Boeing will be building the NGAD, dubed the F-47. 

Been flying experimentally for 5 years.

 

 

Edited March 22, 20251 yr by martin-w

 

Hope the canopies don't make unscheduled, in-flight departures from the airframe or the wings quickly develop cracks.

I wonder if Elan was right when he said manned fighters were obsolete.

Corporate pity. Lockheed Martin is probably a better choice for this type aircraft.

3 hours ago, Patco Lch said:

I wonder if Elan was right when he said manned fighters were obsolete.

Next Gen drone would be money better spent for sure!! Program it, send it on it's way, at fraction of the F-47 costs and no man/woman to lose.

54 minutes ago, BillW said:

Corporate pity. Lockheed Martin is probably a better choice for this type aircraft.

In the  Joint Strike Fighter competition the winner was the F35. Lockheed was competing against Boeing in the competition. Lockheed won that competition but several high profile experts have suggested that this was a mistake. The Boeing's X32 was a better choice than the Lockheed X35. Over its history the f35 Has had many production problem and ballooning costs. I remember one expert who said the main thing the X-35 had over the X-32 was that it was better looking.

Edited March 22, 20251 yr by FBW737

I was pretty surprised when this announcement was made.  It seems like only recently that the F-35 came on the scene, but I'm sure that plane was developed probably 10-20 years ago.  I just didn't expect a new fighter jet to be developed so soon after.

The fact that they've been testing it for 5 years already is a testament to the secrecy the contractors and military are able to maintain.  With the technology theft we've experienced over the years, secrecy has become paramount.

It was mentioned that this thing will also be able to have accompanying drones flying with it, sort of like drone wingmen maybe.

Good news.

Dave

17 hours ago, dave2013 said:

It was mentioned that this thing will also be able to have accompanying drones flying with it, sort of like drone wingmen maybe.

 

Yeah, that's the idea it seems. I suspect the same for the UK Tempest 6th gen. 

19 hours ago, dave2013 said:

I was pretty surprised when this announcement was made.  It seems like only recently that the F-35 came on the scene, but I'm sure that plane was developed probably 10-20 years ago.  I just didn't expect a new fighter jet to be developed so soon after.

These F-47s are intended to replace the F-22, not the F-35s. Although the development of both of those does go back decades. The F-22 came from the ATF program that originated in the 80s and the F-35 came from the 90's JSF program. F-22s were meant to replace the F-15 as the absolute best air superiority fighter possible, while the F-35 was a multi-role fighter to replace the F-16, F/A-18s and Harriers, as well as be the first stealth aircraft offered for sale to allies.

....and it's Boeings turn at the trough again....

On 3/23/2025 at 1:51 AM, Patco Lch said:

I wonder if Elan was right when he said manned fighters were obsolete.

Drones are cheaper and have no G-Force limits, if you can build dozens of search and destroy drones for the price of one F35, and at a much faster rate they will make it obsolete, you just have to prove a vulnerability and that will ground the F35 as they are too expensive to risk 

similar to how the UBoat was undetectable at the start of the war, simple sonar made them obsolete and a fleet of cheap Corvette’s, cheap and nasty on large production scale always wins the war over expensive slow to produce high tech

8 hours ago, Matthew Kane said:

rones are cheaper and have no G-Force limits, if you can build dozens of search and destroy drones for the price of one F35, and at a much faster rate they will make it obsolete, you just have to prove a vulnerability and that will ground the F35 as they are too expensive to risk 

Although I like the fact that we're making a new fighter jet, I agree that drones are the future of air warfare, unless you plan on losing battles, of course.

The major war going on right now between you-know-who increasingly involves drone warfare and it is evident how effective a weapon they have become.

However, they do have a big weakness which is that they can be jammed and neutered by electronic warfare.  This is why both sides are increasingly using optical fiber connected drones, and defenses are being developed against these.

You can't jam a human pilot.

Dave

4 hours ago, dave2013 said:

 

You can't jam a human pilot.

 

But that’s where the AI comes in though, but Skynet is still working on that 🤔

 

I suspect this could jam a human pilot. Its a special song the superior cat race invented millions of years ago. Admit it, you feel quite jammed, don't you?