Posted on 07/31/2026 9:30:44 PM PDT by Red Badger
The F-47 program has entered its engineering and manufacturing development phase with unprecedented maturity.
The F-47 program has entered its engineering and manufacturing development phase with unprecedented maturity. Kalawin/USAF
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The United States’ next-generation fighter aircraft program has reached a significant milestone.
Boeing has begun manufacturing prototype aircraft for the F-47, the U.S. Air Force’s future sixth-generation stealth fighter. According to Air Force officials, the program remains on schedule, with the aircraft’s maiden flight expected in 2028.
The progress marks the transition from years of design, research, and technology demonstrations to the construction of physical aircraft that will undergo rigorous testing before entering operational service.
Centerpiece of US Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance program
The F-47 is the centerpiece of the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, an ambitious effort to secure American air superiority for decades to come. It is intended to replace the F-22 Raptor, which entered service in 2005 and remains one of the world’s most capable air-superiority fighters.
Unlike previous fighter programs, the F-47 is not being developed as a standalone aircraft. Instead, it is designed to operate as the command platform of a networked combat system that includes autonomous drones, satellites, airborne sensors, and advanced communication networks.
With prototype construction now in progress, engineers will begin integrating the aircraft’s complex airframe, propulsion system, avionics, stealth materials, and onboard computing systems. These early aircraft will primarily support developmental testing rather than combat operations.
Flight-test campaign will evaluate fighter’s aerodynamic performance
The upcoming flight-test campaign will evaluate the fighter’s aerodynamic performance, stealth characteristics, software reliability, weapons integration, and overall mission capability before full-scale production begins.
Future air warfare is expected to be far more complex than today’s conflicts. Adversaries are investing heavily in long-range missiles, integrated air-defense systems, electronic warfare, cyber capabilities, and next-generation fighter aircraft. To maintain an operational advantage, the U.S. Air Force believes it requires an aircraft capable of surviving and fighting in highly contested environments.
The F-47 is expected to address these challenges through a combination of low observability, long-range performance, powerful onboard sensors, and advanced data processing. Artificial intelligence is also anticipated to assist pilots by rapidly analyzing battlefield information, prioritizing threats, and coordinating missions with unmanned aircraft.
One of the defining features of the F-47 concept is its ability to operate alongside Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA)—autonomous drones designed to fly with crewed fighters.
These drones could perform tasks such as reconnaissance, electronic warfare, decoy operations, or missile strikes while remaining under the supervision of the F-47 pilot. This “manned-unmanned teaming” concept is expected to reduce operational risk and expand combat capability without placing additional pilots in danger.
Officials have revealed that the F-47 program has entered its engineering and manufacturing development phase with unprecedented maturity. “The F-47 will fly in this administration,” said Gen. Dale White, director of Critical Major Weapon Systems.
Military planners have increasingly focused on the Indo-Pacific region, where vast distances present major operational challenges. The F-47 is expected to have greater range than current U.S. fighters, allowing it to operate farther from friendly bases while carrying sufficient fuel and advanced weapons.
Although official specifications remain classified, analysts believe improved endurance and fuel efficiency will be among the aircraft’s key advantages.
Most technical details surrounding the F-47 remain confidential. Neither Boeing nor the U.S. Air Force has publicly disclosed the aircraft’s maximum speed, combat radius, radar systems, engine configuration, or weapons payload.
This level of secrecy reflects the strategic importance of the program, which is intended to preserve the United States’ technological advantage in air combat.
For Boeing, the F-47 represents one of the company’s most important military aviation projects in decades. Successfully delivering the aircraft would strengthen its position in the defence sector and reinforce its role as a leading supplier of advanced combat aircraft for the U.S. military.
The program is also expected to support thousands of highly skilled jobs across Boeing’s manufacturing facilities and supply chain.
The immediate focus is completing the prototype aircraft and beginning flight testing in 2028. Engineers will spend several years validating every aspect of the design before the fighter enters operational service.
Aviation Ping!..........................
I knew the military was developing a Queen Bee plane that would use drones. ALthough, it was my understanding the drones would be force multipliers that would coordinate with the main plane.
$300 Million per plane
3 times the F35
At a time when top shelf Iranian missles cost only $1 million, can they even fight the enemy to a draw? Can we really knock out 300 of their best before one of these F-47’s takes a hit?
I figure this:
Our conventional weapons and tactics are obsolete. Fighter planes, aircraft carriers, tanks.
So why are we still making them?
To provide high paying defense contractor jobs in CA, VA and OH.
which will be complete first - the F47 or the new Air Force One?
Right........that must be why every combatant in the world who can employ them, does.
Drones and missiles seem to have mostly taken on the role of WW2 carpet bombing. Although, drones are sometimes able to go tank plinking, when the ECM environment allows it.
Aircraft Carriers are used to get aircraft close enough to the combat zone to be useful.
Boeing. Start fast and finish......any day from now.
You are not looking at this capability correctly. It’s not 300:1. Our 1 would have a swarm of drones with it, drones that can survive G-forces a pilot cannot and don’t require the weight and equipment to support a pilot. With AI, who knows what such a system could do? What we do know is that the drones would be a lot cheaper and more expendable.
Where this all goes I don’t think anybody knows.
At a time when top shelf Iranian missles cost only $1 million, can they even fight the enemy to a draw? Can we really knock out 300 of their best before one of these F-47’s takes a hit?
I figure this:
Our conventional weapons and tactics are obsolete. Fighter planes, aircraft carriers, tanks.
So why are we still making them?
To provide high paying defense contractor jobs in CA, VA and OH.
Your assessment is all wrong. First if all, the F-47 isn’t going to just fly lazy circles over Iran or somewhere else, just waiting for the enemy to take 300 missile shots at it. Tactics matter. And even our oldest stealth aircraft, the B-2 and F-22, are still pretty much immune to being targeted. It’s one thing to detect that a stealth aircraft is in the area, but it’s an entirely different matter to try to hold a radar lock on it long enough to fire at it, and that’s if you’re able to lock onto it at all.
And that’s for existing stealth aircraft. The F-47 will be a generational leap beyond that in minimizing radar cross section, as well as infrared emissions. Something else you miss in your analysis is that we only need stealth aircraft in the early days of a war, to penetrate heavily defended airspace and take out the air defenses. Once that is achieved, we are able to use much larger numbers of fourth generation non-stealth, or minimally stealth aircraft, such as F-16s, F-15s, and F/A-18s to pound the enemy once the stealth aircraft have ensured that they can no longer do anything about it. That’s why the Pentagon is now procuring large numbers of newly-built, heavily upgraded F-15s, in the form of the F-15EX.
The overall strategy is vastly more complex than just “build $300 million stealth airplanes and hope they don’t get shot down by cheap missiles”
I’ve been watching Palmer Luckey interviews over the past few months, and am hopeful Anduril and others will be able to break the logjam that the bloated incumbents seem to have created of too-expensive weapons.
The 5th generation sucks so let’s spend a trillion more on the 6th....but I see two engines so that’s a 100% improvement.
That’s estimated cost so multiply x 3 and you’ll get a good rough.
Will the F47 need to carry bomb, missiles, or bullets?
The F47 will standoff in the distance and direct unmanned CCA to perform the risky kinetic stuff.
Unless the enemy has superior AI (???)
Yes, tanks, bradleys and troop carriers proved useless against drones.
We shall see if the new Trump class battleship is part of this new AI and drone weapons future
It's 1914 all over again.
"Say, Geoffrey, what if, instead of just taking pictures of the mounted cavalry down there, I bring a few grenades to drop on them? Maybe a gun, too!"
True, todays stealth aircraft are mostly invisible, up until they open doors to drop a package of bombs and missiles.
That’s when enemy radar picks them up and opens fire.
Moreover, using advanced computer programs, the F-47 has already had extensive research and development to make it ready for actual production. This method is also now used successfully in the design and manufacture of civil aircraft.
The cost relationship between civilian and military aircraft is such that, in full production, an F-47 will cost several times what a civilian airliner will cost. This is not out of line with experience since WW II.
Realistically, the F-47 is not a ‘fight Iran’ platform, although it could.
It was built to deter, and if needed, fight the CCP.
$40 trillion in debt.
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