The F-47 NGAD Fighter Program is Back with a Vengeance

Key Points and Summary – The U.S. Air Force has awarded the contract for its sixth-generation Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter to Boeing, with President Donald Trump christening the new warplane the “F-47.”

-The name is a historical nod to the legendary P-47 Thunderbolt of WWII. After a “strategic pause” in 2024 due to its high cost, the program was revived and fast-tracked in 2025.

NGAD F-47 Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

-The F-47, expected to make its maiden flight before 2029, will be a stealthy, Mach 2+ fighter with a combat radius over 1,000 nautical miles and will operate as a command node for AI-enabled “loyal wingman” drones.

Meet the F-47 ‘NGAD’ Fighter 

Though all but the most detail-oriented and hard-core military history buffs would know at first glance, the alphanumeric designation of “F-47” actually has a very time-honored place in American combat aviation history.

You see, the original F-47 fighter plane was far better known by its World War II designation, the P-47, as in the legendary Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane, which made a tremendous contribution to the Allied victory. Among other things, the “T-Bolt” aka “Jug” aka “Flying Bathtub” was flown by the top two American aces of the European Theatre of WWII, Lt. Col. Francis “Gabby” Gabreski and Capt. Robert S. “Bob” Johnson.

The “P” stood for “Pursuit,” but after the US Air Force became an independent branch of service on September 18, 1947, all the “Pursuit” craft were redesignated with “F” for “Fighters.” However, unlike, say, the P-51 cum F-51 Mustang, the F-47 Thunderbolt didn’t get to see further action in the Korean War, hence the relative obscurity of the Jug’s post-WWII designation.

Now, 76 years after the active-duty USAF retired the original F-47 (and 72 years after the Air National Guard [ANG]) retired it, there is another F-47 slated to join the ranks of the USAF warbird lineage. Say hello to the F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) 6th Generation fighter plane.

Initial Uncertainty: F-47 NGAD Program’s Rocky Start

For a while, it was looking as though the NGAD program wouldn’t even get off the ground (literally or figuratively). In April 2024, the Air Force placed the program on a so-called “strategic pause” to ensure it was making the right decision for the national security interest in general and its warfighters in particular.

Indeed, Chief of Staff of the Air Force (CSAF), Gen. David Allvin, has been deemphasizing NGAD and instead shifting that emphasis towards a “notional Light Fighter concept.” One of the major factors driving the USAF’s initial skittishness about NGAD was its high price tag: nearly triple that of the already notoriously expensive F-35.

Fast-forward to January 2025, however, and once Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS)—himself a former US Air Force officer—took over as Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman, he gave the NGAD a new lease on life.

F-47 Fighter from U.S. Air Force. Image Credit USAF.

Regarding the resolution of that “strategic pause,’ Sen Wicker states that “And the answer came back after the election with the vengeance, absolutely yes.” From there, the White House gave the final green light to fund the project.

Thus, in order to pass that on March 21, 2025, the Department of the Air Force announced the contract award for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) of the NGAD Platform.

F-47 Speculative Specifications

This time, instead of the now-defunct Republic Aviation, the new F-47 will be built by Boeing, thus enabling the latter company to gain some bragging rights (“a huge win” in the words of one of its executives) alongside Lockheed Martin “Skunk Works” (maker of the 5th Generation F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II fighters) and Northrop Grumman (maker of the 4th Generation B-2 Spirit and 6th Generation B-21 Raider bombers) in the Stateside stealth warplane manufacturing game.

To put things in perspective, the most sophisticated fighter jets currently produced by Boeing are the 4.5-generation F-15EX Eagle II and F/A-18 Super Hornet.

The lion’s share of the production will take place at Boeing’s St. Louis facility.

Not surprisingly, specifics of the F-47 are pretty hush-hush thus far, given (1) the project is barely in its design & development phase, and (2) the necessity of secrecy and sensitivity surrounding 6th Generation technology.

NGAD Artist Photo. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

However, from various sources such as The Aviationist, we can glean that some educated guesses can be made about the F-47’s features, such as:

—Wing dihedral and a shovel-like nose (apparently inherited from Boeing’s YF-118G Bird of Prey technology demonstrator developed in the 1990s)

—Canard configuration

–Possible tailless design

–Maximum speed in excess of Mach 2

–Powerplant comprised of either the General Electric XA102 adaptive cycle engine or the Pratt & Whitney XA103 adaptive cycle engine

–Combat radius of at least 1,000 nautical miles

—Advanced stealth, drone-commanding capabilities, and cutting-edge electronic warfare systems

POTUS, SECDEF, and CSAF Are Pleased

President Donald J. Trump waxed very enthusiastic over the B-47 contract award, declaring that “Nothing in the world comes even close to it…America’s enemies will never see it coming.”

Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Pete Hegseth is quite pleased as well, stating that “This is a historic investment in the American military, in the American Industrial Base, that will help revive the warrior ethos inside our military.”

MORE: The U.S. Navy’s Attack Submarine Crisis

Last but not least, the previously skeptical CSAF has also been converted into a true believer in the NGAD, proclaiming that “With this F-47 as the crown jewel in the Next Generation Air Dominance Family of Systems, we believe that this provides more lethality. It provides more capability, more modernized capability, in a way that is built to adapt, along with our Collaborative Combat Aircraft.” Gen. Allvin is also confident that the F-47 will make its maiden flight sometime before Mr. Trump leaves office in January 2029.

Initial reports indicate that Air Force leaders intend to buy at least 185 F-47 airframes.

About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert

Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).

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