Sep 3, 2025 - Technology

F-47 could be airborne "faster than normal," says Boeing exec

Colin Demarest

An artist's rendering of the F-47 futuristic fighter jet, posted in the Oval Office. — Concept art for the F-47, as seen in the Oval Office in Washington. Photo: Demetrius Freeman/Washington Post via Getty Images

The U.S. Air Force's F-47 will be be airborne "faster than normal," as maker Boeing is "positioned to go quickly," the head of its clandestine Phantom Works division said.

Why it matters: Everyone is watching this futuristic fighter project and what the final product means for Western airpower.

Driving the news: Axios interviewed Colin Miller, vice president and general manager of Boeing Phantom Works, last week at the Emerging Technologies for Defense conference in Washington.

The company's winning bid for F-47 was "born in Phantom Works," Miller said, and was "built on decades of technical development" and expertise.
"Constant research and development enabled the underlying technologies that come together on that platform," he added.
"I think you'll be surprised by how fast you see it flying."

State of play: Boeing bested Lockheed Martin in the Next Generation Air Dominance contest earlier this year. The contract is worth billions of dollars.

The manned F-47 is expected to cost less than the F-22, which it supersedes. Initial plans were to buy more of the former than the latter.
Experimental X-planes flew for hundreds of hours before a decision was made.

Friction point: The Air Force has said the F-47 will fly before the end of the second Trump administration, in 2028. Miller would not say if the timeline he teased was sooner than that.

Go deeper: What's influencing the Air Force's F-47 and Navy's F/A-XX

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F-47 could be airborne "faster than normal," says Boeing exec

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