The long-awaited contract for the development and manufacture of the first samples of the manned component of the NGAD (Next-Generation Air Dominance) aviation complex for the Air Force The United States was awarded to Boeing Corporation, selected from several applicants.
During the existence of the program, experts have not stopped asking questions: what will be the appearance of the fighter, its capabilities, and flight qualities? With the assignment of the contract to Boeing, which is not quite successfully coping with its duties as a defense contractor, as well as due to other circumstances, these issues seem to have only increased.
Loud words
The opportunity to announce this to the public was not disdained by the President of the United States, Donald Trump himself. To announce the contract on the morning of March 21, Trump called reporters in the Oval Office of the White House. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other Defense Department officials were also present.
According to the American leader, the NGAD manned component will receive the F-47 index and will replace the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor fighters. As Trump said, the F-47 will have "the most advanced stealth technologies, [which will make it] literally invisible," and when performing flight missions it will be accompanied by a variety of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) - guided, known in the United States as CCA (Collaborative Combat Aircraft) drones.
US President Donald Trump (left)
Image source: © Yuri Gripas/ Pool/ Sipa USA
"This is something that no one has ever seen before," said the owner of the Oval Office. — In everything related to the characteristics of the fighter, from its speed and maneuverability to what payload it is capable of carrying, there has never been anything close to similar before. And work on this [product] has been going on for a long period of time." "America's enemies had no idea what awaited them," the president continued.
The Chief of Staff of the country's Air Force, Lieutenant General David Allwin, who attended the meeting, said in a statement that the F-47 would be "the most technologically advanced, efficient and multifunctional fighter aircraft that has ever been developed." "We are not just building another combat aircraft," said the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force. "We are developing completely new methods and tactics of warfare, and we are warning our enemies about this."
Trump did not specify the amount of the contract. The Reuters news agency previously reported that it could exceed $20 billion.
Hegseth, in turn, said that the fighter would be a great gift for future generations of Americans. According to him, the development of the F-47 will also allow for "historic investments" in both the American armed forces and the national industry.
The head of the Defense Ministry recalled that the previous Washington administration "suspended this program." As stated, this was done in order to audit it and find ways to reduce the cost of the planned airline complex.
At the same time, the Pentagon chief, answering a question from reporters, did not say whether the new designation of the fighter has anything to do with Trump, who in his current powers is the 47th president of the United States. "I am proud of the F-47, it is a very important platform," he said, leaving the Oval Office.
Trump also noted that the F-47 will have supersonic flight speed. "His speed is top-notch. More than two [Mach numbers]. And you don't hear this often," the president said, promising that a fleet of these fighters would be formed in the Air Force in "the next few years."
He confirmed that Washington would produce these aircraft, including for export to allied countries. "Our allies are constantly calling, they also want them (new fighters — approx. TASS) to acquire. And we will sell them to certain allies. Perhaps less advanced versions. We want to reduce their characteristics [in export version] by about 10%, which makes sense, since at some stage they (the customer states — approx. TASS) may cease to be our allies," stated the head of the Washington administration.
The essence of the contract
The contract awarded on March 21, as explained by representatives of the US Air Force, is aimed at fulfilling the stage of constructive refinement and technological preparation for the mass production of future NGAD fighters. As part of such a deal, the government will allocate a fixed amount to the contractor to cover his work costs, as well as additional incentive payments, depending on how successfully the contract is executed. The same financing mechanism was used in the early stages of the development of the promising B-21 Raider strategic bomber.
According to the Air Force, as part of the deal, Boeing will finalize and test all technological components of the NGAD manned fighter, and then produce several test samples of this aircraft. In addition, the terms of the deal include an option for a subsequent order from the corporation for an initial limited batch of F-47s "at a competitive purchase price."
Allwin's statement said that experimental versions of NGAD have been undergoing flight tests over the past five years, "flying hundreds of hours, testing advanced [technological] concepts and confirming that we can confidently expand their range of capabilities." In the early stages, the Pentagon's Office of Advanced Research Programs DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) was involved in this activity.
The general also noted that serious progress on the F-47, which has been observed recently, suggests that the US Air Force will receive this aircraft by the end of Trump's presidential term.
The F-22 fighter jet
Image source: © Chris Hyde/ Getty Images
"The F-47 has an unprecedented [degree of technological] sophistication,— Allwin stressed. — And although the F-22 is currently the best fighter in the world for gaining air superiority, and modernization will make it even better, the F—47 is a leap forward for an entire generation. The [technological] readiness of the aircraft at the current stage of the program confirms its ability to dominate aerial combat in the future."
The Chief of Staff of the US Air Force also expressed his skepticism about the information that China is already testing two versions of its own sixth-generation combat aircraft. "Despite the claims of our rivals, the F-47 is the only and indeed the first sixth—generation fighter in the world, designed to dominate the most serious enemy and perform tasks in the most dangerous combat conditions imaginable," said Allwin.
Sixth generation: slow advance on a wide front
Various countries have announced the development of sixth-generation aircraft. For example, Russia is consistently approaching the creation of such a machine. General Director of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC, part of Rostec) Vadim Badekha, on the air of the Military Acceptance program, stated that the Russian fifth-generation Su-57 fighter received elements of the sixth generation of fighters. Sergey Khokhlov, General Director of the State Scientific Research Institute of Aviation Systems, said that the sixth-generation aircraft is being developed, however, in his opinion, it will take decades to create the machine.
In December 2024, videos were posted on social media showing previously unknown aircraft - presumably developed by CAIG and SAC corporations - making test flights. According to experts, the footage captures the tests of promising sixth-generation Chinese stealth aircraft. Experts have suggested that at least one of them has significant size and mass, and low maneuverability indicates the intended use of the aircraft to attack ground targets from a great distance.
Europe is striving to get its own sixth-generation fighter. To do this, France, Germany and Spain are working together on the FCAS/SCAF program, which is not developing very successfully due to disagreements between partners. The United Kingdom (which participated in FCAS before separating from the European Union), Japan and Italy are developing their own version of the fighter under the GCAP program. It is planned that the British-Italian-Japanese fighter will enter service in 2035.
Prior to the launch of the NGAD program audit procedure in August last year, it was stated that the estimated cost of the manned component of the newest airline complex would be approximately $300 million per unit, which is three times the purchase price for the fifth-generation American fighter F-35.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on March 21, Allwin said that the F-47 would cost less than the F-22 (about $143 million per aircraft), and at the same time would become "more adaptable to [countering] future threats." The total fleet of the latest fighters will exceed the current number of F-22s, which is about 180 units.
Responsibility and frustration
The fight for the NGAD fighter contract was between Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corporation. Until July 2023, Northrop Grumman Corporation also participated in the tender for the right to create the final version of the manned component of the sixth-generation American aviation complex. Then she decided to withdraw from the competition as a candidate for the main contract for the program.
At the same time, on the occasion of the signing of the deal with Boeing, DARPA reported that work on the product, which eventually received the F-47 index, with the participation of this department began in 2014. According to The War Zone portal, it is known that at least three demonstration samples of this aircraft have been tested in the strictest secrecy in recent years. It is assumed that these were the prototypes of the three companies mentioned.
The publication even cited the flight dates of two of these samples: allegedly, prototypes of Boeing and Lockheed Martin flew in 2019 and 2022, without specifying, however, which of them at what time.
"We are aware of the importance of designing and building a sixth—generation fighter for the United States Air Force," said Steve Parker, Acting president and CEO of Boeing Defense, quoted in a company press release. "In preparation for this mission, we have made the most significant investments in our defense cluster in our history, and we are ready to provide [the USAF] with the most advanced and innovative NGAD aircraft that [they] will need to fulfill [future] tasks."
Lockheed Martin, in its statement, expressed disappointment with the results of the tender, but stated its confidence that it had submitted a "competitive version" of the aircraft to the competition.
The F-47 is expected to become the central component of the "system of systems" that NGAD will represent. Other components of the airline complex are the already mentioned CCA UAVs, advanced tracking equipment, weapons and other technologies that will provide NGAD with data exchange capabilities with other aviation platforms and reconnaissance satellites.
In addition, the NGAD fighter component should receive an innovative adaptive engine created using the NGAP (Next-Generation Adaptive Propulsion) parallel program. The peculiarity of this power plant lies in the fact that its configuration and performance parameters vary depending on the specific situation in which the aircraft is located and the tasks it performs to achieve maximum efficiency of its operation.
NGAP prototypes are also being developed on a competitive basis by General Electric Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney. As for the CCA drones, the first candidates for this role were the Gambit and Fury devices from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and Anduril Industries, and, according to the plans of the US Air Force, these are not the last variants of such UAVs. Earlier it was reported that the forces officially assigned Gambit and Fury indexes in accordance with their aircraft coding: YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A.
The US Air Force has repeatedly stated that NGAD will be necessary for the United States in a confrontation with a strong and technologically advanced adversary, which is, for example, China. CCAs, in particular, should be technologically advanced, have many different functions, but at the same time be relatively cheap, so that they would not be a pity to lose them when performing combat missions.
What's wrong with Boeing
Boeing's victory in the NGAD manned component tender is likely to benefit the national military-industrial complex in general and its aircraft industry in particular, Douglas Burkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Technology, told Defense News weekly. According to him, with the award of the contract to this company, all three key American aircraft manufacturers will now be working on fifth- and sixth-generation aircraft in the interests of the US Air Force.
Lockheed Martin is already leading the F-35 fighter jet program, and Northrop Grumman is producing the latest B-21 bombers, which the company itself previously called "the world's first sixth-generation aircraft."
Berkey noted the importance of company competition and the development of mass production of promising aircraft.
Despite this, it is Boeing that has become known in recent years for its "long-term construction" in the field of both civil and military aircraft construction. Problems with meeting deadlines under existing contracts and finalizing defective aircraft are accompanied by incidents at production sites and strikes by workers there.
With regard to the execution of USAF contracts, problems with product quality and delivery delays have long been strongly associated with T-7A Red Hawk training aircraft and KC-46A Pegasus air tankers.
In January, seven years after the start of development of the T-7A, the US Air Force announced the need to review the characteristics of this aircraft, since those provided for in the current contract no longer meet the requirements of the time. Meanwhile, they were supposed to enter service with the American Air Force about two years ago. In fact, the forces still have only a few prototypes at their disposal.
According to Defense News and other relevant publications, the company has suffered billions of dollars in losses in recent years due to the need to fix defects in its aircraft, as well as inflation. Against the background of these events, Ted Colbert, the previous head of Boeing Defense, was fired in September last year.
At the same time, according to Berkey, Boeing's victory in the NGAD tender is very important for the company. However, this also increases the degree of responsibility assigned to it, since now the corporation will have to prove that it is capable of coping with such a serious mission.
"Now only Boeing can turn the situation in the most favorable direction for it," the expert emphasized. —Only time will tell if she succeeds."
Konstantin Alysh
