WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Friday that the U.S. Air Force will move forward with a sixth-generation fighter jet called the F-47. Boeing will build the jet, a fleet of which is expected to be made and in the air during Trump’s current term in office, the president said.

What You Need To Know

  • President Donald Trump announced Friday that the U.S. Air Force will move forward with a sixth-generation fighter jet called the F-47

  • Boeing will build the jet, a fleet of which is expected to be made and in the air during Trump’s current term in office, the president said

  • He said an experimental version of the plane has been secretly flying for almost five years, adding that the F-47 is equipped with state-of-the-art stealth technologies, is virtually unseeable and has unprecedented power

  • The jet will also fly with “many, many drones,” Trump said.

“The F-47 will be the most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built,” Trump said at an Oval Office event with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Force brass.

Trump said an experimental version of the plane has been secretly flying for almost five years, adding that the F-47 is equipped with state-of-the-art stealth technologies, is virtually unseeable and has unprecedented power. 

The jet will also fly with “many, many drones,” he said.

“This is a big day for our war fighters. This is a big day for our country, a big day in the world,” Hegseth said.

Without overtly saying the F-47 is named for Trump, who is the 47th U.S. president, Hegseth said the plane represents the next generation of air dominance and credited Trump’s leadership for “the future of air dominance.” 

“President Trump has reestablished American leadership,” Hegseth said. “The F-47 is part of it.”