President Donald Trump announced Friday that Boeing will be building the Air Force's first sixth-generation fighter jet called the F-47, one that the Pentagon said will out-compete U.S. adversaries amid ongoing tensions with China.
Dubbed the Next Generation Air Dominance platform, or NGAD, the now-designated F-47 has been shrouded in secrecy for years, as the Air Force quietly tested experimental aircraft while Boeing and Lockheed Martin competed for the contract to build it.
Flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin in the Oval Office, Trump said that the administration is "confident that it massively overpowers the capabilities of any other nation" and that "America's enemies will never see it coming."
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Allvin said at the announcement that the F-47 would be the "crown jewel" of the military's next-generation "family of systems." Lt. Gen. Dale White, the deputy for the Air Force's office of acquisition, technology and logistics, also attended the White House press event.
The F-47 is expected to replace the F-22 Raptor, which embarked on its first flight in 1997 under Lockheed Martin. The new jet, for which Trump did not give a cost estimate, citing operational security concerns, is expected to fly alongside "loyal wingman" drones -- or uncrewed aircraft.
Hegseth said that the F-47 "sends a very direct, clear message to our allies that we're not going anywhere, and to our enemies, that we can and will be able to project power around the globe unimpeded for generations to come."
In an emailed statement following the Oval Office announcement, Allvin said that the Air Force had been flying experimental planes, or X-planes, for the last five years, laying the foundation for the F-47 in an effort to cement U.S. air dominance. He added that the F-47 is expected to fly during the Trump administration and that it would cost less than the F-22.
"With the F-47, we are not just building another fighter -- we are shaping the future of warfare and putting our enemies on notice," Allvin said in the statement. "This platform will be the most advanced, lethal and adaptable fighter ever developed -- designed to outpace, outmaneuver, and outmatch any adversary that dares to challenge our brave airmen."
Videos of Chinese jets circulated on social media late last year, prompting speculation that Beijing had been developing and testing its own sixth-generation aircraft.
"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," Allvin said in the statement.
Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall paused the NGAD program last summer, citing -- in part -- financial constraints. The Associated Press reported that the initial contract for the F-47 is estimated at $20 billion, but costs could balloon into the hundreds of billions of dollars.
Prices for the F-35 Lightning II, currently touted as the most advanced fighter jet in the world, are expected to cost $1.7 trillion, and roughly 100 B-21 Raider stealth bombers are on the horizon for hundreds of billions of dollars as well.
Trump said that versions of the F-47 could be sold to allies, though he added that those jets would be "toned-down" because "someday maybe they're not our allies, right?"
A 1990s-era congressional provision stated the F-22, a fifth-generation aircraft, could not be sold to any foreign government.
-- Thomas Novelly contributed to this report.
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