US Air Force and Navy's Internal Competition Over the F-47 and F/A-XX Fighter Jets Is Redefining Air Combat Strategy

The U.S. Air Force's Boeing F-47 and the U.S. Navy's F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter are engaged in a secret but fierce struggle as the U.S. military enters a defining era of air superiority. The platforms' different development pathways, schedules, and strategic support show a growing inter-service competition that is shifting priorities within U.S. air power, even if both platforms are part of the larger Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program.

Funding and political support for the F-47 have grown significantly. The F-47, developed by Boeing and incorporated into the highly classified NGAD framework of the U.S. Air Force, was intended to be a stealthy, long-range air superiority fighter that could penetrate deeply into contested environments.  The F-47 is a significant advancement in lethality and survivability, with a predicted battle radius of more than 1,000 nautical miles and a cruising speed of more than Mach 2. With the help of autonomous combat drones and a secure digital battlespace, it will serve as the human core of a dispersed air combat force.

The purpose of this aircraft is to fulfill the air dominance requirement of the U.S. Air Force. The fifth-generation F-22 Raptor, which has impressive stealth and mobility but lacks the operating range, sensor fusion, and flexibility to operate in the future's fiercely competitive conditions, will either be replaced by it or used in addition to it. The NGAP program's adaptive cycle engines, which provide on-demand switching between high-thrust and fuel-saving modes, will be integrated into the F-47. Additionally, it will have high-bandwidth data linkages for cooperative fighter control, AI-assisted pilot decision-making, directed infrared countermeasures, and sophisticated sensor fusion. In terms of mission effectiveness and survivability, these features provide exponential gains over the F-22, F-15EX, and even the F-35A.

The F/A-XX, a stealthy, carrier-based multirole attack fighter, has, on the other hand, experienced considerable delays. The Pentagon has been compelled to postpone the engineering and production development phase of the F/A-XX due to budgetary and capacity restrictions within the aerospace industrial base. According to industry analysts, senior military authorities purposefully chose to expedite the Air Force's platforms at the Navy's expense in order to fulfill the critical goal of operational air superiority by the early 2030s.