In a landmark announcement from the Oval Office, President Donald Trump revealed Friday that Boeing has been awarded the long-anticipated contract to build the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter jet.

The sixth-generation aircraft, designated the F-47, will ultimately replace the F-22 Raptor and serve as the centerpiece of a broader family of systems designed to ensure American air superiority into the future.

“It’s something the likes of which nobody has ever seen before,” Trump said, flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin, and Lt. Gen. Dale White.

“In terms of all the attributes of a fighter jet, there’s never been anything even close to it, from speed to maneuverability to what it can have [as] payload. And this has been in the works for a long period of time.”

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Trump described the F-47 as “virtually unseeable” thanks to its state-of-the-art stealth capabilities. It will be accompanied by a fleet of autonomous drone wingmen, known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs), which will execute missions ranging from reconnaissance to electronic warfare. “America’s enemies will never see it coming,” Trump added.

The contract comes after a head-to-head competition between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, following Northrop Grumman’s 2023 decision to withdraw from consideration.

Lockheed, builder of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, expressed disappointment but stopped short of saying whether it would formally protest the decision. “We are confident we delivered a competitive solution,” the company said.

Boeing, for its part, hailed the award as a validation of the company's strategic investments. “In preparation for this mission, we made the most significant investment in the history of our defense business, and we are ready to provide the most advanced and innovative NGAD aircraft needed to support the mission,” said Steve Parker, interim CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security.

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According to Gen. Allvin, the F-47 will be “the most advanced, lethal and adaptable fighter ever developed.” He emphasized that this is more than just another aircraft: “We are shaping the future of warfare and putting our enemies on notice.”

The F-47 program includes cutting-edge features such as next-generation adaptive propulsion (NGAP) engines, being developed by either General Electric Aerospace or Pratt & Whitney. These engines will optimize thrust and efficiency in real time, allowing for superior performance in dynamic threat environments.

The NGAD initiative also comprises advanced networking capabilities that will allow the F-47 to operate seamlessly with satellites, sensors, and other aircraft. The goal, according to the Air Force, is to create a flexible, integrated force structure that can counter high-end threats — especially from adversaries like China.

Doug Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, noted the broader implications for the U.S. defense industrial base. “For the country, that’s a really important thing — to have that innovation, that competition and frankly, the volume production,” he said.

“Our ability to turn stuff en masse... has been limited, and we need to rebuild the defense industrial base that the current environment demands.”

Boeing’s recent struggles in both commercial and defense sectors — from fatal 737 Max crashes to cost overruns on military platforms like the T-7A Red Hawk and Air Force One — have cast a shadow over the company.

But Birkey said this win presents Boeing with a chance to turn things around: “It’s up to Boeing to make this opportunity a win. Only time will tell on that.”

The contract awarded Friday is a cost-plus incentive fee arrangement, meaning Boeing will be reimbursed for development costs with additional fees tied to performance metrics. Under this agreement, Boeing will build several experimental F-47 units, leading into potential low-rate initial production in the coming years.

Gen. Allvin said the program is already far along in its development, with experimental variants having flown “hundreds of hours” over the past five years. “The F-47 has unprecedented maturity,” he said.

“While the F-22 is currently the finest air superiority fighter in the world, the F-47 is a generational leap forward.”

He also dismissed China’s December 2024 claim that it had test flown its own sixth-generation fighter, the J-36. “Despite what our adversaries claim, the F-47 is truly the world’s first crewed sixth-generation fighter... built to dominate the most capable peer adversary and operate in the most perilous threat environments imaginable.”

One of the most pressing concerns surrounding NGAD has been cost. The Air Force projects spending $20 billion on the program between 2025 and 2029. However, earlier estimates suggested unit costs could soar as high as $300 million per aircraft — triple the cost of the F-35.

This led former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall to pause the program in May 2024 to reassess its feasibility. That pause ended after the 2024 election, with the Trump administration moving forward.

Trump declined to disclose the precise cost of the F-47, citing national security concerns. Still, Gen. Allvin insisted the aircraft will be “less expensive than the F-22” and more flexible in adapting to evolving threats.

As for foreign sales, Trump said he’s open to the idea of exporting “toned-down” versions of the F-47 to U.S. allies. But he added a cautionary note: “Because someday, maybe they’re not our allies, right?”

With test flights ongoing and development advancing rapidly, the Air Force expects the F-47 to fly operationally before the end of Trump’s current term — a bold timeline that, if met, would mark a major milestone in the evolution of air combat.

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