F-47 Design Progressing, First Flight On Track

[F-22Raptor]

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland—The U.S. Air Force and Boeing are progressing well on finalizing the design of the F-47 sixth-generation fighter, which remains on track for first flight within the next two years, with major milestones on the way to get there.

Gen. Dale White, the Air Force’s direct reporting program manager for its major acquisition programs, told reporters Sept. 15 that the “many, many years in tech maturation and risk reduction” gave the program a head start.

“We are absolutely on [track] to be able to hit the mark of flying within this administration, we see no issues in front of us right now,” White said at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference. “As long as the team continues to execute … [we] will be on time [and] on target with that.”

While the Air Force has been progressing on its next-generation fighter, the U.S. Navy has largely been stalled on selecting its own similar platform, currently unnamed but designated F/A-XX. Much of this delay has been connected to an argument from top Pentagon officials that the defense industrial base is not able to support two advanced fighter programs.


White said industrial base concerns are not just on these specific programs, but across multiple platforms.

“What we’re having to do is at some point we’re having to make some trade space in between some of these,” White said. “Right now, I see Boeingmaking smart investments. They have a lot of CAPEX they’re pouring in, but we have to get through the process of the design piece, getting that completed and closed out, then we’ll hit some major milestones with things like flight tests and software.”

The focus is on managing overall resourcing, White said, which comes down to two factors—firstly, people, and secondly, having adequate production capacity to maintain the required output rate.

 

[Raj-Hindustani]

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland—The U.S. Air Force and Boeing are progressing well on finalizing the design of the F-47 sixth-generation fighter, which remains on track for first flight within the next two years, with major milestones on the way to get there.

Gen. Dale White, the Air Force’s direct reporting program manager for its major acquisition programs, told reporters Sept. 15 that the “many, many years in tech maturation and risk reduction” gave the program a head start.

“We are absolutely on [track] to be able to hit the mark of flying within this administration, we see no issues in front of us right now,” White said at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference. “As long as the team continues to execute … [we] will be on time [and] on target with that.”

While the Air Force has been progressing on its next-generation fighter, the U.S. Navy has largely been stalled on selecting its own similar platform, currently unnamed but designated F/A-XX. Much of this delay has been connected to an argument from top Pentagon officials that the defense industrial base is not able to support two advanced fighter programs.


White said industrial base concerns are not just on these specific programs, but across multiple platforms.

“What we’re having to do is at some point we’re having to make some trade space in between some of these,” White said. “Right now, I see Boeingmaking smart investments. They have a lot of CAPEX they’re pouring in, but we have to get through the process of the design piece, getting that completed and closed out, then we’ll hit some major milestones with things like flight tests and software.”

The focus is on managing overall resourcing, White said, which comes down to two factors—firstly, people, and secondly, having adequate production capacity to maintain the required output rate.

The USA is leader on this game, expecting a nice product.

 

[F-22Raptor]

The USA is leader on this game, expecting a nice product.

Hopefully they’ll do a similar unveiling as B-21. That was unveiled a year before first flight, so I’m hoping we see it by the end of next year.

 

[wangdefa]

If I remember correctly, you previously mentioned that you had already conducted secret flight tests, and now you're saying the first flight will be in two years? So which one is the real information?

 

[AZ_HighCountry]

If I remember correctly, you previously mentioned that you had already conducted secret flight tests, and now you're saying the first flight will be in two years? So which one is the real information?

Yes. There was mention of that. Good question. Curious minds would like to know.

 

[SolarWarden]

If I remember correctly, you previously mentioned that you had already conducted secret flight tests, and now you're saying the first flight will be in two years? So which one is the real information?

This will be the production model the aircraft before were likely the X-prototypes.

X-35


F-35/AA-1 production model test plane.


The F-35 AA-1's are still in service and those are the planes you see carrying around or testing new weapons.

F-47 AA-1 version or production model will likely look different from the prototype.

 

[Ali_Baba]

And to add, if the F-47 has Canards, it cannot be a 5th Gen or 6th Gen platform as per what many said about J-20 not being a "true" 5th gen platform because it had canards.

Just saying ....

 

[RealNapster]

If I remember correctly, you previously mentioned that you had already conducted secret flight tests, and now you're saying the first flight will be in two years? So which one is the real information?

Well, they would say the "equipments and radars etc" meant for this yth generation plane have been testing on other platforms. Thats what these American posters responded to me when I asked the same question.