U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that Boeing has secured a contract to develop the U.S. military’s next-generation fighter jet, a project valued at more than $20 billion.
The announcement was made on March 21.
The award positions Boeing as the lead developer of the U.S. Air Force’s Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) platform, a major program intended to replace Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor with a manned fighter designed to operate alongside drones. The contract covers the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the program.
The NGAD platform is expected to incorporate stealth characteristics, advanced sensors, and next-generation propulsion systems. While the aircraft’s detailed design remains classified, it is envisioned as a central component of future U.S. air combat operations.
President Trump also revealed that the new aircraft will be named the F-47. “World’s first sixth generation fighter jet’s name will be F-47,” Trump said. “Experimental F-47 has been flying for five years. It surpasses every other plane.”
The contract win marks a major turnaround for Boeing, whose defense and commercial divisions have faced numerous challenges in recent years. The NGAD deal is a major boost for the company’s fighter jet production line in St. Louis, Missouri, and could generate hundreds of billions of dollars in orders over the lifetime of the program.
Boeing’s victory over rival Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the current F-22 and F-35 platforms, reflects shifting dynamics in the defense aerospace industry. The long-term nature of the NGAD program ensures that the winning contractor will remain a key player in future air dominance missions.
Although no technical specifications or imagery of the aircraft have been publicly released, the NGAD fighter is widely expected to emphasize networked warfare, survivability in contested environments, and the ability to operate as part of a larger family of systems.
The program’s long-term goal is to enhance U.S. air superiority through a combination of manned aircraft and unmanned systems capable of executing a range of missions in a multi-domain operational environment.
The announcement signals a new chapter in American airpower, as the Department of Defense invests in systems designed to meet the demands of near-peer threats in the coming decades.