US President Donald Trump announced this Friday the F-47 fighter jet, a sixth-generation fighter aircraft that will be developed by Boeing and could enter service before 2029.
Accompanied by his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, Trump stated from the Oval Office that the F-47 will be the “most advanced, most capable, and most lethal aircraft ever built,” equipped with “state-of-the-art stealth technology.”
“Virtually invisible. Enemies will never see it coming,” the US president warned, referring to the new aircraft model, whose identifier refers precisely to the fact that Trump is the 47th president of the United States.
The presentation was later attended by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General David Allvin, who also applauded the merits of what he described as a fighter “designed to outperform any adversary who dares to challenge” American pilots.
In his press conference, Trump declined to provide further details about the aircraft, not even its cost, because “it would reveal its size and the technology it employs.” The US president also argued that this was the reason why he declined to show its complete design beyond a sketch.
FIRST SIXTH-GENERATION FIGHTER BY 2029
In a subsequent statement, Allvin asserted that the F-47 is the “true first manned sixth-generation fighter” despite recent sightings of what experts suspect is the new Chinese J-36 fighter-bomber.
The US general has confirmed that this new project has been in development for five years, using experimental aircraft that have helped refine “operational concepts” that will culminate in the aircraft’s debut, which, General Allvin points out, will occur during the second Trump administration, which will end in 2029.
The general has argued that the F-47 will outperform the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor in virtually every respect: it will cost less and be more adaptable, with significantly greater range, more advanced stealth, and greater sustainability, with greater maintainability and availability.
