Boeing Selected to Develop F-47 Sixth Generation Fighter: A Turning Point For the U.S. Air Force’s Future

On March 21 Boeing was announced to be the winner of the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative, and to accordingly have received the primary contract to develop the service’s next fighter. As the contract was announced, the aircraft’s designation as the F-47 was formally confirmed, reflecting its position as a successor to the F-22 and F-35 developed by America’s largest defence producing firm Lockheed Martin. After rival aviation giant Northrop Grumman dropped out of the bidding process for NGAD in July 2023, Boeing and Lockheed Martin were the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/lockheed-art-sixthgen-fighter-features" target="_blank">final two contenders</a>, with latter’s failure to gain the primary contracts leaving it without any fighter programs other than the F-35. Lockheed Martin was also&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/lockheed-sixth-generation-fighter-design-rejected-navy" target="_blank">excluded</a> from the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX sixth generation fighter program earlier in March, after its submission reportedly failed to satisfy the service’s criteria, which left Northrop Grumman and Boeing as the final contenders. These developments raise the possibility that Boeing could win contracts for both sixth generation fighter programs, much as Lockheed Martin won contracts for both the F-22 and the F-35.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/03/22/article_67de01ecce72d8_67013191.jpeg" title="NGAD Sixth Generation Fighter Concept Art (Lockheed Martin)">A further possibility is that Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman will each have a major stealth fighter program underway, with Boeing developing the F-47, Lockheed Martin continuing to develop more capable versions of the F-35, and Northrop Grumman being favoured to develop the F/A-XX. Northrop Grumman is also currently the primary contractor for the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/usaf-200-b21s-expansion-fleet" target="_blank">B-21 Raider</a> next generation strategic bomber, leaving the firm at lower risk should it not become the primary contractor for the Navy’s F/A-XX. The need to preserve the fighter aviation industry and prevent monopolies is thought to have been among the factors leading both the Navy and the Air Force not to select Lockheed Martin to develop their sixth generation fighters, with the firm’s effective monopoly on the development of fifth generation fighters having previously drawn considerable criticism. Boeing notably lacks any experience developing fifth generation fighters, with its bid to develop an ‘F-32’ fighter as an alternative to the F-35 having been viewed highly unfavourably allowing Lockheed Martin’s rival proposal to win the tender by a considerable margin in the year 2000. Boeing’s fighter division has sustained itself largely through foreign sales of the F-15, a fighter that is today over half a century old and has been incrementally modernised, as well as through orders from the U.S. Navy and the Kuwait Air Force for F-18E/F Super Hornet fighters and E/A-18G electronic attack jets.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/03/22/article_67de0203e6fe66_19236297.webp" title="Chinese Sixth Generation Fighter Prototypes in Flight in December 2024">The announcement that Boeing had been selected to develop the F-47 follows over a year of uncertainty regarding whether the Air Force would receive a manned sixth generation fighter, after serious questions were raised regarding NGAD’s affordability. The program requires over $20 billion to complete its development phase alone, which for a planned fleet of just 200 fighters means adding $100 million to the cost of each aircraft. It is estimated that each fighter will cost well over $1 billion over its lifetime, and have a procurement cost of close to $400 million. The affordability of this remains in question, as the Air Force is forced to split funding between F-35 procurement and modernisation, F-15EX procurement, development of the Sentinel intercontinental range ballistic missile, development and procurement of the B-21 bomber, and development of a tanker aircraft with stealth capabilities, as well as other commitments such as <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/further-delays-b52-modernisation-cost-overruns" target="_blank">modernising the B-52</a> bomber fleet.&nbsp;The feasibility of adding the costs to develop a high performing sixth generation fighter to this is <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/usaf-chief-cites-china-sixth-gen-stronger-fleet" target="_blank">considered limited</a>, fuelling speculation that the F-47 could emerge as a toned down and much lighter aircraft of similar size to the F-35 if the Air Force’s budget is not increased significantly.China’s&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-unveiled-stealthiest-fighter-sixth-generation" >unveiling</a>&nbsp;of two new sixth generation fighters&nbsp;in December 2024 already at flight prototype stages may have <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/us-air-force-leadership-confirms-tough-choices-china-develops-first-sixth-gen" target="_blank">accelerated</a> the process to award contracts for NGAD, and is considered likely to potentially spur greater funding for a rival American sixth generation program. China is expected to begin fielding such fighters in the early 2030s, while the U.S. Air Force is <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-field-sixth-generation-fighter-before-america" target="_blank">only expected to do so</a> in the second half of the decade.&nbsp;