Boeing Will Build US Air Force’s Next-Gen Stealth Fighter Jet, Trump Announces

President Trump on Friday announced that the U.S. Air Force had awarded Boeing a contract to develop the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation fighter jet.

Trump said this new fighter jet will be designated the F-47.

“After a rigorous and thorough competition between some of America’s top aerospace companies, the Air Force is going to be awarding the contract for the next generation air dominance platform to Boeing,” Trump said in an announcement from the White House on March 21.

The president said an experimental version of Boeing’s F-47 airframe has been flying in secret for nearly five years.

“And we’re confident that it massively overpowers the capabilities of any other nation,” he said.

The Air Force’s effort to build a new fighter jet, known as the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, calls for an aircraft that has advanced new propulsion and stealth capabilities. The Air Force has envisioned an advanced manned aircraft that could be paired with stealthy fighter drones being developed in a parallel effort known as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.

TRUMP UNVEILS 6TH-GEN FIGHTER: “MOST LETHAL AIRCRAFT EVER BUILT”

Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth announced Boeing will produce the F47 — America’s first 6th generation fighter jet.

“The F47 will be the most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built.”

They… https://t.co/5FWX5vy97A pic.twitter.com/s1jVvyiWTQ

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 21, 2025

As Ryan Morgan reports for The Epoch Times, NGAD has been in development since at least 2014 but has been on hold since the summer of 2024 amid concerns about the service’s budget for new weapons programs.

In a sign that NGAD was making new progress, the Air Force announced earlier this month that it had assigned fighter aircraft designations to two separate prototype drones being developed for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.

The prototype drones, developed by General Atomics and Anduril Industries, are the first U.S. drone airframes ever to bear fighter designations and are currently projected to begin flight testing this summer.

“This is a historic investment in the American military, in the American industrial base, in American industry, that will help revive the warrior ethos inside our military,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said as he joined Trump in the Oval Office for the contract announcement.

Friday’s contract announcement comes as a boon for Boeing, which has faced recent worker strikes and operational challenges.

The aerospace and defense company has faced recent lawsuits over flaws and mishaps with its commercial airliners, delays on a contract to deliver the next series of presidential transport planes, and problems operating the Boeing Starliner spacecraft during a recent space mission.

The deal is also a blow to Lockheed Martin, the other competitor and maker of the high-profile F-35.