Why Boeing is Building the F-47 Stealth Fighter Instead of Lockheed Martin – Jalopnik

In March 2025, the US Air Force announced that it had selected the contractor for its sixth-generation stealth fighter program: not Lockheed Martin, which made the F-22 and still makes the F-35, but Boeing. As a culmination of the long-running Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, Boeing’s first stealth aircraft was dubbed the F-47. At least according to the official specification sheetit will make a quantum leap in range (capable of flying over 1,000 nm, 50% further than an F-35), speeds in excess of Mach 2, and better stealth technology than even the F-22.

However, given Boeing’s recent string of (some fatal) problems, you might be surprised that the company was awarded the contract. Wouldn’t Lockheed, the maker of all U.S. fifth-generation fighter jets, be a better choice? Then there’s Northrop Grumman, which makes both the F-16 and the B-2 stealth bomber. When the NGAD program was launched, all three defense giants initially vied for the contract. But ultimately, the Air Force chose Boeing because it provided “the best overall value for the government.” That might sound like a pretty boring reason! But it actually means that Boeing has done something very special.

The goal of the NGAD program was to build American replacements for the F-22 and F-35, making the new aircraft the most advanced fighter aircraft ever built. Much of this is top secret, but the general direction appears to have been to improve range and stealth, as well as deep integration with so-called ‘loyal wingman’ combat drones. As a sixth-generation aircraft, the new fighter would join the under-development B-21 bomber as the world’s first such aircraft.

Although Northrop Grumman was widely expected to be one of the main competitors in the program, it surprised observers choosing not to participate in the program at all in July 2023. Boeing and Lockheed Martin had to duke it out. Both companies built prototypes that were demonstrated for the Pentagon selection team and respectively called… well, no one really knows. The experimental designations (usually an “X” or “Y”) have never been released to the public. This whole thing is really secret, guys.

In fact, a full image of both aircraft has never been released. However, there have been a handful of vague renderings; the one pictured is of the Lockheed Martin concept. It appears to have a wider fuselage than we are used to from fast movers and lacks a conventional vertical tail. It apparently wasn’t as good as Boeing’s prototype either, something Lockheed itself seems to agree with.

Even Boeing’s winning bid was camera shy. The Air Force has only officially released some rather blurry renderings, showing the plane largely shrouded in fog. But from what we can tell, the profile is similar to Lockheed’s: wide fuselage, no tails.

Once again, the Air Force evaluation team chose Boeing’s prototype because it was the “best overall value,” but whatever Air and Space Force magazine notes that that particular phrase means more than you might think. Often the Pentagon will choose a weapons platform by simply choosing the cheaper of comparable options. This happens when multiple bids provide essentially the same functionality. In contrast, “best overall value” means that the winning bid included something that the competitors did not have. In other words, the Air Force determined that Boeing’s prototype did slightly more or better than Lockheed.

What exactly did Boeing do that was so impressive? You guessed it: it’s classified! What we do know is that Lockheed Martin was legally entitled to challenge the Pentagon’s selection. If that were the case, the Government Accountability Office would review the entire selection process and determine whether the Army would show preferential treatment to Boeing. However, after receiving a briefing on why the Air Force went with the other aircraft, Lockheed decided not to challenge it. That implies that even Lockheed was convinced that Boeing was doing something very special.

So you’re the United States Air Force and you just bought yourself a shiny new toy. What do you call it? Normally the numbering simply increases (as the F-16 followed the F-15), albeit with gaps due to prototypes or competing bids that never made it into production (there is no F-17 or F-19). That said, the F-35 broke this paradigm (for no particular reasonevidently).

The F-47, as you can see, is also way out of order. That’s according to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David AllvinThis is for three reasons: “it honors the legacy of the World War II P-47” fighter, “pays tribute to the founding year” of the USAF (1947), “while also honoring the 47^e @POTUS’s critical support for the development of the world’s FIRST sixth-generation fighter.” That last one is… novel, to say the least.

Now all Boeing has to do is finalize the design, complete the testing, and build them all! No matter that Boeing is already struggling to produce some promised military aircraft, such as the KC-46 tanker plane and the T-7 trainer jet. The goal, according to Allvinis to have them operational by 2029. That’s a very ambitious goal, and I’m willing to bet we’ll actually see it sometime in the 2030s. But when they finally do, expect them to be the most powerful weapons platforms in the sky… barring perhaps a few cheap off-the-shelf drones.