US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that aviation giant Boeing will build the next-generation fighter jet F-47 for the U.S. Air Force. POTUS 47 claimed F-47s to be the "most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built" in the presence of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office.
F-47s are part of America's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) effort which intends to succeed the F-22 and be a linchpin for collaborative combat aircraft (CCA). It envisions sixth-generation fighters supported by sophisticated robotic wingmen to primarily rival Chinese fighter aircraft in the Indo-Pacific, US media reports said. Conceived as a "family of systems", NGAD wants the a sixth-generation fighter to counter Russian challenges as well.
BREAKING: President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth announced that Boeing will build the first ever 6th generation fighter jet.
— George (@BehizyTweets) March 21, 2025
"The F47 will be the most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built. An experimental version of the plane has secretly been flying… pic.twitter.com/v8A2KwX6gp
The aircraft's design remains a closely held secret, Reuters said. However, Trump reportedly displayed a poster at the Oval Office, revealing sneak peeks of its design including a forward fuselage and sharply swept back wings but no further design features.The announcement is seen as a major blow to Lockheed Martin, Boeing's main competitor and maker of the high-profile F-35 and F-22 Raptor fighter jets. Once made available, the F-47s are expected to replace Raptors in combined aerial missions alongside drones.
For reference this is a 5th generation fighter jet 🛩️ 🤯
— Tammy Grabel 💰 (@TammyGrabel) March 21, 2025
Can you imagine a 6th generation Boeing F-47 fighter jet? pic.twitter.com/stuGqXhgtQ
"It’s a beautiful number, F-47. It’s something the likes of which nobody has seen before. In terms of all of the attributes of a fighter jet, there’s never been anything even close to it, from speed to manoeuvrability to what it can have for payload," Trump said, indirectly affrming that the plane's name is indeed a homage to him, the 47th US president.
"The F-47 is equipped with state-of-the-art stealth technology. It’s virtually unseeable and unprecedented power, the most power of any jet of its kind ever made," he added.
