President Donald Trump announced March 21 that Boeing has been selected to build the Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter, which will be called the F-47.
Trump made the announcement from the White House, flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin, and Lt. Gen. Dale R. White, military deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics.
Boeing beat out Lockheed Martin to build the world’s first sixth-generation fighter, which the Air Force said will be faster, more maneuverable, and more stealthy than anything built to date. Trump said the plane has been flying for “five years” in tests leading up to this announcement.
“It’s something the likes of which nobody has seen before,” Trump said. “In terms of all of the attributes of a fighter jet, there’s never been anything even close to it, from speed to maneuverability to what it can have, to payload.”
The Air Force said the F-47 will fly during the Trump administration, which ends in January 2029.
From the legacy of yesterday to the future of combat, your @USAirForce will continue to own the skies with the world’s first 6th-generation fighter jet: the F-47. pic.twitter.com/TcFHEdEbGq— General David Allvin (@OfficialCSAF) March 21, 2025
NGAD’s future had been in question after former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall paused the program last summer to review its costs and requirements. Hegseth claimed that Kendall and former President Joe Biden’s administration was “prepared to potentially scrap it.”
During the program pause, the Air Force conducted an analysis of whether the program, in which the manned fighter would operate with semi-autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), was still required. The Air Force’s internal review and a blue-ribbon outside panel of former senior officials concluded a manned NGAD fighter was necessary to achieve air superiority in 2030 and beyond.
Allvin pitched Trump on the program earlier this year and briefed Hegseth this month. Allvin had hinted at his recommendation to Trump on March 3 at the AFA Warfare Symposium.
“I want to give the President as many options as we possibly can. So that means, yes, keep on the modernization. Yes, NGAD. Yes, CCA. Yes, survivable bases,” Allvin said then.
NGAD is seen as the successor to the fifth-generation air-to-air F-22, built by Lockheed Martin, but will be produced in greater numbers, Trump and Allvin said.
“Compared to the F-22, the F-47 will cost less and be more adaptable to future threats—and we will have more of the F-47s in our inventory,” Allvin said in a statement. “The F-47 will have significantly longer range, more advanced stealth, be more sustainable, supportable, and have higher availability than our fifth-generation fighters. This platform is designed with a ‘built to adapt’ mindset, and will take significantly less manpower and infrastructure to deploy.”
A major feature of the F-47 will be its ability to coordinate and control CCAs. Trump made reference to the CCA program in his Oval Office remarks, saying the F-47 will be able to fly with “many, many drones,” and Allvin also reiterated their importance.
“We believe that this [F-47] provides more lethality,” he said. “It provides more modernized capability in a way that is built to adapt. This, along with our Collaborative Combat Aircraft the President talked about with drones, this is allowing us to look into the future and unlock the magic that is human-machine teaming. And as we do that, we’re going to write the next generation of modern aerial warfare. This enables us to do this. The manner in which we put this program together puts more control in the hands of the government, so we can update and adapt at the speed of relevance, at the speed of technology.”
The service’s first CAAs—General Atomics’ YFQ-42A and Andruil Industries’ YFQ-44A—will fly this summer and are designed to carry missiles, but the role of future versions of drones will likely be expanded to expand to a variety of missions, such as electronic warfare, sensing, and more.
The Air Force has planned billions of dollars in NGAD’s research and development in the coming years. It is expected to be the most advanced fighter jet in history and America’s first sixth-generation fighter.
The aircraft will likely pair with the F-35 as the backbone of the Air Force fighter fleet for decades to come. The F-35 is a multirole, fifth-generation plane designed primarily for air-to-ground and sensing, while NGAD has been described as an air-to-air fighter that can operate in contested environments, such as the airspace near China.
The engines competing to power the NGAD—GE’s XA102 and Pratt & Whitney’s XA103—have passed design reviews for the Next-Generation Adaptive Propulsion program. Those power plants have new technology that allows increased thrust and range.
The Navy intends to award a contract for its sixth-generation fighter, the F/A-XX, in the coming months, though the programs are separate.
“A cost-plus incentive-fee contract was awarded for engineering and manufacturing development, which will mature, integrate, and test all aspects of the NGAD Platform,” an Air Force official said of the deal. “The contract will produce a small number of test aircraft, which will be used to perform testing. The contract also includes competitively priced options for low-rate initial production aircraft.” The official said further details were not being disclosed for security reasons.
Boeing’s selection is a major coup for the firm at a time when it is struggling mightily. The company has faced cost overruns, delays, and issues on the VC-25B presidential aircraft, KC-46 Pegasus tanker, the T-7A Red Hawk trainer, as well as its space and commercial aircraft programs.
The delays on the VC-25B—better known as the new “Air Force One”—have prompted ire from Trump, who renegotiated the price of the aircraft with Boeing during his first term and has complained about the delay, which may result in the aircraft not being fielded during his current term. Trump has suggested the military should look at alternative options.
Boeing’s NGAD win is also big for its fighters division, after its X-32 demonstrator lost out to what became the F-35. The company is also building new F-15EX fighters for the Air Force.
