accelerated

With the first example of Boeing’s F-47 sixth-generation stealth fighter for the U.S. Air Force now in production, a company official has highlighted how its prototyping effort allowed the program to move forward at a rapid pace. Winning the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program was “humbling,” said Steve Parker, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security. He added that the fact that the F-47 is now in production is a testament to “the maturity of our design and pedigree coming off the prototype.”

Parker was speaking at a pre-show media roundtable ahead of the 2025 Dubai Airshow in the United Arab Emirates that TWZ attended.

Parker described the NGAD award as “transformational” for Boeing and added that it’s “tracking well.”

In March, President Donald Trump personally announced that Boeing had been selected as the winner of the competition for the crewed fighter component of the Air Force’s broader NGAD initiative. The NGAD effort also includes the development of new Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones, as well as advanced jet engines, weapons, electronic warfare suites, sensors, networking ecosystems, battle management capabilities, and more.

While the Air Force has said that it aims to have the F-47 make its first flight sometime in 2028, Parker was unwilling to talk more about this.

“I won’t even touch the first flight day the Air Force has put the date out there; I’m just going to stay away from all of that,” Parker said. “It’s all about execution, and that’s what is getting all of my attention. We’re in a good spot.”

The Air Force has said it plans to acquire at least 185 F-47s, which would be in line with the original vision of the aircraft as a successor to the F-22 Raptor, although that figure might change going forward. There has also been discussion of multiple versions to be built in incremental developmental cycles.

Parker underscored the importance of Boeing’s secretive Phantom Works, the company’s leading-edge design house that is modeled roughly on Lockheed’s legendary Skunk Works, in moving the F-47 program forward.

“I put Phantom Works together as its own division last year, and so that’s playing out really, really well,” Parker explained.

The fact that the first aircraft is in production “is really kind of remarkable when you think about this award was only provided in March of this year,” Parker said.

Especially interesting was Parker’s reference to the “maturity” of the design, pointing to extensive testing not only in the digital realm but also involving a flying prototype.

We know that multiple secretive flying demonstrators helped pave the way for the F-47.

When Boeing secured the NGAD crewed fighter contract earlier this year, Air Force Chief of Staff David Allvin released a statement saying that, “For the past five years, the X-planes for this aircraft have been quietly laying the foundation for the F-47 — flying hundreds of hours, testing cutting-edge concepts, and proving that we can push the envelope of technology with confidence.”

Back in 2023, unconfirmed reports emerged that at least three NGAD demonstrators were in existence. Certainly, there were separate examples from Boeing and Lockheed Martin. At least one demonstrator was flying as early as 2019, and another joined the NGAD program in 2022.

Details of these aircraft remain practically non-existent, but the Boeing prototype (or possibly prototypes) clearly played a key role in getting the F-47 program off to a rapid start.

The few details that we do know include those that have been provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which stated that both Boeing’s and Lockheed Martin’s X-planes flew “several hundred hours each” during the NGAD evaluation. 

Meanwhile, Former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall went on the record to also stress that the demonstrators were entirely experimental demonstrator aircraft and not reflective of a production prototype for a “tactical design.”

Speaking in Dubai, Boeing’s Parker also put forward the case for the F-47 program being an exemplar for Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s “arsenal of freedom,” his plan to totally overhaul the way the U.S. military buys weapons, with speed being at its core.

“Here you have an example with the F-47 where Boeing is building highly classified facilities in the billions of dollars of our own investment, before we actually won the contract: That is the very different definition of what the Secretary is asking for.”

Boeing previously made major investments to expand its operations in St. Louis, Missouri, to prepare for sixth-generation fighter production. This might include new fighters for the Air Force and Navy.

Parker also touched upon Boeing’s prospects for the Navy’s F/A-XX next-generation carrier-based fighter competition. A rendering that the company recently released of its F/A-XX proposal has a number of similarities with previous renderings of the F-47, as you can read more about here.

Of the FA-XX, Parker said: “Still no decision has been made yet, but we are ready to go if it comes.”

As for those F-47 renderings, only two official ones have been released, and Air Force officials have said they do not necessarily fully reflect what the aircraft looks like in real life, for operational security purposes.

Otherwise, we know the F-47 is planned to have a combat radius in excess of 1,000 nautical miles and be able to reach speeds above Mach 2. Of course, it will also be very stealthy, with so-called next-generation all-aspect ‘broadband’ low-observability, including a significantly reduced infrared signature as well as a low radar cross-section. The new jet will also serve as a central node in controlling drones at the forward edges of combat.

While the pace of the program seems to be impressive, the pressure is certainly on to move faster as the USAF faces looming tactical airpower combat mass deficit and especially the startling pace of China’s own next generation tactical aircraft programs.

We will have to wait for further details, as well as firm confirmation of what the F-47 actually looks like. However, that wait shouldn’t be too long, with the Air Force anticipating a first flight before the end of 2028, and with Boeing officials confident that the program is moving forward at a pace.

Contact the author: [email protected]