Key Points and Summary – The U.S. Air Force’s top-secret F-47 sixth-generation fighter program is facing a double disaster that threatens its entire timeline.
-A new report has revealed that the jet’s next-generation engine is already facing a delay of up to two years.
F-47 Fighter from U.S. Air Force. Image Credit USAF.
-Compounding this problem, the 3,200 union workers at the St. Louis Boeing plant where the F-47 will be built have overwhelmingly rejected a new contract, setting the stage for a crippling strike.
-This combination of technical and labor problems puts the critical program, designed to counter China, in serious jeopardy.
The F-47 Fighter Double Disaster Challenge
Breaking Defense reported earlier this month that production of the engines meant to go in the new F-47 stealth fighter is facing a delay of as much as two years.
Citing government documents, the outlet reported that the timeline for the engines has been delayed to the second quarter of fiscal year 2030, after it was originally supposed to wrap up in the fourth quarter of 2027.
“Considering the aggressive timeline the Pentagon is pushing to fly the F-47 before the end of President Donald Trump’s term, a next-gen engine is likely out of reach for the fighter in the near future,” Breaking Defense said.
F-22 Raptor. This will be replaced by the F-47. Image Credit: National Security Journal.
Now, the jets could be facing another delay, thanks to a potential strike by Boeing workers in St. Louis.
According to the Edwardsville Intelligencer, workers at three different Boeing plants in the St. Louis area could go on strike as soon as midnight next Monday.
The plants are in Illinois and Missouri. The potential strike would involve 3,200 workers from the International Machinists and Aerospace Workers union.
The St. Louis NPR station reported this week that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers rejected the latest contract proposal from Boeing on Sunday. There will be a weeklong “cooling-off period” before a strike is called, the union said.
The union’s rejection of the latest offer was “overwhelming,” the newspaper report said.
Fighting Words
“We’re disappointed our employees voted down the richest contract offer we’ve ever presented to IAM 837, which addressed all their stated priorities,” Dan Gillian, Boeing general manager and senior St. Louis site executive, said in a statement quoted by the NPR station.
The union also issued a strident statement.
F-22. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
“IAM Union members delivered a clear message: the proposal from Boeing Defense fell short of addressing the priorities and sacrifices of the skilled IAM Union workforce. Our members are standing together to demand a contract that respects their work and ensures a secure future,” the union said in a statement.
“The IAM Union remains committed to achieving a fair contract that meets the needs of our members. The IAM Union looks forward to returning to the bargaining table with Boeing’s leadership to deliver meaningful improvements that support the well-being and livelihoods of IAM members and their families.”
The F-47 Effect
As reported by the NPR station, Boeing received a contract worth about $20 billion to build the F-47s. Much of the building will be done in St. Louis, where Boeing’s defense branch is located.
Michael Duff, a labor expert with the Wefel Center for Employment Law at St. Louis University School of Law, told NPR about why Boeing will have a special incentive to avoid a long strike. And he also discussed the possibility of the White House intervening in a potential work stoppage.
F-22 Raptor Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
“It seems unlikely to me that the president would simply be quiet in the face of a labor dispute like this. I think the president would exert as much pressure as it’s currently thought he could, and then maybe try to exert more pressure than that,” Duff said told the outlet. “Those are likely the types of the things weighing in the minds of the union leadership. They may be thinking, ‘We don’t really want to poke this bear.’”
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The CEO Speaks
Meanwhile, Boeing’s CEO Kelly Ortberg has downplayed worries about a possible strike.
Per Breaking Defense, the subject came up on the company’s recent second-quarter earnings call.
“We’ll manage through this,” Ortberg said. “I wouldn’t worry too much about the implications of the strike.”
The F-47 program would likely only face a serious delay if the strike continues for an unusually long time.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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Stephen
July 30, 2025 at 7:53 pm
I would expect the F-47 is still in a “design” phase. I’ve seen no announcement that manufacturing/fabrication/assembly has begun. Unlikely the strike by the machinists will affect the schedule.
Steven F
July 31, 2025 at 1:45 am
“Considering the aggressive timeline the Pentagon is pushing to fly the F-47 before the end of President Donald Trump’s term…” Are you freaking (substitute the other, NSFW version) kidding? We’re knocking national security and force effectiveness down a peg all to stroke that man’s ego? This can’t be real. I’m not gonna lie, I did root for him. And I did vote for him: the first time (sat this last one out and I am not ashamed of that[plus, I also got wife to, so it cost that other one a vote as well]),but this makes me so sick. So much so, it’s the middle of the night and I just couldn’t wait until morning to spit that toxicity I just consumed out(didn’t even read the whole article, yet). With that said, I’m going to TRY and go back to sleep. But I’ll be picking my load out and loading up my points for a strike sortie on this article first thing in the morning. Cause there is a LOT to unpack here. Did they learn NOTHING from the F-35 fiasco? You can’t rush the birthing of a beast for irrelevant reasons. Have you ever heard of premature babies? Again, looking at you, Lightning. I’ll be back in a few hours to tell you how I truly feel about this, because this doesn’t even scratch the surface in a microscopic-chasm type of way.
David Bligh
July 31, 2025 at 5:57 am
The Air Force’s first mistake was picking Boeing. There have been no signs of reform since the 737 and Starliner disasters. This is what happens when war fighters become bureaucrats.
Steven F
July 31, 2025 at 9:35 am
David hit the embarrassing nail right smack on the head that is Boeing. They have been a national embarrassment for almost as long as I can remember. It’s time to Spartan kick them back down that ladder that is defense procurement until they can operate for around a decade without putting their rotten egg all over our face. I’m no business man, but I think the DoD needs to put together a dream team from all industries: engine machinists from all major American auto manufacturers, Northrop, Raytheon, (not Boeing, they’re not invited), then get some design specialists from Space X, Blue Origin, even Virgin Mobile, etc: run the profit standpoint like a private company but run the oversight like a government department. I think that’s the only way the American edge can climb out of the terrestrial black hole Boeing has put us into. When you let just one table of greedy sycophants have that much power over our defense sector, of course they’d going to cut minute corners when they think no one is looking. Look, I hate Russia, but I respect their guile, (but I still hate them [I also respected the Nazis’ guile when it came to weapon development, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t gladly force Hitler to choke to death on his teeth via haymaker], guile we need to take a page from. They have a GDP about the size of California and yet, somehow, they can produce bleeding edge weapons with the capabilities AND numbers to go toe to toe with us, when we have 30X their income AND 3X their population. Do you know why? Because the Russian Government is HEAVILY involved from every aspect: from the first chicken scratch drawing on a bar napkin, all the way to fabrication. The DoD needs to bring the American Defense sector back down to reality with the rest of us. If they’d put a leash on the ravenous mutts they created, then we’d suddenly find ourselves with TWICE the weapons, with TWICE the capabilities, at HALF the costs. If we don’t remove Boeing from the top of our Defense ladder, then we are done. This proves it beyond all doubt.
Steven F
July 31, 2025 at 10:00 am
Can someone please tell the administrators of this site their stupid “Reply” button doesn’t work and if it has no intention of showing up to work at all, will it please remove its reserved sign from that premier parking space right in front of the door? Cause it makes me so mad. I’ve probably wasted 300+ seconds of my life refreshing, holding, opening in new, triple clicking, double clicking, switching to Desktop view, and violently screaming at my android’s screen (like a madman & psycho rolled into one [yes, there is a difference: one is born, one is made]) “WTF is wrong you!?” It’s like a blank button in a new car. I feel it’s mocking me. Except, this blank button swears it actually does something, when in actuality: all it does is lie straight to your face, shamelessly, and makes you feel like such a fool for giving it a thousandth chance of consecutive failure. Anyway, point is: my fellow Stephen, of course it’s still in design phase. Of course they’re not at mass production yet. It hasn’t even made it’s maiden flight yet. But guess what, they ARE building one. Probably right this second. They’re called technology demonstraters. It’s what makes the first flight to prove the system viable. You know what else I don’t remember? I don’t remember the F-117 making the news until after it’s first maiden flight. But then again, that was before my time. Technology demonstrators are HIGHLY sensitive (when bleeding edge) and don’t make the news until right before mass fabrication starts. Or until what they are sure will be a successful test flight. Just because they’re not advertising it, doesn’t mean they’re not building. You’d probably be surprised if you only knew the bleeding edge designs you don’t even know exist. If it wasn’t for the big mouths of the politicians trying to secure votes without shame, we probably wouldn’t even know about the F-47. When we really shouldn’t. That bird shouldn’t fly until it’s ready to defend itself. See what I did there?
Raptor1
August 1, 2025 at 7:25 am
Relax, deep breath… you read something and you freaked, thats par for the course for the group you SHOULD have voted for – Ya know, the ones that hear something from a hateful media and then freak out and pount blame, all based on a what-if, or a who-dunnit, or a fear-mongering scenario that time and time again never plays out, and then is replayed again and again.
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