Boeing's booth at the 2025 Air, Space & Cyber Conference outside Washington, D.C., prominently features a large image of the F-47 combat aircraft. Thomas Novelly / Defense One
F-47’s first flight expected in 2028
That’s a year earlier than Air Force officials have previously said Boeing's sixth-gen combat aircraft might take wing.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—The F-47 is expected to make its first flight in 2028, the Air Force’s top officer said Monday—advancing the timeline by a year.
Officials had previously said the sixth-gen combat aircraft would fly by January 2029.
“We got to go fast,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said during his keynote address at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference here. “It’s almost 2026. The team is committed to getting the first one flying in 2028.”
Manufacturing has begun on the first F-47, Allvin added
Public details about the F-47 have been few. In May, Allvin posted a chart that said the F-47 will be operational in “2025 to 2029,” have a combat radius of more than 1,000 nautical miles, and fly faster than Mach 2. For comparison, the F-22 Raptor has a combat radius of 590 nautical miles and a top speed over Mach 2, while the F-35 has a combat radius of 670 nautical miles and a top speed of Mach 1.6.
The graphic also offered a vague assessment of each jet's stealth capabilities: the F-47 will have “stealth++” capabilities, while the F-22 has “stealth+” and the F-35 is merely listed as “stealth.”
Bradley Peniston contributed to this report.