I’m presuming you’re referring to a 2022 article in which a high ranking officer stated that a plane designated as part of NGAD “has flown”.
That doesn’t really mean much since that’s 3 years prior to the contract being awarded to Boeing, and in that time NGAD was placed on Hiatus and sent back to the drawing board, Source:
For all we know the “F-47” as it has been designated is not going to be any of the testbeds that may have existed in the early 2020’s, point is, there is no concrete info about the thing.
I’m reffering to many articles that presented the news. The man charged of overseeing the NGAD program said that the prototype flew. President Trump stated it had been flying since 2020.
The program is much more solid than you think, it certainly isn’t cardboard. the prototypes could have also come from Boeing, but since it has been said that many prototypes have been flown perhaps both Lockheed Martin and Boeing made one?
Well, you simply don’t know that, it could have been YF-47, or it could have been X-47. Either way those “prototypes” will share designs with the F-47 we will get.
“The X-planes” actually. The term “X-plane” could refer to a full-system demonstrator (similar to the X-32) or a partial-system testbed (like the X-31). According to Gen. David Allvin, this (or these) X-plane(s) are “flying hundreds of hours, testing cutting-edge concepts”. I lean toward it being multiple test aircraft , each validating specific technologies. However, a full prototype (possibly designated YF-47 or F-47 ) might conduct its maiden flight during President Trump’s term , potentially in 2027? 2028? Idk.
There is no reason to assume it will take that long. The St. Louis (presumably built specifically for this program) production plant to will be completed within the next year. Even if they didn’t start the first airframe until the production line was entirely complete (which is unnecessary as they can build the prototypes at existing facilities) the idea that it would take more than an entire year for 1 airframe is nonsensical.
“A new fleet of these magnificent planes will be built in the (Trump stopped here ), and in the air during my administration over the next couple of years.” We don’t know the exact timeline, only that it won’t be this year and possibly not next year, with the final deadline set for January 2029. Until the White House releases more details, speculation about progress fast or slow is meaningless.
Yeah that’s what written in the articles I found but X-Plane could also just be a way of saying a prototype. Think of it like the difference between the YF-22 and the F-22.
I’ve also come to the conclusion that there were many aircrafts, maybe those were made by the different companies competing in the program.
Also Trump was referring to the entry of service/mass production of the aircraft in his statement.
If it had reached the YF-22’s level of maturity, there’s no reason to only release a CG render (especially given Trump’s personality – he’d likely demand a B-21-style grand reveal). My take: Boeing likely built separate test platform for flight control systems, aerodynamic models, and even modified a Boeing 747 as an avionics testbed (lol). But integrating these into a unified prototype is what Boeing is doing now.
The B-21 was completely ready when it was revealed, it’s safe to assume they don’t want to reveal the prototypes of those extremely advanced 6th Generation fighter jets so other nations won’t be able to copy the design while the F-47 isn’t in service yet.
Of course, they want to put up a show, but not if it threatens national security. I think the big flex made here was saying it flew several years before the J-36.
I want that in War Thunder while waiting for the F-47
I would agree with you if Trump didn’t say that they were finishing up the production lines right now, it doesn’t make much sense to finish up the production lines if the Aircraft isn’t solid yet.
About twenty seconds into the video you see the shots of the aircraft, looks a bit weird, not sure its the F-47 unless the decided to just scrap the canards.
Unsure, can’t find anything official about what exactly it is, I genuinely thought it was an AI video clip at first simply due to the very strange shadows and lighting displayed on it.
