Avgeek time! 🤓 The Pentagon recently announced the Boeing F-47—a 6th generation fighter jet that we haven’t actually seen yet, but according to defense folks, it could make Iron Man’s suit feel underdressed. Rumor has it, it’s sleek, stealthy, and priced somewhere between “national treasure” and “you’ll feel this in your taxes.”
The projected unit cost? Estimated north of $300 million per plane—but honestly, when using government math, who really knows.🤷 However, that’s over four times the cost of an F-35, which currently clocks in at around $80 million. So for the price of one F-47, you could build a hospital, fix every pothole in Iowa, buy Tom Cruise a new jet for Top Gun 3, and still have change left over for some stealth-themed throw pillows.
That said, it’s about time someone other than Lockheed Martin got to design the next hot rod of the skies. Now, in my personal opinion—with no proof, just a feeling in my gut—it sure looks like Boeing needed a win after a few turbulent years, and the DoD handed them one. “Here, have a 6th-gen fighter project. We believe in second chances. And third ones! And hey, let’s see what you can do with a blank check.” LOL!
Do We Even Need This Bird? 🤔
Here’s the part that hurts to admit—really hurts! 😕 As a pilot and self-proclaimed avgeek, I love manned fighter aircraft. But the truth is, we’ve hit the point where unmanned systems are cheaper, safer, and often more effective. Drones don’t get tired. They don’t need ejection seats. They don’t get motion sickness or play Kenny Loggins in the cockpit. 🎶 And trust me, it pains me to say that out loud.
The F-47’s own brochure brags about its “optionally manned” capabilities. Which is just a fancy way of saying, “We know pilots are becoming obsolete, but we’re emotionally not ready to commit.”
If we’re honest, we should be pouring money into drone programs and cyberwarfare defenses—not reinventing the fighter jet like it’s 1986 and Maverick just buzzed the tower.
Final Thoughts From Your Resident Avgeek
The Boeing F-47 is supposedly impressive. It’s allegedly gorgeous. We haven’t seen much—because, to be clear, the F-47 doesn’t officially exist. It’s a speculative stand-in for what Boeing is developing under the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. And honestly, after the budgetary soap opera that was the F-35, anything—even a flying Roomba with missiles—would feel like an upgrade.
That said… while I believe the F-47 should be unmanned, if someone handed me a flightsuit and access to the cockpit, I’d absolutely take it for a spin—purely for the sake of research, of course. 😉 I mean, who could pass up the chance to fly a maybe-real, maybe-theoretical $300 million jet?
Well, no matter my opinion, it’s still pretty damn cool! 😎 I’m looking forward to getting to know this new bird.
Crock’s Thoughts 