U.S. President Donald Trump has announced the awarding of a major contract to Boeing for the development of the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation fighter jet, the F-47.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Friday, Trump declared that the F-47 fighter jet “will be the most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built.”
In a video posted by the White House on the X platform, Trump claimed that the F-47 is “the world’s first sixth-generation fighter jet,” marking a significant advancement in military aviation technology.
Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force Gen. David Allvin hailed the contract as a “monumental leap forward in securing America’s air superiority for decades to come.”
“The F-47 will have significantly longer range, more advanced stealth, be more sustainable, supportable, and have higher availability than our fifth-generation fighters,” Allvin added.
The Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract for the program is expected to be worth approximately $20 billion. Over the life of the program, Boeing is projected to receive hundreds of billions of dollars in orders, according to defense-analysis website The War Zone.
Each unit of the jet, once series production commences, has been estimated in the past to cost upwards of $300 million, the report said.
Next-generation fighter jets like the F-47 are designed to incorporate cutting-edge technologies, including advanced stealth capabilities and artificial intelligence systems. These developments aim to maintain a strategic advantage in air combat.
