Boeing Wins Bid for Futuristic U.S. Fighter Jet With Eye on China

Boeing Co. won a contract to design and build the U.S.’s next-generation stealth fighter jet, beating out rival Lockheed Martin Corp. for the multi-billion-dollar program aimed at preparing the military for possible conflict with China.

The new sixth-generation fighter jet, whose overall cost is expected to run in the hundreds of billions of dollars, “will ensure that the U.S.A continues to dominate the skies,” President Donald Trump said in an unveiling at the White House. Trump, the 47th president, said with a smile that it will be dubbed the F-47.

The award caps more than two years of competition between the defense giants for the full-scale development phase of the Next Generation Air Dominance manned fighter, or NGAD. The jet, which will replace the F-22 Raptor, is envisioned to operate in tandem with drones, which are being developed in a separate program.

An artist’s rendering of the plane placed next to Trump in the Oval Office showed a sharp-nosed craft with tinted cockpit glass beneath an American flag. Its tail was obscured in shadow, reflecting how the plane’s development is still incomplete.

While little has been made public about the project, budget figures released last year showed that the Air Force plans to spend as much as $20 billion on NGAD research and development through 2029. Overall costs will be many times that if the most recent stealth jet, Lockheed’s F-35, is any guide. That jet is expected to cost U.S. taxpayers almost $2 trillion by the end of its lifespan.

“The F-47 will be the most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built,” Trump said. The U.S. plans to sell the jets to “certain allies,” though “perhaps toned-down versions,” he said.

Boeing shares rose as much as 6.2% after the announcement March 21, while Lockheed erased earlier gains to fall 5.8% as of 2:47 p.m. in New York.

A key driver for developing the F-47 has been keeping pace with China’s air defense and electronic warfare systems, which have become more sophisticated since the F-22 entered service in 2005, according to a January report by the Congressional Research Service. China is also working on a so-called sixth-generation fighter jet, and images and videos of its triangle-shaped aircraft have appeared online in recent weeks.

The CRS report also noted that the Raptor could be hamstrung in a potential conflict over the Pacific Ocean, where islands are many hundreds of miles apart, due to its fuel and payload limitations. A key design priority for the F-47 will be its ability to fly at longer ranges.

The development is also a bet on ambitious and costly weapons systems as well as the future of manned flight by the U.S. military. Some Trump advisers, including Elon Musk, have publicly derided the F-35 and questioned the need for manned warplanes given advances in drone technology. 

The program’s “fair and thorough” decision process will deliver “cutting-edge technology to the warfighter while optimizing taxpayer investment,” the Air Force said in a statement, adding that the NGAD platform is “the most capable and cost-effective solution to maintain air superiority in an increasingly complex and contested global threat environment.”

For Boeing, winning NGAD is a rebound after losing the F-35 fighter program to Lockheed Martin in 2001. Boeing’s defense business has been hammered by billions of dollars in cost overruns on fixed-price development programs such as the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker and the next-generation Air Force One presidential aircraft.

Read More: Boeing Reports $11.8B Annual Loss 

It’s also a boost for the company as it recovers from a rough 2024, including a major labor strike and regulatory scrutiny after a panel blew out from one of its planes midair.

“In preparation for this mission, we made the most significant investment in the history of our defense business, and we are ready to provide the most advanced and innovative NGAD aircraft needed to support the mission,” Steve Parker, the interim president and chief executive officer of Boeing’s defense division, said in a statement.

The price tag and other terms of the contract, which was classified, weren’t publicly disclosed. The contract formally moves the program into full-scale engineering and development, according to an Air Force official. The next step will be the production of a small number of aircraft to perform testing.

The official said it was a “cost-plus” contract — meaning cost overruns will be paid by the government, not Boeing. That’s in contrast to a fixed-price contract like the one Boeing signed to develop the new Air Force One — and which has forced the company to pay more than $2 billion in extra costs.

The new fighter is expected to enter service in the 2030s if everything goes according to plan. While the F-22 boasts stealth capabilities and a supersonic cruise speed, the plane was developed and fielded before the military’s all-in bet on d…