The US Air Force has announced that it will go ahead with the production of the F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter. Expected to enter service by the end of the decade, it will replace the F-22 Raptor as America's air supremacy fighter.
Friday's announcement by the Air Force and President Trump ends months of speculation about the fate of the F-47 project. In defense circles, there was uncertainty as to whether the fighter would be greenlit as part of the administration's goal of strengthening the US military or fall victim to its commitment to drastically cut federal spending.
One reason for the thumbs up may be that, conceived in 2016, the Air Force and DARPA have been secretly conducting flight tests of a NGAD prototype for the past five years, so the project is already at an extremely advanced stage. In addition, the Air Force says that new digital techniques and government-owned architecture have streamlined and accelerated development.
The five -year US$19.6-billion engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contract for the building and testing of production model prototypes of the F-47 is also causing a stir because it was awarded to Boeing instead of rival Lockheed Martin, the builder of the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II. When Lockheed won the F-35 competition in 2001, it sent shock waves through the industry as Boeing was completely frozen out of the largest US defense contract in history, resulting in a major leadership change at Boeing.
However, the reverse may not occur with the F-47, which has yet to receive an official nickname. Lockheed has extensive expertise in the development and production of stealth fighters and Boeing has been suffering major setbacks in recent years, including in its civilian airliner and space sectors. It is also having production problems, so it may be that Lockheed will be called upon as a subcontractor along with other companies to ensure production capacity and faster procurement cycles.
The exact number of F-47s that will be ordered is not known, but the estimated cost per aircraft is expected to start out at $300 million per unit, though US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has stated that the service aims to reduce costs closer to $100 million, similar to the F-35 Lightning II.
The F-47 is expected to be a major advance over the F-22 Raptor. As a sixth-generation fighter, it will be a pilot-optional aircraft using cutting-edge stealth technology and a tailless diamond-wing design to minimize its radar cross-section, along with advanced radar-absorbing materials and electronic warfare capabilities.
Its Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) engine will not only allow it to supercruise above Mach 1 without afterburners, it will also provide the fighter with enough surplus electric power for directed energy weapons, such as lasers or microwave beams, and for launching hypersonic missiles. In addition, its increased fuel capacity will make it better suited to the projected requirement to operate at long range in the Indo-Pacific region.
But the biggest advance is its fusion of AI and a suite of sensors that turn it from a simple fighter into a command platform capable of combat decision-making as well as real-time battlefield awareness and enhanced networking with other platforms, such as an accompanying team of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), arsenal aircraft, ships, satellites, land forces, and more.
"I'm thrilled to announce that, at my direction, the United States Air Force is moving forward with the world's first sixth-generation fighter jet,” said President Trump at a White House press briefing. “Nothing in the world comes even close to it, and it'll be known as the F-47.
"In terms of all of the attributes of a fighter jet, there's never been anything even close to it, from speed to maneuverability, to what it can have, to payload. And this has been in the works for a long period of time, America’s enemies will never see it coming."
Source: US Air Force
