the Pentagon believes they are intended to fill an air superiority role.
Although even less is known about the USA’s answer to that emerging capability, Allvin reveals that two NGAD prototypes have been secretly flying for the past five years, accruing “hundreds of hours” of flight time. That previously unacknowledged test campaign included the development of new technologies and the evaluation of concepts for employing the prototype fighter designs.
Allvin says the finalised Boeing F-47 will fly during the tenure of President Donald Trump, whose term expires in 2028.
The F-47 is positioned as the successor to the Lockheed Martin F-22 stealth fighter – widely regarded as the most dominant combat aircraft in service. Lockheed is believed to have been the other finalist for the NGAD contract, alongside Boeing.
Allvin says the F-47 will cost less than the F-22 and be “more adaptable to future threats”. The high price tag of the pioneering Lockheed air superiority fighter famously caused the Pentagon to limit procurement to less than 200 aircraft and shutter production.
“We will have more of the F-47s in our inventory,” Allvin says. “The F-47 will have significantly longer range, more advanced stealth, be more sustainable, supportable, and have higher availability than our fifth-generation fighters.”
The initial contract for F-47 engineering and manufacturing development is worth some $20 billion to Boeing, according to the White House, with hundreds of billions in future revenue coming from aircraft orders and production.
Boeing made the risky decision in 2024 to invest some $2 billion in a classified combat aircraft production facility, before the outcome of NGAD had been decided.
Although not specifically tied to NGAD, Boeing officials told FlightGlobal at the time they hoped to investment would be seen by the Pentagon as an indicator of their commitment to building a next-generation aircraft in the USA.
Boeing’s fighter business desperately needed a win with NGAD, as the company prepares to wind down production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet and is still seeking wider orders for the latest F-15EX. The new T-7A jet trainer holds great potential for the company, but has been bedevilled by delays and technical challenges.
By contrast, Lockheed had recently gone in the opposite direction, with company leadership de-risking their business portfolio to not rely on winning any new development contracts in the near term.
“There are no longer any must-win competitions,” chief executive Jim Taiclet said in February.
The F-47 loss comes as a double blow for Lockheed, which earlier this month withdrew from the US Navy’s sixth-generation development programme, known as F/A-XX. Lockheed’s bid failed to satisfy unspecified navy programme requirements, according to reporting from Breaking Defense.
Boeing and Northrop Grumman are believed to be finalists for that effort to produce a new carrier-based aircraft.
Northrop withdrew from the land-based NGAD competition in 2023.
