Boeing to Build Secretive Future Fighter Jet, Trump Announces

Trump said an experimental version of the Boeing stealth fighter has already been flying for around five years.

An artist rendering of the Air Force’s sixth generation fighter, the F-47. U.S. Air Force graphic

President Donald Trump on Friday announced that the U.S. Air Force had awarded Boeing a contract to develop the U.S. Air Force’s secretive next-generation fighter jet.

Trump announced this new fighter jet will be designated the F-47.

“It’s a beautiful number,” the 47th president said.

“After a rigorous and thorough competition between some of America’s top aerospace companies, the Air Force is going to be awarding the contract for the next generation air dominance platform to Boeing,” Trump said in an announcement from the White House on March 21.

The president said an experimental version of Boeing’s F-47 airframe has been flying in secret for nearly five years.

“And we’re confident that it massively overpowers the capabilities of any other nation,” he said.

Details about the aircraft design remain secret, and Trump said he would not specify the price for the program because it could give hints about the size of the aircraft and some of the technology it will include.

The Air Force’s effort to build a new fighter jet, known as the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, calls for an aircraft that has advanced new propulsion and stealth capabilities. The Air Force has envisioned an advanced manned aircraft that could be paired with stealthy fighter drones being developed in a parallel effort known as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.

NGAD has been in development since at least 2014 but has been on hold since the summer of 2024 amid concerns about the service’s budget for new weapons programs.

In a sign that NGAD was making new progress, the Air Force announced earlier this month that it had assigned fighter aircraft designations to two separate prototype drones being developed for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. The prototype drones, developed by General Atomics and Anduril Industries, are the first U.S. drone airframes ever to bear fighter designations and are currently projected to begin flight testing this summer.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said the F-47 will represent a key jump in fighter technology.

“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 a Friday press 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.”

“This is a historic investment in the American military, in the American industrial base, in American industry, that will help revive the warrior ethos inside our military,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said as he joined Trump in the Oval Office for the contract announcement.

Friday’s contract announcement comes as a boon for Boeing, which has faced recent worker strikes and operational challenges. The aerospace and defense company has faced recent lawsuits over flaws and mishaps with its commercial airliners, delays on a contract to deliver the next series of presidential transport planes, and problems operating the Boeing Starliner spacecraft during a recent space mission.

“We recognize the importance of designing, building and delivering a 6th-generation fighter capability for the United States Air Force,” Steve Parker, interim president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space, and Security, said in another Friday press statement.