Inside America’s F-47: Trump’s ‘most devastating plane ever’; why he is bothered by its name
US President Donald Trump described the F-47 fighter jet as the “most devastating plane ever,” presenting it as the latest symbol of American military dominance while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.Yet it was the jet’s name that visibly irked him. Trump openly questioned why it was called the F-47, hinting that he might simply remove the number if he decided he didn’t like it.
“We have the best equipment. F-35s at 47. The new one just coming out. They say it’s the most devastating plane fighter jet ever. Who knows?” he said.Beyond the branding, he talked about the aircraft’s stealth credentials, calling it a “stage six” fighter designed to be virtually undetectable, comparable to the B-2 bombers that, he said, once flew over Iran unseen, carried out their mission, and exited without a trace.“They called it 47. If I don’t like it, I’m going to take the 47 off it. I wonder why they called it 47, what they think about that. But if I don’t like it, I’m going to take that 47 off,” he said.“But it’s supposed to be the stage six. It’s supposed to be the first stage six plane, undetectable like our B-2 bombers were undetectable. They flew right over Iran. They were undetectable, and they did their job and they got the hell out of there,” he added.
Where does the name F-47 come from?
The name F-47 draws first from military history. It echoes the World War II–era P-47 Thunderbolt, one of the most iconic American fighter aircraft of its time, according to a report in The War Zone.The P-47 remained in service well beyond the war, long enough to be redesignated F-47 when the US military phased out the “P” for “Pursuit” prefix in favor of “F” for “Fighter.” By invoking that lineage, the new jet’s name situates it within a tradition of rugged, high-performance aircraft that helped define American air power in the mid-20th century.The number also carries institutional and political symbolism. “47” marks the year 1947, when the US Air Force became an independent service, breaking away from the Army and establishing itself as a separate branch.At the same time, the designation nods to Donald Trump himself, the 45th and 47th president of the United States. Trump himself had said last year that the military had selected a “beautiful number”, 47, for the aircraft.
All about the fighter jet
The F-47 sits at the heart of the US Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, which is designed to replace the aging F-22 Raptor and redefine how air combat is fought.Unlike previous fighter jets, the F-47 is envisioned as a crewed aircraft operating seamlessly alongside autonomous drones, marking a shift toward networked, manned-unmanned warfare. While its exact design remains classified, it is widely expected to feature advanced stealth characteristics, next-level sensors, and powerful new engines built to dominate contested airspace.More than a single aircraft, NGAD is conceived as a “family of systems,” with the F-47 serving as the central node in a broader combat ecosystem.The program is aimed squarely at countering near-peer rivals such as China and Russia, whose air and missile capabilities have rapidly advanced in recent years.
