Boeing F-47 NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) NEWS ONLY

raptor82 said:
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/f-47-2027-2028-projected-budget-development/
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It's interesting that F-47 development is shaping to be not a record spend for an advanced fighter jet. With the engine included, that's coming down to under 30 billion - in then year dollars. One can assume that with 2028 being the peak and costs dropping down from then on, any 2032 and later development costs are gonna be even smaller.

I couldn't find budgets allocated to NGAD prior to 2017. And from then on to 2025 I found some 13.5 billion for NGAD and the engines. Adding to this 2026-2031 spending (27.5 billion) that amounts to 41 billion.

Adding a few more billion for the 2032 until service entry (unless IOC is gonna be in 2032?) that's likely looking under 45 billion altogether.

Let's compare that to the F-22. Its development, as of 2011, was tallied at 35 billion - which is now worth 49 billion.
F-35 had, for all its 3 variants, development cost of between 67 and 71 billion, dated 2024. (72 to 77 billion now)

F-35 could be described as cheaper if we tried to apply some modifier for differences between 3 variants (allegedly roughly one third common, one third derived from and one third unique parts) That's like 25 billion for 3 different planes and lets say half of another 25 billion for 3 different planes, totalling some 8+4+25 billion - lets say 37+ billion if it was a pricetag for a single type? Of course, this is hardly a convincing way to calculate it.

But still fascinating that F-47, for all its 6th generation bells and whistles and generational leaps, may not end up being costlier than the jump from 4th to 5th generation.
 
totoro said:
But still fascinating that F-47, for all its 6th generation bells and whistles and generational leaps, may not end up being costlier than the jump from 4th to 5th generation.
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I mean, once you learn the lessons of how to make an LO/VLO airframe fly, technically the F-22 and F-35 subsidized the development of that part of the F-47.
 

USAF Preps Next-Gen Engine Testing Ahead of 2030 Integration onto Aircraft​

John Sneden, the Air Force’s portfolio acquisition executive for propulsion, told reporters at the Life Cycle Industry Days conference July 27 that the NGAP program has recently finished a readiness review and is ready to start moving toward prototyping, building, and testing adaptive engines.

That budget spike “is really about building engines, testing engines, and then we’ll be rolling through that competitively over the next few years, and be ready for potential integration activities in the 2030 timeframe,” he said.
“That means initial hardware is procured, their design meets our standards, everything is clean from that end, and both vendors have been able to do that,” Sneden said.

“We built NGAP as essentially an agnostic system,” Sneden said. “It was, build the system first, open up options for the future, and then when those options come to the forefront, we’ll be able to take advantage of it. You have to lean into propulsion technology first.”

Col. Timothy Helfrich, the PAE for fighters and advanced aircraft, emphasized that the F-47 is “still on track to fly this administration,” underscoring former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin’s promise that its first flight will take place in 2028.
Sneden acknowledged NGAP’s schedule has slipped and said it was because the program wanted to keep working with two viable vendors who could provide advanced propulsion technology. With a fixed budget, he said that meant splitting resources between two vendors instead of one.
 
https://www.defensenews.com/industr...ng-test-aircraft-on-schedule-for-2028-flight/

F-47 program producing test aircraft, on schedule for 2028 flight​

The U.S. Air Force’s F-47 program has begun its engineering and manufacturing development phase and will fly in the coming years, a service official said.

The program, described as “extreme teaming” with industry partners, entered the phase with “unprecedented maturity,” Gen. Dale White, director of Critical Major Weapon Systems, said in a Wednesday keynote address at an event in Dayton, Ohio.

The engineering and manufacturing phase includes maturing, integrating and testing all parts of the F-47. It will produce a small number of test aircraft for evaluation and includes priced options for low-rate initial production. White did not specify the number of test aircraft being produced.

The first Boeing F-47 is on track for its first flight in 2028. The Air Force plans to buy at least 185 F-47s, matching the size of the F-22 Raptor fleet it intends to replace.
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Erdosain said:

Will The F-47 Have To Fly Initially With Inferior Engines?​

The timelines for a next-gen fighter engine and the F-47 appear out of sync, which could lead to a stop-gap engine, something with historical precedent.

https://www.twz.com/air/will-the-f-47-have-to-fly-initially-with-inferior-engines
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The same thing happened with Lockheed's A-12 (SR-71 precursor) where the first five A-12s were equipped with J-75 turbojets because flightworthy J-58s weren't available but they were able to test most of the A-12's aerodynamic envelope with J-75 engines.
 
  • Anticipated Period of Performance: Fiscal Years 2026-2033
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  • Phase I: Includes airfield apron construction; grading and drainage; installation of a jet blast deflector; development of water storage, pump stations, and a communication node; roadway construction; upgrades and relocations to existing utilities; construction of aircraft parking and maintenance facilities, including a maintenance hangar and squadron operations facility; development of a flight simulator facility and an avionics re-programming laboratory; and associated design input and management.

  • Phase II: Includes construction of a fuel cell facility; a low-observable (LO) corrosion control facility and wash rack; a consolidated maintenance facility; a maintenance training facility; a fuel station; and a weapons storage facility, along with associated design input and management.

  • Phase III: A 240-personnel dormitory and associated design input and management.
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This was already noted in public -

May 4 2026

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/f-47-2027-2028-projected-budget-development/

Another sign that testing is on the way is the Air Force request for $730 million in the 2027 budget to build hangars and other support infrastructure for the F-47 at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. In budget documents, the service noted that Nellis will host the F-47’s operational testing.
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This 'classified' one might be the first actual operational base rather than the operational testing base?
 
overscan (PaulMM) said:
This 'classified' one might be the first actual operational base rather than the operational testing base?
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Nellis is both the T&E base and first operational base. This was public around February of this year so I’m not sure what the AvWeek article is on about.
 
Nellis is Operartion Test & Evaluation under the 53 WG and the Weapons School training base under the 57 WG, with the 57th providing maintenance for both operations. Neither side has an operational combat tasking. None at Nellis since the 474 TFW F-16 wing closed up shop in 1989.
 
F119Doctor said:
None at Nellis since the 474 TFW F-16 wing closed up shop in 1989.
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There was the short lived (2018-2020) 24th Tactical Air Support Squadron. I'm not sure but I think they had an operational CAS role?

Anyway, the first operational F-22 squadron was the 27th FS. The first operational F-15 squadron was also the 27th FS. And the 27th FS was the second operational F-106 squadron it seems. Overall, it's fair to assume the first operational F-47 squadron will be the 27th FS, based at Langley AFB.
 
JJ Gertler dropped a nugget on the Defense and Aerospace podcast. He said the interim engine for the F-47 is an F100. That's the first I heard of it. I am not sure if this has been said previously.

That's an odd choice. Other than Hermeus, I am not sure that any fighter has used the F100 in recent memory. The F-15EX uses the F110. Recent deliveries of F-16s to Qatar and UAE also use the F110. Block 70 F-16s use the F110. The only Block 72 F-16Vs appear to be upgraded Polish Block 52s.

Is there an upgraded F100 variant going into production? Or will the F-47 use a F100-229? There is the PW-232 but was it ever tested?
 
B2Blain said:
Is there an upgraded F100 variant going into production? Or will the F-47 use a F100-229? There is the PW-232 but was it ever tested?
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The F100 is probably just a placeholder engine to enable the flight-testing of the airframe until the definitive production engine is available (Just like how the Lockheed A-12 (SR-71 precursor) first five airframes flew with the P&W J75 before flightworthy J58s were available).​
 
Josh_TN said:
Definitely, but I don’t think anyone thought it would be that particular engine.

ETA: from what I heard it is unexpected. But I am not well informed.
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Yeah, I was expecting F110s, not F100s. Or a couple of F119s for the higher exhaust velocity for the test birds.
 

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